I have a project I want to get started on.  I want it to be done soon, I want to knit it, and it really should, honestly, be done soon.  But I can’t start.  Why?

I can’t stop overthinking the thing – it’s a gift for a dear friend, and being done by request, so I want it to be perfect.  It’s based on this hat (which is in turn based off this hat), but I don’t know how much I’m going to change.  I know the earflaps are going to go, and it won’t have the lining from the original hat.  Also, I know the TIE Fighters are going to be replaced with something else (the Imperial cog has been requested), but I don’t know if I like the hat-sized chart I have (see here), or how it will balance with the Stormtrooper helmets.  And since the helmets are the most important part of the hat, at least to me…

I don’t even know if I’m going to use the Pirates base pattern, at this point.  It’s crazymaking.  But it’s because I’m too OCD for my own good, seriously.  I’ve spent a great deal of time with Knit Visualizer and a calculator.

Does anyone have any suggestions, comments, or a guide to designing colorwork hats?