Bowled over by blocking

A few weeks ago I finished a braided cable hat and was concerned about whether it would be large enough for the intended recipient.  When knitting for my own pointy little head this is never a concern, and I've since found a basic cable pattern that's very stretchy and used that to knit up hats for other people.  But this braided cable hat was never meant for me - lordy knows I've more than enough warm wooly hats for someone who lives in a place with such a short mild winter season!

So I decided to try blocking the hat and just before heading over to one of the local shops to buy some balloons, I found this:

What is it you ask?  A bowl?  A bowl with a hole???

Actually, it's a cover from an el cheapo plastic overhead light fixture.  It's been lurking in a tool shed since it was replaced by a much nicer glass globe.  Why it wasn't pitched out immediately I don't know but I was happy to find it. 

Because when turned upside-down:

It became the perfect hat blocker!

After a quick rinse I slipped it over my nifty swifty new blocking bowl and then set it in the sun to finish drying. And you could say I was errr...."completely bowled over" by what a difference it made. (Please forgive me - I just couldn't help myself!) 

Since I was ill, there really weren't any normal-sized heads available to try it on. (What - like you don't quarantine your sick people?) But instead of fitting me like it did before, the hat is a tad large now, which means it should fit someone else perfectly! (I assure you, it's been washed since then.  I am not sending my cooties through the U.S. Mail)  You can even see the difference in the photos.

Before:

After: 

Now the only remaining challenge is purchasing an envelope to mail it. If you lived here you'd know why that's considered a "challenge".  You'll just have to take my word for it!