I have a new hat!

It's true, I have a new hat.  It is lovely and green and has a peak!  It is my finished Camden Cap by Woolly Wormhead from Classic Woolly Toppers, that I told you about a couple of weeks ago.  This pattern is the one shown on the cover of the book, and is the main reason I bought it, though I also have my eye on at least one other pattern in the immediate future and other hats from it down the line.

The reason I wanted to make this hat is the peak.  The peak is also what caused me the only trouble in the pattern, and that was purely down to me not looking at the pattern properly.  If you make this pattern listen to me - READ IT PROPERLY BEFORE BLOCKING YOUR PEAK!  Public Service Annoucement over.

I blocked my peak in this shape.

What I should have done, is blocked it in a wider and more elongated shape, as is illustrated in the pattern by the shape of the template you should be cutting out.  It wasn't too much of a problem in the end, but I think the drawing the correct template outline would have been easier if the peak had been blocked in the right shape.

Once I got my plastic peak cut out of quilter's template plastic I then inserted it into the peak pocket.  I have to say, this is the fiddliest bit of the whole hat.  You knit the pocket together using a three needle bind off and the plastic constantly tries to escape while you are doing so.  Once this bit was done, however, the hat flew off the needles, which resulted in this:

I love the yarn I used, Malabrigo Rios in Lettuce.  It's not quite so soft as the Malabrigo Worsted, but it is superwash so it won't felt in the rain.

I really like the look of the twisted rib that is used throughout the hat, but it is forced apart on the band above the peak.  This is because of the insertion of additional stitches between the rib at the top of the band to make the body of the hat larger.  This means the band is less elastic and doesn't hug the head as much as I would like.  I am tempted to weave some elastic thread into the back of the band stitches, like I did here, to increase the grip around my head, as I don't want to loose my hat in a stiff breeze!

But apart from the slightly loose hat band, I love this hat.  It's a lively colour to cheer me up in the cold weather and it is light but warm.  Not only that, it keep the rain off my glasses, which, in my opinion, is very important in Winter.

It keeps my ears and head warm and it's quite flattering.  What more could a girl want in a hat?  I think next up I'm going to knit the Sumner pattern from this book.  I have some BabyLongLegs BooSock that will suit it nicely.

I think the beanie shape of Sumner will provide a nice contrast to the peaked Camden Cap, so I shall have a hat for all occassions this Winter.

To see other finished work, please click a button.