Extra, extra...

...read all about my newsboy cap! This is the Camden Cap, by Woolly Wormhead. I watched an interview with her on Fruity Knitting last year and was inspired to try a couple of her designs. Bedragonned was one of them and this is the other - I bought the yarn for both projects at MDSW '19.

One thing I like about Woolly's designs is that there is always a challenge, but hats are so small that the challenges aren't so daunting. The challenge in this hat is the brim, which you can see is stiff. There is part of a 2-liter soda bottle hiding in there. You knit the brim, which is really a pocket shaped with short rows, and block it:

Then you use the blocked brim to make a pattern for the plastic cutout.

You cut out the plastic brim and cover the edges in duct tape (because the sharp plastic edge can cut yarn).

Finally, you insert the plastic brim in the knitted pocket and seal it up with what is essentially a 3-needle bindoff without actually binding off.

After that, it's smoother sailing - you cast on more stitches and join in the round. Pretty soon you have a nifty tennis visor and then you increase a bunch and make a hat.

It's a lot of hat - it really would be ideal for someone with a LOT of hair and I have the opposite of a lot. So much fabric in the crown! Also, there's a fun covered button detail:

I made the largest size in the pattern, which is supposed to be 20.5" in circumference when finished (my head is about 22"). I got gauge - at least unblocked - and I'm going to have to chide myself here. I was in a hurry to start and only made a tiny swatch, which I then ripped out in order to begin. The brim of this hat fit pretty well when I tried it on BEFORE blocking, but it's a bit loose now. MY BAD. I might be able to fix that by re-blocking the brim and using a basting thread to gather up the brim. I do this when I wash and refresh my beret and it works great.

Also, this is the second time I've ended up with a slightly-too-big hat designed by Woolly Wormhead. So maybe in future I need to adjust down a size.

It's a cute hat, but this style doesn't cover my ears, and if I'm wearing a hat because it's cold, I want my ears covered. It's not likely to be worn a lot.

I adore this yarn, though. It's Kingston by Jill Draper Makes Stuff. it's a woolen spun 3-ply tweed grown and spun in the US. I'd happily knit a sweater out of it.