This hat is for my old college roommate, Suzy. Suz is a dear, sweet person and every year, for my birthday, she finds something knitting related to send to me. In recent years, I’ve felt the urge to terminate the giving of gifts with lots of friends on holidays - we don’t live near each other, we see each other maybe once a year…but Suz remembers every year. So finally, my guilt has gotten the better of me and I’m doing something I probably should have done long ago - making her a hat! She adores squirrels, so this hat pattern is perfect. Plus, I have all of this leftover yarn in my stash that I think will make a great and really durable hat for her. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish this before next week, when I’ll be swinging by The Burgh to see her, her pregnant belly (for which I have already created several presents!), and her hubby. Let the knitting begin!

10/1 - So I did make some changes to this hat, which I knew I was going to do before I even cast it on. My one and ONLY issue with it - no offense, Cecily! - is that the squirrel tails are way too skinny! It looks like those squirrels haven’t gotten enough nuts. So for the main design of the pattern, I used this squirrel pattern, which I found to be sufficient. I really did love the way her squirrels were holding hands on different levels and would do it that way next time. But I’ve got to say, this was SUCH an elegantly written pattern, I would happily knit anything that she designed! I tried to stretch it over a plate at Crystal’s, where I finished it, but it was the wrong size and wouldn’t fit and I was worried that I was stretching the ribbing…
I feel like I would take this hat design and happily apply it to a lot of different pattern motifs. Kind of like a basic recipe that you add different spices to.