12/5/15 Done! It will be gifted tomorrow. In the meantime, I had my daughter model it for a few shots :) I ended up having trouble sewing the eyes on as they wanted to flop over. If I made this again, I would try to make one edge of each eyeball a little flatter so it would sit better. It worked out okay, though.

I wasn’t expecting to like this hat very much as it was really obnoxious to knit. However, it looks so stinkin’ cute on that I really love it!

11/29/15 Made the eyes, but did it differently than the pattern says. I made four in the round and then bound two off together with a three needle bind off. Here’s the recipe:

co 8, divide between dpns (3/3/2)
round 1 & all odd rounds: k
2: kfb around
4: kfb, k1 around
6: kfb, k2 around
8: kfb, k3 around
10: k

I added the pupils with some black scrap yarn and did the red outlines before doing the bind off. I’m not sure what the red outlines are for, but the wifey said it would be better with them.

I sewed the claws onto the arms and the arms onto the hat. I started to sew the eyes on, but I’m not sure how to do it so that they’ll stand up. The pattern doesn’t give any guidance on that front. So, I will think on it for a bit and come back to it tomorrow.

11/13/15 I made both arms last night. I worked the I cord around pipe cleaners as suggested. It was much easier than I thought it would be. Next step is to delve into the old stash and find some worsted/aran white acrylic for the eyes. I’m thinking that instead of doing them per the pattern, I will knit them flat from the center out (in the round). I’m planning to do the black and red sewn on details and then bind off two together with a three needle bind off. I may toss a little stuffing in there first to keep them poofy. Then I’m just have to sew it all together.

11/4 #3 Made the first claw. I would like to state for the record that it’s completely amazing. Here’s the recipe I came up with:

claw:
long tail co 8
k1, rri, lri, k1 x 2 (12)
k
k1, rri, k2, lri, k1 x 2 (16)
k
k1, rri, m1r, k to 2 sts before marker, m1l, lri, k1 x 2 (24)
k
rep last inc row (32)
k 4 rounds
k1, ssk, k to 3 before marker, k2tog, k1 x 2 (28)
k
rep last dec row (24)
k
k1, ssk, k4, place 10 sts on waste yarn, k4, k2tog, k1 (12)
k
k1, ssk, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1
k
cont last dec row/k round until 4 sts, end w/k round
run yarn through loops

place remaining 10 sts on dpns (2/6/2), attach yarn at inner edge
k2, k2tog, k2, ssk, k2 (8)
k
k1, k2tog, k2, ssk, k1 (6)
k
k2tog, k2, ssk, k1 (4)
k
run yarn through loops

11/4 #2 Finished the hat and gave it a good wash. Hopefully that will help soften the yarn a little. I’m looking at the directions to make the crab claws and I think I’m going to try to do them completely differently. The pattern says to make four claw shapes and then sew two together. The edges in the pictures look really rough and uneven. I think I’m going to try to knit each claw in the round so that they’re a little more streamlined. We’ll see how it goes!

11/4/15 Using stash acrylic as I doubt this will get worn a ton. Also, it was the only thing I had on hand that was the right weight and the right color. I’m hoping the finished result will be cute, but it’s painful to knit.

This pattern (Jumbo Crab Cap) is from a book that doesn’t seem to be in ravelry yet. I’ve made a couple of modifications so far. The pattern calls for a rolled brim but I did 6 or 7 rows of 2x2 rib instead. Also, I cast on 60 sts instead of 80 and on the first row after the ribbing I did (k2, kfb) around. I’m hoping that will make the fit more forgiving since there’s not a ton of stretch otherwise.