Proud Santa Hats

I started this project right after last Christmas after seeing a photo of something similar online, but for whatever reason I didn't make a project page on Ravelry at that time. So I actually mostly finished making the hats months ago, but they sat on the table in my sewing room waiting for me to weave in the ends and add the pompoms, which I finally did today. 

I made the tail on one hat a little longer and on the other hat a little shorter just for some differentiation between the two. Fiber Spider has a good tutorial on YouTube for how to crochet a seamless, top-down stocking cap. I modeled these caps after most of his instructions and then added the rainbow stripes using HDC in the 3rd loop before finishing with the ribbing in white.

But since I did most of the work on these nearly a year ago, I can't remember anymore what size hook I used or what colorways the yarns are, etc.! Oh well. I'm still excited to get these in the mail to Mika and Emmy so they can wear them this coming holiday season. I hope they like the hats!

The Fairy Slippers Blanket free pattern

This free Fairy Slippers Banket pattern is a variation on the Which Way Filet blanket by Fiber Spider that works up quickly and easily from the center outward.

This Lion Brand Mandala yarn is soft and light, and the colorway is reminiscent of soft rainbow colors that would make a precious, cuddly keepsake blanket for a “rainbow baby.”

I had been hearing the term “rainbow baby” getting used a lot around knitting and crocheting circles, but I didn’t know what it meant, so I finally decided to look it up. According to Google, “A rainbow baby is a name coined for a healthy baby born after losing a baby due to miscarriage, infant loss, stillbirth, or neonatal death. The name ‘rainbow baby’ comes from the idea of a rainbow appearing in the sky after a storm, or after a dark and turbulent time.”

Which means that I am a rainbow baby myself, according to the modern parlance, because my mother delivered me after previously enduring seven miscarriages. I had no idea that I was born under this lovely, colorful label. Ha! 🌈

This filet blanket pattern is also ideal for a rainbow baby because the infinite paths winding and spiraling outward from the center symbolize the infinite potential contained within each new life.

This also means that maybe instead of giving away this baby blanket when it’s done I should just keep it for my rainbow-baby self. 😁 I could get another skein of this Honeydukes colorway, whip up another blanket just like this one, and then sew them together to make a nice and light but colorful, funky, and boxy rainbow poncho!

If I finish this as a baby blanket, I’ll edge it with 1 round SC followed by 1 round RSC. But if I keep this to be a poncho, I’ll end with 1 round SC before sewing the panels together.