FO: Dean Street Hat

I can't believe that I almost forgot to post about this one!

Pattern: Dean Street Hat by Nina Machlin Dayton
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Olive, about 1/2 of a skein
Needles: Size 6 and Size 7 16" circulars from Knit Picks
Date Started: March 26, 2009
Date Finished: April 13, 2009
Ravelry Link

I had purchased one skein of Malabrigo from WEBS last October and had been looking around for the right pattern for it - and I just loved this hat! I did have some gauge issues, though. I thought I was pretty close (I did actually get out my ruler and everything!), but I ended up frogging the medium size and restarting on the large. That nagging feeling that it was going to be too small kept cropping up. Boy, am I glad I trusted my instincts! Once I got the hat off the needles, I realized that my gauge had been way off. Luckily, this still fits me fine, and I think it will be even better after I get around to blocking it.

The Malabrigo was just lovely to work with, but I am worried about the pilling factor. Perhaps my tighter gauge will help with that some? The hat also used up a little less yarn than I expected, so I still have about half left - any ideas for another project? I may just end up doing another simple hat, or I have also been eyeing Pauline.

The needles I used were also new - I ordered several sizes of the Knit Picks 16" circulars to try out. I had heard that sometimes the smaller circulars can be a pain to knit with, but I didn't have any problems. I really liked them, actually - I'll have to eventually order a few more sizes.

So now I'm just trying to finish up a pair of socks (I'm trying not to fall victim to SSS - second sock syndrome) and I've started Picovoli using some recycled cotton yarn. I love the way the yarn looks, but it is proving to be a little hard on the hands, so I've had to take frequent breaks from that one. Oh, well, I'll finish it eventually - it's not a race, right?