A wee little hat

So I have finished the body of the bathrug and I'm letting it rest before I take the next steps (I feel like that gives me the perspective and the distance to be able to make the next decisions as I've not decided whether to edge it or not. I went to Goodwill yesterday and picked up some color coordinating placemats for a quarter that I think I'm going to stitch to the back to give it a little more substance and make it non-slippy. I'm thinking if I play my cards right, doing that will help prevent some of the edge curling, so I may not need to edge it. We'll see.

In the interim I've started and abandoned a couple of hats, and had several false starts on this one.



It's a (very small) wool hat made from some handspun I bought from at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. The vendor was a sweet little lady from Pennsylvania, and her yarn was very well priced.



I still have about 40 yards of it left, so I'll have to plan carefully. (I'm thinking maybe some felted Christmas ornaments?) I ended up casting on and knitting the brim 3 times, and when I realized how small the hat was going to turn out the 3rd time, I just gave up. Its gotta fit someone right. Thing I've learned from this project? If you thread a lifeline to try on a hat and all you've done is ribbing, you're not going to get an honest idea of how the hat sizing is going to work out, because the ribbing will overstretch, and it will seem bigger than it is. That's what happened the first time, probably would have been the right size had I not ripped back and cast on with fewer stitches.

The hat is still a little wet from blocking, so smells of sheep and shampoo, a combination I'm finding surprisingly pleasant. Since I don't know any small people I would immediately think of to give this to, I'm thinking I might donate it to afghans for Afghans. The thickness of the hat and the wool content would be ideal for their harsh winters, and my charity knitting tendencies have been all but absent lately.


I love the little nubbin at the top.