Weekend (Knitting) Update (or, Not More Hats, say the Cats)

This weekend, I finished the fourth of four Preemie Hats for Jeanne and Chelle’s K3tog Preemie Hat Extravaganza (yes, a little late: the story of my life, and I blame the altered mental state induced by the Shetland Seas Shawl (please do follow the link and see the big reveal if you haven’t already!).

The big cat was not amused.

“I can’t believe it’s that time again already.  Where’s that kitten?  Isn’t it her turn?”

Don’t worry, all hats were washed and no cats were harmed, other than dignity, during the course of this post.

Here are three hats: the fourth was finished after prime daylight hours.

“At least she’s not making me try them all on.”

The three shown are from my “Grow With Me Baby Hat” (free) pattern, and the fourth one is a K2P2 ribbed hat, a la the Toe (Cast) Sock.

Speaking of the Shetland Seas Shawl:

my folks stopped by yesterday afternoon to drop something off on their way somewhere, and I dragooned my father into taking a couple quick shots of the shawl outside, in working shawl position.  (I was all ready, as I wore it to church that morning.)  So here it is, in the wild.

And later I went to try to experiment with standing on a stool in our upstairs bathroom.  With rather amusing results, at least I was thinking so at the time.

Knitblogger contemplating camera, or "Is this thing on?"

I am editing my expression as it may tend to incriminate me

Is this camera pointed anywhere near the mirror?

Maybe I’d better work on my mirror technique a bit more….

We Three, We’re Not A Crowd

Brownie points if you remember the name of/tune to that old song!

“We three” are three little preemie hats, for Jeanne and Chelle’s 4th Annual k3tog Preemie Hat Knitting Extravaganza!

The one in the middle is not quite as pointy as it looks there; see?

(That would be the green-eyed stare of death, there. No animals were harmed in the making of this photo, just seriously ticked off.)

And I have a fourth little hat on the needles. (Heavens, these go fast after this:

But I’ll show and tell you more of that later. There’s a story. There’s always a story with me….)

Anyway, back to the preemie hats! Check out the link above; the goal is a total of 150 preemie hats knit in January, which is so do-able, you guys! There’s even a contest. And there’s a basic preemie hat pattern here, courtesy of Chelle, or you can Google a gazillion.

Or here is my little hat pattern, finally typed up, which I find doesn’t fall off easily, and also grows with the little squirts (their heads grow Really Fast!). It’s what I used for the above hats. The pattern is mom- and baby-tested and approved! One friend’s baby would only wear this hat; or at least, it’s the only one that didn’t fall over his face and make him cry. Flip the brim up when first wearing, then down as the baby grows. Knitting at a slightly looser gauge makes for maximum growability (unless you’re making an outdoors winter baby hat, which needs to be denser).

The above-pictured hat is in yet another version of lovely Twisted yarn. This is Meg’s Kabam yarn, a superwash merino/bamboo/nylon blend. At first glance, I preferred the more saturated colors of her other yarns; this one is softer, more heathered, a little more lustrous (though not shiny like Tencel). But, oh, is it ever nice to work with! Not splitty, very soft, and it makes a wonderful baby hat. And I’m liking the softer colors now.  Definitely some socks are going to happen from this yarn in the future. The other two hats are in a nice DK-to-worsted-weight acrylic from Moda Dea.

So — go forth and knit a preemie hat, or two, or five, or more! Talk about a quick and satisfying knit, which also helps the tiniest new little members of our world. Then either send them to Jeanne or Chelle sometime this month, or donate them to your Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of choice (either works by them — just let them know if you donate locally, and you’ll count towards the total hat #, and qualify for contest prizes!). Have fun!