Just finished off my Palindrome hat! Made w/ Malabrigo in Purple Magic colorway. I tried to post photos here but they are bitmaps and I'm at work, so I just linked to my bloooog.
Nice color and everything, I guess a smaller needle would have helped out or leaving out a few stitches. Well, we all live and learn and it sounds like you are not letting it be a total loss. Makes a nice sleep mask. :-)