Half Pipe Hat

So I asked my Dad, what do you want me to knit you for your birthday?  I was hoping he would ask for some socks, perhaps a flashy fair isle headband (my husband and my brother both later informed me that this is not acceptable manly man attire), or even some cool gloves.  Instead, he looked at the store bought brimmed beanie my brother was wearing and informed me he wanted one of those.  Hmmm..

So, I found the perfect pattern in the book, Son of Stitch and Bitch.  I wanted to like this pattern, I really did.  To be honest however, I dreaded every moment of the creation of this hat.  The black yarn was less than appealing to my tastes in the middle of a bleak and icy winter, the decreases drove me crazy (seriously, they are not very attractive), and I really disliked putting the brim in.  Finally, it is finished.  As much as I hated making it, it looks okay.  Almost just like that boring store bought hat of my brothers.  I guess I will have to consider this a success.

A First Hat for Winter

It's finally finished!  This hat has been a labor of love, and a long process as I did everything from dyeing the yarn myself.  It is all worth it as she now has a very warm hat that she will actually wear.  It is also a bit big, so hopefully it will last for at least one more winter season.  Now we will be able to build snowmen outside when the winter comes!

Fall Harvest

Penelope's hat is ready, just waiting for Penelope!  I think the most clever aspect of the construction of this hat is the way the stem is knit up out of the remaining live hat stitches.  So much easier than sewing on the stem.  This was a very quick and fun knit.  Can't wait to make more little hats from the book, Itty Bitty Hats.

2 Hour Hat

This is the best birthday pattern ever.  Two hours from start to finish and I have a beautiful birthday gift to pass on to my brother-in-law.  I wish I could take credit for crafting this pattern, but it was kindly posted by Sabrina Thompson on her blog, My Knitting Basket.  You can find the specific pattern here.  Thanks for sharing Sabrina.

Finished Oberstdorf

I finally finished this hat for my brother's birthday. The original pattern calls for tassels, but I can't imagine my very masculine brother wearing anything so juvenile. In fact, I am sure he would recoil in horror from a tasseled hat. This was a Dale of Norway pattern, but I substituted the yarn for Elann Highland Sport. I was very curious how this would come out, and I must say I am very pleased with the results. I would probably feel comfortable substituting this in a sweater now as well. Who knows, someday I might actually make the matching sweater as this was a beautiful pattern.

Butterfly Madness and Dyeing Fun

I feel as though I have accomplished a lot in the last week. Another birthday gift is finished, and I'm very pleased with the results. It is the Butterfly Hat designed by Sofiya Cremin. I found the pattern on Ravelry, where one can find many wonderful things related to knitting, but you can also find the pattern here. I used Patons Soy Wool Stripes in Natural Navy. I love this colorway, and I hope that my sister-in-law does too.

I have also wanted to try my hand at dyeing for a while. I am making Amelia a little five colored hat from the Sandnes Luer Tema 01 Barn/Voksne Booklet. This has the cutest hats ever in it! Here is a picture of the pattern I chose.


I decided to use Knitpicks DK Swish Superwash in Bare and dye my own colors using the Jacquard Acid Dyes. I had a lot of fun turning this:

into this!

I think I am going to switch the blue and yellow colors on the hat, just because I happen to like blue better than yellow. Hopefully it will still be cute. My next project goals are to hurry up and finish Penelope's sweater and her Pumpkin Hat, both of which should be fast.