Next Up: Scottish Habitat!

Moving right along in the series of unreported FO's from this summer, we have a burly wool hat! A wool hat you say? Rachel, what possessed you to knit a wool hat in the middle of summer? I'll give you a hint: It might have had something to do with this man...

The Scottish Highlander

Okay, so, the man pictured above was the phenomenal highland tour guide from a 3-day bus excursion we took in northern Scotland. Graeme did everything possible to make sure we had a good time. Before the end of the trip, he commissioned a 'manly' wool hat so he wouldn't have to steal mine before leaving. Fast forward seven days later? Meet Habitat:

Pattern: Habitat by Jared Flood
Needles: US #7 Addi Turbos
Yarn: New Lanark Donegal Aran - 100% [Scottish] Wool
Time to Knit: One glorious week
Recipient: Graeme, the Highlander!
Level of Love: Cable swoonage took (and is still taking) place.
Modifications: zippo!

Here some shots of it finished on me. The great thing about the hat is that the more he wears it, the warmer it will become. I chose this design because the coarse fibers of the wool (when wet from the frequent rain) will felt themselves together making a denser material better at blocking out wind. Who doesn't like a hat that does that?
The intricate cables and starburst design near the crown were a bonus because (I can say from experience) the weekend bus ride was spent looking at nothing but the back of his head. I figured the future tour members might appreciate something interesting to look at (besides the breathtaking Scottish Highlands, of course!).
Lastly, I'll leave you with this video of me [intentionally] sliding down a hill in the Isle of Skye. The filming is a tad shaky toward the end (motion-sickness prone be warned), but that's because the guy filming saved my DSLR from crashing to its almost certain doom. Egads.

Great memories in Scotland. Great memories. More knitting to come soon!