FO: Teddy Bear Baby & Toddler Hats

Alright, it's time to talk about Christmas gifts I knit this year. I decided in the summer that all my nieces and nephews would be getting hats and scarves this year and I originally wanted to use my Sentro knitting machines to make them - churning out gift hats and scarves was why I originally justified purchasing those things anyway. So I started out with some samples on the 22 pin and the 48 pin machines. The bigger machine would work for the older kids no problem, but the 22 pin was too small and the 48 pin was too big for the babies. Knowing a baby hat wouldn't take much time to make and also knowing that I was using my knitting machines for all the other kids, I decided what the heck and just cast on the baby hats to knit by hand on my DPNS. I wanted them to be cuter than just a plain beanie, so when I saw a baby hat with teddy bear ears it was decided. I cast on and got going.

I used my go-to hat pattern: Basic Hat by Michelle of Ooo Baby Knits, which is a free pattern and easily adapted to whatever size you want. I needed one for a boy and one for a girl, so I searched the stash and came up with some cute options.

The girl version came first and this is actually the only photo I have of it because I had to get it in the mail earlier than the others. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease in the Dusty Pink colorway and made a basic beanie. Then I hunted Ravelry for free teddy bear ear hat patterns and just added the ears from Bear Ears & Face Hat by Tara Marie, which worked great. The hat itself is a bit long, but that means it can easily be folded up at the brim for now and it will grow with my niece and she can wear it for years. 

For my nephew, I know his mom wanted blue, so when I came across this cool yarn in my stash I decided to go with it. This yarn is I Love This Yarn Colors! from Hobby Lobby in the Morningstar colorway. It gradates from blue top green and has a heathery look. I bought it in 2014 because I loved the colors and then I could never figure out what to make with it. Huzzah! I love using up a long stashed yarn.

I made these hats 70 stitches wide and it turns out that actually can squeeze on my own head, so with the extra length from folding up the brim and the width being what it is, I know these hats can grow with their recipients for a few years at least, and that's always a nice feeling :)

The pink hat was my first gift I made this year before jumping head first into machine knitting and the blue one was made in the midst of the rest. This is my crop of gifts I mailed out to my nephews - just envision the pink one added in there since it was already gone when this photo was taken. This was the most complicated year of gifts I've ever made and I was so happy that I was able to get them all done in time :) Stay tuned for the deets on all these items over the next few weeks. 

Summary:

Yarn: 0.50 skeins of Lion Brand Wool Ease in Rose Heather - $1.50, 0.35 skeins of I Love This Yarn Colors in Morningstar  - $3.66

Pattern: Basic Hat by Michelle of Ooo Baby Knits - Free, Bear Ears & Face Hat by Tara Marie - Free

Time: 3 hours? Ish?