Tiny Toques

I'm reached the time in my life when everyone I know is expecting a baby. At least it feels that way. Think I'm exaggerating? I know of at least six babies that are due in the next two months! I love to give handmade gifts, especially for babies, but unless I quit both my jobs, there's no way I can possibly crochet six crib blankets by April. In a moment of panic, I decided to think smaller and try my hand at some baby hats. Not only would they be faster to make, they're also adorable. Finding this pattern from hollanddesigns sealed the deal. I knew I had to try it. In fact, I tried it twice. And here you have them!

I'm not going to lie to you, it was a pretty tough technique for a sort-of-beginner. I probably shouldn't have ignored the Intermediate label. There were a lot of pulled out stitches to start and and I'm still not completely happy with the top. But I did learn a valuable lesson in yarn weights and how much they can affect the look of your final product. I bought both these yarns in Portland at Knit Purl: the blue is worsted weight 100% superwash wool and the grey is a fingerling alpaca/merino/bamboo blend. This was the first time I had ever used non-synthetic (a.k.a. "fancy") wool and there were no crochet guidelines on the labels, so I felt a bit uncertain and intimidated from the start. I was second-guessing myself the whole time. "Maybe this yarn is too delicate." "Maybe I'm using the wrong hook size." Herein lies the moral of this story: when in doubt, trust the pattern. At first I thought the grey turned out too "holey", which is what made me try the thicker wool. But now that I see them together, I like the shape and texture of the grey better. Which is what the pattern said to use. So there ya go.