A tale of four hats...

Earflap hats are hard!  I had two friends ask for some specific hats a while back.  I thought, no problem, that should be easy.  I hadn't seen their daughters in a long time, they had grown a lot and it's hard to make a hat when you can't see a kids head.  I'm used to making hats for little Mary, apparently she has a small head, apparently I do too.

The first hat I made was this penguin hat.  I used the Cozy Pattern by Alison Williams.  It was the first time I had used the pattern and I had no idea it would run small.  This hat fit Mary fine, but didn't fit the intended recipient.  Darn.  Back to the knitting needles.

I'll admit that the next version I made was not as nice.  I rarely ever knit the same pattern twice, I get bored, what can I sawy.  Also, there is a lot of little pieces for this hat, which makes it pretty fiddley (is that a word?).

The second time around I made the hat using Susan B. Anderson's Inca Snowflake pattern.  I obviously did not make the long pointed version, I just kept decreasing after her first set of decreases.  This hat was huge, it fit me, surely it would fit a one year old!  Thank goodness it did.  I did not want to make another hat like this!

In the meantime, I had made a Big flower hat for another friends daughter.  I CO 80 stitches using the Inca Snowflake pattern again.  The hat fit me before I sent it out, but it did not fit the 1 year old.  Gah... I made the next one really big (CO 90).  I also made one side longer than the other by picking up stitches across the front.  Apparently the bigger size is too big, but the normal size fits fine.

Original hat



Bigger Version, the larger side of the hat is on the right














I have no idea what I am going to do with the hats that didn't fit.  I don't have any real need to keep them, I suppose I will save them for gifts or donate them to a charity.

These hats really messed with my knitting mojo.  I really, truly, struggled with finishing the second versions.  As a result, I have decided not to knit anything for anyone any more, at least not for a while.  I have one baby gift I am doing before Christmas, because I want to.  I am not doing any Christmas gift knitting this year.

At least I am reminded that knitting, above all, has taught me patience.  I have become very good at seeing things through, even if I don't want to.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and blog readers!  I hope all your knitting projects fit perfectly!