Something New

   Today I finished the first version of a baby helmet based on the patterns in the book "Animal Hats" by Vanessa Mooncie that I got thru the MidYork Library system earlier this fall.  I got the book to make the Fox for the granddaughter of a friend but got such

good comments on it I decided to make the Fox, Rabbit and Dog for the shop.  Then this week I learned that 2 cousins were going to have babies...both boys...within a few months and it was suggested I try to make them animal helmets.  
   I started looking for baby helmets and found that 'Ravelry' had several.  I ended up using 'Earflap' by Jane Richmond.  It's a top-down pattern and while the Fox and friends is bottom-up it was easy enough to add the facial features and ears to the helmet after it was knitted just by following the directions for the big helmets.  I even CO the same number of stitches...just on a lot smaller needle (US 1's and 3's instead of 10 1/2's and 11's)...and worked the same number of rows!!  I used US7's and KnitPicks worsted Brava in a light gray for the baby helmet with small balls of left-over white and gray for the features.  When it came time to line the baby helmet I used 100% cotton flannel but I had to improvise the pattern.  It took some time but it worked!  The only problem I had was with the wiggly eyes.  They would not stick to the buttons...even with SuperGlue.  They stuck to my kitchen counter, my shirt, my thumb but not to the buttons!
   Anyway, the Baby Rabbit got finished

and came
out fine,  More than fine, just perfect!  I think it's even cuter than the big version.  The next helmet will be a Puppy for the other pregnant cousin.