Mom's Owl Hat

 Last October (I know, I can be a terrible procrastinator), my mom impulse bought some Llama yarn from Swiss Kid Llamas (http://www.safarmersmarket.com/Vendors/watts.htm, http://www.etsy.com/shop/swisskiddesigns) at our Farmer's Market. The farmer's market is great, and I've really missed it this winter. I probably wouldn't be super enthusiastic about walking down there in the cold, but I sure do miss the fresh produce. 

Anyway, back to the yarn. My mom has these beautiful blue eyes and silver hair, so naturally everything I make for her is blue. She picked out some yarn, and wanted me to make her a hat with owls, like the sweater I'd made for myself.

Now, I love that sweater. No buts, I adore it. You can buy the pattern here: (http://katedaviesdesigns.com/designs/o-w-l-s/) and if you are into that sort of thing, there's a version for the kiddos. It's made from super heavy yarn and knitted up rather quickly. That big yarn though, is HUGE  in comparison to the "DK" weight of the llama yarn, that in many places is much smaller- so I hope my mother is expecting tiny adorable owls, as that's what she's getting.

Here are a few pictures of the first few chaotic rows. In the second picture here you can see the 2X2 ribbing starting to emerge.

Here you can see the bottoms of the owls forming

As an aside, I'd like to say that point protectors should more correctly be called sanity protectors (I know, not a nice ring), because had I not discovered these amazing knitpicks.com point protectors in my little bag of tricks, I would have ripped my hair out by now. As it is, I've lost and saved countless stitches off the ends of my new sock needles.

In these pictures, you can see the owls fully formed. I have a few more rows to finish the hat- but the owls are snug there around the rim. 

Here you can see the teeny tiny buttons I sewed on as eyes to three lucky owls in the front. I thought it would be too much to give all of the owls eyes, but the three that have them will bring attention to the others, too. 

Too much? Too little?

I was a bit worried that the hat would be too small- I even knitted a gauge swatch before hand, which I don't like doing. I think it worked out though- I wore it for a few minutes and it didn't make my head hurt- so anyone else on the planet should be able to wear it just fine. I know my mom likes long hats- but any longer and this one would get in the way of seeing clearly, so I think we're good there.

I really like the loose look to the top here. It isn't the only way obviously, and for more stylized hats neater is nicer, but this looks so comfortable.

Bow Barrette

I made an order recently to get some yarn for a hat for my father. To qualify my order for free shipping, I also chose this wonderful orange sale sock yarn. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make socks (I only had one skien, I should be working on projects for other people...) but I couldn't resist pulling it out. I bought a set of cheap barrettes, and the decorative bit broke off of one of them. So obviously, this meant I had to make myself a hair do-dad.

Here you see most of the parts before I assembled it. I knitted a small, slim rectangle and sewing it over the barrette, with an additional layer of felt between the metal and the knitting (there were some snaggy bits, and I didn't want it to ruin the knitting, or tear a hole). I put it all together, and stitched it liberally to the barrette, I hope it will stay in place for a long while. 

Here's the final product. I really like it. While it does have a profile, it doesn't look bad from the side at all. That's my biggest pet peeve with those huge rockabilly flower hair things- they only look good head on. This bow, while being sizable, still looks pretty good from all angles. 

Headbands

Around the holidays this past year I made a shawl for a friend of mine with a beautiful leaf edging. In love with the edging, but less with the time involved with making the shawl- I make this headband out of the leftover yarn and the leaf pattern. I really love it because with my almost constant headache, commercially available headbands are too tight. I made this one loose enough that I can wear it most days. 

Also, I acquired a Styrofoam head.

I had some leftover fingering weight yarn and new sock needles, so I started working on another headband a few days ago. I love knitting in the round. Not the first few rows, mind you- there it is nothing but spiky chaos, but after that it picks up a nice rhythm and stockinette doesn't require any purling.

I ran out well before the headband was long enough, and switched over the the closest color I had which was much larger, and larger needles. I decreased a few times, and churned out the remainder of the headband in record time- considering how long the it took with the smaller needles. I love the final product, but it takes some time.

 Here's this headband on my Styrofoam head. The color change is totally hidden in the back.