Get Ahead, Get a Hat

This is the first of a couple of hats that I made over the Christmas break. I was given a kit for a hat and arm warmers quite a while ago by my friend Nicky (who I made a blanket for which you can see here) and I finally got around to making them.

The kit came with its own pattern, and both parts are knitted flat then seamed together, and I started the hat as a travelling project to take out to Germany. The journey started fine, but by the time I had made it out the airport in Germany, I had snapped both of the old (and brittle) needles that I had, and one was in three pieces... It was a small disaster, but I soon found out that German supermarkets sell knitting needles (hurray!) and the disaster was a very short lived one and I got back to keeping my hands happy.

By the time we made it back to England the hat was done and I had finished the first arm warmer on the plane home, the second one was finished shortly afterwards and the set made its way to my best friend Emma, where they are currently being loved and warn. (a lot more than they would have been if they stayed with their maker!) - not that I don't like them, I do, I just have a lot of hats...

The pattern itself alternates rows of stocking stitch, from one right side to the other in rows of four. Which creates the ripple effect, and I was a little dubious of it to start with, but did slowly fall in love with it as I knitted along.

Safe to say this was the first hat that I knitted, and I don't think it was perfect (far from it) and some of the decreasing is slightly dodgy, but it shapes well, and suits Emma's head - yay!