reversible hat

I knitted this hat after I proposed the idea to a magazine and it was not selected. The original plan was that one hat would be knitted from the top of the rib up; the other would be knitted from the brim up with a rib twice as deep. The two hats would be joined with a three-needle cast-off in a contrasting colour. I had an idea that this hat would solve the itchy wool hat problem because one hat could be knitted in silk and the other hat in wool. And, then I thought this would be my first self-published pattern.

I decided that one sample would be knitted in sock yarn throughout, and the second would be knitted using two yarns. I like to have a sample variation for patterns because I hope it makes it easier to see other possibilities. If this project were to appear in a magazine, it would be better to write the longer hat pattern and then refer back to this longer pattern for the second hat. In other words, the instructions would be the much shorter: "knit from ** to ***. But this hat pattern is to be self-published, I can do whatever I want. I can have a top-down hat followed by a brim-up hat. There would be two hats in one, plenty of scope for variation; the knitter would be able to use the increase and decrease patterns for other projects. And, I would not have to worry that the join is too tight on some hats.

I merrily wrote the pattern and started to knit the sock yarn version. As I knitted, I decided it would be wonderful if this hat could be knitted for any head size using any yarn. I like patterns that give that extra value. I use Microsoft Excel to write many of my patterns and can quickly change the gauge or the sizes. I knew that you could use Acrobat to create forms and I thought I could design the form using Adobe Indesign and add the code for the calculations in Adobe Acrobat. I enjoy a challenge, but this proved to be more than a challenge. This might have to go onto the back burner, while I think of a different solution.

My To-do list:

• Find out if a newer version of Microsoft Excel exports interactive pdfs.

• Can I make Microsoft Excel look good?

• Can I create interactive patterns using another Adobe application?