My Little Monster Series - Part 1

 Happy Weekend everyone!

I'm pretty excited about this weeks' post, I'm not gonna lie.  But first I have a confession: sometimes I am totally at a loss for what hat to make for Henry.  Sometimes it takes a great deal of time and effort just to come up with something.  This was one of those weeks.  I sat around, trying to come up with something cute and funny to entertain you all, but I just wasn't feeling it.  

I decided early in the week that I wanted to knit a hat this week, there's been a great deal of crocheting going on, I needed a change.  I looked through my epic yarn stash and saw a full ball of aqua coloured yarn that I had used for the crest of the dragon hat.  There aren't a lot of things that colour in nature, so I came up with the idea of a monster hat of some kind.  Something cute and funny to fill the week so we can move on. Instead of searching for a pattern, I figured I would wing it and make one up, so I googled "knit monsters."

That's when I came upon the most amazing etsy shop ever!

Rebecca Danger creates the most awesome knit monster patterns I've ever seen.  You can see her monsters (and purchase her patterns) on her blog, or at her etsy store.  She also provides adorable names and background stories for each of her patterns.  All of the sudden, I was having creative overload and an idea was born:  I'm going to do a small "Monster Series" of hats for those weeks when I'm just not sure what to do.  Although it is tempting to do them all in a row, the first one turned out so well.

Not only did Henry get an awesome hat this week, but he made a new friend too!  I can't wait for the follow up hats and creations to come.

Henry meets his new pal "Iris the Gourmet Monster:"

Look Ma!  We're twins!  (and I can hold my foot!)

Oh Iris, you're so funny!

Check out that coy little smile:

Umm, I appear to be all tangled up in monster

So awesome, right?  I think I am experiencing cute overload at the moment.  Stay tuned for more monster themed hats (and maybe some new friends).

Peace!

For those about to rock, we salute you

Trevor says this week is Henry's testosterone charged hat week.  After much hassling about the lack of manly hats featured, this week I made a simple black toque with a lightning bolt on the front to match Henry's awesome new AC/DC shirt that he got from Debbie (thanks Debbie)!  Please note, it is an authentic AC/DC shirt, not one of those AB/CD shirts, this increases Henry's street cred, fyi.  

Look at those big muscly arms!  (Ok, maybe it's just a bit of baby pudge)

Playing air guitar:

Loving it (can you see that little tooth on the bottom)?

Happy boy!

Notice how well he is sitting up?  Such a big boy all of the sudden!  Hope you all enjoyed this week's manly feature.  I have no idea what we'll do next week, but I'm open to suggestions :)

Cheers!

Go Leafs Go!

Happy Sunday!  

Another week has gone by, I can't believe how the time is passing!  First, as promised, I've included some pictures of the fiddlehead mittens I was working on last week:

 Here is a picture of the lining (I used red baby alpaca yarn, so it's super soft)

 The pattern was easy to follow and kind of fun!  I will definitely make them again, probably sometime soon!

As the title suggests, Henry's hat this week is hockey themed.  We're hoping to give the Leafs some better luck for their game on Tuesday against Ottawa.  You can't see it so well, but Henry is also wearing his Maple Leafs sleeper in these pictures.

I knit just a basic hat this week, then I ironed on a Maple Leaf patch which I purchased on ebay some time ago with this hat in mind.  Iron on was not entirely ideal with the acrylic yarn, but I managed to get it attached with very, very minor melting involved (you can see it a little to the right of the logo in the last picture, it just looks a little shiny).  

My sweet little boy is a Leafs fan, just like his Daddy!  Go Leafs Go!

G.

Henry visits his Scottish roots.

This week I decided it was time to face my fears and make a Fair Isle patterned hat.  Since it was my first real attempt, I decided to go with something simple with only 2 alternating colours.  Although I'm sure I could have easily found a pattern for a fair isle baby hat, I decided to design this one myself.  I started by charting the pattern

 It took a little longer than planned, I probably spent one whole evening just charting it all out, but I didn't want to chance just winging it.

The next challenge was keeping even tension on 2 strands the whole time:

 So far so good!  In the next picture you can see the pattern starting to evolve:

 Just prior to casting off:

Once all that was done, I really ought to have blocked it, but I really hate blocking and it fit Henry ok the size it was.  I don't really mind the wrinkles it has all that much.

And now what you've all been waiting for, Henry in his hat!

Such a serious little man!  Hard to believe he's not quite 4 months yet, he looks so grown up here!

I must say, Fair Isle was a lot less difficult than I expected.  In light of my new skills, I am now also making Fiddlehead Mittens which are turning out awesome so far!  I'll include a picture of the finished product next week.

Hope you all enjoyed!  As always, new hat next week!

G.

He's making a list, checking it twice...

Greetings everyone!

On to our final Christmas themed hat.  For this hat, I went back to knitting.  I also designed the pattern myself, but it's very basic, all you need to know how to do is knit and purl (and how to work in the round). You could also use a magic loop to accomplish this, but it's a bit more advanced.  

This particular hat fits 3-6 months, if you want to make it bigger or smaller, all you have to do is add or subtract 4 stitches at a time (it's important that you use multiples of 4 to keep the rib pattern).  

I've written out the pattern below for anyone who may be interested in making their own, you can of course change the colours to make it a less holiday specific hat.  

I should mention here that my particular style of knitting in the round uses 5 needles rather than 4.  I learned to knit in Austria where the predominant style of knitting is Continental knitting vs. English knitting which is what most people I've met in Canada use.  As a result, any time I buy double pointed knitting needles in Canada, I am forced to purchase two packages because here they are sold in packs of 4 and I always need 5.  Personally, I think they should just sell them in packs of 5, I mean, everyone can use a spare needle now and then.  

I know what you're thinking, who knew these things even existed/what on earth is she even talking about, right?  Well then, onto the pattern (and then pictures)!

3-6 month

The yarn I used is Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand (available at Michaels) in White and Scarlet (1 ball of each leaves lots left over) and size 6 needles (remember, I distribute my stitches across 4 needles and use the fifth to work in the round).

Cast on 56 stitches in white and distribute evenly among needles.

Rows 1-16 K2, P2 repeat to end of row

cut yarn and switch to Scarlet

Rows 17-37 K2, P2 repeat to end of row (if it's looking like your hat is too long at this point, feel free to skip to the casting off section sooner than row 37, it's all very flexible)

Casting off: 

Row 38 K2, P2tog repeat to end of row

Row 39 K1, K2tog repeat to end of row

Row 40 K2tog repeat until 6 stitches left, pull yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight.  Weave in ends.

Make 1 pom pom in white instructions here  and sew to top of hat.  

Voila!

 Thank you to my wonderful husband for helping me pose the baby in these pictures!

So cute!  If you have any questions about how I made this hat, please leave it in the comments and I will be happy to help you out!

Merry Christmas!