It feels so good to finish a project, doesn’t it? Lately, my favorite thing to knit is hats. First of all, they are fun to knit and second of all, I got stuck in so many of the knitting patterns I was working on and really needed the satisfaction of getting some knits finished. Plus, knitted hats make great gifts and everyone could use a cozy hat in the wintertime. With two winter birthdays, I thought hats would be just the thing.

The first hat above was from January, for Bracken’s friend who had his fourth birthday. I knit the Magic Coffee Baby Hat (free pattern on Ravelry, by the way) for the second time. The first time I knit the pattern was for my nephew for his second birthday. That time I changed the stripes to be four rows wide, rather than the two like the pattern says. The second time I intended to knit 2 rows wide, but then accidentally knit an extra row twice. I just continued in that same pattern like I had done it on purpose and it turned out just fine. (And it just added some more handmade character.)

The yarn is from our friends at Timberwolf Farm. The grey yarn is from their sheep named Carlchen, I had some left from another project. The blue yarn was a Christmas present from Jeff, also from our friends at Timberwolf Farm. It was handspun with wool from their sheep and also with some merino wool and silk threads blended in, making it extra soft. I still have plenty more of it to make something else. (A lesson learned with this hat is to not pull the yarn too tight when switching colors, because it made it bunch up at that seam, but I was able to mostly remedy that situation when I blocked it.) Bracken’s friend was quite pleased with his hat and nothing delights a knitter like seeing that look on someone’s face!

The second hat pictured was for another one of Bracken’s friends, who also had a fourth birthday. I’ve known her since she was a baby and couldn’t believe we were celebrating her fourth birthday. I had some handspun purple yarn that made me think of her and then some blue yarn that I really liked paired with it. I took some close-ups of the hat to show you all the gorgeous coloring in the yarn. The handspun yarn is from Hungry Hill Farm (we do two festivals with her- The Black Sheep Gathering and The Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival) and the blue yarn is from Seacolors Yarn (she had a booth at the Black Sheep Gathering last year.)

As you can see, I adjusted the pattern to be an elf hat. I have a thing for elf hats, which you may have noticed over the years and she just strikes me as an elf hat kind of gal. I wanted the coloring to be mostly purple, so did four rows of purple and then two rows of blue and was really pleased with that. My other Ravelry notes can be found here.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention my lesson learned with the making of that hat. (There is always a lesson learned with every project I knit.) I had the inspiration to put a few drops of lavender essential oil on her hat, thinking how lovely it would be to have that scent infused into the hat to enjoy whenever it’s worn. I got a little too carried away though and put too many drops on it (two would have been plenty, more is not always better!) and then it smelled too strong (!) and I worried she wouldn’t even be able to wear it. I didn’t have time to wash it again. Both Jeff and my mom told me to give it time and the smell would dissipate, but I doubted them. It did lighten and when the gift was received, they thought it smelled good. Phew.

I used to knit hats, not following any pattern, and guessing the size, but these days I sure am enjoying following a pattern and having a good idea about the sizing (especially when birthdays are coming up and I want to have my hats finished in time, without ripping things out to tweak the size.) Surprise, surprise I’m working on another one of these hats as we speak. You can tell I’m fond of the pattern since I’m now knitting it for the fourth time!

…Joining Ginny’s YarnAlong.

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P.S. Thank you for your thoughtful comments in yesterday’s post. It’s not an easy topic and so many of you reached out and some of you shared your own experiences with us, even when they were painful to share. I hope you know how touched I was and reading your words brought tears to my eyes. I truly feel I have the kindest readers and warmest community here. I’m humbled with the love you constantly shower on our family and I’m grateful for you all. So grateful.