He needed a new hat. I had the yarn. We discussed the design process.
Yarn: Iron Horse Farm, heavy worsted/aran weight, 160 yards of pumpkin and 160 yards of brown
Fibers: 50% BFL, 50% Shetland wool (hand wash, lay flat to dry)
Needle: #8 Addi Turbo Rocket 16" for ribbing, #9 Addi Turbo Rocket 16" for the hat body
When I bought the yarn, I had thought of colorwork. When I pulled it out to evaluate suitability, colorwork was too fussy for now. So the design was to start with a brown brim, knit about 3/4 of the brim in brown, start the pumpkin with a hidden, folded part of the brim, do the first cable repeat in pumpkin, then switch to brown for the rest of the hat. That would stretch the available yarn, and create a nice color combination and contrast.
I swatched. The nascent brim looked HUGE. I put it on a piece of yarn. He tried it on. He raised his eyebrow, and it fell into his eyes. I used a crochet hook to pinch off a cable repeat while the circle of yarn was still around his forehead, and went from 144 stitches to 132 stitches. Much better.
When I got to the second cable repeat, he demanded more pumpkin. The pumpkin extended to the last full cable repeat that I could eke out of the skein. He agreed. One more cable repeat in brown, then decreases for the crown. The top was a rectum closure. Four ends (associated with the color changes) to weave in, the top strand to tack and cinch. I used the cast-on tail, anti-slinky method of closing the gap described by Patty Lyons in a recent MDK post.
(It is a fantastic technique and where has it been all my knitting life? My unventions never came close to being as slick.) The brim was super springy, so needed to be tacked to the main body of the hat so it would not sproing free into the wearer's eyes.
The pictures show the design process, the hat on the man, the hat on the exercise ball, and the hat on the floor. He loves it. So do I.