I’ve finished a baby hat project that churned out three FOs, each a version of the same hat designed for a Small Person. This all started out when I messaged one of my oldest friends for a catch-up. In the course of discussing our careers, he commissioned me to make his nephew a Christmas present, and this project is the result of that.

I’m in London this weekend – I tried to go to the Pompom Quarterly Christmas party, but I hadn’t planned to be in London so I never pre-booked a ticket, and unfortunately they had none left. I was very disappointed, but spent some time window-shopping and wandering along Charing Cross Road and up to Tottenham Court Road. It was a pleasant evening, even if my feet do hurt a lot now! I hope everyone had fun, and can’t wait to hear all about it.

Baby Hat – Shamrocks and Seagulls

The criteria for the baby hat was simple: my friends nephew is obsessed with one of his hats, and he wanted a copy of it for the nephew. I thought this was an incredibly sweet and thoughtful request, and took him up on it. In no time at all, I had taken delivery of the original hat, figured out the pattern and knitted up a sample.

I’ve had trouble with sizing when knitting hats previously, and the diamond brocade hat I knitted last year was more than enough proof of this. I had asked for measurements of the toddlers head, but these were obviously quite hard to come by and I decided to go ahead without relying on them.

Once I had figured out the cable pattern, I knitted another hat that was smaller than my sample turned out to be. It came out very small, so I decided to knit yet another one. In order to do this, I had to go get more yarn, and it means the hat that I finished last is the one I was happiest with. The colour matching was better, I didn’t make a single mistake (that I know of) and it was finished quite well, if I do say so myself. On the fence about which one to give to my friend, I gave him all three, and I reckon the nephew will have a baby hat that fits him till he is well into his teens!

The yarn in this final hat was King Cole Dollymix in the shamrock colourway, a 100% acrylic yarn that I found quite splitty, but was affordable at 80p for a 50g ball, washed really well in both the washing machine and tumble dryer, and seemed perfect for a hat that will probably get a lot of wear and need a lot of washing. I decided to call the project “Shamrocks and Seagulls” because of the colour and the fact that the “v’s” look like Seagulls.

I think my friend was pleased – I certainly was, it was a rewarding project and I’m keen to get back into the swing of knitting!

I have so many more projects to talk about, but December is always a crazy busy month for me, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get them all up! I’m starting to feel very festive, and I hope you are all feeling seasonal too, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas. This time of year always makes me appreciate knitting, fires and hot chocolate so much, and although I’m looking forward to days that are longer than 8 hours sunlight, I’m enjoying being able to bundle up too.

Much love,

Corrie xx

PS Woolly Wormhead sent me this to help me out with sizing after the diamond brocade disaster, and it’s fantastic. If you want help with sizing heads, especially if you want to knit a baby hat, definitely check it out.