Anyway, him and a few guys at work are going skiing in January at the swanky ski resort of Val D’Isere in France. I thought I’d knit him a hat to keep his ears and head warm. The only thing I asked him was the colour he preferred: blue or green. He said blue which was a relief since I wanted to use Gleam in the Dark for this hat and not dig into the other worsted colourways which I have already earmarked for sweaters.

I cast on with the prescribed number of stitches on the pattern and kept knitting until I have a good 3 inches of the stockinette section. I keep telling myself that it will fit but the more I looked at the hat on the needles, the more I realized that it was way too big. So two days later I ripped the whole thing and started over with 112 sts.

I bound off the night before our Secret Santa reveal day which meant that I did not have time to give the hat a bath. Stef had strict instructions not to wash it himself – I have serious felting issues but more on that later. I think the hat looks alright. Shame I couldn’t take a proper photo since it was a rowdy day at the office and Stefan wouldn’t stay still!

Project: Stef’s Val D’Isere Hat
Pattern: Samaras Hat by Jen Showalter
Yarn: Sundara Worsted Merino
Colourway: Gleam in the Dark, a little less than 1 skein
Needles: 5mm
Cast on: 8 Dec 2009
Cast off: 14 Dec 2009

Have fun at Val D’Isere, Stefan and don’t forget to take a photo of yourself wearing the hat while you’re at the top of that hill!