Knitting is *so* Metal!!!

Dear BlogoFans, it's been a while, but now I have something quite exciting to show you!

For your perusal and edification: a hat that my friend Corey requested quite a while ago and is just now finished, photographed, and ready to share. So what happened is this: approximately 14 months ago, Corey emailed me a pic of a Bearded Toque with the question, "can you make me one of these?" Admittedly, I'm a selfish knitter; I learned to knit because I wanted to make things for myself because either I couldn't find them in shops or I just didn't want to take the time to search them out. Yet, for some reason, I agreed to do this favor for Corey.

Patterns: Bearded Toque and Viking Hat
Yarns: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Pearl Ten (cap) and Cinnabar (beard/moustache),
Louet Riverstone in Charcoal (hat band) and Cream (horns).
Needles: Addi Turbo Circular needles, size US7, except the horns,
which were knit on size US5 needles.

Part of the deal included dinner for me, so over said dinner I got the requisite basic information, like color, general beard shape ideas, etc, and by the end I could tell that this could be no ordinary Bearded Toque. I would combine this idea with the Viking Hat that I had recently seen on Ravelry. Measurements were taken, yarn purchased, and, eventually, a hat was born.


Corey was incredibly patient, and only asked me about his hat once. To his credit, when I originally asked when he wanted the hat, his response was, "next winter." That was in Spring 2008; his "when am I gonna get it?" inquiry was during a very cold walk in January 2009. Yeah.


Learning, however, is of tantamount importance when taking on any project. During this project I learned a new cast-on technique, how to make bobbles, and I learned to not take requests. Really, it's better for everyone involved if my knits are given as surprises.


Besides, surprises are always awesome.