Finished Object - Antler Toque

Knitting on the Arbor Vitae has taken a back seat recently, while my mojo has been a little lacking from having to rip the thing out. Most of my WIPs were not doing anything for me, so I thought I would cast something new on. Deciding what to make was also a little hard, but I have recently discovered a brilliant new app that allows you to make lists and it will choose something at random from that list, so I've loaded up my queue in it and the Antler Toque by Tin Can Knits is what it came out with.

I used a skein from stash to make the hat. It was a yarn from a Knitcrate a little while ago and is Audine Wools Sigh DK, in the Ladybug colourway. The yarn is an 85% Merino Wool and 15% Cashmere, and is incredibly soft. I used one skein to make a hat a little while ago which ended up too big for me so I gave it to my Mam. This one I was determined to make fit for myself. Which meant a couple of false starts.

I started the hat on one of my knit nights, using the recommended needle size. No I didn't gauge swatch... yes, I have learned from the Arbor Vitae, I'm sorry! I knit a fair amount of the ribbing in the child size, using a 4mm needle, before realising that it was still too big. So I ripped it out and went down to a 3mm needle and cast on again. This time the child size was too small, so I was able to up a size and knit the small adult. This made me feel a little better about my smaller than average head.

I have so much trouble being able to knit a pattern that I feel actually fits me in the way I want to, but I guess the joy of knitting is that I can continue to use trial and error to actually find something I will enjoy wearing. I finished the ribbing and moved onto the main body of the hat, which was rather fun to knit, but I did not go up a needle size. I would like to say that was deliberate, but it was because I was sat in bed and I couldn't be bothered to go downstairs and find the right sized needle. Lazy I know, and I might be paying for it now, hopefully a good blocking will sort it all out.

I worked out how to work cables without a cable needle for this project, which I feel is a lifesaver. It allows you to wizz through so quickly. I think there are a good few tutorials for it online. I've never really looked, working on the Arbor Vitae has given me an insight into how cables actually work, so I found working out for myself how it is done rather easy. But do let me know if you want me to write a blog post about it.

Overall the hat fits well. It is tight on my head just how I like it to be, and I finally think I have found the right knitting needle for my hat patterns in future. Even if it is just for the ribbing. I think I will try again, but move up a needle size when I continue with the rest of the hat. The hat itself doesn't come too far down my head, stopping just above my ears, I think I would prefer it to come down a little further and I do feel like it might pop off the top of my head at any moment. I am going to subject the hat to a good blocking to try and smooth out the cables and I am hoping that this too helps the hat to sit on my head in the way that I want it to.

The final touch I added was a pompom. I treated myself to a modern pompom maker. Instead of two rough cut pieces of cardboard, and was able to make a matching pompom for my hat in a fraction of the time. I made in in such a way that I could just tie it on, allowing it to be taken off for blocking. It was quick and easy to do, so there way well be a good few pompoms in the future.

This make you can find on my Ravelry project page here, where the yarn and the pattern are linked. Overall I am pretty excited that I am starting to find the right needle sizes for making hats that actually fit me, so I'm hoping for some more hats soon.