Tam-like cap from Cotton Ease yarn

The genesis for this tam comes from two other patterns:

* http://magknits.com/Mar06/patterns/Amber.htm, which I made while we were in Tahoe, and
* A tam pattern in Ann Budd's the knitter's handy book of Patterns, published 2002 by Interweave Press.

Materials:
1 skein Cotton Ease yarn - main color
Small amount of Cotton Ease yarn for four rows of ribbing in contrast color
(Note about Cotton Ease: Although the weight of the yarn is marked as being the same as Wool Ease, Cotton Ease seems to knit up looser and, therefore, larger. It DOES have a great feel. As with Wool Ease, this yarn is part acrylic - in this case, Cotton Ease is half cotton and half acrylic.)

Needles:
U.S. 7 (I used two circulars for the main body of the cap and then four double-points for the top of the crown).

Gauge:
About 25 rows and 20 stitches for a 4-inch square on size 7 needles. To make brim tighter, use size 6 needles, switching to size 7 for the larger, looser cap.

Instructions for this cap:

CO 92 stitches using cable cast-on for a more decorative, thicker cast-on.

Rnd 1: Join and knit 1 round.
Rnd 2-5: Purl (4 rows).
Rnd 6: Knit.
Rnd 7-10: Join contrast yarn and K1, P1 (4 rows).
Rnd 11: Revert to main color and knit.
Rnd 12-15: Purl (4 rows).
The first 15 rows creates the brim.
Rnd 16: K2, M1 (increase every second stitch) for a total of 138 stitches
Continue knitting for about 4 inches (24 rows).

Interlude for discussion:
Here's where Ann Budd's instructions confused me. For a swirl crown, she says, on page 35:

Place 5 additional markers [there's already one marker for the beginning of the round] as for wheel-shaped crown.

Then she gives instructions or right-slanting swirl and for left-slanting swirl, each of which will decrease one stitch, six times, for a round. Her final paragraph says:

Dec 6 sts as specified above every other rnd until 6 sts remain.

After knitting four decrease rows (8 rows total), this was becoming increasingly questionable to me. This seems like it would create a tam with a huge crown - not that it would be bad, but would it still be a tam? I reviewed her instructions for other crown designs and saw that she was decreasing twice, every marker, every other round. Hmmmm. I studied her other instructions, and finally came across this on page 39:

Like the wheel pattern, the swirl shaping is achieved by working decreases at even intervals. To get the swirl shape, work single decreases every [notice that - EVERY - round.]

That made a lot more sense to me, so instead of ripping out, I just continued on by making my decreases EVERY round instead of EVERY OTHER round.

Continuing the pattern:
Place 6 markers, one after every 23 stitches.
Repeat these two rows four times (8 rows):
* Decrease round: Knit to 2 stitches before marker, k2tog, slip marker, and repeat across. (6 decreases)
* Knit round.

Then continue with decrease round until six stitches remain on needles. (Sometime before this happens, you'll need to change to dpns because the hole becomes so small.)

When six stitches remain, decrease to four stitches by slipping first stitch over the second and the fourth stitch over the fifth.

Knit I-cord for about an inch and bind off, leaving a tail to weave in and to sew I-cord down into a ring.

Twist I-cord so it becomes a little knot-like shape, and whip to top of cap. Weave tail in.

And that's the making of the tam.

Small items like this are fun to make. I learn a lot and I get a finished product from my learning. But I'm not sure when I will wear it.

Except for my hand-knitted socks, which I wear all the time in the winter, I am basically a t-shirt and jeans or t-shirt and shorts person, dressing up by putting on better slacks for church and other occasions when clothes might make a difference. I like hooded sweatshirts and plain pull-on caps when my ears are cold, and I rarely care which one I pick up when I need one.

But knitting is fun, and my aging eyes can handle it. I can't think of too much more satisfying to do with my hands when I'm catching up on my favorite movies and TV shows.