The Sutton

Sutton's mommy is an internet pal of mine.  We met on a support forum for women who've suffered miscarriage. We were both blessed with take home babies in summer of 2011. 

She loved this hat from another etsy shop but we both agreed it was a bit pricy so we worked out a deal.  After all that's what friends are for! 

The keen eye will notice that this NOT a croched hat, it's knit.  It's a simple stockinette stitch with relatively big needles.  I can knit, heck I could even write the pattern for this hat from the little knitting experience I have. Alas, I'd rather not.  I can achieve the same look with crochet, so of course that's what I chose to do.  I have a ton of pom pom makers.  My grandma (yes, Erma) tried to tell me how to make them by manipulating cardboard, but I found these plastic tools to be totally worth the investment.

Sutton wanted a gray and white hat, I chose Impeccable Yarn because the texture reminded me of the texture of the yarn in the  picture.  Soft enough for a baby, yet sturdy enough to achieve the standing pom poms look. 
Gray and white is adorable and coordinates with so much for the autumn and winter months!  We decided on one additional alteration, and that was to add earflaps!  Who can resist them, and honestly at this point I am such pro at making them not why not?

Here is J-man modeling the prototype. This one had 12 rows before the earflaps which gave a bit too much room at the top for my taste--especially because Sutton's head is a tad bit smaller than my boy's.    Yes, I could have torn some rows out, but instead, I just made another hat for Sutton and let Josh keep this one. 

The only problem, as I am sure you can tell from my pictures, my son does not keep ANYTHING on his head.  Go figure.....

And here is the gorgeous Miss Sutton in her very own hat.  I am considering selling the pattern on Etsy since I created it all myself (no ravelry searches involved).  The Sutton available at Erma's Inspiration

And here is what we got in exchange.  So cute!!  How talented is Sutton's mommy!!!  I can't wait till she opens and Etsy shop too!!.