Je T'Adore, Giacomo

Hi Knitters,
If you missed this free pattern let me direct you to it. Run, don't walk! What a perfect baby hat. I happened to have all of the yarn in my stash leftover from the book pillow/sweater/slipper set I made for itty-bitty nursery. Also, let me recommend the purlbee, it is a terrific resource for sewing and knitting. I made this up yesterday, only working on it sporadically throughout the day. When I say this I am not trying to brag but rather I want to let you know how quickly you can knit up a tiny hat like this too. It is so d0-able!

The fair isle pattern is super easy and fun. If you are wanting to give fair isle a try this is the place to start. You only work in 2 colors at a time for 19 rounds, the rest of the hat is simple. Working with the Blue Sky Alpaca sportweight alpaca again only refreshed my love for this yarn. It is soft and clear and beautiful. I have to design more using the sportweight. It is too good for words. As you can see from the leftovers, you could make many hats from 4 skeins and my skeins were all partially used when I started.

The pattern calls for US size 4 and 5 sixteen inch circular needles and US size 5 dpns for the top decrease. Make sure you read the tips from the designer, Whitney, as she offers some great simplifying ideas. The size in the pattern suggests it will fit a 6-18 month-old. I knitted exactly to gauge and the finished hat is teeny, teeny tiny, it would not fit an 18-month-old by any stretch. I could barely fit it on my hat stand. I would say more like 0-6 months, maybe 12-months, that's just my opinion. I used my pom-tree on the 2-inch width and did more wraps than I could count, it is a thick pom-pom.

I know just the baby for Giacomo's Baby Hat! I can't wait...

On to other business, I had a lot of emails asking about the bunny hat I made my daughter. Here's what I did. I took the ear flap pattern from the Inca Snowflake Hat in itty-bitty hats and then I continued on with the pattern on the back inside cover from the book, which is a great pattern. I made up the random striping pattern.

Please take note that I made the largest size in the storybook that is suggested to fit a 3-year-old. My daughter is 8-years-old and she is average size. I keep repeating this about hat sizing because if you realize that a 2-3 year-old's head can sometimes be as big as an adult's head, it opens up the doors for so many patterns. Hat patterns for adults can be used for kids and the other way around! Measuring first is always the best, of course.

I have an exciting announcement! The samples from Itty-Bitty Nursery are going to be made available as a trunk show for yarn shops everywhere. Jaime, my publicist from Workman, is setting up the tour right now. If you are interested in having the fun baby items from the book in your store you should contact Jaime directly here. You can also email me (see sidebar) and I can send the message on to Jaime. I love this idea because seeing, touching and playing with the actual knitted items from a book is so much fun. The trunk show tour gives many more knitters a chance to enjoy the samples. By the way, I knitted every sample from the book myself which makes it fun, too.

Have a good Wednesday. Maybe you'll knit a Giacomo today...let me know!

best, susie