The ill fated cabled hat

After making the cabled scarf for my mum, I was determined to make her the matching hat before winter really got going in Melbourne.

Just before making the basket weave hats, I embarked on this little number. E claimed to have the pattern for Irish Hiking Hat to match the scarf, but because I was a dope a used the wrong yarn and the wrong needles, alterations had to be made which saw to this project taking a while to get off the ground.

Finally, E found an alternative. Make a cable band to go around the head, then just stockinette to the top. Sweet!

And I didn't have to restart this one because by making the band first, we could tell when it was long enough to go around the head. E came up with this idea from Coronet to deal with my bulky yarn problem. Ack! It would have looked so much nicer with the smaller yarn! I guess when I first got back into knitting, I was of the mind set of using thick yarn to get the job done faster! Now that I'm a knitter, and not just someone who knitted a scarf, I don't mind small needles and light yarn!

But alas, E, who oversaw this project and Edan's hat as we went on our road trip to Arizona in what I dubbed 'The Knitmobile', may be losing her much loved role as my "knitting mentor". One would think that as they knitted away with their knitting mentor by their side for eight hours, they could relax. The mentor would catch them if they fell. As I knitted in stockinette and wanted to keep going, E said "Five and a half inches? That's long enough! Start decreasing!" Yes, mentor. Whatever you say mentor. Who am I to argue with your expertise?

So I finished it and it looked very nice. But look how small it is on my mum's head!

So, when I was back in Australia, I took it back from her and now I am going to do it again. I'd rather do that than have her not wear it at all because it's too small! I have a while though. It's spring there, so I have until next June to get it done! Woo-hoo!

Thanks a lot E! Some mentor your cracked up to be! You just wanted to humiliate me so you could make the perfect Irish hiking hat and flaunt it all over your blog while I look like a FOOL! Well, it's not going to work! I've got some plans for the new hat and it'll be great because it wont involve YOU!

So er...I'll be calling you soon with some other questions soon...

If you don't know me, you might think I'm an ungrateful and crazy bitch. E knows I'm kidding and not at all ungrateful, but possibly still a crazy bitch.