Carl's Cap

Next week I'll be teaching an AGY class on the Kyle's Kap pattern from Fiber Trends. My shop model is a girl's version made out Mission Fall 1824. I loved it so much I knew Carl had to have one. I had some great colors of Minnow Merino given to me last summer by a wonderful sales rep upon hearing of Carl's arrival. She gave me the yarn with a darling Minnow Knits pattern for a colorblock sweater. Well, I loved the pattern and had every intention of making the sweater for Carl. The yarn and pattern sat in a drawer with my other yarn and patterns that were waiting to be made (that drawer only seems to get fuller and fuller, even though I'm knitting as fast as I can). Anyway, for one of the first times, I decided to be honest with myself and say, "Ingrid, face it. You're not going to make that sweater. Use the yarn for something else." The fact of the matter was that Carl was in danger of growing out of all sizes of the sweater before I even started. So, the colorful yarn has now become a cap for Carl, which I absolutely love, love, love. And to think that the yarn could have sit unused and sad for years to come. It was a good lesson in rethinking a yarn's purpose. I was so locked in to the sweater (which was just more than I could tackle right now, given other unfinished sweaters) that I almost let the yarn go unused. I'm certainly glad I didn't. On top of it all, I still have enough yarn to do another cap in a different color combo. Even my husband is completely charmed by the cap and suggested I make Carl another one in navy or a more subdued color scheme for more formal wear. He also suggested we get Carl a baby-sized newspaper to carry around to look like a real newsboy. Nice idea. The cap made its public debut at Costco this afternon, and, sure enough, someone gushed over it in line. The cap is incredibly quick and so much fun to knit. I highly recommend it. Fiber Trends CH-1.