More (recent) knitting history

Last year, I found out my dear friend from college was having her first baby. Having recently picked knitting back up, I browsed through some saved patterns and found the Amana Star-pattern Baby Bonnet from the November 2000 issue of Piecework.

After searching in vain for baby yarn that was brightly colored, I hit on the perfect solution. Sock yarn! It comes in bright colors and is (usually) washable. I ordered some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Pine (an almost solid) because my friend has Irish heritage and I was hoping her little one would have green eyes and red hair like her mother.

I recently requested photos of the object being modeled, and here we are! The color is actually a deep jewel-toned green; I think the flash washed out the color in these photos.

Specs:
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, under 1 skein, color Pine.
Needles: size 1 dpns, clover/Takumi bamboo, and size 1 Addi turbo, 16" (or was it 12"?).
Instead of ribbon ties, I made I-cord (4 stitches?)

Here is a view of the star detail.

(The star is technically the back of the bonnet, but I don't think the model minds.)

I really enjoyed making this, and I'd do it again. The construction was really interesting - you begin in the round to create the star for the back (or as pictured, the top), and then bind off one "side" and continue back and forth to create the rest of it. The lace pattern was easy to memorize, once I understood the instruction for the WS rows: 'Knit the knits and purl the purls'. The only thing that really almost killed me was the crocheted edging. My hand hurt for days afterward. I probably should have pinned it out for blocking, also, to really bring out the lace design.

This was my first finished lace project. (Note the emphasis on finished. I have begun many. I've only finished this one. Gah!)