I've been dying to work with Koigu KPPPM, but don't think I'm ready yet to tackle something as awesome as Charlotte. So, I decided to try something a little simpler, yet still interesting, to give as a gift to my neighbor who's expecting her second baby any day now.

Although I have some basic hat patterns on file, I wanted something just a little more challenging, so I started cruising the Internet for all the great patterns that are out there...and I lucked out by finding this one.

Oh, my gosh! As if the photo of that baby wasn't enough, the description--"Makes baby look like tree elf"--made the decision for me right then and there. I grabbed my car keys, headed to my LYS, and came home with one skein of Koigu. Not knowing if the soon-to-arrive baby is a boy or girl, I chose a beautiful multi-colored palette and got to work.

The thing that attracted me to this pattern (after the cute photo) was the lacy, leaf edge border, something new for me and just a little more engaging than a straight stockinette-knit hat. It was fun to knit and see the pattern appear magically out of those stitches.

Here's a close-up of the border in progress.

And here's the finished hat.



Too bad I don't have a cute, chubby baby and a clean garden pot to put him in. But you get the idea! Now go make one for all the adorable, hatless babies in your neighborhood.

posted by Leslie @ 9/18/2004 01:27:00 PM