Hats, Heads and enduring friends

I inherited (yes, you heard that right) a singular skein of Noro yarn with lovely angora accents and I was beside myself. Noro creates some of my favorite colorways and fiber combinations - they are little bits of color wonderment and are to be treasured. Like many yarns I own, it is necessary to wait and listen for the muse to speak her piece and divulge just what project is right for said fiber treasures. This process, at times, can take years....the yarn being considered a good investment, not unlike wine, left to chill in the recesses of the properly and specially built cellars, away from prying eyes who might not understand this small, but ever so necessary obsession.

This hat was inspired by a blog the I love to frequent, Brooklyn Tweed. There you will find a hat entitled Montera. A lovely, slouchy thing that looked just right for my Noro. All of a sudden, the muse was speaking loud and clear - had to get knitting immediately - but the pattern was in a book I couldn't get in time. I mean - I had to make this hat now. I am certain you will commiserate with me on this, when I say that patience went out the window and now I was stalking this hat from every angle, trying to absorb it's very essence, so that I could create one of my own.

It was a leaf pattern - not hard to find in my cornucopia of stitch dictionaries - and comfortable in size (read slightly big). Then someone on Ravelry posted the dimensions and recommended needle size for my hat in question, and that was all I needed to be off!

I am not a perfection knitter anymore - I had my days. I have ripped and knit another day. Now, I allow that the small little oops are part of the grander scheme of things and I live with it, I deal. So - when I knit this baby in the round and had to fudge a little to get the leaf pattern to work, I did. I just added a couple of stitches when I realized what was going on. I did not retrace my steps. The angora thing was allowing me to be ultra forgiving to myself.

However, for those of you who would like to try - here is my list of updated information on making this hat. Then find a friend, like Mary here - who was willing to bear the cold, sit outside on a damp chair with a towel underneath her butt and smile for the camera. By the last shot you can see that the the cold weather is overcoming her ineffable graciousness. But isn't she cute! Her wardrobe of the day matched the hat to perfection. Ah, sweet serendipity and friends that are enduring.

Needles: US 7 circular needles, 16" and then US 10/10.5 circular needles, 16"
Cast On = 92 st
Approx. 4 sts = 1 inch
Length of hat = 10 inches
At the end, I just decreased as I did in my earlier post on the Adult Cupcake hat - but with, again, a little fudging (as the leaf pattern is a mulitiple of 12 plus 6, with an extra 2 stitches I reccomend adding so it works out) and no beatiful leaves coming together to a crescendo of nothingness - no, just some plain old decreasing for me.

Leaf Pattern - pattern which is a multiple of 12 plus 6 (can be found in most stitch dictionaries - if you really want me to - I can send it to you - no problem)