Uncharted Territory

Once I reached the point where I needed to start decreasing for the top of my hat, I was on my own. Well, the book does have some charts for calf gussets on socks that I might have tried to employ (and it might have been wise to do so); but I just launched out and charted my own. I am not 100% satisfied with the results. There are a few spots I'd like to tweak. But I'm probably 95% satisfied.



There is a little bit of biasing going on. I may block it to see if that makes any difference. I got lots of practice crossing stitches, to the point where the maneuver is almost smooth and I feel as if I might be ready to take on a project that includes more than one basic pattern. It fits well enough, though 1/2 inch shorter would have been OK, too. The fabric is very elastic. Unstretched, the circumference around the bottom is about 19". I can pull it out to at least 24", though the texture starts to flatten out a bit when it's pulled that firmly.

The yarn is Cascade 220. The color (which looks truer in the top photo) is #9474. I used #5 needles, but I'm a loose knitter.