Hat Like a Wheel

It seems my posts lately have been predominately related to crafting, but during the bitterly cold New England winters, sewing and knitting keep my hands (and mind) busy. With such cold temperatures one cannot have too many hats, so hats have been flying off the needles. After covering the heads of my big boys, and then making two more for Little #7 and #8 out of the left overs, Little #2 decided it was her turn for a new hat.  Being a teenager, she was very concerned about style, and was quite particular in her choice of pattern and wool.  She knew she wanted a slouchy beanie, which seems to be quite popular right now, and it had to have a pompom. So after browsing through the patterns on Ravelry, Hat Like a Wheel seemed to fit the bill perfectly. She then had the overwhelming job of choosing the right yarn.  I pulled out my Quince and Co. color cards and Knit Picks catalog, and after much deliberation, she finally decided upon Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed in Heather Oyster. I think it was a lovely choice.  The light creamy color matches most everything in her wardrobe, and the tweed gives the hat the organic, rugged touch that she was looking for.

The pattern was actually quite simple, even though I frogged to the ribbing three times.  I concentrated so hard on following the cable pattern, but the smallest things would distract me, and I would forget where I was. For some reason, I could not figure out what to do and ended up ripping it out.  After the third frogging, something just "clicked ", and suddenly the pattern seemed so simple, and I was binding off in no time. I laugh at myself whenever I think about how foolish I was in making the pattern seem so difficult.  It was like a switch was turned on, and I suddenly could "see" the pattern and read my stitches, knowing exactly what was coming next.  I could even work on it in a room of roudy Littles with no difficulty.  Have you ever had that happen to you when working on a project?  Something that seems to difficult and frustrating all of sudden presents itself as being quite simple?

Joining Ginny.