What an adorable bunch of little fruit and vegetable hats viewer Julie Watson knitted and sent to us, to share with you. Inspired by a single photo of a strawberry hat that she saw in a magazine, Julie knitted and could have filled an entire produce department with a lemon, peach, eggplant, strawberry, and pumpkin hats. All were identical except for the pumpkin, which had ridges.
We had to make one small change. The basic hat directions that Julie developed were simple enough to give on television, but when it got down to describing how she knitted in the leaves, it got a little involved. Consequently, we took the liberty of making the leaves of felt. The fruit or vegetable that you make is determined by the yarn color. Here is what Julie did:
Materials:
one 3 oz. skein 4-ply yarn
size 6 knitting needles
yarn needle
green felt for stem and leaves
Steps:
- Cast on 85 sts. Knit in stockinette st (knit one row, purl one row) until piece measures between 6" and 7" deep (figure A).
- Decrease every 4th stitch every row (knit and purl rows) until only 12 sts. remain (figure B). The math won't always work out to decrease every 4th st., but keep the decreases as even as possible until you get to the 12 sts. Please note: The viewer who sent these instructions wrote to decrease every 3rd st. which is what I said on the air. However, she had meant: knit 3 sts, decrease, knit 3 sts. decrease, etc.
- Cut yarn, leaving a substantial tail, and thread this back through the 12 sts. still on the needle. Gather closed and secure. Bring the two ends of the knitted piece together, and sew or weave closed.
- On a strawberry hat, make black yarn French knots throughout the body of the hat.
- Roll 1-1/2" x 2" felt strip into a stem, and sew into place at the top of the hat (figure C). Cut several leaves and stitch in place.
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