Newborn Earflap Hat

A neighbor of mine is having her sixth child (wow!). While I'm sure she has enough clothes for this newest little person I couldn't resist knitting up this cute little hat. As the mother of three I know that while there are clothes that cycle through all our kids there are certain items that are special to each one. Maybe it's the cut of the shirt that suits them, maybe it's the fabric or the print. Then there are those things that are crafted especially for each of us by others. I'm hopeful that's what this gift can be. A little something that was made just for this new little person.

There's a baby boom going on in my world (at least four more are on their way) so I have a few cutie-cute gift knits up my sleeve for this year. But, since there aren't any newborns in our home, Curious George will have to serve as a model. His proportions are frighteningly spot-on.

The pattern is a generous freebie from Hey Julie. I knit it up in two days. I added the seed stitch details after seeing a photo of one like it on her blog. This hat is so darn cute, and so versatile for customizing to every child and baby. I made it with about 3/4ths of a skein of a washable wool/cotton blend yarn, details are on my ravelry page. And the color? Well, perfect for either a boy or a girl I think.

The yarn for this project is a new acquisition and was purchased this calendar year. But it was purchased with gift money from Christmas, money that was given to me explicitly so I could buy yarn. So while this hat is not technically a stash project, it's a zero-impact-on-the-family-budget project. In any event, I am counting this towards one of my 2010 stash challenge projects: the five baby gifts I plan to make this year.