Baby Hat in Organic Cotton

Surprise, surprise, this newborn-sized hat is for Mindy Metivier Photography. It's made out of Lion Brand's Nature's Choice Organic Cotton Yarn in pistachio, using size 6 (16-inch circular) and size 5 (double-pointed) needles. The i-cord tie is only about three inches, and next time I will make it longer.


The hat with the brim rolled up.

My pattern:

• Cast on 60 stitches. Join in the round, and work 6 rows of K3 P3 ribbing.


• From row 7 on, knit until hat measures 4.5", including the ribbing.


• Row 1 of decrease: *K4, K2tog; repeat from * until end (50 stitches remain).


• Rows 2 and 3: Knit all stitches.


• Row 4: *K3, K2tog; repeat from * until end (40 stitches remain).


• Rows 5 and 6: Knit all stitches.


• Row 7: *K2, K2tog; repeat from * until end (30 stitches remain).


• Row 8: Knit all stitches.


• Row 9: *K1; K2tog; repeat from * until end (20 stitches remain).


• Row 10: *K2tog; repeat from *until end (10 stitches remain).


• Row 11; *K2tog; repeat from * to end of round (5 stitches remain).


• Knit the five remaining stitches, but do not turn; instead slide the stitches to the opposite end of the needle (from left side to the right). The yarn will be on the left, but pull it around the back so it's on the right, and knit each stitch again. Repeat until i-cord measures desired length. As you pull the yarn from left to right, behind the knitted piece, the i-cord will close on itself.


• Bind off and weave in ends.

USC Baby Hat and Matching Booties

Friends of mine are expecting their first baby, and they are big USC fans, so I made them a matching hat and bootie set.


The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun, so it is going to require more care (hand wash, flat dry) than I would like for a baby gift, but it couldn't be helped this time. I'm not sure what the exact color name is for the yarn I used as my version of USC Cardinal, but it might be Bordeaux; the USC Gold is represented by Nature Spun's Sunburst Gold (308).

Baby Hat and Matching Booties

I have finally ventured away from blankets and made a pair of booties! There is also a matching hat.

The yarn is a nylon-acrylic blend from Thomas B. Ramsden & Co. It is from the company's Peter Pan Double Knit line, and is light blue with flecks of yellow, lavender and aqua. I don't think it's available anymore—if memory serves me correctly, I found this several years ago at the Slipt Stitch in El Segundo.



The bootie pattern can be found in Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies.

How the Internet Helps Me Knit

Sometimes I can't remember how I ever got by without the internet. Well, I remember, but I just can't get over how wonderful the internet is for my life.

When I was in elementary school, we learned how to use the Dewey Decimal system, and I am pretty sure that my college (Whittier) still used a card catalog in 1996. That same year, I know I had a "whittier.edu" email address, but snail mail was still popular. And then the internet just blew up. Now, I use the internet for everything.

At the moment I am most thankful for the internet because it helps me to figure out my knitting projects. I just Google things like "sew seam knitting stockinette" and I find some useful sites that get me through the rather loose instructions I get from the patterns and books. Here are the sites that have been most useful as of late:

• To pick up and knit stitches—theshizknit.com


• To sew seams—knitty.com


• Another example of how to sew seams—lanagrossa.com

Don't you just love how easy it is to find answers now?

Last Night's Film

Last night I watched Rabbit Hole. It is one of those heavy films you have to be in the mood to see.

In case you have never heard of it, Rabbit Hole is the heart-wrenching story of a couple's life after their young child dies in an accident. Yikes. Just writing the simplest synopsis of the movie's plot is tough. I was hesitant to watch this because it was a little too close to real-life, but I am glad I did.

Despite the weight of the movie and its subject matter, I thought it was a great film. Great because it captured all the raw emotions and struggles of what happens when a couple loses a child. Great because you saw how easily things change and spin out of control. But most of all—spoiler alert—great because in the end there was hope. It was not false hope either; just plain, old hope that maybe, just maybe things would be okay.

Knitted Baby Blanket: Patchwork Pleaser

Yet another late baby blanket for a friend's baby. Little Mr. H. was born at the end of January, and by the time the blanket gets to him, he will be nearly five months old!

The blanket was knit using two strands of Bernat Softee Baby—one in baby denim marl and one in chiffon print. The pattern is called "Patchwork Pleaser" and is from Leisure Arts' Our Best Knit Baby Afghans.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy birthday to my Dad! Hope you get to eat that yummy, yummy lemon crunch cake from Diamond Head Market & Grill.