Knitted Baby Hats

One of my very favorite people, my cousin Jenn, is having a baby girl. After negotiating with my Mom about who was going to knit which cute hats, I went to buy yarn. I didn’t find the orange I wanted for a pumpkin hat, which would have been perfect for a late September baby. Instead, I bought yellow and pink baby acrylic yarn and began experimenting. This is what I learned: 1. tiny hats need tiny stripes, 2. fold over brims don’t work (again, it’s an issue of scale).  Here is my final striped hat.

I also made an all pink hat, then knitted bunny ears and sewed them on (pattern below).

Pattern for baby hat:

Cast on 48 stitches (16 on 3 needles to knit in the round), if gauge is 4.5 stitches to the inch. I used 48 stitches on size 6 needles.

Knit 4, Purl 4 for half an inch

Knit in the round until the entire piece measures four inches in length.

To decrease: Row 1, knit 2 together. Row 2, purl. Row 3, knit 2 together. Row 4, purl. Trim the yarn leaving about 6 inches of extra slack. Thread the yarn tail with a tapestry needle, then thread all of the remaining stitches through the needle. Tighten and put the needle through the top of the hat. On the inside of the hat, tie off the yarn securely.

To make bunny ears: With gray yarn, cast on 4 stitches.

Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Increase one by knitting through in the back loop on the first stitch and knit six more rows in stockinette. Repeat this once more.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit four rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat twice. Knit the last two stitches together and tie off.

Pick up three stitches from the original four cast on. With the pink yarn, knit six rows in stockinette stitch. At the beginning and end of every pink row, hook the edge of the gray and knit or purl the pink and gray stitches together. This will create the effect of pink “inner ear” and gray “outer ear” in one relatively seamless ear.

Increase one by knitting through in the back loop on the first stitch and knit six more rows in stockinette. Repeat this once more.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit four rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once. Knit the last two stitches together and tie off. Use a tapestry needle to tuck the yarn ends into the inside of the ear. Sew the ends of the ear to the hat with pink yarn.

My Knitting Basket Blog

I came across this lovely knitting blog this morning: My Knitting Basket. I particularly like her discussion on acrylic yarns and this freaking adorable knitted Stig doll (a character on Top Gear, a British TV car show).

Museums & Yarnbombing

Glad to see the American Association of Museums Center for the Future of Museums has caught up 0n the yarnbombing phenomenon, previously discussed on this blog here and here and here.

 

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I made this purse when I was in grad school roughly 5-6 years ago.

I love the colors! The purse is stockinette stitch with two strands knitted together. One strand is a plain blue; the second is a shaggy yarn with shades of aqua and lime. The “wrong” side of the stockinette stitch is facing outwards. The inside is lined with a light-weight, lime green cotton fabric.

I wanted to replicate this round shape with some lovely “surf blue” merino wool. This was the result of months of testing:

Finally, I got something approaching the rounded, bubble shape from which I was aiming. I knit this purse in the round, using increases and decreases to create the rounded sides.  I still don’t quite have the smooth curves I’m working on.

The purse is lined with a navy blue linen blend fabric, and the handles are recycled from a thrift store belt. The top edge is finished with a simple crochet stitch.

 

 

 

Lacey Clutches for Spring

I was inspired to create lacey, spring clutches when I purchased white and cream vintage yarn. These delicate clutches turned out to be almost more trouble than they were worth.

To make these, I knitted three rectangular swatches, then folded them in half and sewed the side seams. For one of the purses, I threaded silver and clear beaded onto the yarn and knitted the beads into the pattern. This was the easy part.

Next, I sewed the lining’s side seams and sewed the zipper onto the lining. I used filmy, pastel fabric for the lining which was difficult to cut, sew, and even pin. Finally, I simply sewed the lining into the knitted purse.

For the  third knitted clutch,  I will make a double lining and hopefully disguise the stitch-work around the zipper better.

For future purses, I will make the lining first, then make the knitted part to fit the lining. This is easiest because I have more expertise in knitting and this fabric was difficult to work.