My A(lmost) F(inished) (O)bject!!

My boyfriend's hat is blocking! I made a lot of progress. I figured out how to do a kitchener stitch seam with the assistance of knittinghelp.com, the Knitter's Companion and Stitch n' Bitch(the first book). That was a huge challenge but I think it turned out well and I love how it looks like stockingette stitch. The real challenge for me was creating the border on this, it called for a blanket stitch border. I could not figure this out based solely on the stitch n'bitch book, but between the guide in there and About.com Crochet section's How toEmbroider a Blanket Stitch Edging ( http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa120702.htm ) I was able to get it done. That took a long time going around the entire hat and the ear flaps. However, I finally finished it and decided that it needed to be blocked. I had never attempted to block before and I needed something the right size and shape to block it on. I luckily have a fabulous hand blown vase from my stepfather, and it is a great size and shape for it. I filled my bathroom sink with lukewarm water and some shampoo, then soaked the hat in it for five minutes, then filled it with cold water twice and rinsed out the hat in the water. I then placed it on the upside down vase on top of the hand towel on my desk, as you can see. I really hope it dries into a good shape for M's head. I haven't made anything this challenging before so I will be very sad if it doesn't work out.

This is the front view.

This is the top view.

This is the top view.


I think this is the back.