Number 2 and 3!

Here is hat number two (the kids at school call it my "Madeleine Hat"):

And hat number three:

I have discovered that I absolutely LOVE making hats! I am now making one for my sister, Melody, which will be purple with a lively band around the top. I'll post it when it's done. Toodles.....

Ta Da!

Well, here it is...I finished it in only 3 weeks! Now that may seem a long time to you but consider if you will that I had the 5th grade play after school for 2 of those 3 weeks and well...now you see why it is a miracle that it took only 3 weeks! It was great fun learning new techniques with this hat. I learned how to knit "in the round" (not a big mystery after all, you just keep going once you get around to the start!); I learned how to knit on 4 double point needles (sounds scary, huh? NOT! You just substitute one double point for the total amount of stitiches divided by four. Then when you get that many stitches on a stick, you start the next stick and so forth until you have your stitiches on four needles and are knitting with the fifth stick. Ok...I admit, explaining it sounds WAY more complicated than actually doing it! Notice the picture of me learning the "stick trick" at my favorite knitting store, Nease's Needleworks...they are SO nice there!); And last of all, I learned how to "felt". When you knit something in animal fiber like wool, then wash it in really hot water with a little soap and lots of agitation, it turns into felt!! It is really cool. It shrinks up, the fibers all get meshed with each other, and it becomes solid. I also learned that if you mess up, you just redo it. When I cut the brim for the rosette, it left a very raw edge that you can see in the picture where I am wearing the hat. I didn't like that. It looked wrong to me. (Here I am at my other favorite knitting store...Knitches.) Also, the crown was too rounded...more like a derby. So....

I asked the ladies at the two different knitting stores and they both said to go ahead and try re-felting it. The result was the lovely edge you see in the picture where my friend Rance is modeling with Lolly Belle as his "arm candy"! I also made the crown more oblong and egg shaped when I re-felted it. I really like it now. I am STOKED to do another one.

Meanwhile, I am awaiting a DVD that will teach me (hopefully!) to knit socks! I already have my supplies...just waitin' on the DVD to come in the mail. More about that later. Have a great day and when exactly are we EVER going to have cold weather so I can actually wear my beautiful hat?!?! It's October, for cryin' out loud! It is NOT supposed to be 90 degrees! Ah, the joys (????) of living in the south!

p.s. Many grateful "kudo's" to Rance who did not go running into the sunset when I plopped the hat on his head and got the camera out! He just sat there in his benevolent patience humoring me...What a trouper!