Melanie's Hat

So I got Melanie's super cute coat at Target, but couldn't find a hat anywhere to go with it, so I resorted to making one to match. I found a pattern in a Patton's book that I liked and it knit up really quickly, but was unfortunately too short in the crown due to what I think was an error in the instructions which said to knit in stockinette for 3 1/2 inches from the beginning of the work (which is the same amount of space called for in a newborn hat I just made for the baby- hmmmm.....), but I think it would be more accurate to go for 3 1/2 inches from the edge of the ribbing. Anyway, the hat didn't cover Melanie's ears, which kinda defeated the purpose, so I decided to try and save it by making some ear flaps to piece on it.

As you can see from the picture below, the ear flap idea, while less time consuming than making another hat, didn't quite work out. The combination of the brown plaid and the ear flaps was just too reminiscent of Elmer Fudd for my taste and not retro-chic like I was hoping for. So I redid the hat, making it longer in the crown and a bit smaller around since the 2T I had originally done was a bit too generously sized for our petite little lady. I also added the decorative stitching line above the ribbed edge since I didn't feel there was enough of a feminine touch to the large quantities of brown going on with the ensemble. But now Melanie has a hat that both fits and matches, and I'm happy with it, and she seems to enjoy it as well - we can't go anywhere without it!

Be vewwy vewwy qwiet... we're hunting wabbits!
The new and improved hat

Hamming it up for the camera
As soon as you take a picture she comes over and expects you to show her how it turned out in the review screen of the camera. She's so vain!