My Big Fat Irish Cranium

So, whoa. A month has slipped by on me. Where DID it go!?!?!? It has been a good month on this end. A really good month.One that included a trip to London with my family (more on that later), hosting a baby shower for a dear, dear friend, weekend house guests who convinced us a trip to the fabulous new aquarium in Toronto (AMAZING!) during March Break was a good idea... all topped with a pretty decent amount of knitting. All in all, two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

I figured that before I bore you with details of our latest travel adventure, I would share with you one of my latest finished projects. Besides... knitting is what brought you here in the first place. Isn't it?

It's nothing major. Nothing huge. But it's a hat.

A green hat that just so happens to be one day post St. Patrick's Day. Which admittedly... is pure coincidence. I really couldn't care less for that "holiday", despite my dark hair, pasty white skin and rather Irish sounding last name.

This lovely green hat came to be as a result of seeing a customer named Emily wearing this hat perched beautifully on her head. I asked her what pattern she had used, immediately proceeded to download it and then 100% copied her. Like... totally ripped off her style. Even her colour selection.

 

I cast on while in London, but knit the majority of it (read- all of it, minus the ribbing) on the plane coming home as I was glued to that tiny tv screen they sit you in front of for the entirety of the flight. (Anyone out there seen Captain Phillips?!?!? I was DYING the entire movie. OH MY GOSH! So intense... Be glad you weren't sitting next to me during that haul home. The noises that I was making were truly outrageous for an airplane.)

Sadly, the one thing that I forgot to consider while knitting this beautiful green hat however... is that I have one giant Irish head. My newly knit hat just didn't look quite the same on my head as it did Emily's.

Either I have an huge head... or that movie was just too much for me to handle, thus affecting my gauge.

I suspect it's my skull that's the problem however... as this isn't the first time I have encountered this situation in my knitting career.

But instead of ripping it out and starting again, I just cast on another one.

And knit it until it did fit my giant melon.

Should you be so inclined to copy Emily, I wouldn't blame you. Here is what you will need to know.

Pattern- Upper East Side by Joji Locatelli.
Size- The first one I knit was a medium, then went on to knit a large for the second version. Despite the pattern's description... I did not end up with a 'very' slouchy beret. Simply, a hat that fits.
Yarn- Three balls of Zara Chine in shade 815 (three balls made two hats).
Needles- 3.5mm and 4mm, 40 cm circular and 4mm double points (for the crown of the hat).

The original itsy-bitsy version that I didn't dare try to model for you...

So my dear knitting friends, it would appear as though we are still in need of our hats in this part of the world.

Rest assured however, that Spring has sprung in London-town.

Which means that we cannot be too far behind.

♥