Baby Turkey Hat

Long long ago, in the ancient times (2007 or so) at the very beginning of my experiences with Ravelry I came across the pattern for a baby hat that looked like a turkey. I became overwhelmed with a great desire to make this hat, but it is not the sort of thing that everyone would appreciate it.

So it was with great glee this year that I read on a friend's Google+ post that she wished her child had a turkey hat. I quickly contacted her, and a plan was made.

Pattern: Jive Turkey Baby Hat by sewgeeky (free Raverly download)

Yarn: Berroco Vintage™ (5101 white) & Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted (0175 Jewel Gold)

Yarn Supplier: Windsor Button (since closed)

Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm and US 8 - 5.0 mm

Modifications: Somewhere at some point I saw a version in which the knitter had added purl bumps to simulate the texture of the turkey skin. I loved this idea and made up a spacing that worked for my gauge.

Many thanks for giving me a reason to make this super fun project. (And seriously is that child not one of the most adorable you have ever seen, with or without the hat? He can totally make it work.)

Note: The white in this hat was left over from a bunch of other fun projects including the Icelandic Fish Hat and Iris the Ibis. The "golden brown roasted turkey" color, on the other hand, I totally bought new for this project, because it just had to be that perfect shade.

Do you have any patterns that have been on your want-to-knit list forever that you just couldn't think of a reason to make? I had previously mentioned that the Dead or Alive Fish Hat had been like that for me, but if I had to come up with another one it would likely be the Viking or Dwarven Beard. Apparently I have a thing for silly hats.

Presto Chango

As previously mentioned in the post about the Nottingham hat post, a dear friend was having her first child this year. I knew immediately that I wanted to make her a baby sweater. This was made a little less of a no-brainer since we did not know the gender of the baby, but I wasn't too worried. This baby is fortunately to have parents who aren't super hung up on cultural gender expectations.

So I poke around at Ravelry, and I found this fantastic sweater idea. Not only does it work around that whole baby-mess thing (the fronts are replaceable so you can use a different one if it gets wet or dirty), it also lets whoever is dressing the baby have the option of changing what it looked like.

Pattern: Presto Chango by Valerie Wallis (free pattern)

Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Dianna in color 183

Yarn Supplier: Lettuce Knits (appears closed)

Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm & US 9 - 5.5 mm

There was fierce button debate, as to color choices that might sway the audience one way or another regarding expected gender, but I love the sour apple green ones that I went with in the end. They even make the sweater color seem more reasonable.

The complete sweater picture here is shown with a panel that uses the cable from a dna helix scarf (free pattern). Baby science!

This panel was the original one that came with the pattern. I like the leaf-like motif, and I think it would be fine on either gender. I figured if anyone was bothered by it for a boy they could always just not use it though.

I not only did this quick stockinette panel, but on the way to Maine I knit a final cabled panel (not shown) that coordinated with the Nottingham hat. Why did I not remember to take a quick photo?!

Anyways, the hat and baby sweater were well received. In fact this well-loved baby is apparently being born into a creative and crafty community. I was really impressed by the skill and breadth of techniques seen in the gifts at the baby shower, from knitting and crochet to quilting and needle point.

Nottingham

A very dear friend of mine who lives in Maine was gracious enough to invite us to her baby shower. I have known her for many years, and it is amazing that she now has this longed for child.

Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Dianna (discontinued)

Yarn Supplier: Lettuce Knits in Richmond Virginia (closed?)

Pattern: Nottingham by Melissa Mall (free pattern)

Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm

Modifications: I lengthened the cable section by half again the chart, and then immediately started the decreases. Otherwise, this was surprisingly knit to pattern! It was a very pleasant knit with a great stretchy product, and I am absolutely thinking of using this pattern again for future community babies.

For those thinking of doing this modification, please note that I tend to have a relatively dense row gauge generally compared with many knitters. As such I may have been able to complete half again the chart, where for others this may result in the hat being too long by the time you could start the decreases.

Since the parents were not finding out the gender of the baby until the delivery, gifts were requested in a gender neutral color. Fortunately I had a bunch of this yarn from when the Chiquita had selected it many years ago as travel yarn for me.

Doing a quick search to link to the shop's website reveals that the website is no longer there. Yet another yarn shop disappearance?

Iris the Ibis

The forecast is calling for another hot week, but I am still knitting these days (mostly socks). I still have a back log of projects to share though, so in the mean time I figured I should get started on that. Today that means talking about Iris the Ibis.

I had an event to attend where we were each asked to bring something that represented our clan or house. My assigned clan was Ibis, so I started in search of a stuffed animal pattern. I didn't find something that was exactly what I was looking for, but I did find this great dodo pattern that had the right general body shape. I just needed to lengthen the neck, wings, neck and beak. I also did not follow the color instructions, as I was aiming for a different bird.

Yarn: Berroco Vintage (white), Louet Gems Topaz (color 47 - coral) and Mondial Merino Plus (black)
Pattern: heavily modified from Degulus the Dodo by Phoeny (a for-purchase Ravelry download)
Needles: US 4 - 3.5 mm

One of the sad things that I realized in getting ready for this post is that all three of the yarns used were from shops that are now closed. The white Berroco Vintage was from Windsor Button. The coral Louet Gems Topaz was from Woolcott. And the black Mondial Merino Plus was from the Knitting Room. I miss you guys!