I finished this scarf sometime last week, it only took about 3 days. It's just a basic worsted weight wool in multicolours. I started the hat yesterday and it took about 7 hours in total. I finished it up around 7:40 today. I didn't use any real pattern for the hat, just took bits and pieces of other hat patterns to get the gyst.
There is no right way to knit; there is no wrong way to knit. So if anybody kindly tells you that what you are doing is "wrong," don't take umbrage; they mean well. Smile submissively, and listen, keeping your disagreement on an entirely mental level. They may be right, in this particular case, and even if not, they may drop off pieces of information which will come in very handy if you file them away carefully in your brain for future reference. ~Elizabeth Zimmerman