FO Frost on Roses

Once I’d finished Cassie’s Little Trees hat I felt like I was done with hats for just a little while.  I was going to work on the baby blanket for my forthcoming niece/nephew for a bit before maybe casting on a Boo Knits shawl.  Felicity had other ideas and demanded that I immediately make her a hat just like Cassie’s but purple and with open flowers instead of trees.  Who was I to deny such an incredibly specific request for knitwear!

After a bit of searching I showed her a picture of Frost on Roses by Katrin Schubert and asked her if that was open flowery enough for her and once she understood that I didn’t have to make it in the same colours as in the picture she agreed that it would be fine.  She was also happy with King Cole Panache DK (but it's a very fine DK so more like a sport weight) in soft grey and purple, which was lucky because that’s pretty much all I had in the right weight!  The colours don’t contrast much leading to a really pretty subtle effect which is just perfect for Felicity.

I’m pleased to report that I didn’t have anywhere near the difficulties I had with Cassie’s Little Trees and this knitted up quickly and easily.  It took me a few rows to kind of see and understand how the patterns were coming together but once I’d got one repeat under my belt I got a feel for it and I could read my knitting better and see easily if I was going wrong.

Once finished I was a little worried because the crown decreases left the hat with a kind of tricorner look to them as it was all a bit pointy but after a light blocking that almost disappeared and disappears completely once the hat is stretched over the head.  Felicity insisted on having a bobble on the top which obscures the crown a little but not entirely.  After much deliberation and consideration of my bobble stash (we all have one of those right?) she settled on a pink one which I duly sewed on.  2 days later she decided it was awful and went back into the stash and picked a white one instead.  Obviously this was rather annoying but the kid obviously had a very clear vision for this hat and if I’m putting in the effort to make her something I have no problem making sure it’s exactly what she wants.

I’m really pleased with how this turned out and I hope Felicity is too.  I can see myself making an adult sized one in more contrasting colours for myself, but not for a little while, I’m definitely hatted out at least for a little while now!

FO: Little Trees kiddo edition

After being a pink sort of girl for many many years Cassie announced recently that she was now super into red and all her things must now be red.  She was needing a new winter coat so we got her a lovely red one and I thought it would be lovely to make her a hat to match it.

Cassie’s choice was to have a hat just like my Little Trees hat but red so I bought some Drops Lima in red and navy blue and got knitting.  Given that I have recently knitted this pattern I thought I’d get this knitted up in a couple of days.  After trying my hat on Cassie and using the scientific technique of pulling in tighter round her head I decided to do 2 less pattern repeats each round to make it fit a 6 year old.  I also made the ribbing at the brim shorter so the hat wasn’t too long.

All was going well until I’d completed about 2/3 of the hat and then I made a mistake, tried to unknit it and something went awry and I had no idea how to fix it.  I can usually work out what’s gone wrong and work out some sort of fix but this one was beyond me so I ripped the whole thing out.  I figured it’s just a little hat so no big deal.  The second time I had to rip was just a few rows in, the third time about half way through and at that point I started to get really annoyed!  Thankfully that was the last time I had to fully rip out but I kept on making little mistakes that meant I needed to unknit a couple of rows here and  there and the whole thing really just took far longer then it needed to.

Eventually I got to the end and it was totally worth it, this hat is so cute.  I did think that maybe I wouldn’t need to do as many pattern repeats as the pattern specifies but shortening the brim ribbing was enough to stop the hat being too long and I’m pleased that I cast on the right amount of stitches to make this fit Cassie snugly.  I let her pick her own pompom which is why that colour combo is a wee bit bonkers, but it’s her hat so who am I to judge!  I bought these pompoms a while ago before I discovered the one that come with poppers attached so sewing this one on was a bit of a bugger.  It has a small elastic loop attached which I sewed to the hat but the bobble wobbled around something awful and the last thing you want is a wobbly bobble so I had to anchor it at several points around the base to get it on there more firmly. 

So finally it is done, she hasn’t worn this properly yet because it has been really warm but the temperatures do seem to be dropping a bit again so hopefully it will see some wear before it goes away for the summer.  Oh yes and the tooth is gone, it took a minor blow to the mouth while she was playing at the park to get it out but it was more than ready so it wasn’t too much of a drama.  I can’t get enough of her gappy little face at the moment, so cute!