Dec. 29, 2014: This will be an improvised (hopefully) simple toque, for a recipient to be determined in late October 2015. Getting 4.75 sts/in on US4 needles with this yarn (I want a dense knit). First cast on 96 stitches and started 2-2 rib, but was coming out a little too small. Started again with 108 stitches. I am hopeful.

Dec. 30, 2014: Still a little too small with 108 stitches. My gauge has tightened now that I’m knitting in the round. Revised gauge: 5.25 sts/in on US 4 circular, so I’ll need around 120 sts. for a 23” hat. Going to do this as a multiple of 17, decreasing with both k2tog and an SSK in each decrease repeat (see this pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-toque-fit-for-a...), so that the crown is more flat than rounded. Some yarn math: 17x7 = 119. I’ll cast on 120 sts. so that the ribbing at the brim (let’s go for a 1-1 rib this time) is an even number, and the on the first round of decreases, slip in one K3tog to get things down to a multiple of 17 for the rest of the top decreases.

Jan. 30, 2015: I’ve tinkered with this a little over the last month, occasionally ripping out a few rows if the colour changes don’t feel quite right. It’s happening, slowly. Unfortunately, not a subway project because there are three balls of yarn to wrangle.

March 29, 2015: Ignored this for most of February and a half of March. Picked it up again and have been making good progress. Guesstimate 1/2 done?

September 4, 2015: Ignored it some more for most of the spring and summer. Started the decreases today. Except, I probably should have re-read my earlier project notes and started them the way I planned to? Whoops. Will have to rip back a couple rows.

Later that night: Yes, better. Decreases done, just need to bind off, weave in a bunch of ends and maybe possibly make a pompom.

October 10, 2015: Okay, so, here’s the thing. This hat is too big. Since finishing it, I’ve made 2.5 more, all of them sized much better, and each of them done in under a week. So I’m thinking of frogging this and re-making this, smaller, with the same yarn. I don’t know exactly why this ended up so huge. This yarn is a slightly lighter weight than non-superwash Cascade 220, but I used a needle two sizes smaller, and was still worried that it was too small with 108 stitches cast on. It probably wasn’t, I just wasn’t taking in to account the stretchiness of the ribbing. I’ll have to re-measure my gauge on the completed hat before I frog it, work in a decrease from the ribbing to the hat body, and not make it as deep. More soon.

Oct. 11: Re-measured gauge on this. It was a good 25” around. I was at 4.5/in in the hat body, which means I should have 104 sts for a 23” hat. Now frogging. Will cast on 112 for ribbing and decrease down to 104 in body.

Later that night: All frogged, will cast back on in a few days.

Mid-Nov. 2015: Finished it again, size is much better. Wove in ends backstage while ASM for Murder in Green Meadows in November 2015. Just needs a pom-pom, which I’ll get around to eventually.