Finished: Eyelet Cap

So I said I was going to post about all the FO I did for Ravelympics last week but never ended up doing so. I've been feeling a bit burnt out and quite lethargic all week. I was really hoping that the gorgeous sunshine that we've been having would help to raise my spirits and overall health, but alas, it did not. I'm thinking this week I should really go to bed early and get some much needed rest. Or so that's the plan.

Anyhoo, the second FO for the Ravelympics: the Eyelet Cap. Brett calls this a toque and claims it's not a cap or a hat, and since I'm Canadian I should be calling it a toque as well. I simply call it whatever the pattern calls it. I had cast on this cap the night of the opening ceremony just to get it started and on the needles but then didn't get around to working on it until a few days later when I decided that I needed to take a break from the Ribbed Lace Bolero. It took me quite a while to get this project going, I've never knitted a hat from the top down and didn't think it would be any different from a brim up pattern. Yeah, I'll come out and say it, I'm so not a fan. Getting the cap going felt off and weird in my hands. I had started out with double points, which even then had looked wonky to me. So I switch to Magic Loop and that was a definite no-go. So back to the DPNs the project went. I knitted until the piece was big enough to go onto a 16" length circular needle, but because the knitting itself was very foreign feeling to me, the length of the actual needles were too short to do the knitting comfortably. Ugh. Back to the DPNs again until the piece was finally big enough to go onto a 24" long circular needle.

The pattern itself was easy once I got the hang of it and that's when the cap started to work up pretty fast. What really killed me about this whole project was the 8 inches of 2x2 ribbing needed for the brim. I am sooo not a fan of such lengthy rib knitting! 2 inches into the the brim and I was wishing I had someone to knit that part up for me. Actually, if truth be told, I wish I had someone who lived in my closet that would come out just to knit my ribbing parts, weave in my ends, sew my pieces and all other finishes, and who would do my blocking. Sounds mean, doesn't it? That's how much I dislike doing that part of the whole knitting process.

Ok, back to the cap. The second I finished binding off I threw the cap on and took a look in the mirror. Yeah...I think I could've gotten away with only 6" of ribbing. My head isn't that big from forehead to crown, so I think the extra wide brim looks funny on me and makes my head look disc-like. If that makes any sense. I also don't know how I feel about the double thickness of the ribbing either. I think it makes my fat head look even fatter by adding even more width to my already wide face. I think I might have to wear the hat around the house for a while to get used to it and to make a final conclusion as to whether if I really do like it on me or not. But then again, that might have to wait until next winter or if the weather here takes a cold turn. I used Knit Picks' Elegance yarn, which is 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. I should've known from knitting up Elvira that alpaca is just way too hot for me, as wonderfully soft as it is. So this cap is über warm and don't think I'd be able to wear it around the house for more than 10 minutes at a time. Le sigh.

I didn't sew down the brim like you're suppose to. I'm going to wait to do so until I decide whether or not if I like the extra wide brim or if I need to rip it back a few inches. And for that reason I have yet to block it. I didn't want anything to set yet until I was sure of the final product. Not to mention that I've never blocked a cap like this before and am not sure how to go about doing so. I just might have to ask the lovely ladies in my knitting group for pointers.

Eyelet Cap details:
Pattern: Eyelet Cap by Cathy Carron
Yarn: Knit Picks Elegance
Color: 3 skeins in Barn Red