Comme Ci, Comme Ça

My husband is always pretty honest about my knitting projects ... he was the first one who said my fingerless gloves were really homeless lady and not New York City chic. And, when all is said and done, he usually seems to get it right. So when he said my lace cap looked funny, like a bastardized prayer cap men might wear in a mosque, well, I probably shouldn't have told him to fuck off. I probably should have started frogging the cap. But I didn't.



Maybe it is the brown of the cap with the brown of my hair, or maybe it is the shape of my large cranium, but whatever it is, it's not so hot on me.



Even making funny faces can't seem to make the cap less "Let's go Pray!'



Which is a damn shame because this cap, it's made from bison, "100% American Bison fiber." Or, in layman's terms, squishy, soft, yummy goodness. It feels lovely. Unfortunately, there is an inverse relationship between the way it looks on my head and the way it feels. I can honestly say it looks better on my dog as a beret than on my head as a cap. I am kind of wishing I never broke the tail off so that I could frog that hat and use the skein for something else. But I did break it off and feel kind of like I am committed. I guess I could just join the cap part of the skein with the leftover part of the skein if I happen upon a divine pattern.

The yarn was from last year's Rhinebeck haul and hails from Still River Mill. The pattern came with the yarn. The pattern itself was really simple. Knitting the pattern, less simple, as I'm sure TWG would acknowledge.

It calls for four US size six dpns, which totally did not work for me. I had needles falling and dropping and stitches sliding around and having to be moved from one needle to the next and it was bad. I used a lifeline at the end of the ribbing/beginning of the pattern and I totally needed it. Repeatedly. I tried two circs, but that also was suckalicious and required the lifeline. After ripping back the third or fourth time, I ended up going with one shorty (twelve inch) circ and knitting in the round. Once I did this I motored right along and never needed a lifeline again. In fact, I felt so comfortable knitting it this way, I didn't even bother putting a new lifeline in. So if you are going to make this cap, I recommend one short circular needle.

I did have an issue when it got down to the end. The directions read, All rows - *k2tog: repeat from * until there are 4 stitches left. With tapestry needle, thread the tail of yarn through the remaining stitch loops and tighten. When I did this (that is, knitting two together round and round until I only had four stitches left), I found the top looked gathered and not as polished as I would have liked. I don't remember the sample cap at Rhinebeck looking this way so I re-did this step three times. Each time I got the same effect. Either I misunderstood what they wanted me to do, or this is the look of the hat. Either way, eh.



Yarn: Still River Mill, Luxury Bison Down, 1 skein (125 yards/25 grams). I have a good hunk of yarn left. Maybe not enough for another hat, but a good amount nonetheless.
Needles: Susan Bates Circ, 12 inch length, size 4.25 mm (US 6)
Pattern: Buffalo Gal Lace Cap
Modifications: None. I did the pattern exactly as written.
Time: 6 days.
Care: Um, not really sure. "No special washing is needed, just treat like all other fine washables." WTF? "After each washing, your yarn will be softer, fuller, and have a beautiful golden halo." Great, but how do you recommend that I wash it?? Grr.