Gagiana Barett

This year I'm trying to get more SCA knitting done if you haven't noticed a bit of a trend yet. ;-) This is the first hat. Its the Gagiana Barett based upon extant pieces found from a shipwreck off the coast of Croatia. The ship had been there undisturbed for 350 years.

I had started the barett with a nice olive green and realized I was going to be short to finish my hat. So I frogged it and started over with a periwinkle blue that I thought would be enough, because I hadn't noticed that others who had knit the barett went over the 200 yards.....

I love how the brim is constructed. You increase, then you do your increases and she has you use a crochet hook to join the working yarn to the cast on edge and then you repeat the increases again to work the top.
Here's my blue:

You can see where I ran out of the periwinkle and had to switch to the baby blue

Showing the brim

Felted top

Felting closeup

I had planned to over-dye the blue, but once I had to add in the baby blue, it was a sure thing. I knew I didn't have the Kool-aid, food colors or icing colors to make a darker blue, but I gave it a whirl. I think I had it, but I was using a very large pyrex measuring cup and things were a bit squished in there. I tried moving things around but there were areas between the two layers that weren't dyed enough. So I found the dye crock pot (should have started there to begin with!) and re-did the process that I had for the first time. Imagine my surprise to find a very coal black!

I let Brandon position the hat on me and went directly outside. It was kind of raining. It needs a feather or two to be in the German style. Might also get some other decorations as I learn more.  Think that I'll go back to that olive green and another green I have in stash to make a second one. I'll have to over-dye it, but worst case is I end up with a brown or black.