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A place to record and share my musings and my work.
'Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?'

Friday 15 November 2013

The Story of The Christmas Pudding Hat

We've arrived at the end of another week and I've,
'Reasons to be Cheerful, 1,2, 3'
(there's a song in there somewhere).
Reason 1: The boiler is fixed. We have heat !!
I am so thankful. Not a minute too soon, as if the forecast
is to be believed, next week we are in for an Arctic blast !
My partner gets the star prize.
He managed to fix it, after I downloaded a troubleshooting
guide for our boiler and sourced the part on the net.
What a team.
A happy dog, snoozing in the warmth, while I write this post.

Reason 2: My 'bestest' friend, Sally, is coming for a visit next week.
We've known each other since we were eighteen and that's
a very long time indeed.
She is travelling up from the deepest South. 
Not seen her since last November, when we went to 
The Knitting and Stitch Exhibition, in Harrogate. 
Sadly, funds won't allow a visit this year.
Instead, there will be lots of gossip and giggling in my,
now cosy, workroom, while we catch up on a years worth of news.
There'll be work and swapping of ideas going on as well. 
Bring it on !

Reason 3: Last but not least, my Christmas Pudding Hat, has arrived at
it's destination. Have heard that it's new owner is delighted.
Great news.


This is it's story.
Once upon a time.......
In a county, far, far away............
 I had an enquiry, via the 'Worldwide Web'.
A lovely lady from, Nottinghamshire, asked if I could knit her a hat.
Not just any hat! a Christmas Pudding Hat.
This meant adapting my pattern, as it was for a 'babe in arms'.
I love a challenge and agreed.
I immediately went to eBay to see if I could find the materials.
It was meant to be, as I found the chocolate and cream wool
in one pack..... done deal !
The pattern was for two needles but I didn't want a seam,
 so I decided to use, the Magic Loop. 


 This is just a fancy name for knitting on a circular needle.
Great for all tubular knitting i.e. sleeves,gloves, hats. No seam.
It's easier than you might think and it's well worth the effort, just
takes a bit of practise.
This is a great little tutorial, on You Tube, for those of you, who fancy
giving it a go. Just follow this link.Magic Loop
After finding out Esther's (who pointed out that her name is very like Ethel)
head measurements, I cast on, what I thought would be the right amount of stitches.
I must point out here, that I never knit a tension square.
I should, I hear you say but I don't.
I should have because after I'd knitted the brim, I realised that 
it was going to be too small. Nothing for it but to
start again..... That'll teach you !!
Began again with more stitches and we were off and running.


The next challenge was adding the cream topping and shaping.
Took a few goes to get that right. It was off the needles
more that it was on but eventually, it was done.


Prudence, Ethel's friend, tried it on, so that I could check 
the measurements.
Then on to the holly leaves and berries.


I crocheted these from my 'stash'.
 More confident about 
making these, as I had made them before.


Placed the leaves and attached them to the hat
and ..........


Here is Ethel, modelling it for me.
She loved it, 'cause it was so warm.
 I had a job getting her to take it off.

THE END
Have a great weekend everyone.











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