Baby Hat Obsession

A number of my friends are having babies!  And boys, so I've been trying to find out-of-the ordinary ways to make some boy baby gifts.  I came across these two knit baby hat patterns that I just love:  Tegan by Julie Taylor and a scalloped hat from Marie Carlander's blog (don't worry, keep scrolling down her site for the English version).  I loved them so much, I really became obsessed with knitting them.  Plus, as beautiful as a crocheted baby hat is, it just won't have the same stretchiness that a knit one does. 

Now, mind you, I can do simple knitting, but using DPNs (double point needles) and a circular needle are quite new to me.  Joelle from Wandering Wool helped me pick out the right needles from Chia Goo (affiliate link below), and I like them a lot.  I've been using Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash because it's machine washable and can be tumble dried and it's just soft and great to work with. 

But, really, whether it's crochet or knitting, it's all about repetition and practicing.  Now that I'm on my fourth hat, it's feeling quite good. 

I think the skull pattern turned out pretty good too since it was my first try at using two colors and making an image in the knitting.  The dad-to-be is the sweetest guy but has lots of tattoos, etc., so I knew I had to come up with an edgy baby hat :-).  More pix to come!

A New Frontier...

I love to crochet, but I have to admit, the knitting bug has got me!  And it's got me thinking...  Why not combine the two?!  How about using the best techniques from both to create some awesome new patterns?!  I really think that's going to be the next development/evolution in terms of crafting with yarn.  I'm hoping to get a whole new line of baby items designed soon, though of course, right now, I'm obsessed with making myself a sweater that I can actually wear in public :-) and trying not to get pulled into too many other directions (bright, shiny objects are a weakness of mine...).

As I've been working my way up the learning curve in developing more skills in both crochet and knitting, I came across this blog post on How to Read a Crochet Pattern.  The author does such a great job of breaking it down and explaining each step in a sample pattern round.  I know one of the toughest things about taking the next step after learning basic crochet stitches is being able to do something with them, and I hope this article will help you decipher that new crochet pattern you've been wanting to try.

Learning how to knit has really made me appreciate the importance of fundamentals and going back to basics, and I think it might actually help me be a better crocheter too!