Winter is here!

Today is cold! Our first wintery day for 2011. It doesn’t snow here, but the wind is howling and icy cold. When I left with the kids this morning at 6h30, there were no clouds about, just gusting wind and once the sun was fully up, loads of wintery sunshine. Now, the clouds from the cold front have gloomily moved in making it seem even colder!

This will probably last two or three days, then it’ll warm up again until the next cold front embraces us. Fortunately our winters are short-lived.

I’ve been wanting to share this cute little baby’s beanie with you for a while and I think this is appropriate for our first really chilly day!I found the pattern online * here. My ‘babies’ are a little too big for this beanie, so I gave it to my daughter’s vocal teacher for her 7 month old baby girl. It fits her perfectly.

* There’s also a video tutorial (how convenient is that?!)

This is so easy to crochet and (I am happy to say..) really quick. I used a 4mm hook with double-knit yarn in a lovely ecru colour.

If you need a larger beanie, I would imagine you simply add a couple more rows in the top rows so the hat will be larger then in general.

– Disclaimer : I am merely guessing- I cannot claim to be a professional when it comes to crochet! So please offer your expert advice on how to make a larger one!

(You will notice that the first rows are ordinary double crochet with increases as you go along).

You can see in the following photo how it is simply crocheted round and round – you start with a circle and just keep going.

Finished it off with a little crochet flower embellishment – a grey flower, topped with a smaller pink one with a rusty orange centre and a lime green leaf.

I love how the shell pattern creates a pretty scallop edge along the bottom of the hat. So girly. Looking forward to making some more!

Hope you have a great day! To those having cold weather like me- stay warm! To those enjoying a lovely warm summery day – soak up the sunshine! I’m off to make a warm mug of coffee now!