hat

Last Minute Baby Gift | Bear Knit Hat

December 7, 2015 By Chie

Handmade bear knit hats as baby shower gifts!

Hello! It’s Monday morning here and and I just received an email from my friend, who asked if we can get together tomorrow afternoon for coffee. It will probably be the last time we hang out together for a while since she is having a baby next month. So here is what I made for her – a quick handmade gift for her new born baby.

Pattern | It’s from a Japanese sewing book, titled 赤ちゃんのお出かけは毎日がおしゃれ日和. I searched for an English version, but it does not seem to exit. The author’s name is Emiko. I borrowed the book from our local library. There are only two pieces to the pattern, so it is easy to draft it yourself.

Fabric | Stretch knit I had laying around. The gray one is left over from this T-shirt. I bought the pink knit fabric somewhere online, thinking of making Nettie bodysuit, but the width was too narrow (it was almost like rib knit with both edges folded)

Sewing | These two hats took 30 minutes to make. They are easy! They are lined with knit fabric in different colors. I made them in Japanese size 50, but in retrospect, I should have cut the smallest size, size 42 for a newborn. Oh well, baby can wear them next year!

Baby shower gift using Japanese sewing book, 赤ちゃんのお出かけは毎日がおしゃれ日和

I also bought precious little wooden spoons and tied a ribbon around them. I also added non-caffeine herbal tea for the ladies and post cards by Oslo and Alfred.

P.S. Here are some other ideas for baby gifts! How to make diaper cake and idea for a baby dress.出産お祝いに、ちょこっとしたプレゼントを手作りしました。
くま耳付き帽子の型紙は、図書館で借りたemicoさんの本「赤ちゃんのお出かけは毎日がおしゃれ日和」から。
とっても簡単にできます。

ノンカフェインの紅茶と、ベビースプーンと一緒に、プレゼントします。

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Traveling Cable Hat by The Purl Bee

April 14, 2015 By Chie

The Spring weather has been moody here in Tokyo. One day it’s 25 degrees and beautiful but other days it’s raining and freezing. I finished this cable knit hat just in time to get a few wears before the Spring weather fully hits. I started on this hat in mid March and worked on and off for a while, while I watched some shows. I just finished the Pillar of the Earth, British historical show that takes place in 12th century England. The show completes in eight episodes, which is great for avoiding addiction and emotional attachment.

The pattern is from The Purl Bee, called Traveling Cable Hat. It was very easy to follow and kept me entertained throughout the process. As a knitting beginner, I tend to go for very simple patterns (here and here), like only rib and knit stitches or only purl stitches kind of patterns. The problem I found with those patterns is that it is rather boring. Cable knit was more time consuming, but you are constantly looking back the pattern and instructions, you don’t have time to get bored!

The yarns are from 100 yen shop (an equivalent of a dollar store). It’s a mint color wool and acrylic mix and is very soft. I used three bolls of 20 gram yarns.

I thought I would like the color and I do, but being so near my face, I feel like the color is too strong. I tend to wear a lot of neutral colors in Winter, so I thought the pop of color might be good, but it feels so bright on my head! If you are a neutral color lover, do you feel weird about wearing bright color as much as me?

I know the cold weather is nearly ending, but I think I’ll keep my knitting going. It’s such a nice activity to be doing while watching TV or talking on the couch. My next project will be Ondawa sweater by Brooklyn Tweed. Sonja‘s version is great; it convinced me to finally try my hands on bigger knitting project like sweater!

I’m wearing self-made Ginger jeans in white stretch twill, Butterick 4610 coat and thrifted button up and sweater.

もう春ですが、また１つニット帽作っちゃいました。

テレビを見ながら、手持無沙汰になるのがいやなので、編み物好きです。
これは100均で買ったベビー用毛糸を使って、作りました。
編み方は、The Purl BeeのTraveling Cable Knit。
無料の型紙です。
日本の編み物のパターンのように、図解はないのですが、私的にはこういう文字だけの方が解りやすいです。

ちなみに、着ているコートとパンツも自分で作りました。
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MADE | Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead

November 10, 2014 By Chie

As a sewer, I had stayed away from knitting. I thought knitting was not productive, as it takes hours to complete one project, whereas you can sew up a piece of clothes in a few hours, especially for easy items like a t-shirt or a simple top. If it takes 6, 7 hours to knit up a simple hat, it makes more sense to buy one!? But my friend gave me a book on knitting in exchange for a can of pumpkin (bought during my recent Hawaii trip since they don’t sell a can of pumpkin in Japan..You have to mash them yourself) recently, and convinced me that I should knit. So when I picked up three balls of wool yarns for this simple knit hat project, I wasn’t the most excited. However, when I started the simple motion of knit, purl, knit, purl while watching the Tudors, I was hooked. Something about the simple repetition was so soothing.

Another reason why I had stayed away from knitting was because the knitting patterns confused me. For instance, the pattern I used, Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead read, “Rnd 1: *ssk, P16, k2tog; rpt from * to end [72 sts]”. I had no idea what it meant. Learning English was enough for me and I wasn’t ready to learn another language. Thankfully, we have a wonderful thing called Google and by just searching “ssk knitting”, I was able to find videos on youtube to explain what I should do.

I made the largest size in the pattern (the one starts from 80 stitches), and it fit Andy’s head perfectly. Every winter, he wears the ugliest black rib knit hat. I don’t even know where he found it. He said it wasn’t particularly comfortable so he agreed to let me replace his hat with this new one.

This was my first time knitting circle in DPNs. The end stitches are a bit loose, but it ended up being not noticable since the whole hat stretches out when you wear it.

I’m knitting another one for my friend, and thinking of embellishing the hat with some Swarovski crystals. After that, I might try Benton sweater by Brookyn Tweed. Jen’s version looks so good.