Striped hat in soy silk--done!

I finished the "Alison's Playful Karaoke Hat" that I was writing about yesterday, the one made with soy silk (50% soy fiber and 50% wool). It's knitted in the round (as you can probably tell) and though I still struggle with the DPN rows at the end, and the switching from K2P2 ribbing to stockinette, I think I did OK! :^) I have a few young relatives who are into the skateboarding scene, which is what this hat puts me in mind of. (Do I smell a giftie??) I will knit some sort of I-cord thingamajig when I get better at I-cord. For now, I find it's true what several knitters have said recently, I am addicted to casting off! It's so gratifying.

The yarn is wonderful. I can't say enough about the softness and nonitchiness of it. It did split a bit easily, like bulky wool can, but I used my aluminum circulars for the majority of it, and they have a nice rounded tip. I did attempt the kabob "skewer" DPN (waxing them with some waxed paper first) but it was not that successful. Aside from the terribly sharp points, one end was blunt, and that didn't work well. Now that I have a set of gorgeous rosewood straights and the Boye set of circulars, I guess it's time to bust out the credit card and fill in the DPN supplies. Maybe I will even get better at using them if I own some!

Particulars about this hat and yarn:

http://www.theyarngrove.com/karaokepatterns.html