FO: Cal Football Hat

Cal Football Hat
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk

It was the week before the Big Game (Cal v. Stanford, football) and the time was set for 4:30pm. We decided to take TLD and just see how it went - if he needed to leave, I'd take him. Maybe he'd make it to the end of the game. Who knew?

But - in the fashion of "the cobbler's children have no shoes" - TLD didn't have a warm hat that fit. (He has lots of sun hats.) I couldn't BUY one, I'm a knitter! So I broke out the blue and gold yarn I'd earmarked for a sweater (THAT wasn't going to happen in a week) and made another football hat, this time in the largest size, 2+ years. TLD is average in size, except in head circumference. He has a big cranium, in the 90th percentile for his age.

The 2+ year size fit perfectly, and he looks adorable in it. The night of the game, he wore it a little, but this past weekend we were at an outdoor event and he wore it pretty much the whole time. Yay! It makes my heart warm just to see him wearing a hat that I made for him.

Pattern: Football Hat from Itty-Bitty Hats
Yarn: Kraemer Yarns Summit Hill, worsted superwash
Needles: Size 5 for seed stitch, size 7 for the rest
Notes: As before, I decreased the stitch count on the crown by 1 stitch in order to make the seed stitch work out, then increased just before the stockinette portion. Then just knit like crazy. The belly button at the top is a little more open than I'd like, but I could repair it. The ear flaps sort of flap in the breeze, but it's very endearing. I didn't do the football or even a C in duplicate stitch - I didn't have time. Maybe I'll add it later, but my guess is it's done and it'll stay that way.

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Photos taken with my phone, because it seems to take impossibly long to get photos from my camera to Flickr.

Oh, and the game? Cal won, in a very exciting finish. And TLD made it to the end, falling asleep on me in the front carrier with only 10 minutes or so left in the game. He stayed asleep for the rest of the game, the walk to the car, the drive to the house, and into the crib. It was a splendid day.