The Baby Is Always The Triforce Of Power

My good friend Elaine is going to have a baby soon, so the call that many a knitter feel: I had to make her something. What started off as a simple baby hat idea quickly grew. She and her husband are big fans of The Legend of Zelda, so I knew that I needed to make the baby an Elven Hero hat. Then it seemed like Elaine would need one too. Of course if Elaine had one, so would Caleb. (I think new dads get a little left out in the baby hub hub, so I wanted to make sure he was included.) And all of a sudden there were three hats.

Connor had been talking about knitting a pair of socks as his fourth project, so I talked him into knitting a pair of baby socks for our friends. He worked really hard. He hardly needed any help at all. I was impressed.

This is Elaine and Caleb's first, so in keeping with the Legend of Zelda theme, we packaged everything to match the different parts of the Triforce. It seems appropriate since the three of them are essentially going to become a Triforce.

 This baby is going to be loved, and now it is also going to be cozy.

Please Mr. Postman

Mr. Postman came today with some goodies I'd ordered. After seeing this Doctor Who project bag by Bag End Bags on etsy, I couldn't resist. I'm usually good about not impulse buying, but the inside had star fabric. When I knit up the southern constellation shawl, it will be living in the bag. The shawl is going to pretty big. And I'm sure as some of you might guess, the bag is bigger on the inside. My copy of Island by Jane Richmond also came. It is well laid out and plain old gorgeous. I've already made Renfrew. (Not today. I got the digital download a few weeks ago.)

I thought I had blogged about this already, but apparently not. I made it out of Knitwhits Freia Handpaints Freia Ombré Worsted in the Denim colorway. It is the nicest single ply yarn I have ever worked with. It was tightly spun without being kinky. And it felt really good in my hands. I will be getting more as soon as I have a project to go along with it. One ball was enough for the slouchy version of Renfrew. (Which, by the way, is an excellent hat pattern.) 

Last night I attended a baby shower. The gifts were a big hit. I made adult and baby Elven Hero hats out of Rimu. The rav project page can be found here. It includes the modifications made for the baby hat. That baby is going to have some great adventures.

I actually have two more finished objects, but I'm starting to feel like a show off. That and they are items that have yet to be gifted. They'll show up on the blog in the coming month or so, but if you are super curious, everything is on my ravelry project page.

Tradition, Tradition!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving for those of us in the States. Everyone has their own tradition. My brother and I have a long standing tradition that includes getting along for the day. My brother has made the turkey for six years now. He faithfully bastes it every half hour.

Scooter holds vigil near the oven.

In between basting, we play video games. The games change from year to year. Usually we'll hook up the Super Nintendo and play a round of Sunset Riders and Turtles In Time. But this year Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword came out. So we took turns playing that instead. (Actually, I let my brother play most the the day so I could get some knitting done.) I insisted that he wear proper adventuring gear, aka the Elven Hero hat. He protested, but didn't take it off. I think it improved his game play.

What kind of Thanksgiving traditions do you guys have?

Elven Hero

Going on an adventure? Are you in need of a proper adventuring hat? Never fear, the Elven Hero hat is here. 

It will keep your hat nice and cozy when you are off on a quest, beating up bad guys and saving princesses. If you are in more of a marauding mood, the hat can be made with brown yarn. Or if the Santa look is more your style, you can knit the hat in red with a white brim and pom pom.

The hat is $5 and can be purchased on ravelry or on the bear-ears site.

The hat is constructed by provisionally casting on the brim edge. The brim is grafted together, then folded over to make it double thick and well fitted. Stitches are picked up along the edge of the brim to complete the rest of the hat body.

My pattern testers have told me that they found the pattern easy to follow and easy to execute despite it being an unusual construction.