Koolhaas Hat

I decided this Fall that after Christmas knitting projects finished it would be time for a new hat and scarf for myself. On our journeys over the Christmas holiday, we stopped in a Tuesday Morning store in Georgia. As we browsed, I found two skeins of lovely purple angora and wool yarn by Elsebeth Lavoid that was half price. I scooped it up.

After adding it to my stash on Ravelry, I looked to see what projects others had made with the same yarn. I found an intriguing pattern called Koolhaas with a waffle like pattern on the hat. I had to wait until we returned home to start the hat since I didn't have the right size needles along. As soon as we were home, I cast on the pattern. Today was a snow day so I got to finish it up.
The first time I knit through the ribbing and decided the hat would be too big. The last hat I made for myself doesn't fit snug enough and so I don't wear it. So I tore it out and started again with 88 stitches instead of the 104 in the pattern. I also used size 7 needles instead of 8 because I didn't want to go out and buy another set of needles. The pattern called for 4 repeats of the waffle pattern for women, but I made 5 because I really wanted to make sure that the hat could be pulled down to cover all of my ears in cold weather. The pattern is a slow knit because of all the cabling, but I'm happy with the way it's turned out. Best of all, it covers my ears!