Looking back

As the last few days of an Indian Summer come and go, I'm fondly looking back on the season just gone before I pack my espadrilles away until next year...

Scilly sunset.

Yet another Bucket Hat made from Liesl Gibson's Little Things To Sew, this time in khaki dino print cotton (recognise this fabric from Karen's skirt?) with a vintage lightning sew-on badge.

Sandy and sparkly, sweet little feet.

Mexican daisies.

Decorating the pavement outside our house with chalks.

Cutting the most delicious bronze Chanel-esque tweed, getting ready for an AutumnWinter photoshoot in the middle of August!

An unforgettable evening spent with Leonard Cohen. Front row, no less.

Winding down the Summer at the local fair.

Time to light a fire, methinks. And finally get around to knitting that last sleeve on my jumper from last year.

Batman & Catwoman

My latest knits could not have been more perfectly timed.  As I sat knitting by a roaring fire, sipping a glass of 1934 Armagnac, eating Narnia-worthy turkish delight and merrily discussing Quantum Mechanics, this year's first snowflakes began to fall.

By morning, the snow had settled, the ponds were frozen and my little caped crusader and I each had a new masked Superhero Hat.

The design was inspired by this Catwoman Hat I had recently seen on Pinterest, and with its ingeniously simple construction, it was a dream to knit.  A fast and seamless knit on circular needles, and using less than a skein of Rowan's Big Wool for each hat, I know this will be something I will make over and over again. In fact, if you know me, let me know if you don't want one of these for your next birthday!

WIPs

With Christmas little more than 9 weeks away, I'm already starting to feel the pressure...  And in order to keep on top of my personal projects//private commissions//present making, I seem to be making a start on everything all at once, to be worked on bit by bit on rotation, surrounding myself with the beginnings of everything I need to have done by Christmas, just so my work load can make sense to me visually.  

Herewith a little handful of my Works In Progress...

Practising piecing hexagons for a very special project that I'm keeping quiet for the time being...

Notes on a hat I've been promising my Mum since last Christmas.

The most deliciously soft beginnings of Pickles' Close Cables Sweater (for me!).

Inside view of my Swing Jacket.  Let's face it, we're talking extreme procrastination here.  All that's left to do is hand stitch the lining and sew on the buttons.  An evening's work.  I would argue that my lack of a mannequin in my life is making accurate pinning of the lining harder than it needs to be, but today my lovely neighbour Jess lent me hers.  And she needs it back soon, so no more excuses!

Some I-cord piping for a Christmassy tutorial coming soon...

And lastly, my floor this evening: hot cocoa and a chunky mitten - because my hands were freezing today, and then I thought it would be nice to prepare a quick winter warmer kit pattern (coming soon too).

~

Tip of the iceberg...

Sleepy Polar Bear Hat - knitting pattern

There's nothing quite like a cute, cosy hat for your kid that knits up super fast to make you feel like the queen of domestic productivity.  So good, it had to be shared.

~ Sleepy Polar Bear Hat ~

Materials

2 x 100g skein of bulky-super bulky weight yarn (I used some delicious local natural yarn I found in my favourite craft shop which was unlabelled)

scrap of brown yarn, to embroider the bear's eyes and nose

set of 5 7mm DPNs

3 stitch markers or scrap yarn

yarn needle

Gauge: 1" = 3 stitches / 4.5 rows

Size: Child, fits ages 2 - 4

Abbreviations

k - knit

p - purl

st st - stockinette stitch

k2tog - knit 2 stitches together

st(s) - stitch(es)

rnd - round

cont - continue

rep - repeat

SM - stitch marker

CO - cast on

BO - bind off

m1 - make 1 stitch

Starting with the ear flaps ~

CO 4 sts.  Knit 1st row.  Turn.

row 2: k1, m1, k2, m1, k1 (6 sts).

row 3: knit.

row 4: k1, m1, k4, m1, k1 (8 sts).

row 5: knit.

row 6: k4, m1, k4 (9 sts).

row 7: k4, p1, k4.

row 8: k4, m1, k1, m1, k4 (11 sts).

row 9: k4, p3, k4.

row 10: k4, m1, k3, m1, k4 (13 sts).

row 11: k4, p5, k4.

row 12: knit.

row 13: k4, p5, k4.

Rep rows 12 & 13 3 times altogether.  Cut yarn, keeping sts on the needle.  Make another ear flap in the same way.

Hat ~

CO 7 sts.  Turn the needle so the working yarn is on the left.

Knit 11 sts from one ear flap, then bring in another DPN to knit the remaining 2 sts.

Turn and CO 14 sts, turn (again so you have working yarn on the left) and knit 2 sts from 2nd ear flap.

Take a 3rd DPN and knit remaining 11 sts from ear flap, turn, CO 7 sts.

Join, being careful not to twist sts, to begin working in the round (you will have 54 sts altogether; 18 on each needle):

rnd 1: purl, knitting the 5 knit sts in ear flaps.

rnd 2: knit.

Rep rnds 1 & 2 3 times, then cont knitting in st st until hat measures 5" deep.

Crown ~

Prepare to decrease like this:

k9, place SM, k remaining 9 sts from needle.  Rep this on each needle, so you have 3 SMs in the centre of each needle.

Decrease ~

rnd 1: k until 2 sts remain before SM, k2tog, k until 2 sts remain on needle, k2tog.

rnd 2: knit.

Rep rnds 1 & 2 7 times altogether, until 12 sts in total remain.

Cut yarn leaving a 5" tail.  Thread this onto a yarn needle and slip each st purlwise, pulling tight to close the hole.  Secure and sew in all loose tails.

Bear Ears (make 2) ~

CO 3 sts.  Knit 1st row.  Turn.

row 1: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1 (5 sts).

rows 2 & 3: knit.

row 4: k2, p2, k2.

row 5: k2, m1, k1, m1, k2 (7 sts).

row 6: k3, p3, k2.

row 7: knit.

Rep rows 6 & 7 once more.

BO, leaving a long enough tail to sew the ears to the hat.

Using the picture as a guide, sew ears to hat.  

Using your scrap of brown yarn, embroider the sleepy bear eyes and nose - either copy how I did it using the picture as a guide, or make up your own.

All done!  And now I might just make a whole family of these... And try out various ear-style possibilities...