Sombrero completado

My hat project for the Master Knitting Level I program is finished!


The hat is resting comfortably around a balloon, perched on a wide-mouthed tea cup.

Yarn: Cascade 220, in three colors, the numbers of which I have no idea
Needles: Knit Picks Options, with the cord for 30" needle; US sizes 6 and 8/4.0mm and 5.0mm
Pattern: The one supplied in the Master Knitting Level I instructions.

For the first hat I made, back in September (the one I knit at the wrong gauge), I attached the I-cord embellishment at the top of the hat. I didn't care for it, so for this hat I decided to Kitchener the top closed. Shelly mentioned to me a few months back that the reason for the I-cord/pom-pom/tassel is to hide the circle of fastened off stitches at the top, so why don't I just graft it closed? Never occured to me that would be okay. Perhaps it's considered a more advanced technique, so they didn't mention it. At any rate, I asked on the TKGA MK forum if that would be okay, and they said yes, and to just write a note about the technique I chose and why.

So, yay. I merrily knitted along last night and then came across the last line of decrease instructions, that stated the final number of remaining stitches: 11. Crap. I hadn't ever tried grafting an odd number of stitches, and I wasn't sure it was even possible. It may not be, but I did it some how, and it actually is a really interesting finish for this hat, the way the decreases spiral in and then connect. So I'm happy. It remains to be seen whether or not the MK committee will be happy.

Here is the top:


[Note: I wove in the ends of the Pretty Petals socks at the ice rink this morning! Only two items left on my nerves.]