FO: Fornicating deer hat

Since Dave was gone most of the weekend, I had a lot of time on my own to sit and ponder the state of the world. Or at least, the state of my knitting...

Some of you will remember, way back at the start of the year, I had grand plans to make my Dad an afghan for his new family room. An afghan full of many colourwork squares... each one a different animal.

I even got one square done - the bear. And eventually, I started on another - the beaver. And then...
a) I realized I just didn't have enough time to get it done for Christmas (my fault, I was procrastinating).
b) I was procrastinating because I just didn't enjoy it. Colourwork is not my favourite. I'm learning to like it more, but really only if I can do it in the round.

If I was smart, when I started to the project, I would have added a section to the chart so I could knit it in the round and then steek it. Or at least, created a back panel so I could knit it in the round. (This would have made the blanket extra cozy, but also eaten a lot of yarn.)

So... on the weekend I made the decision to bite the bullet... and give up.

I frogged the beaver square (which was only about 1/3 done) and am working on plans to turn the bear square into a pillow for his family room. The pillow will be lovely, but just didn't seem like enough of a Christmas present... so I grabbed the frogged yarn from the beaver square, and cast on for a hat.

But not just any hat... a hat that is so perfect for my Dad, it's scary.....

Yup.... those deer are doing exactly what you think they are doing.

The pattern is the Fornicating Deer chart. Since the yarn was sport weight, I was able to do exactly as the chart designer suggested and use We Call Them Pirates as the pattern and sub out the chart. Though really, I only used the cast on number from the the pirates hat. I did 2.5 inches of ribbing, 2.75 inches of stockknit and then started the chart. I ended it after the deer were finished and started the decreasing ( I used the decrease numbers from the pirates hat again).

I really think this one wants for a pompom, but I don't think my Dad is much of a pompom guy. I'll run it by Mom and see what she thinks.

The yarn I used was Regia Silk 6ply (Green) and our undyed Stray Cat. They match perfectly in weight. I'd originally purchased the Regia eons ago, with the intention of making myself a sweater. I am very happy to say, I still have 12 balls left, more than enough to make myself something... because I absolutely love how it knit up at this gauge.

I've just got to get Sandpoint and Dave's Mom's socks out of the way, and then the Christmas knitting is done. Then I can focus on knitting for me again!