Yarn: Bernat Haven (59 % acrylic, 22% cotton, 16% alpaca, 3% nylon), about half a skein each of colors 80510 (Cinnamon Mist) and 80128 (Blue Haven)
Needle: US size-4 circular
Pattern: I improvised the hat, as it’s so simple that a pattern is unneeded. It’s a K1P1 cap, knit in the round over 40 stitches. I cast on with the Cinnamon Mist (which is a light, pastel orange) and knit about 14 rounds in K1P1 rib. Then I switched to the Blue Haven (light blue, unsurprisingly, with little flecks of white throughout) and knit another 12 or so rounds in the K1P1 pattern. Then I decreased by knitting two together all around, which left 20 live stitches. This was followed by a round of just knit stitches. I knit another round of K2tog, which left 10 live stitches on the needle. At this point, I cut the yarn so that about 5 inches of live yarn was still attached to the hat-in-progress. I pulled that “tail” of yarn through the live loops and pulled it tight, to close the hole at the top. Then I tied off the tail and wove in about 2 inches of it, to secure the knitting. All that was left was to weave in the ends (3 other ones: one at the beginning/cast-on spot and two where I did the color change).
The booties are my adapted version of a free pattern I found online a million, zillion years ago. I think the original pattern is called something like Two-Needle Baby Booties, but don’t hold me to that. When I adapted the pattern, it was to account for the fact that I was making smaller booties than those in the pattern, but using bulkier yarn. And this yarn, technically a bulky (rated 5), took full advantage of those changes. I started the booties in the Blue Haven, as I was almost out of the orangey color. In fact, I had just enough of the orange to do the last three rows and the bind-off, leaving only about an inch and a half of yarn. Dicey!
(finished 9/7/11)
