A Tam on Tuesday

I've had the notion of a tam in a pattern to imitate Bargello needlepoint bugging me for a while. But yesterday it reached the point where I had to sit down and swatch.

Turned out I couldn't find anything in my stitch dictionaries that was really what I wanted, but a few modifications to one stitch pattern helped. One rummage through the stash baskets later, I was casting on.

A worsted weight tam is practically an instant gratification project as far as I'm concerned, especially when I'm watching the pattern develop. Very hard to put down, as well. So perhaps it's not surprising that despite having to rip and reknit the ribbing (it was too loose) I finished it today and set it to block. Couldn't wait until then for a picture, though, so what I have is the unblocked photo.

Not quite what I envisioned, but I think I like it. I can see how to do some variations on the pattern also, for different bargello looks. Now I just have to get all the details down on paper/screen while I still remember them.