This magical being is my niece. This photo is of her at 2 weeks old. She was born three weeks early but was fine, if just a bit small and jaundiced. I met her for the first time last weekend, as my family live a couple of hours drive away and I wasn't well enough to travel for just an afternoon. This little girl has been 9 months in the making and it wonderful to finally meet her, and to be able to watch her grow and change into her own person. Already she pulls great faces.
Which leads me to the crafty part of today's post. Just behind her head you can see a flash of orange. This is a little hat I made for her with some left over yarn. It was left over from the Baby Surprise Jacket I just had to make for her.
Apologies for the quality of the photo. I forgot to take a proper photo and this was one I snapped on my phone when I finished it, to share on instagram! The yarn I used is Sirdar Baby Bamboo DK, which is 80% bamboo and 20% wool. It is a beautifully soft and silky yarn which has a gorgeous drape and sheen. It is also machine washable. I chose to use orange as I was so depressed with the weather I had to cheer myself up with wool. Luckily I know both her parents quite well and they are not scared of a little colour.
Once I'd knit this, my favourite baby pattern, which is proven by how many of these jackets I have made and gifted (this is my fourth), I had some yarn left over. I wanted to make a little hat. I did a quick search of Ravelry and came up with Beamish by Woolly Wormhead. It's a very cute pattern that starts at baby and goes through to adult sizes. Most of her patterns include multiple sizing which extends the pattern's use.
I made the hat in the smallest size (to fit 14" head) and wasn't sure if it would fit now, but thought it would be wearable at some point. I omitted the cute tassels from the hat as I ran out of yarn and didn't really have any contrast yarn that would work well with the orange. It really is a sweet little hat and I was suprised to see it wasn't too enormous on the recipient.
It is a little bit big, but it doesn't completely drown her, unlike the jacket. We didn't even try to put that on her, as it would have been like a dress.
I'm so pleased that all my gifts were well received. My sister in law has already become glued to the hap shawl I made for her, and I think the crocheted teddy bear may become more of a toy for my brother, but at least my niece will get to keep her hat and jacket!
I am, as always, sharing the love by linking up to FO Friday, so click on the button to see some other finished projects, but none will be quite as sweet as my niece!
