The Packer Hat

Henry needed a hat to go with his packer sweater.   Yarn was left over from the sweater so all I needed to decide was....what I wanted to do.  That is often the hardest part.

When I was looking at the Packer sweater as I knit it, I kept thinking about narrow stripes.   Using the handy tips that the sweater pattern gave to make the stripes turn out so they looked like something I would not have to rip out due to excessive ugliness, I laid my plans.   

Craftsy had a really good blog post about how to size hats for babies and toddlers.  That gave me a good idea about how to figure the fit of the hat.   I did a gauge swatch to remind myself of what the yarn wanted to do.    Using arithmetic, I did my figuring and started to knit.   The crown was shaped over the last nine rows.   If I do this hat again, I will do a more gradual decrease....maybe.  

I hope to get a picture of Henry in his Packer hat this weekend....

Henry's Packer Hat -- Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino on US 2 needles.

The Cowgirl Sweater is Finished!

Today I put buttons on the cowgirl sweater and trimmed the fringe.   Thank heavens for the small but choice selection of buttons at Depth of Field!   This was a real learning experience.

The pattern was written in a way that I don't think about knitting.   That had a few challenges for me.  Fortunately, I could figure it out.   That gave me a lot to think about for the patterns that I write.  I definitely have someone else read the pattern before I share it.   It is amazing what I forget to put in explicit language that NEEDS to be written that way.

Now, this will be put away and I will start on my first official steeking project.

The back of the sweater completed.