Bye bye, brioche :(

I mentioned last week that I'd finished my brioche hat. I was quite happy with it - it was really warm and it covered my ears, which I loved. After a week of wearing it around the house, I decided was time to stop faffing about and get the hat out-of-house ready by blocking it.

This was a mistake. 

As soon as the hat hit the water, it doubled in size. I have never seen anything like it before in my life - where did all the extra size even come from? I wish I'd taken before and after shots. If I had, they'd look something like this:

Nice warm hat, covering ears well. Photograph photobombed by cat, as expected.

I am now wearing a skirt on my head.

As I discovered when I was unwinding it, the hat was now big enough for a jumper!

 

You know how all knitting books say "wash your swatch"? Well, it turns out if you do, then you don't need to spend Sunday afternoons turning this...

..into this.

Wash your swatches, kids. Don't be like me.