I contacted the author of the pattern in regards to doubling or singling the yarn...as I was kind of under the gun to get this fabulous gift completed.
I'm more of a leisure knitter. I like to think and plan ahead so that my knitting is not tense - thus making my stitches tight and myself unraveling... I prefer to knit at my leisure so there's no tenseness and no unraveling of my project and myself.
The author was immediate in her response.
The yarn was purchased.
Shortly thereafter, the cocoon was made.
The hat was a bit tricky...
There was a mis-reading of the instructions and Hat #1 was created for a conehead child. Not even kidding. I didn't realize that when the pattern said, "If knitting the newborn size, start here..." I thought it was "repeat here." It wasn't. Unfortunately - as with a majority of my knitting conundrums - I did not realize my mistake until I had binded-off which means the the hat could not be taken apart and redone. This meant the conehead hat was garbage. {Sad day.} I do not like throwing away gone-bad veggies and fruit...so imagine my sadness when I had to throw away a beautifully begun (note: not finished) soft red hat.
I made Hat #2 and it turned out fabulous.
The eyes were a bit tricky - which no worries - the author said the eyes would be tricky. I appreciate her honesty.
The first 2 eyes were made per pattern specifics...which turned out too big for the newborn hat. Seriously - this caterpillar looked like it had creepy eyes which would probably cause the wearer of the hat to require therapy well into her adult years. And let's face it - if you are going to have to go through therapy, you do not want it because of a baby picture of yourself.
My second eye issue was that I had followed the instructions and glued the lime green yarn and the yellow yarn...and THEN realized that I could not stitch the eyes to the hat. The instructions said to glue them - but I thought they would be more secure if they were stitched to the hat. Naturally I thought of this after-the-fact.
The first two eyes joined Hat #1. I did keep them around for a week or so because they made me laugh.
Two new eyes were made...which is a huge feat for yours truly because I don't crochet. The eyes are 2 chains each - one lime green (the inner eye) and a yellow chain (the outline of the eye). Four chains total. I used my b-day present from several years ago - a book titled: I Taught Myself to Crochet. During the first attempt to crochet, I did not infact teach myself to crochet. I ended up with knots. This time - my second attempt - I said a quick prayer for help and chained away.
I carefully glued the lime green yarn going around-and-around the felt oval. More prayer. Stitched the eye to the hat. Another quick prayer. Hot glued the yellow border.
The antenae were knitted flat which was a piece of cake. They, then, got stuffed with some fiber fill and sewn to the top of the hat. They are a bit floppy which I do not think can be helped as they are antenae made out of yarn.
So there you have it...the tale of my Hungry Caterpillar. I hope the recipient loves it as much as I do.
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