Edward Gorey And The Raccoon Hat

Back when I was at university, my housemate made me a really awesome birthday present. He drew up a knitting themed poem, of his own composing, in the style of Edward Gorey. The sheet of paper was tucked into a copy of an Edward Gorey book, which I had mentioned I was interested months before my birthday. I had made my other housemate a hat and had asked Brennan what he'd like for his birthday, to which he replied, "A raccoon hat." I puzzled and puzzled over how to go about making the mask. As you will notice, Brennan very cleverly put the hat into the poem. 

Well, an embarrassing number of years have passed since I promised that hat. And the picture is hung up on my bedroom wall, reminding me constantly of the hat that wasn't completed....

Until now. Ta-da! Raccoon hat. I mailed it a few weeks ago, so hopefully it is on Brennan's head now. He's going for his PhD and said he planned on wearing it while teaching classes. I'm hoping for some photographic evidence of this happening.

Part of the design dilemma I had was figuring out how to get the mask to flip up and stay up. I thought about buttons and hooks. But after attaching the mask, it turns out that the stickiness of the wool keeps the mask in place all by itself.

I'm not sure if I should make this pattern available at some point. I've got so much on my plate. But if people are interested, I'll put it on the to-do list.

Blue Footed Booby Hat

The Blue Footed Booby Hat is now available! You can get a copy of the pattern on bear-ear.com or on ravelry. From July 1st to September 8th, all profits from the blue footed booby hat pattern will go towards Kenna's fundraising efforts for her walk in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure.

If you are interested in supporting Kenna as she walks for her Mum, you can check out her Fundraising Page. She will be walking as a Blue Footed Booby (complete with blue shoes!)

The hat also comes in baby sizing.

For all those blue footed booby babies in your life.

Lion Hat Pattern

Knit/ Crochet Blog Week may have just finished, but the fun isn't going to end. Today the Lion Hat pattern has been released!

It comes in adult and baby sizes. And for only $5, the pattern can be yours. You can either go to Ravelry, or you can press the buy now button.

Not enough excitement for you?

Stay tuned in, because tomorrow I have some major news!

Baby Hat Release

The day has finally come! All the current animal hats now have baby sizing! If you have already purchased a copy, you have nothing to fear. You can simply re-download the pattern.

You can either go on ravelry to get a copy, or you can click the buy now button by each pattern in this post.

To get the sheep hat pattern for $5: buy now

The pattern itself doesn't change. The small sizing is created by using thinner yarn and smaller needles.

To get the giraffe hat pattern for $5: buy now

There will be a Bear Ears website up in the near future.

To get the fox hat pattern for $5: buy now

But until then, the blog will have to do.

To get the bear hat pattern for $5: buy now

A Tale OF Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

It was easy to choose two yarns to talk about. I have been working with them for several days. The first is Mini Mochi (which is on the right) The color way is Lake Trail. Normally I am not a huge fan of single ply yarn, but the mini mochi has been pleasant to work with. It is a merino nylon blend. And despite being fingering weight, I find it to be pretty strong. The way the colors fade together is quite lovely as well. The other yarn is Malabrigo Sock, shown in the color way Chocolate Amargo. It is a plied merino, and quite lovely to work with as well. I'm not sure I would use either for socks as I'm not sure how they would wear.

I'm knitting a hat with them. Or at least I was until I realized the hat was three inches too big. I did a swatch.... and my swatch lied. I took a picture before I started again. It is a bit of a bummer because the hat is a design for the 11 hats in 2011 group and I was hoping to have a pattern done soon. Good thing I like the yarn. I don't mind having to knit another hat with it.

Baby Hat Sneak Peek

Yesterday I did a photo shoot for the baby versions of my animal hats. I was able to take pictures of five hats in fifteen minutes. And I may have been converted to the dark side. The baby hats are really cute and so was the baby. The current patterns do not reflect the baby sizing. I plan on re-releaseing the patterns in another week or so. But until then, here is a sneak peek of the fox hat in baby size.

Big, Overwhelming Plans

In the midst of adding baby sizes/ metric measurements to all my hat patterns, I have also been designing new hats and developing my branding.

I am overwhelmed.

I knew I'd be overwhelmed, but I didn't realize how much. It's cool though. Once I've sorted out all the important foundation work (like a Bear Ears website!) I'll feel much better.

Until then, here is a sneak peek of the Lion Hat. It has been sent out to be test knit. And I still need to take the official pictures, but it's getting there.

Babyizing In Progress

I finally finished re-knitting the baby samples of the bear hat. The pattern doesn't reflect the changes just yet, but it will soon. I just need to have several people check for errors before I release the updated version. And pictures. I've got to find some babies.

Here is a quick sneak peek of the next hat to be released. The adult version of the hat has been knit. I just need to "babyize" it. 10 points to anyone who guesses what the hat is. (Unless I've actually told you and you "guess". Then you get -10 points.)

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that re-knitting and adding baby sizes to the patterns was a bit stressful. To keep my sanity, I've been knitting this sweater in the evening. The pattern may look complex, but it is actually pretty relaxing to knit and easy to adjust sizing once you've gotten your gauge sorted out. The pattern is the Fireside Sweater by Amber Allison. I just have the back and two sleeves to go. I'm fairly certain I'll finish in the middle of summer during a heat wave.

I Don't Own A Baby

I have gotten lots of lovely feedback regarding the animal hats. By far the most common response was, "Oh! That hat is so cute. Does it come in baby size?" Followed by me saying... "Ummm.... no." I had been resisting making a baby size for several reasons.

1. I don't have a baby (I almost said I don't own a baby... but that's not quite right) , so baby sizing is a bit mysterious to me.

2. I don't really have any friends that have a baby.

However, thanks to my parents who advised that I listen to my customer base, the answer will soon be, "Yes, it comes in baby size." All I need now is a baby. For pictures, not for me.

Giraffe Hat Pattern

The hat that started it all: the giraffe hat. The original giraffe hat was made in October of 2009 because I needed a Halloween costume. I had lost out on an ebay auction for a detective hat, so making a giraffe hat was the only logical solution. Soon after that I started developing other adult sized animal hats.

Writing the pattern took forever. I knit the hat in a beautiful yarn that ended up being discontinued, so I knit another. I now own three giraffe hats, but it was worth it. It is my favorite pattern by far.

If you are interested in purchasing the pattern, it is available on ravelry. Or if you are without a ravelry account, fear not. You can press the buy now button and get a copy. The price is $5.