Katherine the Great
I like to think of myself as a storyteller. Mostly I tell stories about knitting.

The Husband and I took a nice little mini-vacation to San Antonio recently. We knew San Antonio in August was going to be warm. What we did not know was that we were in for record. setting. heat. The highs were like 104.

We went to Fiesta Texas the first day and rode nearly everything we wanted to before we gave up and left for our hotel. There we relaxed in the shaded lazy river and I decided that I’m no longer as young as I once was. The lazy river turned out to be much more my thing.

Thursday, we went to Sea World with a plan. We checked out the penguins, hung out with dolphins, watched the Pet show featuring rescue animals and caught the water ski show (I get to cross “see live water ski pyramid” off my life list). Then we headed back to the AC.
Sea World Sea World2

Friday, we headed to the zoo. The hippos were down in the water except for their noses and seemed like the smartest animals in the place. The hippo viewing room was air conditioned so we spent a lot of time admiring this view (hippo butts).
Hippos AnteaterZebra

On the way home, we hit the Local Yarn Shop, Yarnivore, and I got Black Pearl Yarn that is made with. wait for it. actual pearls! see!
Black Pear YarnBlack Pearl Yarn - blue

…and The Husband picked up a hank of Malabrigo Rasta (Paris Night) and asked what I’d make out of it. “A hat.”, I promptly replied and he agreed that he’d like a hat knit out of it. I’d have purchased two if they’d had them, but figured I could get a hat out of 90 yards if I was careful.
Malabrigo Rasta - Paris Night

I was, but just barely careful enough.
This yarn is thicker than the pattern called for, so I got gauge with size 15’s. Then I dropped down to 13’s and started the hat.
The hat was way too big. I dropped to 11’s and decreased the stitches around the head to 54.
That fit. I decided to start the decreases early so I’d have enough yarn, which just to be clear, is sheer lunacy if you want a hat to fit. I finished the hat with plenty of yarn, but it was too small for The Husband’s head, so I ripped out all the decreases and added the required pattern repeat and one extra then started the decreases every other row, not per the pattern instructions.
And a la peanut butter sandwiches!
Trapper Hat

  The Trapper Hat by Lipp Holmfeld
(I talked The Husband into wearing a jacket while it is 95 out for the picture. He’s a good sport.)

…and just in case you’re curious, I had exactly 12.75 inches of yarn left (and that was from the cast on edge). That’s as close as I’ve ever cut it.

Ps. Check out what others have finished at:
Tami’s Amis

Wisdom begins in Wonder

Natural Suburbia


16 Comments

  1. Evelyn says:

    Yikes that’s a close game of Yardage Chicken! Nice looking hat though

  2. Bonnie says:

    This post is filled with unbelievable things– being outside in that sort of heat on vacation, getting that awesome hat out of 90 yd., poor Husband wearing a jacket in the heat, yarn made out of pearls. Are you sure you’re not just making all that up?

    • Katie says:

      nope. It’s 100% real. I must confess that as I went outside today to get the husband to take pics of me in my new hat, I did not reach for my jacket. I’m evil that way.

  3. Karen says:

    The hat is great! Your husband is a really good sport putting a coat on in the heat:)

  4. Mary Jo says:

    whoosh talk about cutting it short!!

  5. Chris says:

    If it was that hot while I was there I would have ended up in the water WITH the animals! Looks like a lot of fun and awesome hat!

    • Katie says:

      Thank you. I’m not gonna lie, if I didn’t think the hippos would have killed me, I might have done it. Would have been good blog fodder if nothing else!

  6. Ginny says:

    Great looking hat!

    • Katie says:

      Thank you so much! I was pleased to be able to knit exactly what the husband wanted and not have to buy a second hank!

  7. Jazz says:

    Lovely hat!! And themodel looks so confy.

    Here’s my FO: http://mibruno.com/terminada-alicia/

  8. wonderwhygal says:

    That hat is super awesome! I really need to knit one like it. I have seen the pearl yarn. Isn’t that so cool. I have a yarn I like from Therapi that has actual Jade in it. It’s amazing what we can turn into yarn. Your zoo trip looks lovely. I always love visiting the critters at the zoo.


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