Jayne Hat

As other knit-bloggers have done before me, I have knitted a Jayne Cobb hat in tribute to Joss Whedon's show, Firefly. The show is awesome, and I give enormous thanks to my cousin Matt for introducing me to it. So, in anticipation of Serenity, which comes out a week from tomorrow, I knit my dear cousin a Jayne hat. It's already in the mail, winging its way towards Walla Walla, Washington (I'm not kidding, he goes to school there... cool town, btw). Since I loved his hat so incredibly much, I used the leftover yarn to make myself another one!

Based on various patterns on the web, I adapted mine for a wider circumference (I have a large head, or don't like tight hats or both). Some pictures of Jayne wearing his hat are here, here, and here. I was inspired by the lovely Sarah to use Lamb's Pride Bulky for my hat. I know the colors are a little brigher than those used in the series, but I used red I already had in my stash, and picked a yellow and orange that would complement it.

Here are the project specs:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Co. Lamb's Pride Bulky
Colors: M022 - Autumn Harvest
M155 - Lemon Drop
M180 - Ruby Red (For some reason I thought this was "Red Baron" when I got it... I like this shade better, though. It's richer.)
With this amount of yarn I was able to make two good-sized hats. The yellow is used the most, then orange, then red. I have a good bit of the red left, a bit of orange, and only about three or four yards of the yellow left. (That is, after all, having made two pom-poms as well).
Needles: Size US 10 DPN
Time taken to complete: A few hours. I finished mine in a day, my cousin's in 2.
Notes & Comments: The yarn sheds like a mofo. I had forgotten this about Lamb's Pride from my previous uses, but I think the mohair makes it look a little more "worn in" and such. I altered the pattern(s) slightly to compensate for my unusually large head (I didn't know this until I made this hat). Instead of the 64 or 56 stitches called for in the patterns, I cast on 80. It fits nicely, though is not super-snug or tight. A quick knit and very fun. The pom-pom was made by tracing a 4.5" diameter coaster and a 1" bottle cap. I like how big and floppy the pompom is, just like Jayne's! I recommend this hat for anyone who likes bright colors, even if they're not fans of Firefly.