gathered goodness

In contrast to the hat I previously wrote about, I have nothing but positive feelings about this one. It’s Ana from Perl Grey. This hat has a fairly unusual construction, which I was skeptical about to begin with, but as I knitted and finished the hat, I just became more and more impressed with the design and my project. A hat success!

As you can probably tell from the picture, this hat is knitted in a different direction from most. You start with a provisional cast on and work up a large rectangle– long enough to go around the head with that delicious ease at the back. You pick up stitches and unpick the cast on, ending up with live stitches along 3 sides of the rectangle. And then, the coolest thing! The final row of the pattern is a smorgasbord of short rows, 3 needle bind-off, and clever finishing, and the result is all that slouchy gathered goodness at the nape of the neck. It was super fun to knit, and it looks and feels great to wear.

Let’s be honest. The yarn helps. This hat, at this size and gauge, took just under a full skein of Malabrigo Worsted. (This color is Verde Esperanza.) At first I was thinking that I’d be bored with knitting a plain stockinette rectangle, but the soft, gently variegated yarn made it a pleasure. It practically flew off the needles… and with the fascinating fun of the complicated finishing, the result was a huge rush of that “project satisfaction” I was missing when I wrote about the previous hat the other day.

It’s official. I will knit this hat again. I mean, an excuse to buy and knit through a whole skein of Malabrigo? No question. A cute hat I’d actually wear and like? Mindless “movie” knitting topped off with an educational challenge? Bring it on!