Hats for New Grandson

My new baby grandson has a small head. This is a family trait, as both his father and paternal grandfather have small heads and this is always an issue when they are picking out new ball caps….

So, I have been making the little guy some smaller hats. I started out by checking on what the “newborn” head measurement is — which my references state is “14 – 15 inches”. I cast on the appropriate number of stitches for the gauge of the worsted weight baby yarn I was using — three rows in and I thought: “Too Big.”

After some experimenting, I got what looked like the right circumference and knit up a beanie type hat — one inch of 2 X 2 ribbing and then straight stockinette until the hat measured 3 1/2 inches. I used the standard K2tog decreasing to form the top of the hat. I guessed correctly, because the hat fit perfectly. The circumference of this first hat was 11.5 inches.

The new parents were impressed and asked me if I could knit up a few more in different colors so that they could use them to coordinate the baby’s outfits. Now, being a new grandma, I said, “Of course!” —

So — I knit 3 more hats — each one only took about 90 minutes to knit up and I varied them a little just so I wouldn’t get too bored with them. The bright green one and the baby blue one were knit using Berat Cottontots yarn and the aqua one was knit using double-stranded Baby Ull (Dale of Norway) washable wool.

BTW — I didn’t get a picture of the first hat — also knit with Bernat Cottentots yarn — but it was baby blue with a bright green stripe.

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And finally…The Third Hat: Beret in Bee StitchAnd finally…The Third Hat: Beret in Bee Stitch

As you know from my previous post, I have been side-tracked with switching to a new computer and then finding that my blog had been hacked.  Well, I think I have recovered from the hack and I have all of my pictures and files transferred to my new computer — so, now to catch up and post about the third hat I started in January and finished in February.

My third hat is a beret knit in Bee Stitch.

Beret in Bee Stitch

This hat was also inspired by the thread about Hermione Granger’s hat in the Deathly Hallows, Part I, in the Harry Potter Lover’s group on Ravelry.  Again, I think the beret is fairly close to the original hat.

Bee Stitch Beret 4Details:  Hat was knit with Stitch Nation Full O’ Sheep (100% Peruvian Wool), using US Size 7 (4.5 mm) needles.  This yarn is very soft, aran weight, though I did find it a bit splinty.  The color is Passionfruit.  Stitch Nation is manufactured by Red Heart (Coats & Clark). 

When increasing for the beret, I basically doubled the number of stitches and it created a very slouchy beret, so if you’d like it a less slouchy, I’d only increase by 50%. I converted the Bee Stitch so I could knit it in the round and I wrote up the pattern to share with others, so here’s the link: Bee Stitch Beret.

To see my notes on Ravelry, use this link.

The Roomba Ate My Socks!The Roomba Ate My Socks!

Roomba
I have a Roomba – which is a small robotic vacuum cleaner. You are supposed to be able to contain it to a single room using little devices called “lighthouses”. I really like this little guy for frequent vacuuming of my kitchen. So, the other day, I turned it on and left it to run around the kitchen while I did some things in my office.

Well, it escaped the kitchen and headed off into the living room – where my two at a time socks using magic loop project was laying beside my recliner (I’d left them there the night before) …AND…the Roomba ate my socks!

I heard this weird little sound coming from the living room and went to investigate – and there I found the Roomba thrashing about entangled in my 40” circular needle and the yarn from one of the socks. (I was so traumatized that I forgot to take a picture.)

After turning the Roomba off, it took me several minutes to remove the yarn from around the various moving parts and then deal with the fact that the circular needle had somehow ended up wrapped around one of the wheels. Eventually, I succeeded in extricating my circular needle – but it was a close call, as I had begun to consider the possibility of having to cut the cable. (WHEW!) Fortunately – one sock was still on the circular needle. The other, however, was laying in the middle of the floor – off the needle and minus its ball of yarn. I tenderly picked up this wounded creature and set it aside to recover from all the trauma.

I discovered that the lighthouse that should have prevented Roomba from going into the living room wasn’t working (dead batteries). Once I replaced the batteries, the darn little thing worked just fine and stayed in the kitchen where I wanted it to be.

Socks_BackTog
Happy News! – I was able to frog the wounded sock back to a point that I knew where I was in the pattern and then pick up the stitches and reconnect the yarn to the sock as I reknit it back to where it had been before it was attacked by the Roomba. It is now back on the same circular needle with its brother.

FO: Cable Rib SocksFO: Cable Rib Socks

Knitted Cable Rib Socks

I finally finished the Cable Rib Socks! Yes, this is the unfortunate pair of socks that was eaten by the Roomba. (See post here.).

I set this project aside for some time to work on other project. Typically for this kind of project, I would pick it up every now and again, but not spend much time on it — thus, progress was very slow. In addition, every since the Roomba incident, this pair of socks seemed to be prone to problems (errors?) — in fact, I think I frogged each sock back several rows at least twice. So, it is nice that they are finally done — and I am happy with the result.
Cable Rib Socks

The socks fit well, and they look nice on my feet. They were knit in Knit Picks Risata, Baby Doll colorway — it’s a nice cotton sock yarn and I love the bright rosy pink color. Pattern was Cable Ribbon Socks by Classic Elite Yarns.