Christmas Tree for a little girl

I really want to work on as many hats and things as I can churn out while my little mind and fingers are willing.  I had I Love This Yarn (Sparkle) in Grapette and the White, as well as a LOT of buttons I've been collecting.  With a little photo inspiration I set to work.

This hat is going up on Etsy in a few moments but it's a baby girl's hat.  Approx. 13 inches in circumference and 5 1/2inches in height.  It should fit a standard newborn and possibly up to a 3-4 month old. 

I love using this I Love This Yarn and Sparkle collection is soooo pretty.  Sometimes what I do is surf the net, google, etsy, whereever and I save photos.  When I see the one I like, if it has the owner information, I save that as well.  If my item is just like that, I contact them and ask permission to use the "idea".  My Jack Skellington hat...Alissa at CutieHats.  It was so funny, I convo'd her on Etsy and asked if I could create a hat like hers.  She thought I meant use her photo and was super nice trying to explain how hard it is for her to do the work, set up the pics, etc.  I said "oh no no no, I mean I want to look at your photo and come up with my own pattern".  After a good laugh she basically said 'yeah, duh, it's what we do as artist.  We look at things, get ideas and create.  Go nuts.'  Basically. :)

In this case the only thing similar is it has a tree on it and uses yarn.  Either way I think this will make a really great hat for some little girl for Christmas.

Diary of the Ladybugs Part 2

As previously mentioned in Diary of the Ladybugs, I had planned on doing a ladybug hat for a friend of mine.  You may remember this friend, as I also did the Olivia Blanket for her first granddaughter.  She had requested a ladybug hat for Olivia's first birthday, as it's still a while away I had not begun the project.  Since she was going out of state to see them this weekend though I did go ahead and whip it up and take it to her.  Here is my finished project. :)

It's hard to tell, but the top of the antennae have curly q's.  I did not add very many dots and I did consider putting a black crocheted line down the middle, from the front between the eyes to the back, to aid visualization of two sides or wings.

For the rim of the hat I used standard black Red Heart Super Saver Yarn but for the dots, antennae and face I used Caron Super Soft in black.  I did this because it's a thinner yarn.  When making things to put on a hat it's easy to just slap things on there but when you look at it later you think there is fiber fill or something beneath it because it seems puffier than the rest.  I hate that.  This yarn I stitched on but it wasn't as thick and I feel good that it won't be very heavy.

At the last minute as I was choosing the eyes I decided on fancy buttons. I don't usually do that, however I thought, if I ever were that close to a ladybug it might have more detailed eyes than just a plain button or a yarn blob.  I think these are so adorable that I'll zoom in for ya. :D

Yep, those are awesome!  Hopefully the hat will be the correct size, as I generally go by the sizes found at Bev's Country Cottage when it comes to doing hats for children.  I have been told that they run a bit big but I suppose I'd rather have that than too small.

I had the ladybug hat, another flower for a second hair wrap and a baby hat to complete and mail.  It was super busy and I enjoyed it.  I think I'll do another post about the extra flowers.  Yes I shall do that now.