Salty Dog Hat for my love

The traditional gift for a seventh wedding anniversary is wool. So this past summer, I was excited to have an excuse to try my hand at knitting something out of wool for my husband. I found this pattern for a salty dog hat and fell in love with it. I like that it is masculine and simple, yet still has personality with some subtle cables and interesting ribbing.

Here is what the top looks like.

I made this hat using a skein from my favorite yarn maker: Quince & Co. This is their owl tweet in otus. It is 100% American wool, soft, beautifully textured and warm. This is not a hat you would want to stay outside in for hours in below freezing weather; the hat isn't thick enough. But it is great for walking to and from work in winter and for all those cool fall and spring days.

The pattern was designed by Jessica L'Heureux and is available on Ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/salty-dog-mens-hat). This pattern uses a size 5 circular needle and double pointed needles. After finishing the hat and blocking it (I let the wet hat dry on my husbands head one warm summer afternoon), we found that the hat wasn't snug against his ears. If I was to do this again, I think I would start the hat on smaller needles then switch over to the size five to create a tighter fit. I'm a little bummed its not exactly how he and I would like it to be, but we love the look of it and it's definitely still functional!

Car Hat

I wanted to make something unique for my nephew, hoping to find something both functional and that he would find fun as a 4 year old boy. I stumbled across this car hat and thought it was perfect.

The pattern is free and can be found on this blog (https://katesaid.wordpress.com) as well as on Ravelry. Honestly, I was not in love with the hat shown on the blogs photographs. Mostly I didn't like the tassel I guess. When I chose colors, I decided to go with a more soothing pallet. I wanted it to be fun but also to look nice.

Materials
Needle: US 5 - 3.75 mm
Yarn: Quince and Co. Lark; colors Delft (blue), Parsley (green), Goldfinch (yellow)and Kumlien's gull (grey)

While looking through other people's finished projects with this pattern, I found some modifications recommended by Ravelry user smithmks. Because I liked how hers looked better than the original pattern, I decided to use her pattern (except for what is in bold, I added 6 rows to the suggested 14 in effort to make the hat bigger):

Cast on 80
10 rows green; back loops only on the 7th row to prevent too much rolling
8 rows gray
2 rows yellow and gray (3 yellow, 2 gray)
8 rows gray
4 rows green
20 rows blue
Begin decrease rows:
K3, K2 together (blue)
Knit 2 rows around
K2, K2 together
Knit 1 row around (blue)
Add and complete with yellow. Knit 1 row around.
K1, K2 together
Knit 2rows around.
Knit 2 together around.
Pull remaining stitches (16) together.

The pattern indicates that this hat should fit children ages 3-7, but even with my modifications to make the hat longer, it was too small for my 3 year old (didn’t cover his ears and kept popping up) and fit my 12 month old perfectly.

Pumpkin Hats

This fall, I couldn't resist making my littlest boy a pumpkin hat. To my delight, I found a simple and straightforward pattern through Ravelry published in My Simple Life. I especially liked this pattern because it contained options to customize it to my liking and had a clean, simple, and adorable appearance.

To make this hat I used both a circular needle and double pointed needles (size 6). I choice a local yarn brand called Quince & Co. Their yarn is 100% American wool and comes in a variety of thicknesses; I chose Lark. The colors I used were nasturtium (orange) and parsley (green). I am absolutely in love with both the richness of the colors and the comfy/coziness of this yarn.

I ended up making two of these hats for my baby and his best pal, both just under a year old. Because they both are warn in baby-carriers and prone to having their hats fall off, I adjusted the pattern to include two ties. The ties were made by knitting 5 across on one side, and purling 5 on the back side until they were the desired length (about 9 inches). I made the first ties as an afterthought and just stitched them on. With the second hat I made the ties first, then knitted them directly onto the hat by incorporating them onto my cast-on.

I chose to have small ribbing with both hats to make them more pumpkin-like. One hat has a short curly stem and the second has a long curly stem…I can’t decide which I like better.

My mother liked these hats so much that she requested I make one for her. I used basically the same pattern except I used a bulky yarn (Quince & Co. Puffin), larger needles and less stitches. It was fast to make, and is super warm and comfy!

My oldest son modeling the adult hat

These pumpkin hats knit up quickly, and can be easily finished in 2-3 days. I foresee making more of these in my future!

The Kymmber Slouchy

After I learned how to knit by making the bear cowl, I decided that I wanted to have a go on making a more simple hat. I love the patterns made by Heidi May of The Velvet Acorn, so I selected one of her hats: the Kymmber Slouchy (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kymmber-slouchy).

Needles:  U.S. 11 circular needle 16 inch, U.S. 13 circular needle 16 inch, U.S. 11 double pointed needles

Yarn: Super bulky weight yarn (120-150 yards) Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn in green and blue

This was only my second knitting project ever, and I was able to make this in about a week! It was very satisfying to work with the chunky yarn, and the hat feels warm and cozy.

I found some beautiful, handmade buttons from a shop called Heartsupplies on Etsy. I actually got a bunch of different buttons and am thinking about making a few more of these hats to sell on my own shop for this coming cold season.

My son has really enjoyed wearing this hat; it keeps his had and ears warm, it doesn't fall off, it's soft, and he loves how it looks. I think he looks really cute in it too!

Burton Bear Cowl (First knitting project)

When I saw a picture of this bear cowl, I decided then and there that I would learn how to knit. Just look at it!

So I purchased the pattern, and with a little help from some YouTube videos, I made my own. Actually, I made two. The pattern is made by Heidi May and can be purchased here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/burton-bear-cowl.  Both of my cowls used the same materials:

Needle: U.S. 13 (9 mm) 24 inch circular needle, U.S. 11 (8 mm) double pointed needles, U.S. size M crochet hook

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Solids in Charcoal

Looking back at these photos now that I have a lot more knitting experience, I can see that I completely messed this first one up! As it was my first knitting project, I didn't even know how to visually identify the difference between a knit an a purl stitch. The top portion of this cowl should not have had purl stitches on the right side! It still came out cute though.

Unfortunately, it was much too big for my two year old (I made the child size because he has a large head for his age). It kept falling over his eyes and was super baggy on his shoulders. So I ended up gifting it to a friend with slightly older children, and it was received excitedly with love.

 I still wanted a bear cowl for my boy obviously, so I tried again.

This bear cowl was made in the toddler size instead of the child size. It came out much better this time. The only thing I am not happy about is how the crocheted frame around the face looks. Do you see how it kind of droops over his left eyebrow? I'm tempted to figure out how to undo the stitching to try again, but on the other hand...it's not so bad.

Perhaps one day I will make this cowl again and perfect it (third times a charm right?), but my son and I are both pleased with how warm, comfortable, and fun it is and I am sure it will get a lot of use and love.

Link's First Hyrulian Hat

My son Link was named after the Hyrulian hero Link (from The Legend of Zelda games). You might even say he's a "hero of nature."

So naturally, he needed a green Hyrulian hat as soon as possible. This was the first hat I ever made and I'm pleased with the result. This pattern was made by Oodles 4 Noodles, and is a free pattern you can download here: Oodles4Noodles Long-Tailed Baby Elf Hat.

To make the hat I used:

Yarn: Grace Hand Dyed by Louisa Harding , DK / 8 ply 50% Silk, 50% Merino
Hook: I (5.5 mm) crochet hook

The pattern is for a striped hat, but I wanted mine to be a solid color. I made the pompom by hand since I didn't have a pompom maker at the time.