In Which the Pirate Can’t Count.

Yesterday I had a surprise day off work due to high winds. It was such a strange storm – we didn’t really get any rain, only winds. The airport a few miles away reported wind gusts of almost 70 miles an hour! Trees came down around the area, lots of people lost power, bridges were closed, and they’re just now starting to get everything put back together again. But hey, a day off means a day to knit! And what better project to work on than my new hat design?

There I was, happily knitting away, when it occurred to me that the hat was looking awfully… well… tall. There are a lot of rounds left in my chart, and my head’s not that big. Hm, I thought to myself, it’s the same number of rounds as that other hat I made, and that one fits all right. So I kept going. But it kept nibbling at the edge of my thoughts. Isn’t this hat kind of tall? I’m nowhere near the decrease rounds yet. Am I sure about this?

I went downstairs and retrieved last year’s hat, which fits me snugly and is exactly the right height, and set it down next to the new hat. Suddenly the mistake was crystal-clear:

I had knit fifteen rounds of corrugated ribbing instead of ten. The chart says ten (I triple-checked) so I don’t know why those five extra rounds are in there, but there they are. I could see three options:

One, ignore the problem and keep knitting. But then I’d have a too-tall hat, wouldn’t I, and what good is a too-tall hat? It wouldn’t be sufficiently too tall to become a slouchy hat, it would just be a sticky-up hat. No good.

Two, rip back to the tenth round of ribbing and begin again. But then I’d lose a lot of work, and a lot of time, and I’d be annoyed.

Three, rework the chart so the decreases at the top of the hat begin a little earlier. That seemed like the most wise decision to make, so that’s what I’ve done, and I think it will be all right.

I still have a doubt or two about the hat’s circumference, but I’m sure I’m not fully accounting for the power of a good strong wet blocking. With only 20-something rounds to go, I should be finding that out pretty soon!