For so many of us, we returned to knitting when a friend or member of our family was expectant with a new little one. I took up the needles again when my dear friend was pregnant with my now huge godson, Harry. In some way we should blame (thank) him for this blog! I then began designing knitwear because I wanted to create my own designs for Little B. Unsurprisingly, gone are the days when you will catch him in a home-knit made by Mummy, bespoke or not.
I think knitting a baby hat is a perfect gift for any expectant parent. Little ones need a bit of head protection as the air gets chilly. Let’s face it, hats get flung to kingdom come from buggies, so you can never hat enough baby hats. I created this design using one ball of Rowan finest wool. My lovely friends at Black Sheep Wools asked me to road test this yarn for them. If you pick up a ball you will think, ‘What a dinky size!’ You will wonder if you can make a hat using just one ball. But if you do have a go at this pattern I know you will be delighted. Rowan Finest is a blend of extra fine merino, cashmere and royal alpaca wool it knits up in a 4ply tension and is such a treat to hold.
Now in Britain we traditionally have not knitted in the round much. Our cousins across in the pond in America are far more inclined to work without seams and use a circular needle. If this is not a technique you have used, please can I encourage you to have a go. Let’s face it, avoiding seams in a baby hat makes perfect sense. There are plenty of tutorials on the web to show you how to connect the beginning and the end of the row. If you are already sock knitting this will be no problem at all.
With the green hat I was inspired by a French fashion house to create this bow and button detail. I hope you like it and I think it might become my signature little girl hat topping.
So dear friends I have an exciting new for you. This pattern is available exclusively for you from the Black Sheep Wools website here. I also have a special discount for you if you buy this wool from Black Sheep wools. My readers will get a 10% discount on Rowan Finest wool if you use the code FINEST11 – this offer ends Saturday 25th October 2014