I love little hats!

With Christmas on it's way it's the time of year where I get knitting hats for my nearest and dearest.  This year is no exception and I have gone a bit crazy knitting little hats for little people and because they knit up so quickly there will definitely be a few more.  These hats are mostly for Cassie and Lissy's little gang of friends, but I won't say exactly who they're for just in case I have secret readers!

First up is Ruskin by my old standby Woolly Wormhead.  This was originally intended to be for my niece/nephew (due next month btw - sooooooo excited) but it became clear that it was going to be way to big so rather than rip it and start again I thought it would make a lovely christening gift for my brother's nephew instead.  I was actually surprised by how much I like this little hat.  It's kind of plain and boring but I think it looks classic and cosy.  I used DROPs Big Merino for the first time and I'll have no problem using it again in the future, probably to knit another one of these!

Just for fun let's see another Woolly Wormhead pattern, this time it's Moochie and for extra excitement I made two of them out of the same yarn.  The first one was made for one of Cassie's friends and she immediately demanded that I make her one exactly the same.  I'd used exactly half of the ball of yarn (DROPs Big Delight) so who was I to argue. These hats are ridiculously cute and I think the slow colour change in the yarn makes them.

Let's wander out of WW territory for a moment.  This is a Chouette by Katy Tricot Designs.  I've had my eye on this pattern and also Zaika by the same designer so when I was planning little gifts for all the littlies I had the perfect excuse to get both patterns.  I actually ended up knitting this hat twice too, although I only have one to show for it this time.  This is what happened in my head:

1. I got the recommended size needles out of my needle box as well as the next size up because I often need to size up. 
2. Knitted swatch
3. Decided gauge was near enough and knitted with recommended needles
4. Finished hat, realised it was a little small, ripped back
5. Cast on with larger needles

When I finished it the second time and miraculously managed to use exactly the same amount of yarn I realised that perhaps what had actually happened was:

1. I got the recommended size needles out of my needle box as well as the next size up because I often need to size up. 
2. Knitted swatch
3. Decided that perhaps the next size up would be better and cast on
4. Finished hat, realised it was a little small, ripped back
5. Cast on with the same sized needles as the first time like an idiot

This hat is now for a smaller child than originally intended and I can authoritatively state that it is very quick to knit indeed.  Thankfully.

I still need to pick some buttons for this one

Last but not least is this little Regan aviator.  I've made a couple of these before and they always go down well.  The yarn is some DROPs Love You 4 which was leftover from Cassie's Lotta Bolero that I made last year (incidentally I used the leftover grey from that held double for the Chouette above).  That cardi has long been a felted mess courtesy of my husband, seriously it really is time I set up a memorial page for the knits he has murdered, but I had enough left for a little hat.  This was a simple little knit except for an episode where all of the needles mysteriously fell out of all the stitches.  Neither daughter seemed to know anything about it apparently, so it must have been a rogue gust of wind.  Luckily it was a case of sticking the stitches back on the needles and dealing with about 10 dropped stitches and then there were just a few rounds left to go once I'd made it known to the world at large that mummy was very much not impressed.

That's it for now, but there's a family baby due in just a few weeks so you can bet your arse there's plenty more wee hats to come!