Little Pumpkin Annie

I have been making hats again.  I have to make a Jack-o-lantern costume for Portia, so I started by knitting her a pumpkin hat.  I will finish the rest of the costume when I have healed from my surgery and I can see better.  Right now, I have to use magnifiers to see because I cannot wear my glasses.  I don't really need to see to knit, but I still like to use the magnifiers to do it when I am doing a complex pattern like this hat calls for.  I made it from an infant sized hat pattern, but because it looked so much like what I could use to make a pumpkin, I wanted to use it.  I have made a larger size of this before for Zoe as a strawberry.  She was three at the time, and so is Portia.  However, I could not remember how I increased to make it fit a three year old.  The pattern only uses larger sized needles to increase the size, but because I was enlarging it so much, the size of needles would not work, even though I did increase the size of them to a seven and a nine.  It would not look good to use any larger needles than I used and the pattern is so complex that I didn't want to start messing with stitch counts. I ended up following the pattern exactly as it called for on the top with the stem and leaves. I increased the number of stitches when I got to the body of the hat which was the pumpkin part.  I did a complete hat, but when I got it done, it was even too large for me.  I took it out back to the end of the leaves and started again.  That is no big deal because that part of the hat is done in the simplest of stitches, the garter stitch.  I decreased by twenty stitches thinking that would do it, but when I completed the hat again, it still was large enough to fit me.  Instead of taking it out again and doing it over, I simply took it in by making three more seams like in the back.  That way, it looked like the ridges of a pumpkin.  It is still a little too big, but it will do.  I know it will at least fit on her head.  

While I was making Portia's hat, I thought it would be fun to make one for our new little Annie.  At least the pattern was for an infant, and that is what she is.  I finished her hat today, and it fits just fine.  Here is our precious little pumpkin.

My little Annie Pannie in her pumpkin hat.

I wish the top of the hat showed up a little better, but because it is so dark green, it is hard to see the leaf and the stem.  From this part of the hat you can see just the tip of one of the four leaves and the stem does not show at all.  Because of this, I am going to take a picture of Portia's hat so you can see the top. I wasn't planning on showing it until after I had finished her whole costume.

The top of Annie's looks like this, except the stem is shorter.  The body of this one shows the ridges like in a pumpkin from where I had to take it in so that it would be smaller.  I think it looks just fine this way.

Now that I have the hats finished, it is back to the pillow covers.  I am actually on my last one.  I started it just today.  However, I will not be showing these last six that I have made because they are for Kim's family and I know she reads my blog.  I at least want it to be a little bit of a surprise for her when they open their pillows and covers on Christmas.

As soon as I am able to wear my glasses again, I will get on the Halloween costumes.  I have to make Ariel for Lexi, a Star Wars character for Joey (I can't spell his name, so I will just leave it as being a Star Wars character), Batman for Ellis, and the Jack-o-lantern for Portia.  It is just too hard to sew on the machine using my magnifiers.  They are great for anything right in front of me, but when I look away just a little, everything becomes too magnified and messes with my eyes.  Two more days until surgery, and hopefully this time it will not keep me from wearing my glasses.  I can't wait to see normally again and be able to sew anything and any time I want.