Hip Knit Hats Review Published

Check out my review of Hip Knit Hats!

I actually pulled the book out yesterday afternoon. It came in handy. H was the only one who showed up for kids' knitting yesterday, which was actually for the best. We had a lot of work to focus on.

First was H's poncho. This is the same poncho that almost caused the poor child to give up knitting months and months ago, when the women who have come to be known as "The Crazy Ladies" made H rip out five inches of poncho over one tiny error. What they fail to understand is that if I made the girls rip out their work every time they made a tiny error, they'd never finish anything. (I mean, really...how many of us would? Nobody's perfect.) And I also wouldn't have any kids left to knit with.

But I digress...

After several months of hating her poncho, H busted her butt on Sunday night to finish the two pieces. Now, the two pieces weren't exactly the size they started out to be. But we played with it a while until it worked. And H sat down on the couch and sewed the whole thing together. I was so proud. But there was one catch: after all the trials and tribulations she's experienced with the poncho, she no longer wanted anything to do with it. She wouldn't put it on. Then, when she finally put it on (over her bulky sweatshirt), she refused to stand up. And she sure as heck wouldn't go look in the mirror. She just pointed out errors (thanks a lot, Crazy Ladies) and told me that she'd never wear the thing.

Eventually, she let me wear the poncho to show it off. And really, it looks great. Sure, there are a few errors here and there, but we all make little mistakes. It's not a big deal. It adds character. And everyone (well, almost everyone) was very supportive and encouraging and complimentary about it. Hopefully H will change her mind, and she'll actually show off her hard work. I'm so proud of that kid.

So then we started our next project -- a hat. Originally, it was going to be for her mom, but now she's not so sure. But it's going to be a cool, bulky hat on #10.5 needles (which will make her happy, since she hates working on small needles -- it takes too long). The pattern is really easy -- and since H picked up purling last week without a problem, it'll take no time at all. She promised to get the main part of the hat done by next Monday -- and then I'll help her shape the crown.

Now that H's poncho is finished, I want to get her confidence back with a few quick and easy patterns. Then we'll move on to another challenge -- but one with bigger needles...