Empire state of mind

First project of 2010 alert! First project of 2010 alert! And it's another Kirsten Kapur winner, folks. I feel like I am that Julie chick and that I'm trying to cook my way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, except that it's knitting and I'm knitting my way through the Kirsten Kapur design catalog. If you don't know her designs, you should: she is terribly talented and her patterns are among the clearest out there. Do yourself a favor and get on board while you can.

The Specs:
Pattern: Empire Hat by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Marine, .75 of a skein.
Needles: size 7
Size: small
Mods: AS IF!

Because I made this for my friend Dave's daughter, I opted to only do one repeat of the main pattern and went ahead with the size 7 needle. The next one I make will be done on a size 8 and I'll do the full two repeats for optimum whimsy.

I was afraid that the recipient would have a bout of shyness and wouldn't want to model the FO for me, so I went ahead and snapped some pics before gifting it. Worrying that all our heads would be too big and not wanting to go the grapefruit route, I remembered my parents New Guinea art collection and that there was a statue that would be a perfect stand-in. Hooray for being home, where despite the -15 temps, I can get something accomplished!

Luckily I was wrong and Dave's daughter was a willing accomplice. She squealed when she received the hat and noted that it will match her backpack. So, YAY!