[knitting] Tam #3 for 2007

I have completed another tam for my mom. I made her a red one, which she wore every day. She then asked to borrow my blue one for a while because wearing the same thing every day was getting monotonous. She asked me so meekly, like she was asking to take away my child or something. I told her she could have it because I wasn't really wearing it and I only knit it to try a couple new techniques (rolled brim w/ 1x1 ribbing; gored decreases for the crown).

So elated was she that I decided to knit another for her. I was going to have a boring 4-day weekend after getting my wisdom teeth extracted and thought that was plenty of time to complete a tam. I showed her some light heathery green in my stash and she said, "Yeah. I... like it. Maybe the next one can be black? Black goes with everything." I looked in my stash and found 4 small balls of Elann Baby Cashmere in pewter that I originally intended to make gloves with but, let's face it, a tam would be so much easier and faster than gloves.



Pattern: Basic Tam from Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. Rolled brim w/ 1x1 ribbing; spiral crown.

Yarn: Elann Baby Cashmere, Color 9295 Pewter, doubled up, 4 balls

Needles: U.S. #5 16" circ. & dpn

Gauge: 6st/in

Mods: The decreases for the spiral crown say "decrease 6 st every other round". I thought that was strange because for the gored effect you had to decrease 12 st every other round and this seemed like the perfect amount. I knit and knit and decreased 6 st every other round and the crown slooooooooly decreased. So slowly, in fact, that I realized I was knitting my mother a big rasta cap. I ripped back and decided to decrease 6 st EVERY round. That was just right (following a moderately aggressive wash/block).