A Hat for Willow

As you may have seen in an earlier post, I recently learned how to knit a hat. This is no small feat, especially since I'm still terrified by double-pointed needles (which is the more straightforward way to knit hats, socks and other round things that are small). I made a hat earlier that was pretty, but when I tried it on it didn't cover my ears. I decided to change the pattern so the hat would be a little longer. And, I bought myself a "pom-pom maker," which is actually a very simple contraption with two pieces of plastic held together while the yarn is wrapped around. You then cut the yarn around the outside of the plastic, try to get all of these newly-short pieces of yarn bound together, and voila, you have a pom-pom. It was quite a challenge! But, I think the finished product is worth it:

Willow recently sent me my Christmas present in the mail. I need to send her a thank you note, and now I'll have this lovely hat with my first-ever pom-pom to send back! I made Willow a scarf for Christmas out of this same yarn. Since I had extra, I decided to turn it into a hat. It'll be a lovely surprise for her!