I must apologize. I neglected to tell you how to find the patterns for the cute hats I blogged about last time.
So, by popular demand, here they are! (And I promise to be a better blogger in the future.)
Madeline's hat
is called Coronet and can be found in the winter 2003 issue of knitty.com.
Terri's hat
is called Sarah's Cabled Hat and is a free download on Ravelry.com.
Let's take a moment to talk about Ravelry. There are still a shocking number of knitting-inclined people out there who have yet to give this website a try. Trust me, you need it. Ravelry has completely, utterly transformed my knitting and relationship to the fiber community. While it is hard to describe Ravelry without just saying, "Wow, just try it, you'll see," I'll give it a go.
Ravelry is an online fiber community, database, personal project, needle, and stash tracker. It is completely free, but in order to join, you must sign up for an invitation. It only takes a couple days before that coveted invite arrives in your email. Sign in and start playing. Create your user profile. Click around on the tabs. Check out the pattern database - where thousands of patterns are listed, complete with hundreds of pictures from knitters and crocheters of their own version of that pattern. You can see how the Coronet hat looks in green Malabrigo, or white organic cotton. You can read how Sarah added a repeat, or Allison made it smaller to fit a toddler. AND you can download any of the free patterns directly from that site.
After you are dizzy from perusing the patterns, click on the forums page. Here's where you can chat with other fiber peeps. Always wanted to know what skpsso means? Post your question on the techniques board. You'll have an answer in minutes - if not faster. Wanna know what is happening over at The Knitting Experience? Join our board - The Knitting Experience Café Knitters. We're on there every day, many times a day, talking about the latest knit along, a yarn that just arrived in the shop, the TKE book club that happens only on Ravelry, sharing funny stories, and so much more!
Can't find our group? Just go over to the people tab and search for me. My user name is Chesley. Send me a message (oh, did I forget to say that there is a whole private message system within ravelry?) and I'll send you an invite to our group.
What are you waiting for? Go over to Ravelry and start having fun!