A brief recap:
Fell in love with the hat in a painting.
Knitted a sample.
Discovered that I had lost my notes.
Backward engineered the basic instructions based on the sample, and started knitting a new sample. I chose a looser gauge for the new yarn (Malabrigo Rios), and a new and improved method of decreasing.
And then I realized that the fit of the hat would not be what I want. It needs a tight gauge, even with the fatter yarn, to create a stiff fabric that will work for the 1920s shape. (The same sort of fabric, or at least a similar sort, could be achieved by lightly felting a loosely knitted hat–but not with Rios, which is superwash!)
So I cast on for a third sample. Luckily, the second one only lost me a day’s knitting–and was totally worth it to work out some kinks! I also figured out a way to improve the short rows, and better/easier/prettier short rows are always a win. This time my notes should be much harder to lose (I typed them, which always helps). Up next: a photo! Once I finish knitting!
Can’t wait to see it. Love the original picture.
Well, I finished the hat (yay!) and I love the new decreases (yay!) and the short rows worked perfectly (yay!) but I hate the brim (uh-oh).
[...] Catch up from the beginning: Inspiration | Swatching | Rough Draft | Starting (almost) From Scratch | Too Many Samples? [...]