Monday, February 22, 2010

Strawberry/Blueberry Baby Hats

I learned to knit during a long, cold winter in Connecticut. My husband was working insane hours and I was bored. I took a knitting class at a local store and loved it! I finished the project (dishcloth) in two classes, so the teacher had me pick another one. I decided on a knit hat and have been making these little strawberry ones since that winter for every baby born in our circle of friends. When the baby is a boy I tend to make a lemon instead. I have also made a couple of pumpkin hats along the way.



In the past year I have been making these for charity. The last one I donated was for an auction supporting DEBRA. Please visit the official auction website for more information. This is a wonderful cause, and you can read more about the little boy that inspired the whole thing at the Williams Family Blog.



One of my cousins showed interest in these hats so I thought I would chronicle the process for her. I start the knitting in the round with circular needles. The size of the needles depends on the size of the hat. In this case I am making a "blueberry" hat for a little baby boy.



The most important part is to make sure you don't twist the stitches when joining to create the circle. Placing a stitch marker before the first stitch is very helpful at this point- note the white ring.



The knitting becomes very easy after a couple of rounds. At a certain point I either add green for the seeds of the strawberries or some bumps for the other fruits in the main color.



Then the green comes in for the leaves.



Once the leaves are completed, the decreasing will begin and it will be necessary to change to double-pointed needles.



And lastly the stem which is created using an i-cord. This is the finished product for the "blueberry" model in the 0-6 months size.




Linking to some fun parties:


DIY Day @ ASPTL


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giveaways

8 comments:

Expressions by Heather said...

Those are just the most darling little hats, great project!

Thank you so much for linking up with the Talented Tuesday link party at My Frugal Family, which is hosted every Tuesday. Please feel free to stop back in every week and post your newest projects!

Amanda said...

Oh my, those are so adorable!!

Unknown said...

Those are so great! You are really talented. Great pictures too, what kind of camera do you have?

Pati @ A Crafty Escape said...

Thank you ladies, I truly LOVE making these!

Heather: I have a Canon Rebel XSi and most of these pics are taken with my favorite lens, the 85 mm - F/1.8 - Canon EF.

Melissa said...

Oh my goodness. These are so cute! I love them! My hubbie would die if I put my son in one.

Tonia said...

So cute! I wish I could knit. I don't think I have the patience for it though.

Unknown said...

look at cute these are, makes me wish I knit! :)
we have a friday fun find party- if you're interested, we'd love it if you'd link up tomorrow!

TexasBobbi said...

Super cute.