The Cat in the Hat hat

James is not yet two years old but he LOVES The Cat in the Hat, according to his parents.  Megan asked if I could knit him a Cat in the Hat hat.  Of course I thought I could, so immediately I went to the internet to find what The Cat in the Hat's hat looked like.  OK...red and white stripes with a white brim.  Finding a pattern for a toddler's sized hat was more of a challenge.  Eventually I found a website that had such a hat here.

That was not exactly what I had in mind so I looked a little farther.  I found this great website in Nova Scotia.  Since this hat was a nice sturdy hat, and the Seuss one was floppy, AND since this hat was meant for a child, AND MOREOVER since I had purchased a skein of red and a skein of white Galway yarn, the very yarn the Have A Yarn Shop used for their hat, this was an omen that I should make this hat and felt it.

On Saturday I spent about 20 minutes knitting up the main part of the hat on our Bond Incredible Sweater Machine.  So exciting to get all that knitting done in no time at all, and so much easier on my hands. I had sent for an upgraded carriage...the one that goes with the Ultimate Sweater Machine...which has a little outgrowth on the back so the row counter would work, and it really did work!  Made life so much easier.

On Saturday evening I knit the top of the hat according to the Samedi/Seuss pattern and finished the brim Sunday morning before Church.  Last night after a few long hours of errands which included picking up a Freecycled end table for the living room, I sat on the couch with Bob while he watched a harrowing episode of "24" (though they are ALL harrowing in my opinion.  My blood pressure can't take that show!) I mattress-stitched the seam and wove in the ends then put the hat into the washer with a small load of clothes.  I let it wash for about 8 minutes, found it was felting nicely but was not done, so I set it back to the beginning of the wash cycle...14 minutes, and just let it go.  Since I was still awake when the washer turned off I retrieved the hat and began pulling it into shape.  This morning it was still not dry so I pulled and pulled some more then found a container that used to hold mozzarella balls from the Coop Food Store to use to shape the hat.

Here is a picture of the hat as it finishes drying:

I hope James will like it.  I hope it will fit him.  After showing it to Elsie and Sharon I will mail it off to James.  I hope I can find a good box to ship it in.

Well, the plumber/heater men are here to install the baseboard hot water heaters in our bedroom and upstairs.  If I was the type to be humiliated at the state of our house, I would definitely be humiliated.  The place was NOT READY for the men, but here they are so...I had better help a little on moving stuff away from the walls so they can work.