I finally measured Kevin’s head and ripped the hat back to the proper number of stitches (I was off by 20 stitches, or just over 2 inches, so it’s a substantial difference). Here’s a status photo 7 rows into the reconstruction.
All of the mini balls of yarn are the remnants of the ripping. I felt clever for labeling them as I went so that it would be easy to keep the order straight. Since this photo, I’ve finished the dark stripe, and am halfway through the next white stripe. The yarn is gorgeous to work with. I’m not managing to knit as fast as I did in December, but Kevin’s been talking about biking to work again so I’m trying to rush.