A friend at church is a foster mom. I think the world of what she and her husband are doing. It’s great that these kids get a little stability in their lives, even if only for a few days, and they get to see what a family is supposed to be like.
Well, last week, she had two brothers, and she only had them for a week. However, they left an impression in her, the younger one the most. You see, he’d been accidentally burned with scalding hot water on his scalp and forehead. As a result, he has no hair, burn scars, and very, very sensitive and thin skin. Apparently, if he lightly bumps his head on something, it’s sure to tear his skin and cause problems. So, he wears a crocheted cap that someone made. I have a feeling it’s something he got in the hospital. It’s a little skull cap and it does the job, but it’s pretty dingy and beat up since he wears it everyday.
So, my friend asked me to make him 3 or so more so that he’d be able to trade out. I would have done it at just that, of course, I’d love to help out any kids, for sure. But, when I saw the cap he was wearing, I was doubly sure I’d make him some. You see, the cap he had on was acrylic. Crappy acrylic. For those of you who love acrylic, please don’t get angry with me. But acrylic has one major flaw that could be really dangerous for this boy in particular.
It melts.
When it comes in contact with fire or a really strong heat source, it will melt directly to whatever it’s on. And, in this case, that’s this little 3 year old boy’s very sensitive and injured head. I feel that, just in case his accident wasn’t so much of an accident, he needs some good old fashioned wool in his caps. Wool doesn’t melt. It doesn’t even burn. Wool puts itself out. I think that’s probably the best thing to put on his head, don’t you?
So, I went through my stash to find something that was wool and still soft enough to set on his sensitive head. And, what did I come across? My prize package from winning the speed knitting contest on Kintpicks back in February. I won one of their yarn samplers, which included 4 skeins of wool, each a different weight. Well, what else can you do with one single skein of yarn besides make a hat? (Yes, I know you can make bunches of things with one skein, but stay with me, huh?) And, 3 of the skeins were superwash, perfect for a little boy who is active and dirty. AND…they are all different shades of blue! Could this be a match made in heaven?
So, I set out for patterns. I had a bit of trouble with that, though. I found baby patterns and adult patterns. I even found grade school patterns. But none that were really set for a 3 year old head. At least, none that were really interesting. So, I took one and made it fit.
I got the pattern out of 100 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I swear that is the best pattern book I’ve got. I’ve made more out of it than I have any of my other books.
It took slightly over half of the skein and I worked it up in one evening. The architecture is kind of interesting in that you knit the band first as one long 6 stitch piece. Then sew it up, pick up the stitched from one side, and then knit up. I chose this pattern to do first becasue I knew I could easily adjust the size by knitting my long piece shorter than the pattern.
It wourked out perfect. It fits T just fine and she’s only a year older than this little boy, so it should fit him as well.
Project: New Directions Hat Margaret K. K. Radcliffe (Rav link)
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish Worsted in Marine Heather
Needles: US 10
Date Started: June 30, 2009
Date Completed: June 30, 2009
Mods: I changed the decreases a bit as I wanted a smoother top. I did a k3 k2tog, then k2 k2tog, then k1 k2tog, putting a kint row inbetween until I had 4 stitches or so. Then I pulled the tail through.
