Project Updates

Okay, so in my last hat snafu I was knitting for a four year old and the hat turned out just big enough for Bella. And now she's almost outgrown it. Will her head ever stop? I can only hope it's her vastly expanding intelligence that makes her head grow so fast. Luckily I made her pumpkin hat much larger and hopefully it will last!

But Tah-dah! Here's my latest project (the hat, not the baby):

This time despite intentions to set myself up for success, I once again neglected to make a gauge swatch, used doubled sock yarn instead of DK, and picked whichever needles I found in the basket when I got wind that this newborn girl wanted a blue hat. Finally! Another family trying to break out of pink in an otherwise monochromatic gender. And I couldn't possibly make it baby blue. It was between this (darker than it looked in the yarn shop) color and something more mother-of-pearl, and this won out because... it's not pastel.

We had a few hiccups during the hat construction. The ear flaps are too long. The dome was too shallow, and even though I added more, it's still a bit too shallow (that, of course could be Bella's nutty head making me think so). It turned out too large and when I washed it to try to shrink it (and because I hate the idea of giving a new mom a hat she can't wash so I wanted to test it), IT UNRAVELED. I caught it after just a few rows had gone out, but they were all the decreases, so it took a while to get it back in order.


Let's just say I was already exhausted by this hat when it occurred to me that I have no idea how to attach tassels. Every instruction just say attach. HOW? With super glue?! So I ended up sewing them on by hand and put a few extra stitches through each weaved in end so that they would stop unraveling. Honestly, how can wool be so slippery? If these were socks, they'd probably disintegrate as I walked....




In other news, Bella's obsession with tags (note the toy she found above in a sea of fun apron strings) has yet to dissipate. I finished her taggy blanket last month, and made a second one for this her newborn friend. Bella adores it, and although I certainly did not invent it, people who see it think it's the coolest. thing. ever. Who wouldn't want credit for that?




Notice that among Bella's favorite toys, the stuffed animals are just a vehicle for the amazingness that is Tags: