Adorable “Itty-Bitty” Hats, Ready to Wear!

I finished my first upside-down daisy hat and the little pumpkin hat, and they are just so cute I have to show them off.

Knitting Hats During the Summer?!

I know it may seem crazy to be knitting hats in the summer, but these are actually quite practical summer knits.

• Firstly, they’re knitted with 100% cotton, which is a much more pleasant fiber to work with in warm weather than, say, wool or mohair.1

• Secondly, the hats are small projects that you can take along anywhere.  Each requires just one ball for the main color with little amounts of accenting yarn.  The amounts of yarn needed for stems, petals, and leaves are so small that you could just wind butterflies, as done for an intarsia project, and thus easily have everything you need to completely finish your hat while traveling, which seemingly everyone does more of over the summer months.

• Lastly, these hats are so quick and easy to make that you could have them all finished and ready to wear before the first cold snap arrives in the fall.  I am happy just to finish a project within the season for which it is intended; to have finished a project BEFORE its intended season makes me absolutely giddy.

Overall both hats were easy knits, but I did have a few stumbles before I was able to finish them.

Upside-Down Daisy Hat

Sewing the petal on the upside-down daisy hat was a little tricky because the hat is so small and I couldn’t keep all the petals pinned on as I was sewing.  But I did pin them all on initially to get an idea of how they would fit.  Then I just worked one at a time, laying out all the petals again before proceeding to make sure I was sewing them on in their correct positions and they’d all fit evenly around the hat.

Finishing the hat required a little planning and took some time–I did restart two petals because I wasn’t happy with how I had placed and sewn them–but the end result is so worth it.  And as you know, if your finishing doesn’t look good, it makes the entire piece look shoddy.  So don’t be discouraged or put off by it, just take your time and start over when needed–you’ll thank yourself in the end.

Little Pumpkin Hat

When finishing the stem on the little pumpkin hat I forgot to purl the last row before closing the stem’s top.  I did not realize this until after I had weaved in all the ends and was taking photos of the hat.  Not having that purl row certainly didn’t affect the overall cuteness of the hat, but it does add something–it makes the stem appear like an actual pumpkin stem that is a little gnarled at its top from being picked off the vine.  This wonderful detail is just another example of how great Susan B. Anderson’s designs are.

Even though it meant having yet another end to secure and weave in, I went back and rejoined the brown yarn to add that purled row and refinish my hat.  Initially it was very difficult to accept that I was not done and to put the hat back on my mental “to-do” list, but I’m really glad I did it.  So when you make your own little pumpkin hat, don’t forget the purl row!

Marshmallow Bonnet

Marshmallow bonnet in progress.

I also started the marshmallow bonnet last week.  My version is going to be a pink bonnet with cream accents.  The original pattern calls for the opposite–a cream bonnet with pink accents–but my super-girly, I-love-pink daughter wanted a pink bonnet so I just switched the colors around.2

I haven’t been working on the bonnet much because it’s been so warm here.  The bonnet is knit with Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK (a merino, microfiber and cashmere blend) and Rowan Kidsilk Haze (a kid mohair and silk blend).  This combination makes for a soft, fluffy, and surely incredibly warm bonnet, but those just aren’t the fibers I want to be working with when it’s 90 degrees out.  So I’ve put down the bonnet for now and am working on the upside-down daisy hat for my daughter, which uses Rowan’s Handknit Cotton and is much more pleasant for me during this beautiful summer weather.

I hope you, too, are enjoying a lovely warm summer and that seeing my finished Itty-Bitty hats inspire you to knit your own.

1. Trust me on this and read on to my section on the Marshmallow Bonnet. [↩]
2. Switching wasn’t a problem because you need one ball of each color in each yarn for the bonnet regardless of which color you choose to be the main color. [↩]