Year of the Dragon!

As many of you know, this week marked the start of the Year of Dragon.  In honour of this celebration, as well as my own magnetism towards dragons, I decided we'd make a dragon hat for the little man.  Also featured in this photo shoot, my beloved Puff who was my childhood companion (and I suppose will now be Henry's best friend too).

I crocheted this hat, once again using Vanna's Choice yarn which is nice and washable and doesn't felt.  I made the pattern up on the fly, I really ought to write these things down, but I'm pretty sure I could recreate it.

At first I was worried that the ridge wouldn't stand up on this hat, but as you can see, that was no concern after all:

Daddy making him smile:

Best buds already!

Oh, hi Puff, where did you get that wicked bandana?

Ok mom, I'm done!

In other news, I am in the process of building some stock so that I can reopen my Etsy store, so stay tuned for that!  I will make an announcement when it's ready to go.

G.

Tam o'Shanter

In case you didn't know, Robbie Burns Day is coming up this week (the 25th of January).  Last year my husband and I were at an irish pub on Robbie Burns day, that, for some reason was honouring Robbie Burns (even though he was Scottish).  We had only just learned I was pregnant at this point, and were seeing one of my sisters off on her trip to the Dominican Republic.  Also interesting about this dinner, former maple leaf Glen Healey was playing bagpipes at the bar that night....weird.

A little history for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about: Robert Burns was a rather famous Poet from Scotland.  One of his more famous works is a poem called Tam o'Shanter (you can see it here [as you may have guessed, I love wikipedia]).  This particular poem happens to have a hat named after it, the Tam o'Shanter cap.  I thought it would be nice to honour Robbie Burns day with a hat this week.  I got this pattern on ravelry.

Here is my serious little man:

And now my happy little man!:

One more happy one, so you can see the whole get up:

Isn't it amazing how much that smile transforms his little face?  Such a cutie if I don't say so myself!

G.

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.

Happy New Year! Guten Rutsch!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I just threw this hat together quickly as the occasion called for a theme hat.  

Henry as the New Years Baby:

 He looks a little like he's scheming something in this first one.

 Why are you taking my picture when I'm all naked Mom?

Thanks to Auntie Chrissy for helping with the pose!

Here's to 2012, may it be as wonderful as 2011!

G.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I don't have a hat to post today.  Between dinners and presents and family time, there's been, well, no time. But here is a little selection of some of Henry's first hats:

 Just a few days old here!

 Henry's first Thanksgiving

Henry is his Halloween costume (this hat is also featured as our header).

Also, Henry was lucky enough to have his lovely face featured on Offbeat Mama's Monday Montage this week!  Feel free to head over and check it out, Offbeat Mama is one of my favourite online blogs.

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!