done! done! done!

My needles have been a flurry of activity and yesterday I cast off with a completed hat. At the time, there was no way it'd fit on my head and I was fairly certain that I'd just finished a hat for my donation pile.

Then I blocked it.


( 18 degrees F and the wind is blowing...)

.....and it fits. It even fits over the hair "bump."


on the "sun porch" (it's screened in (read: snow blows onto the porch) and cold out there!)

To say that I'm excited is an understatement. The cotton liner has been sewn down and the only things left to do are figure out the "twisty" thing that is made up of the extra yarn AND go back and pull a few of the strands a bit tighter. The stitches evened out with the blocking (I used a peanut butter jar wrapped in some extra fleece fabric and a plastic shopping bag) but there is a looseness/ladder'ness where the needles joined.

If that knocks me down to silver or bronze it's okay.

It's done. And it fits.

(edited to add project specs)
Pattern: The "Kristen" Hat Kit from Bea Ellis Knits
I'd order from them again in a heartbeat and highly reccomend their website!
needles: dpn size us3 for the liner, dpn us5 for the hat
started and finished during the Olympics; I could probably have knit the whole hat during a weekend, but being tied down to a chart pattern meant it took a bit longer.