Using the same earflap hat generator as in the post before this one.... and the fornicating reindeer chart (by Anne Rutten) from here... and i made a fu**ing reindeer hat. I believe that you have to be a member of ravelry in order to view that link. This was my second project using the stranding technique, and my first working from a chart. I had to re-chart the deer and trees from the original 32 stitch repeat to a 36 stitch repeat in order to accommodate the sizing for the hat. I basically flushed the trees out, adding one extra stitch to each half of the trees, and added an extra space in between each tree and deer. I also made up my own border design... that part looked better on paper.
Other fun stuff is the conversation whether these are reindeer or moose. Apparently some very straight men were upset that both reindeer have antlers... which would make them gay. Some husbands actually insisted that the front deer have the antlers edited out, to be sure no confusion would be made. Hell... makes me want to make one in rainbow colors.
It is a little big on me... but should fit the recipient like a dream! I love this hat generator...pattern.. thingy. Can you call a generator a pattern? A hat generator pattern? Whatever it is... it is fabulous! I was a little concerned about the reindeer chart being so high and that the seam created by sewing the inside hem down was going to create an unsightly bulge that would land directly across their cute little fu**ing noses... see note below about blocking
I used ella rae classic (#132-dark charcoal) for the main color of the hat & cascade 220 (#8401-light heather grey) & cascade 220 (#8400-medium heather grey) for the contrast colors. **side note... i did not like working with the ella rae, mostly during the short rows, when you un-knit or slip stitches back and forth the yarn splits like crazy** I used #7 addi turbos. I might actually use a #6 with this weight yarn for future stranding projects. After blocking it relaxed enough that it could stand to be a little tighter.
If i weren't a believer in blocking before... this project alone would sell me on it. Every single little lump and bump literally melted away when i dunked this mofo into a bath of water & woolwash. Of course i waited til days AFTER the heatwave had passed to block... so it is taking several days to dry... but oh so worth it.
