At least that is what Heather called it when I finished it.  (read:  that hat looks like it was designed by an out of date nerd).  I said that tams were versatile and that you could pull them down over your ears and forhead if it got really cold out.  She said yeah, you can even use them like a balaclava if it is really cold and took a selfie.

The top turned out passable, but nothing to write home about.The stitches were Triple torch, pg. 78 and Elongated-Stitch Waves, page 81.   I cast on 120 stitches.  Barbara had mentioned that the Elongated-Stitch Waves would spread laterally, and I had been meaning to do a tam-like hat for a while, so I decided to take this opportunity.  I decreased on the second white row, 24 stitches evenly around per time, 3 times (down to 48), then 16 stitches per time twice and got rid of them by k2tog arond and ended.

This is my kind of hat…lots of contrast and a top that works

The bottom stitch was curling, so I picked up from the back of the first rows of garter stitch and did some k1, p1 ribbing up the inside of the headband.  It both made the bottom behave and made it squishy and extra warm.  Being in the middle of a COLD snap, it came in handy the other day.  I actually wore it.  And for those that don’t know, I almost never wear hats.

I used Rippled Chevron and Three-and-One Check from page 77, on 112 stitches.

I just looked at the stitch and automatically made the hat.  I did change one thing this time, and that was I cast on fewer stitches (96) for the 4 rows of garter stitch at the bottom than I needed for the body of the hat (108).  I have found that if you don’t do this, there is a tendency for it to flip up.  This hat uses Interlocking Lattice, pg 278.  I decided on 108 stitches because this is 18 repeats of the 6 stitch pattern.  This way, I could decrease above 6 of the little intersections (every third one).  I did a p2tog on top the intersection, then p2 tog on either side above this one two rows later and two rows after that.  By this time, the patterns had joined back up with one stitch between, I did a sl 1, k2tog, psso to join them up, then p2tog on each side of this two rows later and two rows after that.  I kept decreasing vigourously at this point and finished up at 6 stitches before running my tail through and pulling it up.After taking the pictures for the post, I was unhappy with the top and may have re-jigged it a bit, unfortunately, I had done such a great job at burying my ends that I couldn’t repick it.  I would have carried the 6 knit stitches I got from knitting above the last 6 intersections up to the top.  This would have given a bit of a star.  Another time, maybe .

Just the ticket for our January/February weather here. I made the bottom band with Tricolor Basket Plaid, pg 74 and 120 stitches, then went back and picked up 100 stitches from the back of the second row and knit an inner band of knit one purl one ribbing.  This gave me a double thick headband for the forehead and ears.

I joined both back together, reduced to 96 stitches and continued up the hat with Woven Diamond Pattern, pg 97.  I gotta say, I am in love with these patterns that use the floats as decorative elements on the front of the work.  This was one I had been savouring the thought of for a while.  I am glad I like this hat, because I really wanted to make a decent hat with this stitch.  I am also glad I was with my Canterbury Piecemakers (aka Wednesday coffee group) when I was about to do the top of the hat.  Albertina said I shouldn’t do a big topper, just a button or something to bring the maroon back into play.  I did 8 rows of garter stitch on the last 12 stitches, then k2tog around, did a row on 6 stitches and drew my end through.  I used the end to secure the button on top.

To decrease, I did slip 1, k2tog psso at six points every other row, on top of one just completed set of diamonds and in between another set of diamonds.

Great news… I booked a six week trip to Eastern Europe yesterday.  I am going with my brother Charles again.  He was an excellent travelling companion a few years ago for Central America, so I am looking forward to this.  We will arrive in Budapest on the 23rd of March, then work our way south to Greece and come back up to Budapest for me to fly out on May 4th, just in time to start work.  I am hoping to get a new sleep apnea machine that is smaller for the trip.  It also has the ability to work for one night on battery power, so this gives more flexiblity when travelling.I saw the two Cloverleaf Eyelet stitches on pg 170 and decided to stack them on top of each other for this hat.  The Cloverleaf Eyelet Rib was only a 6 stitch repeat as written and the Cloverleaf Eyelet Cable a 7 stitch repeat.  I started knitting the Rib on the bottom and I was not happy with the way I was doing the ssk.  Things turn out differently if you slip the stitches knitwise, purlwise or a combination.  I ended up settling on slipping the stitches knitwise.  I originally added an extra purl between the pattern repeats because I wanted the whole thing to go like a watchcap, so I turned the 6 stitch repeat into a 7.  When I changed over to the Cloverleaf Eyelet Cable and did this for a while, I realised that I had actually increased to an 8 stitch repeat because Barbara Walker had added a knit stitch between each repeat that was not written in the instructions.  I was not happy with anything so I ripped it back all the way.  This meant that I basically knit the hat twice if you count both rip backs together.

I decided that no matter what, I had dicked around enough and even if things didn’t match my vision, I was finishing anyway and moving on.  I had cast on 108 stitches in the final time, this way I had 18 six stitch pattern repeats.  I got rid of them by first reducing every third repeat.  I did a sl 1, k2tog, psso over the cable , then every other row twice more.  This left me with 12 repeats.  I got rid of every other repeat the same way, then finally the last 6.