Ready for a Wee Noggin

One more project to slash off my list of "nesting" projects -- the Dayton Cabled Baby Aviator Helmet! It's such fun knitting for a baby; the small size means less time between me and that gratifying sense of accomplishment. Surely I'm not the only one who likes that?

I knit this pretty much as-is, using Knit Picks City Tweed DK in Chipmunk. It's a lovely merino and alpaca blend, with a super soft hand (even softer after blocking!). About half-way through I felt a growing terror that one skein would not be enough -- at one point I even weighed my remaining yarn on my kitchen scale to get an idea of how much I'd already used! In the end I had leftover yarn, so apparently my yardage estimation skills are scandalously bad. 

This poor hat sat for quite a while on my needles once I reached the cable section, primarily because I had to change needle sizes at that point. That meant that this project didn't qualify as "grab and go," which is all I really had time for just then. Besides, I had some pressing birthday and Christmas projects to attend to! At any rate, I finally tackled the rest. Why are cables so satisfying? Before trying them, I thought they would be incredibly difficult. They look difficult, don't they? I still love to pore over any knitted item with cables; unlike many things that lose their "magic" when you know how they're done, I think I'm even more fascinated by how the cables twist and weave now than I was before.

I'd love to make this again, as it would be a perfect baby shower present. Though next time I will certainly knit it in the round -- it would require a few modifications to the pattern, but nothing drastic. I might rewrite the cable bit anyway, as I found the organization of that bit slightly confusing (too much "repepat rows 1 and 2" -- it makes perfect sense, but is not the easiest thing to read when in the middle of a project).

At any rate, our little lad should have a warm noggin when he finally makes his appearance in a few months -- assuming his little "helmet" fits (as I think it will). He's been celebrating the start of the third trimester by making sure that I *know* he's there. I certainly welcome his (admittedly pugilistic) reminders!