A Baby Order

The nice lady who bought so many smittens from me, later called and asked if I could make a baby hat/baby mittens set for her, to give to a friend. In my enthusiasm, I said, "Sure!"
I've made many things before, but never a baby hat, and certainly not a pair of mittens. The baby in question is 12 months old, and not an overly large child. I figured I'd better practice. I looked at some patterns, size charts, and recommendations online. And I made this:

I have tissue paper stuffed inside it, so don't be alarmed at the seemingly malformed head. It's really round. Well. This turned out to be a newborn size. Very pretty, dainty. Not really something your baby would wear outside in a snow storm though. I used thin baby yarn and a small hook, I forget what size. But it's a nice cap, and I can sell it to someone else, so it wasn't wasted time. Here's a close-up of the ear flap:

So I tried again. The lady had specified white as the color, so I launched into a white cap, again with thin baby yarn. Much the same pattern, but a bit bigger -- but only about a 6 month size. It was just difficult to get the size big enough with that thin yarn and small hook.

Another close-up. This yarn has a lovely shimmery effect. Again, a pretty hat, not really for cold weather, and too small for this order. Hmm.

I also thought I'd make a stab at the mittens with this dainty yarn. Finding patterns or even accurate sizing for 12 month old mittens online was nearly impossible. Measurements were all over the place. I gave it a stab. This picture below shows you a way-too-small attempt. This might be the finger pouch for a newborn mitten. Another bomb.

So I pulled out some different yarn. I'd spend a day and a half goofing off, learning a lot, but not making anything I'd planned to this week. Using worsted acrylic yarn and a larger hook (probably a J), I turned out this little cap. Much warmer, and it seemed a closer size. I kept fitting it over the bottom of a bowl that measured 18" to 19".  I just wasn't wild about it though. Don't know why.

Here it is again. I just felt that the lady really wanted a winter cap for outdoors, and this one still had lacy openings. Perhaps I needed a more simple design.

I figured I'd better get cracking on the mittens. This was my first attempt, a really cute pair of mittens in worsted acrylic, single crochet stitches, with a G hook, I guess. I don't remember at this point. Most of these photos I've posted show items that I started multiple times, with different sized hooks. It was an exhausting 3 days!

Anyway, those mittens are darling, and I can sell them, but they're much too large for a 12 month old baby. They'd probably fit a 2 or 3 year old. Back to the drawing board, as they say!
I felt I'd had enough practice now to attempt a simple, double crocheted cap. Again, I kept checking the head circumference. It turned out well. It looks warm but cute. I like the turned up brim with the lacy edge.

I think she'll like this one. If she prefers the other one, that's fine too.

So then I had to try the mittens again, and this time I had to get them very small. I had to use the worsted weight yarn, so the mittens would match the hat. I went down to a much smaller hook, a size C, I think. Here they are! I think they turned out adorable, are a good size, are very sturdy, and look cute. But I must tell you -- those thumbs were so hard to do, so tiny!  I did these in double crochet, so they have more flexibility than the other pair.

Here's a new stitch I learned this week while researching this project. It's made with alternating front post double crochet and back post double crochet. I'd never heard of it before. It gives the effect of ribbing in knitting, with alternating knit and purl stitches. Very nice look here, and so sweet on these mittens. The wrist openings seemed somewhat big to me, so I added a simple drawstring there.

It's been a rather exhausting week with all this crochet, plus other things. I don't enjoy doing work to order nearly so much, so I think I may decline in the future, unless it's something I've already made and I know I can make it readily. At least everything I made can be sold, and hopefully will sell. But I only have Friday left, and I need to make a pile of smittens for the market on Saturday! Tomorrow will be a crocheting day, I'm thinking! That's all for now, folks.