This was a joint project that Chris and I worked on together. I did the knitting and sewing, he cut out the cardboard and denim. The idea came from the book ‘Two Balls or less’ by Jenny Hill. We had a ball of Sirdar Bigga in Tudor Rose colourway, this is a seriously chunky yarn that requires 15mm needles. The denim came from a jacket we’ve had for years that doesn’t fit either of us, in fact it’s big enough to go round both of us! As I didn’t have quite enough yarn for 4 sides, I cut out the pocket from the jacket and used that for the fourth, which also serves as useful storage and gives it quite a funky look.

It is a 20cm square, which is actually larger than it sounds and very strong too. And when I say sewing, I mean specifically hand sewing, consequently my fingers are very sore, denim is very tough stuff!

I decided to knit a more summery headband than the wool for brains one. I did a yarn exchange with a friend in the US, Michelle on Ravelry. One of the yarns I received is Bernat’s Cot’n Corn and as the title suggests, it’s made from Corn and Cotton!

Using the DROPS design as before, I modified the pattern by using a stitch from my Vogue Knitting Stitch Dictionary (just had to get that in!) called Fancy Eyelet Rib. I took a second picture so you can see the holes! And this time I did not take a picture of me modelling it, only because I’ve got my hair tied up today…not because I don’t really like having my picture taken, honest

Made in pure wool, I used wooden macrame beads to enhance the cables and a knitted bobble for the fastening, It is lined with cream marbled fabric and measures approximately 27cm x 23cm.

I used just under one ball of pure wool, which was actually too thick for this design, but it sort of works…it just feels like you’ve got a sheep on your head!!

The design is by DROPS.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d take on a project like this! I don’t consider myself an experienced knitter and this pattern starts on DPN’s and moves to circs. I’m also not too good at dealing with lots of stitches, my attention span gets bored easily and this went over 200 stitches for the brim.

But I have to say I’m chuffed with the finished result. Unlike the pattern, I did it all in one colour as I’m only going to wear it for gardening. It is made from pure cotton so it should keep my head cool. The pattern is Sunshine & Lollipops by Alison Reeve, and I have to say it is a very well written pattern, complete with a ‘recipe’ for making the hat to fit your own head. Needless to say I had to knit mine in a BIG size, yes I am a big head, it’s official!

If you’re asking why I didn’t just buy a hat, well the answer is simple. As I said earlier I have a big head and find most bought hats don’t fit. I also got the cotton off eBay at a very reasonable price, so excluding costing for the actual hours it took to make, it only cost around £2.00, that’s a bargain

Here is a picture of the finished hat during blocking, the next picture is about half way through, and the first…well the beginning!