FO - Handspun Cloche

Pattern: Madge by Jillian Moreno

Yarn: Handspun by the Gadabout Knitter.  The fiber is by the Yarn Wench in Wild Rose.

Needles: US9, 5.5mm

Pattern Modifications:  Added rib band to lower edge of hat.  Otherwise knit as written.

Gadabout Knitter gifted me this handspun over a year ago, and since I had been trying to find the perfect pattern for it.  I wanted a pattern that would show it to its best advantage, as it was truly beautiful handspun.  I believe the beauty of handspun lies in its imperfections, as opposed to the cold perfection of machine spun yarn.  When I found the Madge pattern, I felt it could do justice to the yarn.

The hat created by strictly following the Madge pattern as written was very shallow.  I had expected this, as many knitters on Ravelry had found their finished hats short as well.  I decided to lengthen the hat, by adding a horizontal band around the bottom of the hat, similar to that on the Side Slip Cloche in Boutique Knits.  I knit a 1x1 rib band slightly longer than the circumference of the hat, then increased the ribs to create a ruffle.  I picked up the stitches of the band before the ruffle on the underside of the band, knit the band a bit longer, then recreated the ruffle.  I don't know if this was how the ruffle was knit on the Side Slip Cloche, because I have never seen the pattern, so it may have used a different method.

I love the way this hat turned out!  It is one of my favorite knits to date, and I would not change a thing about the way it turned out.  I am already thinking of knitting a 2nd for my daughter.