In searching for patterns to make samples out of my yarns, I tend to obsessively look through Ravelry, searching for something perfect. On one such evening, I was looking for a hat pattern to make out of Dachshund, I came across a lovely hat that had a ribbed lace and cable pattern called Pretty Chilly Hat and I decided that it would be perfect. In looking over the free pattern, I realized that the designer, Erynn Ziegler, was the same Erynn Ziegler whom I knew from when I worked at the local yarn store and was Facebook friends with. I quickly logged on to Facebook to message with her my delightful discovery. I recall sitting with her as she was initially working on the first version of this hat, which was in sport weight rather than fingering.
After excitingly dyeing up a skein of Dachshund in the bright Dog Days of Summer, I cast on the hat. Like many hats, it starts off with ribbing, and this hat has a delicate 1:1 ribbing. The body of the hat is a basic diagonal lace alternating sections with a four stitch cable. The 6 row sections are easy to memorize, which made it an easy project to carry with me as I traveled. She recommends repeating the sections ten times (or as desired), and a for a hat made for myself it would work alright as I have a lot of hair on my head to cover. For my head model, nine repeats would have been sufficient. (On a related note, someone who also made this hat wrote in their Pattern Notes on Ravelry that their hat goes to 11. It's the last place I expected a Spinal Tap reference.) It finishes with a standard decrease pattern.
This hat was a tremendous amount of fun to make, and it's particularly special because I am friends with the designer. The hat fits most heads due to the ribbing of the pattern, which makes it very stretchy. It takes less than 1 skein of Dachshund, so it also makes a great stash-buster project. And, if made in Dog Days of Summer, you will never lose it!
