Tag Archives: Baby/Kid Knits

It's been difficult to remind myself over these last few days that it's really only March!  Sometimes we'll get one randomly warm day in the very early spring, but a week of 80-degree temperatures?  Unheard of!  I wore sleeveless dresses to work these last two days....something I usually only do during July and August.  Crazy.

We didn't have much of a winter, truly.  I mean, yes, there was the giant storm at the end of October, but that was pretty much it.  We only had one real snowfall to speak of, in mid-January -- the day my grandmother came home from the hospital for the last time.  The good thing was that since we were all gathered for that, our nephew Thomas was here -- which meant that he got to introduce Ian to playing in the snow.  Who better to do it?

Ian LOVED the snow.  He seems to enjoy the cold -- even last winter when we went to Vermont when he was about nine months old, we noticed that he was all smiles whenever we went outside into the frigid temperatures.  Jim is beside himself with anticipation for next winter (or maybe the winter after that, if I get my way) -- he's been looking forward to teaching Ian to ski since, well, since before I even was pregnant with him.  :-)  I, however, am less thrilled about the prospect.  I'm no fun.

Sadly, this was pretty much it for snow play this year.  We had a couple of other light dustings which he got to toddle around in, but there wasn't really another snowfall that lent itself to playing.

While we didn't get much snow, it was just chilly enough for a nice warm hat -- and luckily, Ian loved the one I knit for him.

Pattern: Child's Hat with Pompom, from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Malabrigo Seleccion Privada 
Needles: US7, I think? I didn't write it down!
Time: December 26, 2011 - January 5, 2012
Ravelry project page

(These pictures were taken outside in early January.  You can see how not-wintry it was!  Note that Ian's only wearing a fleece, not even a real winter coat.)

This was a quick knit, obviously, being a tiny little hat.  It only took me so long because I ripped it out and restarted it at least three or four times -- it took quite a while to find a combination of size, fabric, and pooling that I found satisfactory.  I'd like the pooling, but the hat would be way too big.  I'd like the size, but the pooling was funny.  Different needle size led to a good size, but the fabric was way too stiff....you get the idea.  I finally found a combination I was happy with, though.  I neglected to mark down which needle size finally worked, but I wound up casting on 84 stitches and working the pattern in multiples of 6 stitches instead of 8.  And, obviously, I left off the pompom.  Other than that, though, I followed the pattern.  Ian LOVED this hat, insisted on wearing it everywhere, and I think it will still fit him next year, too.  Hopefully he'll still like it!

I didn't really set out to knit my one-year-old a hat out of a $25 skein of Malabrigo (I'm generally all about the easy-care yarn for kid knits), but when I saw these colors I just couldn't resist.  What a perfect, bright, happy colorway for a little kid....and, of course, it's super-soft for his noggin.

I had woolly things I kind of wanted to get to this winter, but now it's time to think ahead to spring and summer knits.  Of course, I'm certain we'll get one more snowstorm before we're truly 100% into spring.  Maybe over Easter -- it would be an appropriate counterpoint to the Halloween storm!