Hat Family Christmas!

Sometime this fall, I got the bright idea to knit each of my family members a hat for Christmas. Not only would this include my family, but Dan's entire family: his siblings, their spouses, their kids, and his 'rents. You see, I was unemployed at the time, and the idea of knitting 19 hats sounded like fun. I visited ravelry.com to find my pattern inspiration and began with the stash of yarn I've accumulated since I started knitting. Now, I don't have a stash like some people, but I had enough to make about 5 hats without breaking a sweat. For the rest, I ordered yarn from Knit Picks and began knitting until my fingers were sore.

Here's Dan's family, modeling their hats for us!

I started with this owl pattern for the 3 little boys, each knit in their own color.

Then for K, I made a headband based on this pattern and embellished it with a few leather flowers.

For Miss E, I made a flapper-inspired hat embellished with a purple flower, but alas, I need to a.) block it and b.) knit earflaps so that her cute little ears stay warm! This was my only project that seriously needed to be fixed so it was useful. (And that's my project for my snow day -- today.)

For all of the adult males, I used Jared Flood's Turn A Square pattern, which I was 100% satisfied with. I loved the decreases and once I decreased my needle size by one, it was the perfect hat for guys. They each got their own colors -- for Tyler, a Brown's inspired palate; for Mike, cool colors; and for my father-in-law, a little bit of everything.

The women got individual chosen hats, based on their preferences! For my mother-in-law, I used a pattern that was similar to a scarf I had knit her last year and used the same color yarn. For Kristy, a simple hat knit in a bulky yarn which ended up being one of my overall favorites. And for Colleen, who was super supportive and excited about the entire project, I made a black beret embellished with tea roses in shades of cream.

For my side of the family, I knit all of the women the same pattern: a cute, loose hat embellished with a button. They had all liked my own hat in this pattern, so I thought that I'd stick to simple and do the same for all 3! For my brother, I knit the same hat as for all the guys in Dan's family. I also knit his soon-to-be-born son a simple, rolled-brim baby hat in a beautiful gray-blue alpaca. Matching hats for the boys! And for my Dad? Well, he rarely wears hats, but I think he was a little disappointed that he didn't get one. So maybe I'll knit him one for his upcoming birthday. It didn't occur to me to take a picture of the in their hats, so perhaps when we visit after Baby Ben is born, I'll get a few pictures.

Last but not least, I just had to knit a hat for Dan. His was the last completed, but at the same time, was the most important that I finish. He opened it on Christmas Eve and loved it. (I'm showing off the huge candy bar that was my Christmas Eve gift.)

So what's next? First, fixing E's hat and mailing it off to Pennsylvania so she can actually use it. Then something for my friend Natalie who just gave birth to a baby boy yesterday, a hat for my friend Ashley, and something for myself. A scarf? My own hat? Learning how to crochet adorable flowers?

Only time will tell. :)