Another Owl Hat

This weekend I made progress on my pattern for the yarn co, worked on my ripple, watched the Super Bowl, and made this new hat for Ireland. I get lots and lots of messages about the owl hat, so I wanted to add details about this one with lots of photos.

I've made several of these hats, but none for Ireland. So I decided to make one for her with the leftover scraps from previous hats. It actually started as a piggy hat, but morphed into an owl because I ran out of pink. It's not a piggy, but she still likes it. She has a piggy hat on the brain so I think I'm still going to have to make one of those too.

I changed a few details for this hat. The original is here.

For this one, I obviously made it larger.

I also made the eyes larger by adding a couple of rounds. The larger the hat, the larger the eyes need to be.

Eyes (I used blue for rounds 1 and 2, then white for rounds 3-5)
Ch 2
Rnd 1: 8 sc in the 2nd ch from hook.(8 sc)
Rnd 2: 2 hdc in each st around. Join with sl st to first st (16 hdc)
Rnd 3: 2 sc in first st, sc in next st. (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) around. Join with sl st. (24 sc)
Rnd 4: Ch 3 (counts as first dc). Dc in same st. Dc in next 2 sts. (2 dc in next st, dc in next 2 sts) around. Join with sl st. (32 dc)
Rnd 5: 2 sc in first st. sc in next 3 sts. (2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts). Join with sl st. (40 sc)

I added the eyebrows later after the eyes were sewn onto the hat. I worked a sc around 16 sts. Refer to the photos.

Nose
Ch 8
Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. Ch 1, turn. (7 sc)
Sc2tog in first 2 sts, sc in remaining sts across. Ch 1, turn (6 sc)
Sc2tog in first 2 sts, sc in rem sts across. Ch 1, turn. (5 sc)
Repeat the decreases ending with one stitch. Finish off leaving tail long enough for sewing.

I also changed the edging. I wanted 2 colors for the edge and a more finished look. Recently, I've gotten a couple of comments asking me how to make projects look more neat and finished. Basically, for edgings, I always add a round in the same color before changing to the contrast color. If you change to the contrast color for edges (like the sides of the earflaps) then the edges will not be as neat as possible.

Then for this hat I added an extra round of edging with the blue. I worked into the back loop to make the pink/ blue combo look even neater (is that a word?)

Also, to make the face look neat, try to take lots of time to center the eyes and nose. When sewing, only work under the first layer of the stitch on the hat so the back side will be tidy. You won't have a mess on the inside of the project. And if I'm not happy about the face, I'll redo it until it looks like I want it to.

Raveled here

I used worsted weight yarn and a G (4mm) hook.
White and pink is Caron Simply Soft
Yellow is Caron Simply Soft Eco
Blue is Vanna's Choice
Orange is Red Heart


It's a new month so that means giveaway! I'll be back in a couple of days with the details.