The 1898 cap is finished. Using the teal yarn, 84 stitches were picked up around the top of the headband part for the crown.
The strip sequence was:
4 rows, teal
1 row, black
3 rows, teal
2 rows, black
2 rows, teal
3 rows, black
1 row, teal
Finish with black
I tried a “jogless” stripe technique and though it’s better, it’s not perfect by far.
I won at yarn chicken this time with 50 inches of teal yarn left over.
I’m trying to use up as much of my non-wool stash as possible so, with the coming of colder weather, I’ve pulled out the pattern for the 1898 hat by Kristine Byrnes. Wools or wool-blends would be ideal for use out on the high seas, however, these will be given to teenagers and with the high percentage of it being misplaced or “borrowed”, I will be using acrylic yarn. Acrylic yarn that made its way into my stash either through friends or relatives. (Hey, you knit, right? Here’s some yarn I don’t want anymore. I’m sure you can use it for something.)
Anyway, I’m playing yarn chicken with this dark teal and black. I don’t have a scale to figure out how much yarn I actually have so this will be a challenge for sure!
Knowing that there is more black than teal, I decided to divide the headband part into two colors. 
The black will be the inside and outer edge that frames the face and the teal will be the outside.
The headband part gets folded in half along a slipped stitch line. Those two edges are secured by picking up stitches from both edges for the crown thus doubling the knitting over the ears to add more warmth.
With the headband finished I have 30 yards of teal and a lot more black to work with on the crown to make some type of striping pattern. Will I have enough teal to complete it?
I loved knitting the 1898 cap so I knit another one in shades of grey. Just because.
My BFF read about the cap and I offered to knit one for her if I could use yarn from my ever-expanding stash.
She is so not a grey person and picked the blue variegated one (second from the right).
As so another quick knit was born in three days.
The yarn is Cascade 220 Paints and I love the color BUT it pools terribly for this needle size and stitch count. Pooling means that the colors group together in pools rather than float nicely around the item. Sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes not. I wanted the colors play together and not be antisocial and cling together.
The headband is knit first and I really liked the way the colors spread but then when I began the crown part, I was not too happy with the way they didn’t as you can see below. If that would have happened on the front instead of the back, it would have been fine.
I ripped the crown apart and tried to knit with both ends to get rid of the pooling but I was not successful. I had a similar solid light blue in my stash so I randomly knit a row here and there to break it up.
Colorful? 
Yes! Win-win!
Another finished project – the 1898 cap is off the needles and ready for gifting.
As you may recall I overdyed some purple yarn with food coloring and vinegar because the color was too bright and I could change it.
Loving these colors!
I used a bright green one the back part of the headband so the recipient could tell the front from the back. The back is smaller than the front by design but it’s just easier to tell the difference with a bright, visual clue.
Mr. Aitch (reluctantly) modeled for me. He will find this under the Christmas tree next month.
The doubled headband was easy to knit and will really keep the ears warm.
Now should I add a pompom to the top?
Knitting In Flashes 