25-06-2020

All sewn up - reasonably neatly, though I think this is one hat that might actually have benefited from being sewn in the round! Adding the extra two full-width rows before the decreases didn’t make that much difference to the amount of wool left over; I clearly panicked too soon in terms of thinking I was running out.

24-06-2020

Thanks to misreading the pattern I only cast on 57 stitches instead of 58 (57 is the stitch count after the lace insert) and had to do a hasty increase before starting the lace section, but that was probably just as well, since 10.5” is too large a diameter for my doll’s head. It might have been a good idea to put in at least some ribbing on the brim, with hindsight, or to use smaller needles - I was counting on being able to do a tight tension and lose the extra half-inch, but it didn’t really work out. (Because of the large pattern repeat it’s really hard to alter the stitch count for the main body of the hat.) As it is, some elastic woven through the brim might not be a bad idea… or trying to take up a slightly wider seam at that point.

I only worked three repeats of the body after the end of the lace, i.e. up to Row 22 at a height of 3 inches instead of 3.5”, because I was worried about running out of wool. However, I got to the end with a reasonable hank left to spare, so it might be worth unravelling the crown and going back to insert the missing two rows. The hat is definitely shorter than the Wave of Light Hat, which was aimed at a 10-inch head.