Tiny Gnome Hat

Or, the litte hat that tried hard but didn't fit because I didn't look at the pattern AT ALL! Complacency is the downfall of the lazy knitter...

When Ari had sent me the pile of yarn about a month ago, she had requested a regular beanie that she could wear everyday, as well as a hat with her boy's footie team colours and a pair of armwarmers for her cold limbs.

'A beanie? That's easy, I've made heaps of them, I could whip one up with my eyes closed and one arm tied behind my back!' So complacent...so foolish.

I looked around for a simple pattern that I hadn't tried before and stumbled upon the Republic Hat by Nicole Reeves. Everyone on Ravelry was doing it, there were loads of photos, and it seemed soooo easy. Garter and stockinette stitch, sew seams, add a button and you're done! Could've knitted it with my feet!

So I grabbed a pair of 6mm needles, cast on 56 stitches, knit in garter stitch for just over an inch, bound off 6 stitches and continued the rest in stockinette, then seamed it and put it onto my head. Or rather, tried to put it onto my head - the thing was too small and would only sit on the back of my head for a couple of seconds before popping off.

Gahddammit! I was supposed to send the package off the Ari tomorrow! ARGHHGGSHHH! There was another one and a half balls of that yarn left so I grabbed some 8mm needles, cast on and knit as furiously as I could. While watching Norwegian gore.

The good thing about 8mm needles is that your project knits up pretty quickly, so beanie version 2.0 was finished before the Nazi zombies were done tearing up the pretty Norwegian ski bunnies.

I'm keeping version 1.0 for myself. It makes me feel like a little garden gnome. All I have to do is steal the Man-creature's pipe and grow myself a fancy beard.