Thursday, April 9, 2009

Unfortunately Incompleta

I'm not really big on ripping when it comes to my knitting. I don't have an intense need for all of my finished objects to be absolutely perfect - in fact, I think that mostly unnoticeable mistakes can lend a piece some character, and a reminder that it was made by human hands. Plus, every time I have ripped out something to fix a minor mistake, I have done much more harm than good...so usually, I let the little things slide, and make a conscious decision to accept the bigger mistakes as "design enhancements." This, though, this I cannot overlook:



I made this hat (Struan by Ysolda Teague) for my little brother in early March, hoping to have it done before our last ski trip of the season. The hat was a blast to make -- I enjoyed the crown shaping greatly -- but because it's made with a top-down construction, the length of the finished hat is left to the discretion of the maker. And because I live two hours away from my brother thus didn't have his head handy to make the appropriate measurements, I left the finished length to his discretion. And the finished length that was given ended up being a gross overestimation of the actual size of his noggin.



And I can't have my brother snowboarding around in a hat that covers his eyes. That would be both dangerous and very irresponsible. So I will have to resort to ripping and cross my fingers that I don't mess up the flow of the cable pattern in the process.

Sorry, Al...I promise your hat will be ready before next year's ski season!

16 comments:

Susan said...

lol. You could try washing it and then drying it a bit. Maybe it'll shrink enough to fit....you can see that I'm not one for fitting myself. lol

Sophy said...

if you wrap a strip of black leather just above the brim, it could be a really cute cloche for hillary! and you can make a matching struan for alec! ;D

Eliza said...

um... I don't think I'd ever trust a brother to give accurate head measurements. No offense to him... it just leaves too much to risk.

It's too bad that the brim is what needs to be ripped. What about tying some yarn around the top and making it into a little ball? EZ suggests putting a ping pong ball in the top of one of her hats, to make it float in water.

Anonymous said...

Looking good, Al!

Philigry said...

oh, good luck! let us know how it goes!

jennifer said...

Hahaha...love the pictures! So frustrating though, even for a smaller project. Good luck to you!

Margo said...

Great hat, Hil! Travis wanted me to pass along that if Alec wore it to a high school, it would be "savage." I knew you were a trendy knitter ;P

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

I could make a highly inappropriate remark about men and measurements, but won't.

I too share your philosophy about letting small things slide and viewing larger ones as unique design elements!

Have a wonderful Easter :)))

vicki said...

I like the hat, pattern looks great, I vote with the wash and try to shrink it "a Little" but he looks good in it either way,
Vicki

Emilee said...

Haha~ But it will surely keep his ears warm ^_^ I just read I think all your back posts! Your Finished projects are so inspiring!! I will surely become a dedicated follower >_<
<3 Emilee

Journeying Five said...

hilarous...he looks kind of cute it in for a brother!

At Home Mommy Knits said...

Good luck with your brothers hat.

Lisa Stepi said...

It's frustrating when that happens - hope your second version comes out well:)

Anonymous said...

Like the pics - very funny.
I used to make knitted items for my brother too, until he moved house and left them all behind. I took the hint!!! :-)
P

a friend to knit with said...

al was such a trooper to model the oversized hat!!
the next one will look totally cool on the slopes.

Teresa said...

Oh, poor hat - it looks really cool though. Nice and warm and perfect for being out in the snow.

Your approach re: ripping back is eerily like my own. You'd think we were born on the same day or something...