Baby Evelyn Mae’s Hat

Evelyn Mae Hickey

I got to be at another birth and it was an awfully special one, especially close to my heart. This little nugget joined our family almost a week ago and I was present for her first breath of Montana air. She was born right in her Mama and Papa’s peaceful bedroom, and she’s my niece Evelyn Mae. I am working on a blanket similar to the one I made for Baby Bill Jeff but with a different color scheme. I knit a bit during the labor, but I wasn’t working on the hat, that was complete and I had gifted it to Sarah that night, at our house, right after her water broke at our kitchen counter. We were having a bit of a surprise party for her because her birthday was only a few days later and we figured the weekend would be the best time. We were about an hour into the party when ~ “blammo” drenched drawers. We surprised her baby out! Or maybe Evelyn thought the party was for her.

We headed to her house, and I went along for the ride, as I’d planned to be her birth doula. Her midwife visited just to check heart rate, blood pressure and dilation. All looked well. Contractions hadn’t started just yet, so I headed back home for an hour, when Bryan texted me things were getting more serious. That didn’t take long.

Sarah and Sandhano

Sarah labored through the night with mighty gusto. Bryan was by her side the entire time and things went perfectly. Mama might still beg to differ, but I’m sure not for long. Sandhano (her midwife (and mine 4.5 years ago)) came back around 5:30 AM and Sarah was ready to push. 1.5 hours later she pushed her sweet baby out right before the light of the morn on October 22nd.

Start of Hat

Not sure how many stitches I cast on but I know that I just looked back at another ribbed hat for a babe I’d made before. I suppose I probably did somewhere near 60, of course some multiple of 4 as that is a requirement to make this pattern work. k2, p2 all the way around using size 6 circular needles. The variegated yarn I used was wool from Skyline Yarns purchased a couple of years ago, her Etsy shop has been empty for a while now, but I save it (hoard it) for special occasions…such as this one. I am promised the yarn shop will be back someday. The yarn pictured is sock yarn (fingering yarn) but just because it is “sock yarn” doesn’t mean it has to be used for socks only. In fact I’ve never completed a pair of socks…but I’m always on the lookout for pretty sock yarn.

Baby Hat  Baby Hat Again

This little hat is so tiny that I was asked if it was made for a hamster. Uncool. Hamsters don’t even wear hats.

I promise to share more photos and love just as soon as I complete the blanket. I’m 1/2 way there. Here is a snip of what it looks like (a bit before the 1/2 way mark) and Thanksgiving felt project my sister (Sloane’s Mama) and I are working on.

Ev's Blanket

Welcome to the world sweet Evelyn. We all adore you!

 

Circular Needle Holder

Circular Needle Holder

So I have been on the lookout for a circular needle holder for quite some time now. I’ve seen the kind where you can hang them, but I don’t have the space for that. Then I noticed at Loopy, in one of their newsletters, that they’d just gotten a shipment in of Namaste Circular Needle Holders, so I headed down with a gift certificate in hand (that I got for my birthday from Sarah and Bryan) and nabbed one up! And, I couldn’t be more excited.

I’d like to back-track for just a minute and apologize for the lack of posts lately. We’ve been soooo busy I don’t even know where the time has gone. School is out, we’re playing hard and we’ve had a LOT of company and we are about to have some more and then head West on vacation to the Washington and Oregon coast on Monday. I’ve got my knitting packed and I plan to knit right on the beach! Here is a little snip of what we’ve been up to these days.

Moth Hatch Gardening

Exploring Rock Picking

Okay now back to the Namaste Needle Holder.

Closed Needle Holder

Here it is closed, at first I thought it looked too much like a briefcase and that didn’t seem very fun to me, but then I realized it was just a tool and every tool doesn’t have to be cute – but it is a perk!

Open Needle Holder

I can put a whole lot of needles in here and there are little tabs so you can label them yourself. They came in a couple of different shades – I chose indigo. I have some 29″ circulars in here but mostly 16″ since I’m a little bit ‘hat obsessed’.

Close Up Needle Holder

So – long story short – I love my new needle holder and it is small enough to fit right in my knitting bag or tote and I don’t have to worry about finding a spot to hang it! There will probably come a day when I need more than one circular needle holder – then I’ll get a cute one!

Oh and here are some shots of my completed baby hat – my cute model is holding it on his ‘baby head sized’ fist.

Simon and Baby Hat Unfolded Ribbed Hat Peek