vacation show and tell

We're back, and what a refreshing break that was! Since I visited this space several weeks ago, some special things have happened, and some not-so-special. On the top of the not-so-special list were Finn's double ear infection and my oh-so-unpleasant sickness right after his. I need one of those Harry Potter-style memory erasers. Zap! Good. Huh? Sick? Nope, we had an awesome New Year, what are you talking about?

Alright, on to the goodness. As you can see, I took some time to knit Mr. Patootie McCutie his very own pixie hat, just in time for our trip out to California to visit my family. It was a knitting frenzy, I tell you - I decided the day before we left that he had to be wearing that hat, and none other, when he met his great grandparents for the first time. It's the Stella Pixie Hat, available for free on Ravelry. I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Mossay. Instead of making the neck band a button closure, I modified the pattern by knitting 6 inches of four-stitch I-cord, increasing to the 10 stitches called for for the neck band, knitting an 11 inch neck band, then decreasing to four stitches once again for another 6 inch I-cord. I prefer a tie closure for Finn because it allows me to make the hat nice and snug under his chin.

The pattern itself was quick and easy - a knitted rectangle. I quivered in my boots when I read that I had to use the kitchener stitch to seam it together. I'm bad at the kitchener stitch. For those of you who are like me, you must get over your fear and watch this video. I could read step-by-step instructions and diagrams until I pulled out all my hair, but what I needed was to watch someone actually do it in real time. The result was an invisible seam along the top center of the hat.

I took far too many pictures of Finn in this hat. Indulge a shutter-happy Mama a little bit, will you? After all, it's been several weeks since you've seen his pinch-able cheeks around here!