Tiny Hat Parade

I've had the joy of working with tiny hats over the last few months. A kind soul donated a large lot of baby weight yarn to the church's knitting ministry. A perfect fit as the group decided to make hats for the local hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

I took it as an opportunity to go through the bunches of baby hat patterns that I had amassed to do some pattern test knitting. And the winner is....



The Handle Hat by Larissa at Stitch Marker.




This pattern calls for sock yarn, so I thought that the sport weight yarn would work well, and it did. I made the pattern three times, changing only the needle size each time and adding an eyelet row on the smallest.



I wish I had written down the sizes (wasn't that why I started blogging?!), but I think that I knitted with #3, #4, and #5 dpns. The shape of the hat and the finishing of the little handle top make this a fun knit. Perhaps a bit more length might make it more wearable for a little longer, but I really like this hat for sport weight yarn. I liked the feel and size of the the #4 hat best.

I also tried the simple hat calculator and knit these two:



The first version is on the right with an eyelet row. The second is the correct depth called for in the pattern, but you would need to roll it many times to prevent it from looking like a conehead garment. I didn't like the shaping on the top - the first one I followed the pattern as written and the second I modified the top using the pattern's suggestions for smaller sizes. I think they are both too pointy and would want to fiddle with the final rows more to feel comfy with this pattern.

Procrastination does pay off! I waited to "deliver" (couldn't help the pun!) the hats to the NICU when my friend had arrived to deliver her little girl and was able to drop off hats and see a brand new baby. Very fun. And did I bring her a hat? No!



She got these cut little booties from Last Minute Knitted gifts. It is the Angora Baby Booties pattern. I started them on her birth date and had them ready the next morning. I used double strands of Kid Silk Haze and #4 dpns. This pattern is by far the best toe-up sock method I've seen. Advice that is not worth much as I haven't done any adult toe-ups yet, but this pattern rocks.

The stash reduction is in full progress as I finish more projects and start using some of my own yarn. More updates soon!