free knitted newborn beehive hat pattern

I made this hat for my daughter while I was in hospital after her birth, using her head as a guide. She is on the smallish side - weighing just under 3kg. It is a very quick and easy knit - great as a last minute project.

materials
small amount DK/8 ply yarn
US size 4 (3.5mm) straight needles
stitch holder
darning needle

hat front
CO 34 stitches
row 1: P
row 2: K
row 3: P
rows 4-9: repeat rows 1-3 two more times
row 10: P
row 11: K
repeat rows 10-11 until you have 27 rows of straight stitch
cut yarn and transfer to a stitch holder

hat back
as per front

finishing
With right sides together, use three needle bind-off technique to attach the hat front and back at the top.
Sew sides together.
Place atop the head of the nearest new baby!

toadstool hat

Back during Vintage Children's Book Ilustration Week I spied some adorable toadstool hats from the Red Tops books on the excellent Bird Bath blog. I was all inspired and as soon as I had finished my mammoth knitting UFO, got out my needles to make a similar hat for Olive.

Well, it doesn't look much like the hats from the pictures, nor does it come even close to fitting Olive's head. But I might get some use out of it myself on cold days when I am feeling a bit silly.

And in a moment of synchronicity, after photographing my new hat this afternoon I went to the local Vinnies and found my very own copy of the Red Tops!

finished objects 3 & 4

It's TAFE holidays and I'm catching up, both with blogging and with crafting. So I am very pleased to be able to show you the next installment in the mission to rid myself of UFOs.


This is a pencil case that I put aside about six weeks ago when I realised that hand sewing was required. How slack!


Now it is finished and I am using it to carry around some little bits of embroidery that I'm working on.


This is a hat that I knitted before Olive was born. That was over eleven months ago! I had originally planned on making it look like a baby chicken, to be worn at Easter time. But I couldn't figure out a way of making the features that I thought wouild look alright.


So now it is an egg hat instead!
I have to admit that this wasn't the best photo of the hat that I took today, but it was the cutest picture of Olive. And I'd much rather show her off than my knitting ;)

preparing for 2008

I re-enrolled at TAFE yesterday - I shall be attempting Design and Tapestry next semester. It was surprisingly quick, thanks to my unplanned late arrival, but still took much longer than it should have. I had to line up SEVEN times, each time to see someone who would say hello, look at my forms and make one small change, then say goodbye and shuffle me off to the next queue. Madness.
My mum has asked for an Olive calendar for Christmas and today's photoshoot was for October (Halloween) so I finally have some good shots of the pumpkin outfit I made before Olive was born. The hat was slightly modified from this book and the dress was my own design.
Don't fret! I do make things that are for grown-ups too, and will hopefully have a new bag and pencil case ready to show you within the week. I got a little distracted making a cloth girl inspired by the oh-so charming paper dolls of ana ventura and miaki. I'll show you when she's done!

a beginning

Oh no! I am overcome with new blogger's shyness. But I am determined to use this as a means to expand my playtimes in the craft room to something a little more. So I will start not with something that I have made but rather that I whipped up: two tea cosies inherited from my great aunties (Connie and Pearl - I love old lady names) with the handle and spout holes whip-stitched together to make hats for my gorgeous girl, Olive.