This was the first full week of the project, SIX hats in one week! I'll be honest with you, completing one hat a day this year is tough. It is the first time I have done this project AND home schooled two children (1st grade and 9th grade), AND been an
American Heritage Girls unit leader, AND helped teach a class in the girls co-op, AND prepared to lead a women's Bible study at church, as well as the normal day to day stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love EVERYTHING that I do, and I am so not trying to say that I am any busier than the next gal. What I am saying is that in years past it was a bit easier to fit it all in. This year I have to be very intentional with my time, which may be a lesson in itself for me (wink). I'll be talking about it Friday on
Coffee with Christ if you want to join me.
So on with the projects!
This is the knit version of the
Pigtail Topknot Baby hat that I did last week in crochet. I chose to only do the eyelet pattern once, around the brim of the hat, and to just continue in stockinette where the pattern did the repeat. I have to admit that I prefer this version to the crochet one. Using the
Beehive Baby Sport Yarn, in Baby Grey
yields a soft, lightweight hat perfect for spring or early autumn. The pattern also lends itself to either a boy or a girl depending upon your yarn color choice.
Tuesday's hat was the
Otis Hat designed by Joy Boath. It is only available through
Ravelry as a free PDF download. I used a sports weight yarn for this example, but I think it would look better using simply soft and adjusting the needle size. The cable pattern is on three sides.
Wednesday I made the
Leafy Newborn Baby hat, also only available as a Ravelry download. I don't think I knit at the same gauge as the designer as my hat definitely came out more of a 3-6 month size than newborn. Still, the reverse stockinette background against the leaf design turns out rather pretty. And I envision this
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Gold
to be a great match for an autumn hat.
This is the
Buttercup Sun Cloche, also worked up using the
Beehive Baby Sport
yarn, this time in gray and pink. The directions were a little unclear about where to put the dc's between the fpdc's (behind them please!) The designer says that it is a great pattern for cotton yarn as well and I think that would be a perfect match.
Friday's hat was
Bev's Easy Round Baby hat, which is a super simple, no frills hat. You can't really see it due to my yarn choice, but the brim of this hat uses front post and back post double crochets to create a ribbed effect. Your yarn choice can really give this hat a lot of personality. The pattern is available in large preemie and newborn sizes.
First, sorry for the photo quality. I realized after dark that I hadn't captured this hat. :( This is the
Baby Flapper Girl Hat. The example for the hat looks absolutely adorable, so don't base your opinion of the pattern on my finished hat. The pattern itself is quite easy to work, and the hat goes quickly from the first to last stitch. I made the newborn size, but as you can tell it ended up being a tad shorter than I would like. This is one of those cases where the fault, I believe, is in the choice of yarn. The pattern calls for a 4 ply cotton yarn. I visited a yarn conversion site and discovered that both the brand suggested and the yarn I chose to use have the same wpi (wraps per inch) which has always been a great way for me to find substitute yarns. I got tickled that I could use my lovely turqua colored yarn and set to hooking, WITHOUT doing a gauge swatch. The result is evidence that you should ALWAYS do a gauge swatch. Now, this hat won't go to waste as it is the perfect size for a large preemie, but definitely not a newborn.
So, why was I in such a hurry? I actually made TWO hats Saturday. The second is another original pattern that you can get a sneak peek of on my Facebook page
here. I am writing up the pattern and it will also be offered free until the end of the challenge.
Until next time,
