One of my favorite people that I've met in Chicago is someone who I worked with at my first job in the Windy City. He was my team lead with like 5 degrees from Northwestern and the respect of everyone in the office... and then he became a great teacher and mentor for me, and although our professional lives have taken separate turns, he remains one of the smartest, however angriest, yet kindest (but we won't tell) people I know. Mike is a good friend, a buddy, a confidant and still the smartest guy I know. Him and his beautiful wife, Corrin just had their first baby on January 10th, 2011.
I had originally started making a yellow baby blanket (yellow because we didn't know the sex) but it just didn't seem personal enough because I've literally made a baby blanket for every baby that has been born since I started knitting. I wanted to do something different, and lets be honest... I have yet to finish the blanket. boo.
Anyway- I made this ADORABLE (I must say) hat and baby mittens... Here is how:
I used the basic hat pattern but since I was using a chunky yarn and it is for an infant, I had to adjust it to work. I cast on 40 stitches to size 13 double pointed needles and joined to knit in the round on three needles. This is actually the first hat I've ever made on DPN's so it was a rough start. I simply did K2, P2 ribbing until the hat was maybe 7 inches (enough to roll a brim). I decreased by following the pattern for 6 stitches and K2tog. Then did a round of knitting the knit's and purling the purl's. Then 5 stitches in the pattern and K2tog. Then a round of knitting the knit's and purling the purl's... and so on and so forth until it was like 4 loops left in which I used a darting needle to finish. Then I made a pompom for the top in a floppy style and sewed it on. Super cute.
For the mittens, I cast on 16 stitches to the DPN's and followed the same ribbing for 6 rows. Then I did straight garter stitch for another 2 inches. To close I did one round of K2tog for the whole row, followed by another of just a knit round. Then another of K2tog and sewed it shut with a darting needle. I read that you should never make these tiny little hand warmers without something to tie them together as they would be easily lost. I did a tight braid and pulled the knot on the end through with a crochet hook. And that's that!
I hope to see Baby Benjamin James this week to have him model my new set :-) Congrats Mike and Corrin!
