Friday, May 18, 2007

Inspiration

Inspired by a stash Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (discontinued colors) and Susan B. Anderson's wonderful book, Itty-Bitty Hats, I knitted up some preemie hats for TPP/Michigan. If you like color, you're going to love these.

All hats were knitted in the round on size US 7 DPNs on 48 stitches. Decreases started with K6, K2tog. I worked two rounds of decreases, then worked the stitches even for two rounds and continued reducing stitches in this manner until there were three stitches left. Then, knitted an I-cord for a little topper and tied it in a knot.

These two stripy hats are preemie-sized knockoffs of Susan's Cotton Stria Stripes (pg. 96), but with different shaping.

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The inspiration for these next hats is Rainbow Marley (pg. 102): a combination of stripes and texture created by garter stitch and seed stitch.

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These little square hats need no shaping. I used a three-needle bind off to close the top, but you could also use kitchener stitch. Susan has two versions of a square hat in her book (page 116 and 118). She adds cute embellishments, which I left off, but I did incorporate a little color on the edge (in my own way) and used a seed stitch band instead of a ribbed cuff that I've used before with this pattern.

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The hats I came up with are similar to those in Itty-Bitty Hats, but not an exact copy. If you enjoy knitting hats for babies and children, be sure to check out the book. It's loaded with adorable patterns and inspiration.

P.S. I'll be without Internet access for most of next week, so don't worry when you don't hear from me. I'll check back in as soon as I can. See you then.

14 comments:

  1. What ADORABLE little hats! I have been so wrapped up in sock alongs and swaps that I miss the preemie knitting. I have this book, so I'll have to give these a try. Have a good vacation?!

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  2. Anonymous8:17 AM

    Oh how PRETTY!! Those hats just look good enough to eat. Thanks so much for thinking of our chapter. I love that Itty Bitty Hats book, too. You can take anything that's in there and add your own touches for something unique! Wonderful job!

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  3. Love the colors you chose for your hats! I feel the need to cast on for one right now! And thanks for mentioning the Itty Bitty Hats book.
    I'll be checking that one out of our library soon.

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  4. Such CUTE hats! I'll miss you...come back soon!

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  5. Those are great little hats! I bought that book after you mentioned it a while back, but I haven't made anything out of it yet. Your hats are very inspirational.

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  6. As always, you are a true inspiration. I am on a hat knitting kick this week and I have that book. I will go see what I can come up with. Probably not as beautiful as yours - but I will give it a try. I love the colors and textures!

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  7. I keep looking at that book. I just love your little hats. They are so bright and cheery.

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  8. Those hats are so CUTE!! Your squares came today Tracy! Yay for your squares!! Thank you so much. :)

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  9. The hats are fabulous. I love cotton ease!!!! I have been hoarding it and afraid to use it since it has been discontinued. However, these hats have inspired me to try to use it up. We'll miss you while your gone. Have a great time!

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  10. Lovely adaptations! I keep looking at those patterns, knowing that they should translate to preemie sizes, but haven't tried to do it. I wish I had loaded up on more of the discontinued Cotton Ease colors.

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  11. Anonymous10:13 PM

    The hats are so lovely. Enjoy your time away!

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  12. Those are just fabulous!

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  13. Oh, they're SO cute (as always)!

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Thank you for commenting!
~Tracy

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