FO Report: Turkish Hat

Yarn: Cascade 220 100% wool, one skein black, one skein cream (1/2 to 2/3 of each skein)
Pattern: "Turkish-Patterned Hat" from Hats On by Charlene Schurch
Gauge: 7sts/in
Needles: US4
Size: XL (22")
Started: 12/15/08
Finished: 3/5/09

Well, this one is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's a total disappointment for two reasons:

1. It started out as a Christmas gift for Dan last year but the secret didn't stay in the bag. He therefore saw me knit on it a lot and we talked about the hat, why I selected this pattern for him, sizing, and yadda yadda blah blah blah a lot. That must have made him think a lot since, over the course of my knitting it, he kept distancing himself further and further from the hat. It was ultimately revealed that while he :::loves::: the hat (he made sure to emphasize that part), he didn't see himself wearing it (there's another long story there, with a few laughs to boot, but that's for another time). Sigh. Okay, fine. Keep knitting it and maybe it will fit me?

2. Sizing. See, Dan's got a big head. I started out knitting the XL to accommodate this large noggin but realized halfway in that if it was going to be for me, it was going to be way too big (February Lady Sweater anyone?). But with a patterned cap, you can't really switch gears mid-way without throwing off the pattern completely. I kept plodding along thinking "this will never fit, this is going to be really big," all the while wondering what to do. I still had 20 rounds left to do today when I decided to just find a pattern break, futz it up for 5 stitches (I can't even find that part now) and start decreasing. I really like the star pattern on top, but wish that I could have made it come sooner. It's still a little bit too long...

On the other hand, I'm in love with this hat for two reasons:

1. The pattern was entrancing and it wasn't boring to knit (the span of time it took me to knit it is deceiving - it sat on hold for weeks on end while other projects took the limelight). The Herringbone cast-on was totally cool and I can't wait to use that trick again. The two-color patternwork was slow-going for me since I don't have any special tricks down for the best way to hold two yarns at once, but the challenge was still fun and I think I did an okay job. There's only one real error (not like the one that I purposely put in so I could get to the decreases) and I challenge you to find it...

2. It's a frakkin' two-color, patterned, Turkish hat! It's thick, it's warm, it's cool-looking (unless you're Dan, I guess) and I love it.
I'm still a bit worried about the best way to block it since that Herringbone cast-on is curling and I want the star on top to really shine (pun intended), but I'll figure that out later. I'm wearing it now, so it must not be all that bad.

I just wish that I could actually knit something that f i t s s o m e o n e p r o p e r l y sometime soon?