Here is another Esther Williams hat.  I had been meaning to look up Esther Williams and try to figure out why this hat is called after her, but I found out why at my knitting group on Wednesday so now I don’t even have to look it up!  Apparently she is a competitive swimmer of some sort (so she wears swim caps), and someone thought Laura’s prototype looked like a swim cap.  Aha!

 Again, this has no crochet edging yet. I might try to add it, though.  I used Mission Falls 1824 superwash wool.  It’s really soft and squishy but I actually don’t like it all that much.  I suspect it would be better with a larger needle (I used a 6, recommended is 8), but mostly it just feels super processed. Which it is, of course, but still.  Also, it was really incredibly splitty, especially the few times I had to rip a bit and re-do.

 I did make a modification to the pattern, due solely to not paying attention at my knitting group! Instead of doing three full repeats and then starting the decreases (per the pattern) or four full repeats and then starting decreases (as I did on my last version of this hat, to make it longer), I did one and a half repeats and then started the decreases.  I had to slightly reposition the decreases to take this into account.  Basically, I forgot to keep track of how much I had done so I did not start the decreases when I meant to, and once I had gotten that far I didn’t want to rip it back out.. but I thought four full decreases would be too long.

 Anyway, I really like this pattern still and think it makes a fabulously warm and cosy hat.  This one is also a Christmas gift but I might make one for myself sometime… with some really nice wool.