I made the purple gnome hat for Leela. Then Grace liked it so well that I ended up making her one too. C wants one next.
It’s been unseasonably hot here in SoCal, but all through the summer heat, I fretted about my two little nieces enduring their first winter in Melbourne. That fretting led to knitting, and well, one knitting project led to another. By the time the Autumnal Equinox had rolled around, I was surprised to discover that I’d knit EIGHT hats and THREE pairs of mittens.
The first hat I knit was The Scrappy Gnome Hat (free pattern from www.littlehomeblessings.com) with a ball of purple speckled wool. I upped the cuteness factor by also using a thin strand of rainbow mohair which acted like fairy dust; the whole hat had a faint rainbow halo! In fact, that hat got perhaps too much attention – I ended up having to sell a ball of my rainbow magic to a friend eager to make her own daughter a fairy cap.
This one is for Grace, and reluctantly modeled by Christian. I think he got one sour gummy worm for his trouble. It is a very simple pattern and knits up fast. I started and finished this hat on my weekend trip to NYC.
Then I knit a earflap hat for Grace with long, long braids on either side, so she can pretend she has long, long hair, which she frequently like to do. It was called “Meghan’s Braids” from a knitting book about using one skein. I used a skein of washable Madeline Tosh (love this yarn).
It turned out a bit big, but I am told that she likes it well and wears it to her Steiner kinder class often.
Then five men’s hats in quick succession, using my new favorite beanie pattern from Ravelry. It’s called “Turn a Square” by Jared Flood and it’s the highest ranked hat pattern on Ravelry. You can access it here for free if you have a Ravelry account. It’s clever, but simple hat that uses a self-striping wool for the stripes themselves, so that the stripes change color as they progress up the hat. Hats are wonderful ways to use up leftover balls of wool.
They were fall birthday gifts for my brother-in-law, brother, and Dad. Christian and Chad snagged my favorite dark gray one and the fair isle one remains unclaimed. I have a few more of these to make before I’m through.
Wait, I just remembered another hat I made for Sue. It was with two different colorways of Noro wool.
Seeing people I love wear my hats just puts a big grin on my face.
Heh, heh. The gnome hat was fun. May have to make one for myself! (I did not make the gray hat on Grace’s head nor the pink sweater on Leela’s adorable body. I want that pattern though!)
