A Penguin is not just for Christmas

And finally,  meet the Penguin with no name.  He is the last design in my ‘Mini Toppers’ hat collection.  I have been having a hard time giving him a name,  I think the reason naming him has been so difficult is because every time I look at him I am reminded of a photograph of my Dad.  It is one of the last photo’s I have of my Dad, it was taken the final time he visited before he died in January 2012.

In the picture Katie had devised a game of human Buckaroo,  Grandad sat very still as she placed as many toys (including Fudge the Penguin) on him as she could without them falling off.  I think the reason he was so still was that he had nodded off.  In that way my Dad could,  sat bolt upright but fast asleep.  Protesting that he had not been asleep if you had suggested that he had nodded off for just one second.

The pattern has the same three simple steps to customise your hat as Rockin’ Robin.  There are six variations of the hat in total in the pattern, three variations are shown below;

The construction of the hat is quite straight forward,  the earflaps are knit first and put to one side.  Next, the main hat is cast on and the earflaps are knitted in as you go.  The face is worked using the intarsia method from the chart provided.  The optional mini toppers are knit separately and sewn on.

It is sized to fit head circumference:  xsmall (41cm) small (46cm) medium (51cm), this is newborn to approximately 12 years old.

The yarn requirements are: 

Rowan Pure Wool DK, (A) shade 004 Black, (B) shade 012 Snow, (C) shade 051 Gold, (D) shade 036 Kiss, one 50g ball of each

To knit this hat you will need the following skills:

• Knit
• Purl
• m1
• k2tog
• sl1, k1, psso
• sl1, k2tog, psso
• kfb
• Follow intarsia chart

Video links are included in the pattern for the above shaping techniques.

You can buy Rockin’ Robin Hat pattern here from my Ravelry Store

Arctic is available from Let’s Knit Magazine

I had been debating naming the hat Fudge after the toy penguin, but now as I am writing this post I have decided to call him ‘Neil’,  A great little hat that will keep your little one warm and cosy,  with a great sense of fun that will put a smile on everyone’s face that sees the playful penguin hat.

I have been sitting here for a while now,  writing, backspacing and deleting paragraphs.  I am trying to find the words to share a difficult life lesson and failing terribly.  I want to tell you about the importance of grabbing precious time with your loved ones, not letting pride come between you and the ones you love.  But I suspect that most you, much as myself will have to learn those lessons for yourselves.  But there is one bit of advice I really must share,  donor cards!  I am not an authority on donor cards but what I have learnt is that they can be the most enormous source of comfort.  We all know how precious the gift of organs can be,  but learning that your departed loved one helped so many people to a better quality of life, is beyond words.