Another FO and a discovery

Greetings from very cold and beautifully snowy Crested Butte, Colorado. I spent most of yesterday in route to this unique little ski town, and I really wanted to share my most recent FO with you:

It's Renfrew, by the lovely Jane Richmond! I made the hat for a young boy in my family who is expecting a new sibling... Since babies normally get an influx of gifts, I thought it might be nice to knit him something that was just for him.

The pattern is great- very simple to follow and creates these adorable little bubbles up the side (or front). The pattern accounts for crown decreases, too, so there's one bubble at the very top that's scaled down in size. This may not seem like a big deal, but I really appreciate a pattern that takes the time and care to properly resolve a design motif.

You might notice that the vast majority of the hat is reverse stockinette stitch... The pattern accounts for the fact that a good lot of us hate purling, so the hat is actually knitted inside out to minimize the use of the purl stitch as you make it. This pleases me. Yes, yes. It does.

I used madelinetosh tosh sport for my hat, and size 6 needles. A different yarn and different needle size, but not enough to really veer to far off gauge. I knitted the beanie version (as opposed to the more popular toque), and was pleasantly surprised to find the hat was small enough to possibly fit on a kid's head. It certainly stretched to fit mine, since I tried it on before blocking. After seeing my petite FO, I was pretty skeptical that the beanie pattern as written would make an adult-sized hat of any sort. It stretched to fit nicely, but I have a small head. I suggest sticking with the size 7s suggested or popping up to an 8 if you're more normal-headed and knitting the beanie for yourself.

One last shot... I love the RED RED RED of the Tosh Scarlet color way:

I'll be updating you about the yarn situation in my tiny town, too... A swift in a store window has been spotted, despite all Ravelry discussions to the contrary...

-YX