the new neighborhood

Some of you have perhaps heard of some of the... shall we call it, quirkiness?... of some of our new neighbors. There have been moments when, admittedly, this reluctant homemaker has been reduced to tears and dreams of running far, far away from the nuttiness of living in the mountains by some of our more colorful neighbors.

Today was a refreshing reminder of the beautiful community I'm a part of here on our mountain. A neighbor held a baby shower for a soon to be mama due in a couple of weeks who lives just round the bend from my new house. There were no less than 8 lovely women from our neighborhood (among others) who gathered to wish this new mama well. We shared delicious food, fun companionship, and the sweet antics of the other wee ones in the neighborhood. Life is good!

Oh, and the party was inspiration for knitting project! I haven't knitted in ages and was thrilled for the opportunity. Here's the final product modeled by a coconut:

Eden helped me pick out the yarn and design the hat. I'm not a practiced knit pattern writer, but here's a stab at what I did to make this hat. Enjoy!

Newborn stripey top knot beanie
by Travis Harvey

Yarn: Cascade Fixation 1430 (Butter yellow), 3628 (Ripe strawberry red), 4448 (Melon orange), and 5184 (Spring green) — I made up the color names, as Cascade only identifies the colors by number.

Needles: Size 5, circular and double pointed needles, or whatever size needed to obtain gauge.

Gauge: 6 sts per inch, and 9 rows per inch

Size of hat: approximately 13-3/4" circumference to fit a newborn baby. The yarn is stretchy and soft and just perfect for little yummy newborn heads.

The Pattern
Cast on 80 stitches to circular needles. Join for working in the round.
Rows 1-3: *(K1, p1) in Butter yellow to end of row.
Row 4: K whole row in Ripe strawberry red.
Rows 5-7: K whole rows in Melon orange.
Rows 8-10: K whole rows in Spring green.
Rows 11-14: K whole rows in Butter yellow.
Repeat color pattern in rows 4-14 until piece measures 4 inches tall from brim.

Begin the decreases, continuing to follow established color pattern (except as noted below), and switching to double pointed needles as required.
Place a stitch marker at the beginning of the first row of decreases if you like, to help with counting.
(K8, ktog), repeat to end of round — 72 stitches remaining.
K round.
(K7, ktog), repeat to end of round — 64 stitches remaining.
K round.
(K6, ktog), repeat to end of round — 56 stitches remaining.

K round.

(K5, ktog), repeat to end of round — 48 stitches remaining.

K round.

(K4, ktog), repeat to end of round — 40 stitches remaining.

(About here, I was finishing a green section and I switched the pattern to run backwards. After the green, I did 3 rows of orange, 1 row of red, and then finished the crown off in yellow, so the top knot was yellow.)

K round.

(K3, ktog), repeat to end of round — 32 stitches remaining.

K round.

(K2, ktog), repeat to end of round — 24 stitches remaining.

K round.

(K1, ktog), repeat to end of round — 16 stitches remaining.

K round.

K round.

K round.

K round.

(ktog), repeat to end of round — 8 stitches remaining.

K round.

K round.

(ktog), placing all stitches on 1 double pointed needle — 4 stitches remaining.

K I-cord with remaining 4 stitches for 3 inches.

Tie off, cut ends, and weave in all ends.