Umbilical Cord Hat

I was never interested in knitting baby hats, because it didn't seem challenging enough. I changed my mind when I wandered through Takashimaya and saw all the cute knit hats. They were so tiny and so soft, I knew I had to make one.

I chose the Umbilical Cord Hat pattern by Jennifer L. Jones from the Stitch n' Bitch knitting book, it seemed easy and had very little sewing up. My hat was knit up in Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Wasabi on size 9 needles. I really like Blue Sky Alpacas yarns, but I was surprised at how lovely the organic cotton was. It's very soft and the colors are very vibrant. I was surprised I had to go up to a size 9 needle to get the gauge, guess I am a tight knitter in the round. The hat knit up within a few hours. This project hit the spot, since I can barely concentrate lately. My only complaint is that the pattern called for a lot of yarn, 197 yards. I used up less than 2/3 rds of that. I will save the excess yarn to knit a sweater or a romper suit (if I can find a pattern).