I try not to be superstitious, but I can’t help wondering if maybe this yarn just doesn’t want to be a hat.

To be fair, I’ve never designed a hat before, and I have extremely limited experience in knitting hats. As in, I made one baby hat and one way-too-small Unoriginal Hat.

Looking at this yarn, I thought it would stripe nicely in zig-zags. I was toying with this idea when an episode of Ghost Whisperer came on, where Jennifer Love-Hewitt’s character Melinda was wearing this hat:

I knew I had to give it a try.

Not having that reference photo on hand, I resorted to the only zig-zags I knew, from the Jaywalker sock pattern. It just happened that when I calculated my gauge and measured my head, I’d have the exact number of stitches that the larger size of the Jaywalkers called for. I thought it was fate.

I struggled a bit with how to do the decreases, but a Ravelry user very cleverly worked out a system of dropping the side increases while continuing the center double decreases.

Everything went as planned, but unfortunately it looks kind of like a helmet, with these weird scallops dipping into my eyes and leaving an opening that elongates my forehead.

Seriously, my forehead is not this long!

I tried to tell myself it looked like a cloche style, that it was actually very cute… but this delusion could not persist.

I think there is potential in this idea. Twice or three times as many zig-zags and a snugger fit would probably reduce the amount it dips down into the eyes. Also less ribbing would probably be a good idea.

The upside is, I still love this yarn and it’s really comfortable as a hat. I’m planning to frog this one and do something fool-proof like an easy roll-brim hat, this time from a pattern and being honest with myself if I try it on and, once again, look a fool.

Third time’s a charm, right?