Looking Back, Part 2

I love every one of my 52 hats, but I do have some favorites-- the good people of Ravelry have some as well. My top five, according to the number of little favorite hearts*:


5. Marsan Watch Cap-- which now looks nothing like it did in this photo. My brother swears it didn't go in the washing machine-- swears it just got wet while he was shoveling snow. According to my understanding, felting requires heat, moisture, and agitation, so I ask you-- how much agitation can a hat undergo while being worn on one's head?!


4. My original sample for the Chroma Stocking Cap-- by the way, my pattern now has 319 hearts of its own, and 23 projects!


3. Pup Tent. I sort of attribute this to the self-consciously arty photos I took of it... since I tend to fave projects with self-consciously arty photos. But it is a damn good looking hat-- I think Bristol would agree.


2. Caller Herrin'-- also one of my absolute favorites. It's probably the best hat I've made, which I attribute to stupendous design and a superbly-written pattern.

And finally, the number-one favorited hat:


Setesdal Love-- which makes me want to do more colorwork with Quince yarns**-- and reminds me that I need to drag that hat out more often, or else find a more worthy owner for it...

Now, on to my favorites! Apart from the two I seem to wear the most lately-- Caller Herrin' and Simple Pleasures-- these are some others I absolutely love. In no particular order:


1. Pinstripe Slouch Hat-- my own hand-painted yarn made this one extra-special. Its new owner informs me that she loves it too.


2. Baby Viking Hat. Speaks for itself, doesn't it?


3. Blue Beret-- which looks looks adorable on everyone who has tried it on so far, including-- and especially-- its new owner, who graciously let me have it back so I can write up the pattern.


4. Tam C-- I wore this a lot last winter and almost everyone who has seen it loves it. It is hard to properly love all of my hats now that I have so many, and this one is overdue for an outing. Tonight, perhaps?


5. 1840 Nightcap. I had to reboot, but it was worth it-- I just adore this hat. My dad doesn't know quite what it's for, but he did wear it Christmas Eve while we sat around drinking Scotch and listening to Nat King Cole.*** I can think of no better purpose for it.

I could possibly drag out my reflections on this project into another post, but I really feel like I've said enough. I'm proud of my work and my efforts, proud of the results, but I don't want to wallow in it any more than I already have. There is no grand, singular lesson to a year of knitting hats-- my hands and mind are as restless as ever, and maybe I understand a bit better how to keep them busy and happy. They want to move on to new things now-- should you be interested to know about those things, stay tuned for one more post.

One more thing: I've had some very lovely and thoughtful comments on my posts and my hats, and knowing that at least a few people were interested in this project helped me get through periods of low motivation-- so thank you for reading!


*For non-Ravelers, when you add a project or pattern in Ravelry to your favorites, a delightful tiny heart appears next to it-- kind of like a gold star, but cuter. As a habitual overachiever, these thrill me to no end.

**These, maybe?

***Christmas Eve PTO = best Christmas present ever!