Last year (2011) at NY Sheep & Wool I purchased a ball of Briar Rose 100% cashmere - a dk weight and about 200 yards. Dyed in dark greens, browns, and a little bit of dark mustard, I thought it would be perfect for my dark-eyed, dark-haired husband.
I started the hat in September? October? And knit the brim on size 7s, until it was abandoned in a panic over getting class samples knit. Upon reflection I realized I really should go down a needle. And what if I made it too short? My husband has a large head. Time passed, and the little project remained in its bag until Christmas Eve. When I had an epiphany. I took it out of the bag, ripped it out, cast-on again, and away I went.
So, yes. I did give P a hat that was still on the needles. Being a knitter's husband, he took it all in stride, and handed it back to me so I could continue to work on it.
I love buying a luxury skein now-and-again, especially if the project intended will use up almost every precious inch of yarn, and so I designed the hat as I went. It is knit top-down, in 1x1 ribbing, a little tedious, yes, but quite attractive, very stretchy, and it looks tidy. Plus, it works beautifully with my favorite finishing technique - the tubular bind-off.
I put the hat on him around lunch time, and he hasn't taken it off yet. No complaints of itchiness one bit. Problem solved!
And my leftovers?
Approximately 19 inches of yarn. That is a good use of luxury yarn!
Now I hope to write it up into a pattern, and because it is knit top-down, it can be knit with just about any gauge - one continues to increase until the proper number of stitches are obtained and then knit for length.
