Dead or Alive? A post about a hat.

I owe Thelma Egberts a debt of gratitude.  Her Fish Hat pattern in '08 Knitty is one of my favorite patterns of all time.  It is a cool pattern all by itself, but you can go nuts personalizing it.  I made the first one last year as a Christmas present for a nephew .  I used Patons wool and made random width stripes depending on my fancy.   It came out so well that I made one for the kiddo and went nuts doing  fair isle with scrap yarn.  I am still really proud of that hat.  Then a few weeks ago I made another one using up lots of bits and ends of Patons yarns.  I kept the stripes narrow because I was worried about running out of yarn.  The tail and fins are two different colors because I really did run out of  blue, green, and red yarn.

When I gave my nephew his at the family Christmas party last year, one of the farmer's brothers loved it.  He put it on and joked that he wanted one.  He is an avid fisherman, so I sent him a note asking if he was serious.  He said he was, so I'm making him one.  The yarn for his is red malabrego and black and white alpaca.  I moved up a needle size because he has a big head and it is thick yarn.

Day 1: Knit the red of the mouth and half the short rows.

Day 2. Knit the other half of the short rows.

Day 3: Knit 1.5" up.  Start worrying that I will not have enough of the black/gray/white  alpaca.  I am forever worrying about not having enough yarn.  Gonna compensate with wider white stripes.

Day 4: Just keep knitting.  Not sure I like the stripes.

Day 5: First decrease done.  Is he really going to wear this?  Really? 

Day 6: Second decrease done.  Where do you think my size 8 double pointed needles are?  Still worrying about running out of yarn.

Day 7: Went to Saturday knitting and knit like a madwoman.  Used the magic loop technique to deal with the small rounds.

Day 8: Finished knitting and wove in all the ends.

Took a break for a few days.   

 Day 12: Time to work on the eyes.  I like him.  

1st Christmas present made.