So great I knit it thrice!
The giftee’s prompt, find a hat that completely covers my ear lobes. So I searched and searched and searched. I sent out inquiries on carrier pigeons, looking high and low for a hat that completely covered his earlobes. I was DESPESARTE to find a hat that suited this prompt or be in for another year of humiliation as he wore his fake bear Russian style hat with hidden ear muffs that came down when needed.
Thanks to the FO thread in the gift-a-long I happened upon a project where the giftee’s earlobes seemed to be completely covered & I inquired of the knitter about the point exactly. I showed dad (aka giftee) the results of my queries and he picked Squib Hill Hat as the replacement for his fake bear hat. To my surprise and delight, it was from a pattern designed by my co-admin, Nina Machlin Dayton (aka Ninaknits)!
Since warmth was the order, I knit it out of organic cotton worsted weight from my stash. But due to the stretching nature of organic cotton, the first one turned out a bit wide for giftee’s snugness desires. I knit the next one down one size & giftee loved it! He asked for a backup for when the primary one was in the wash (which with Puddles, happens frequently). The first one got wrapped up and dropped off at the shelter to spread the gift-a-long Christmas cheer and warm a member of our community.
The pattern was easy to follow, quick to memorize, well laid out, and best of all, resulted in a perfect earlobe covering FO! I enjoyed reading Nina’s backstory to the design and giftee even commented that he would be ready to face Squib Hill in that hat too :-).
So check out Squib Hill Hat for all your difficult giftees! Then join the gift-a-long :-).