Skulls, Snowflakes, and Lessons

I was pretty sure I liked this pattern the moment I saw it advertised as a kit. It seemed a great way to increase my experience with stranded colorwork with what seemed a simple, basic idea (and the bonus chance to work on the pompom too!) The colors seemed a bit bluer in the description but I really should have figured that yarns named "Oatmeal" and "Hawthorne" weren't really going to be blue at all. I started off eager enough and accept for still trying to figure out how to do strand work without twisting the yarn, the hat started to take on the design: 

But there came this astonishing moment as I was finishing knitting -- when I held it up and saw the skull glaring back at me. Seriously, those two white eyes with brown pupils, that line of teeth at the bottom. It was something of a shock. I tried to tell myself that once soaked and blocked, the snow flake would appear -- but it didn't. Once I was confronted by the skull, it just didn't want to leave me.

I tried it on and while it fit quite well (and all those strands on the inside make it so cozy) it didn't match well with my olive skin color. So, I did the only thing I could , unraveled the whole project and re-wound the balls of yarn back to the beginning.

I'm not really unhappy about it -- all experiences teach lesson worth knowing. I gravitate toward richer colors found in nature -- which is why I love the brown "Hawthorn" and want to pair it instead with an equally beautiful Big Wood green (both from Barrettwool.co.com). I think the snowflake pattern was a little too ambitious -- spread out into too many discreet bits. I like my stranded work to feel more solid, the shapes more defined--at least right now as a beginner.