Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Pikku-Pete

This little hat  has been percolating in my mind for a few months. Last summer while in Victoria and Albert museum in London I found a book "Dictionary of Children's Clothes 1700s to present "and there was an old delightful picture of a little boy wearing a hat that was referred to as deerstalker.
The picture text reads: "Deerstalker a type of close-fitting cap with earflaps, originally of cloth but later versions for children were more often knitted... dates 1880-1950s. Bestway and Patons were among those producing knitting patterns for children's deerstalkers in the 1950s. derivation originally worn by deer hunters."

I kept returning to the picture over and over again and something in it spoke to me. Later on while looking for something to knit for a new little handsome I saw a tiny baby hat in a vintage-pattern collection.  I read through the instructions and just had to knit the hat. It was written in a time before all these new tricks in the knitting world and while reading the pattern I knew how to make it more knitter friendly and thus this little hat was born.

From the start I wanted to keep the old fashioned feel to the hat and finding the perfect yarn took little bit of browsing. Blacker yarns has this beautiful BFL fingering weight, the feel is very woolly,  and it was my number one choice for the hat. Later on I knit the hat in more mother friendly stuff, superwash merino wool and the hat works out just fine in various yarns. Superwash wool tends to stretch and that is why I suggest of using small needles to get a firm and stable fabric.
The pattern is written in one size for fingering weight yarn, it is aimed to be used during the first few months but this of course depends on the size of the little person.  It is easy to upsize by taking bigger needles and heavier yarn. The visor is knit with short rows first, then the patterns continues from there with live stitches for the strip that runs from the forehead towards to back neck. Stitches for side squares are picked from the sides of the strip and then finally stitches for the neck ribbing are picked up from the sides of the side squares. It is quick to make, it uses only app 175 meters/191 yards of fingering weight or 4ply wool.
Should you want to knit your own, please visit my Ravelry Pattern Store, button on the right.
Wool with you,
Lene

30 comments:

  1. Kaunis malli. Kirjailtu lammas erityisesti tekee tästä oikein ylellisen tuntuisen. Milloin tahansa tuollaisen ottaisin,jos vain olisi tuon kokoinen pää perheessä.

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  2. todella kivan näköinen hattu!

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  3. its beautiful Lene and as soon as my kids turn me into a grandma I will go for it.. all the best, Christa from Switzerland...

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  4. Anonymous21:41

    Love the hat, and have just added it to my Ravelry library! As always, your designs are lovely.

    Melody

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  5. very fetching hat! I am always so impressed with your attention to detail.

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  6. That is adorable!

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  7. It is very cute. I can hardly wait to see it modeled on actual babies.

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  8. Verna22:50

    So-o-o-o Cute! Love it! Does it come with the embroidery outline for the little lamb? Now I just need to find some babies to knit one for! Adorable!

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  9. That's a beautiful hat!

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  10. The classic deerstalker hat is the one that Sherlock Holmes wears, in tweed with earpieces which are always tied up, never let down over the ears. Yours is a much better style for a baby :)

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  11. Anonymous03:40

    Beautifully done. thanks for the tip about stretchy superwash. I often suspected this, but don't have broad enough knitting experience to be confident in my assessments.

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  12. Anonymous05:59

    Utterly charming! I can scarcely wait until morning when I can access the computer linked to the printer.

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  13. Nice, I had found a hat with the same name in adult sizes I wonder if it is the same vintage pattern? I made it for the hubs.

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  14. I have been waiting for this!!! will start tonight for a new granddaughter to be born within days. Your patterns are just the best!!!

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  15. That is the sweetest baby hat I have ever seen! Now I know what I will be knitting the next time I need to make a baby gift. Thank you for the great pattern!

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  16. It is very cute. I love it.

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  17. This hat is wounderful, in every way and it´s just what I've been looking for. I LOVE IT!

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  18. That is the sweetest, most beautiful baby hat I have ever seen.

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  19. Anonymous04:24

    I SOOOOOOO want to see this hat on a child!!! Do you think you could arrange that?? It is cute as a lamb! Kim T-BSKG- sunshinekim

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  20. Anonymous18:37

    Why are you so much more clever than me? I could never have done that.

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  21. Your hats are beautiful and unique! Love :)

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  22. PS Your hat is so cute I wouldn't mind one for myself!

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  23. Kimmy20:24

    I love the pattern! Vintage with a modern twist. I like the mix of garter and stockinette stitches. The embroidered lamb is a wonderful detail too. :)

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  24. Anonymous01:21

    Todella hieno pipa pikkuiselle. Onko tämän ohje suomenkielinen ja voiko tilata esim sähköpostin kautta?

    -Innostuin :)-

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  25. Anonymous15:47

    Beautiful! I wish I had children to knit for.

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  26. Anonymous14:48

    Aivan ihana vauvan hattu!
    Saako ohjetta myös suomenkielisenä?
    T: kielitaidoton mummo

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  27. It's very sweet, and you really managed to maintain that "vintage" feel, in a modern pattern. Congrats!

    I think "Deerstalker" (as a style of hat, if not an actual stalker-of-deer) will be with us forever, thanks to Arthur Conan Doyle. The power of literature :)

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  28. Anonymous05:10

    I think this is the cutest hat ever, and I'm so excited to knit it but I can't find it on Ravelry. Is the pattern still available?

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  29. Thank you! Yes, it is still in Ravelry, part of the Ahoy little-Pete! pattern.

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  30. Thank you! Yes, it is still in Ravelry, part of the Ahoy little-Pete! pattern.

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