DIY Friday: Growing Rib Hat

This year when we did Operation Christmas Child boxes I thought it would be nice to include some hand knit hats since I have a lot of yarn lying around. Since I was going to be making hats for boys and girls to go with three different age groups, I wanted to make a pattern that would work for anyone.I came up with this Growing Rib Hat (click to find on Ravelry) that has an increasing rib pattern for each size.

I made one for the oldest girl with a white body and blue trim, and the two younger girls got blue hats with white trim. The boys each got black hats, because that is probably the easiest color to give to the boys.

The pattern is written to use just the simple Red Heart yarn you can find at pretty much any store, but you can just as easily substitute any size 4 yarn. For the oldest girl’s hat I actually used a sport weight yarn doubled to get nearly the same gauge.

More info on each hat can be found on the Ravelry project pages:
Pre-teen Boy
Elementary-age Boy
Toddler Boy
Pre-teen Girl
Elementary-age Girl
Toddler Girl

A Minty Hat

Because doesn’t that pattern in those colors make you think of mint leaves?

This is the Zooey by Cassandra Dominick. I made it from doubled fingering weight superwash wool yarn I picked up in Paris this summer. I used US size 9 needles for the body and size 6 for the ribbing.

Okay, technical stuff out of the way, this hat was super easy and quick to knit. Also the yarn I used was super soft, so that’s a plus. I actually “turned the pattern around” by knitting from the top down because I wasn’t sure if I would have enough, but I only used one ball of the main color and about a fifth of the ball of each contrasting color. I’m thinking matching finger-less gloves out of single weight may be coming about soon. Well, soon-ish. I have a ton of other things in line in my mind before I can start yet another project.

Now I only have to wait another two months for it to be cold enough to wear this…

A Jeweled Set

(I had hoped to have my pictures edited and uploaded by now, but that seems to be taking a bit longer than I thought. So here’s more crafts and hopefully I will have the pictures up on Wednesday. Friday at the latest.)

I have a friend who happens to love anything purple. I also tend to always have at least one project on the needles at all times. And I try to have that project with me wherever I go. So my friend who loves purple saw me constantly knitting away and requested a hat.

I had a pattern saved in my Ravelry queue from the giant hat project of last year that I knew would be perfect for this project: The Monarch Lyon Hat by Veronica O’Neil. I had a ton of this Caron Wintuk in Evening Jewels Ombre that I knew would be perfect.

Once I made the hat (and still had a ton of this yarn left over), my mom reminded me that my friend also really loves leg warmers. I had just gotten a book with a pattern for a pair of really cute leg warmers, so I decided to try out that pattern as well.

They make a really great set, eh?

I wanted them to be a surprise, so I set them on her doorstep one day after church. I wanted to be sure she knew what they were, so I made little labels for them with washing instructions and everything. Including a brand new logo:

Carrying on with my recent stamp carving obsession, I made myself a stamp. I had been trying to com up with something to make another stamp for, and this time I got a softer material, more like the rubber stamps you buy in the store, or the rubber on the bottom of a pair of sneakers. Much easier to cut into.