Russian Fever

Somehow, over the years, my attitude toward yarn has slowly morphed from proudly indifferent to just this side of obsessive. I suppose working in a yarn store doesn't help, but in reality I was well on my way to fiber crazy before I even stepped foot in the store. Years of of knitting have taught me that my old attitude, a saucy one that rolled its eyes at fiber snobs and people who skipped lunch in order to get that special hank into their stash, was ridiculous. Now, seasoned with dozens of projects and years of experience. . . I finally understand. Today, for possibly the first time in my life, I was truly, fully, yarn crazy.

What finally got me? This fantastic red angora. I haven't bought any angora in years, nor have I really lusted after any. But man, something about this yarn-- the color, the fuzz-- called out to me. This yarn absolutely must become a fantastic red, fuzzy, Russian-looking toque. And god knows after my recent hat misfire (ahem, Koigu) I need a little something jazzy and red to fix my knitting juju.

Speaking of that hat misfire, I've decided to open up the fate of my beret to opinion. Your opinion!
Here are some photos of the hat. It's definitely bigger than I had envisioned, but not nearly as bad as I thought the first time I put it on. The thing is, I'm just not sure if it's bad enough to rip. Just so everyone knows what went into the hat: 6 months of on/off knitting (charted every other row...), size 3 and 1 needles, and thirty bucks worth of Koigu. Oh, and I can't forget the allergic reaction to the needles. I don't hate the result, I guess I'm just having a hard time imagining if I can live with it, and maybe even someday love it.





So, what's the verdict?