Princess got a Hello Kitty hat - its an easy pattern, and available from Beadwhore Knitting's blog here. After a foolish misguided start, I eventually followed the pattern exactly and it turned out to be a great size for my now 6 year old niece. The embroidery on the front was the best part of course when it comes to instant gratification - the hat really comes to life once Miss Kitty's features are on her sweet face. I gave her a pink nose instead of yellow. This used less than one skein of Loops & Threads White from Michaels, and I added some leftover pink from Bernat. Isn't Miss Kitty adorable?
So the Kitty is cute, but obviously the Birthday Boy needed something considerably cooler for a 9 year old. He loves Star Wars, especially the Clone Wars stories so I did a hat with an Imperial Storm Trooper motif in the round. I found this fabulous chart by Sarah Bradberry here, through Ravelry of course, and added it to a simple hat pattern. Unfortunately, I did not do any calculations as to the size of the pattern and the overall height of the hat, so it turned into a sort of Cat in the Hat tall affair. Precious child that he is, the Little Prince is still willing to wear it at home. I haven't caught a shot of him in the hat, but here it is on its own featured in the snow from one of the Washington DC blizzards this winter.
I loved Sarah's idea of the checkerboard border, and as a special bonus I used white glow in the dark yarn. Very cool. I do try to keep my title of favorite aunt, and I think I've managed it for the moment! If I were to do this particular hat again though, I'd need to have fewer rows before the pattern starts, and perhaps decrease for the crown more dramatically than I did. I would like to start designing my own patterns, so these are good lessons, right?
