Brother & Baby Hats

When my baby brother was about a year old, my mothers friend & neighbor knit my brother a ribbed knit pea cap that he LOVED. Really, he loved that hat & wore it everywhere, but when he was about 4 years old, the hat came up missing & I believe my brother has been devastated ever since.

I got the brilliant idea one day that I should knit my brother's 9 month old son a hat that looked exactly like my brothers hat that he lost. So ever since the end of August, I've been searching for the perfect yarn. Of course I didn't want it to be 100% acrylic like the original hat, but I did need something completely washable. I was able to find some washable wool, but I could never find it in the exact colors, but still I kept looking. Finally.... on December 9th, I spotted the perfect colors at a LYS & low & behold it was a wool blend that was washable! EUREKA!! I cast on immediately only to find that the hat seemed a bit too big, but I kept going. The entire time I just KNEW the hat was going to be too large but I just kept knitting it (of course). When I finally finished the hat I put it on DH's head and it fit. OOPS! Thank goodness these were large skeins of yarn because I cast on for another hat in a smaller size. When all was said & done, I had two hats -- one for my brother & one for his son.

Pattern: Ribbed Pea Cap (2x2 rib knit)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Encore
Needles: Clover Bamboo size 7 US (circular & dpns)
Notes: For my brothers hat I cast on 80 stitches & for my nephews hat I cast on 60 stitches. That kid has a HUGE head. I'll probably be making another one of these for him for next year!