Hand-Me-Down

One of my first crocheted projects was a hat for Jenny. Being new to patterns it turned out a bit smaller than I intended. Luckily she's very sweet-natured and sentimental, so she held onto it anyway.

A few years later her daughter Ellis came across it in her drawer and immediately adopted it as her own. Jenny sent me a sweet message today with this photo saying, "Ellis woke up last night around midnight asking for her hat. She's quite attached."

It makes me happy to know that she is getting good use out of it!

Long Overdue

This adorable bonnet pattern is from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Havorson and can feasibly be made within 2 hours... or so the book says. I started this project when Rachel was still in her first trimester... and well, she's due to give birth is a just a few weeks!

I normally wouldn't spend so long on a project but I was stumped when I got to the last step: Attaching the I-cord to the Hat. Feeling frustrated I tucked the project away for a few months and went onto other things. Rachel's shower this past weekend inspired me to get over my feelings of defeat and tackle the last step. With some devoted time and attention, I figured it out! I'm overly aware of all the errors, but I'm happy with the end result. I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to make this hat in 2 hours, but I'm positive the next go-round will be much swifter.

(Not So) Teenie Beanie

I just finished knitting this beanie hat for Baby Janus and was a little nervous about the size in the end. I followed a pattern for a 6-12 month year old, but since I can practically fit it on my own head I thought something must be off. Seeing the hat on Ellis reassured me that it's just the right size, and that in reality, babies just have pretty big heads.

Feeling Folksy

I'm still in the midst of baby-centric projects, with a focus on cold-weather hats at the moment. By next winter Baby Janus will be 6 months and ready for snow, and this Aunt is going make sure he/she stays warm!

I found this charming print at Purl in the Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannel collection. I used the same fabric for both the interior and exterior, so the hat has a double layer of warmth, and finished it off with twill tape ties.

I'm thrilled how this folksy print when paired up with the Lotta Jansdotter baby bonnet pattern, creates a vintagey Scandinavian look.