Scrap Yarn Knitting - Newborn Baby Hat

New born hats are a fun and useful gift to make for a new baby.  They are easy, quick, and can be made with any worsted weight scrap yarn you have on hand because they really don't take much yarn. I personally think knit hats are great for babies because they are a more stretchy than those cotton hats they sell in the store. Just make sure whatever yarn you use is soft and washable.

Here's the pattern I use for making this newborn hat

Things you'll need:
Size 5 Needles
Worsted Weight Acrylic or washable wool. I usually use Lion's brand baby's first yarn because it is very soft and comes in cute colors, though this hat was a soft washable wool I had in my scrap bin

Pattern: 
Cast on 54 stitches
Knit 1, Purl 1 across the first row, ending on a purl
Knit 1, Purl 1 across the second row, ending on a purl
Continue the k1 p1 ribbing pattern until your work is 1" (about 6 rows)


Now switch to stockinette stitch. Knit 1 row, purl 1 row for 3".  End with a purl row. Your work will now be 4" long


Now you begin decreasing.
Knit 2 together across the row, (27 stitches)
Purl Across
Knit 2 together across the row, ending with k1 (14) stitches
Purl Across
Knit 2 together across the row (7 stitches)
Purl Across
Knit 2 together across the row (4 stitches)

Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing the seam.  Thread the yarn with a large needle. Pull the needle through the remaining stitches and then remove them from the knitting needle. Pull the stitches tight.  Sew the seam down one side of the hat and then work your ends in at the bottom rim of the hat.  
 

Happy knitting!

 

Suburban Chickens

This spring we decided to get chickens!
We live in the middle of a higher density suburban neighborhood so chickens may seem like a crazy idea, but  with a good chicken house and run I am feeling very positive about the whole adventure.
Now I could probably go on for at least three pages trying to explain why it is becoming important to me to eat food that A. I know where it's coming from B. I know that it hasn't been genetically tampered with and C. has some level of humane treatment for the animals, but I'll just say that it is and so I thought in my one small step towards that we would get chickens, feed them organic GMO free food and then at least one of our protein sources I can feel really good about.  And the chickens are so much fun to watch!!

So anyways, I set out on my chicken research, consulted my wise sister who has her hobby farm, went to www.backyardchickens.com which has a vast store of knowledge all things chicken, went to a Chicken 101 class at Murdoch's the local feed store, and finally on March 4 we got chickens!!

We planned to get four of them because we really have a small back yard, but somehow came home with five.  If you've ever seen a chick in your life I am sure you can imagine how easy it is to get a few extras. They are seriously the cutest things.  Here's the first week they were home

We got an Aracuana (they lay turquoise colored eggs and have very interesting facial feathers) , a Buff Orpington (she is the buff colored one of the bunch and is probably going to be the biggest in our flock), a Barred Rock (she is our high flier who loves to climb up and sit on your shoulder), and two Partridge Rocks.   My verdict is still out on the partridge rocks.  One is really sweet and is my favorite of the whole flock and the other goes crazy if you try to hold her. They are smaller and slower to develop then the rest so I don't know how they will end up.

They lived in a rubbermaid for a couple weeks until they outgrew that and now they live in a dog crate with the sides enclosed to help with drafts.  They eat chick feed almost exclusively though I've started giving them chick grit and half a hard boiled egg every day. I've tried to give them little bits of lettuce and strawberry tops and they just aren't interested in them yet but they LOVE eggs. It seemed wierd to me to feed a chick an eg but I have read and heard that its been done for ages and the extra protein is great for them as they grow their feathers.  So they are growing and squawking and pooping and pecking and foraging and in general are just cute and fun creatures. Soon we will put them in their newly built chicken coop, but I will save the coop adventure for another post.  In the meantime I will leave you with my four week old, somewhat silly looking, chicks roosting for the night.