At the beginning of this cold season, Master Elijah declared that he didn’t have a hat.  Inquiries into where all of the hats I’ve made him in the past got to when nowhere.  While I am sure that there are a great many things that we can be accused of not having in the house, I really don’t think that a deficiency of warm head gear could possibly be counted among our flaws!  With four knitters in the family, there are a lot of hats kicking around here.  But apparently not a one of them quite suited him.

Of all of my kids, he is the one most likely to get cold ears and cheeks, especially while sledding (or skiing or speed ice-skating through our ice covered front yard).  His solution in the past has been somewhat humorous.  First he dons a cotton cap, then he takes the neck warmer, that I made for him years ago, and positions it over his head and under his chin, on top of that goes one of my wool hats to hold it all in place.  So I figured if I was going to make him a hat, I might as well make one that simplified the whole process.  The pattern is Balaclava by Brian Smith and it’s working out quite well.  He can wear it around his neck, as shown or pull it up to just under his nose if he pleases.  The yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in ‘Sapphire Heather’.  And yes, I wholeheartedly confess to picking yarn for both the hats I posted this week, as well as the one that I haven’t photographed yet, to bring out the color of the wearers eyes.  Knitter/mother/wife’s prerogative to occasionally trump color favorites for the sake of flattery.  No one seems to be complaining.

As there have been several requests around here for additional “sledding hats”, something tells me I’m not quite done with this pattern yet.