Rudolph!

I showed you in the last post, a custom order Frosty.  Jennifer usually goes for the more subdued look.  I was really surprised when her Christmas order had novelty hats!  I really had not done much with novelty hats, as I get most of my enjoyment from the research, planning, and knitting.  I'm not fond of sewing on buttons, bows, flowers, or other bits and bobs.

I knew Rudolph was going to be a challenge in some ways.  The antlers!  One problem with trying to recreate something from a photo, is that you have no way to look up close, to see the backside, or hidden details.  The photographer is photographing the baby, not the hat.  In the original photo, the antlers seemed to be set back from the top of the head, which hid how they were attached to the hat.  Jennifer wanted them more on the very top.  I assumed they were made of felt, but that's all I could tell.

I found a ball of the perfect yarn at Value Village (along with a ball of mint green baby yarn that I promptly donated!).  Bernat Baby Softee Chunky, or something like that.  The main part of the hat was not a problem, I struggled a bit with the lower edge, trying to mimic the original, but I kept having problems with loosing the stretchiness.  Then I had problems in creating ear shapes.  Finally worked  something out, then realized when I sewed them on, that I had basically made two left ears.  But I didn't worry, it really wasn't noticeable.  Then there was the big red nose.  Knowing she doesn't like glitz, I suggested an actual light up red nose, LOL!  Surprise, she wasn't interested.  She didn't like any of the red buttons I showed.  Michaels' didn't have any single big red buttons.  There was a pack of primary coloured buttons but they seemed really cheap.  I noticed a large bag of assorted buttons that seemed to have some red ones.  At least now, I have an assortment of "fashion" buttons (though many in the bag were actually beads!). 

And still the antlers were weighing heavily on my mind (LOL).  While I was at Michaels', I found the felt, and discovered that you can buy stiffened felt.  However, it seemed to be glittery on one side.  Oh well.  I drew out my shapes, but still...how to sew on?  I got some embroidery thread in a light beige and did some tiny stitches, and then wrapped the yarn around the base of the antler.  Really, antlers are attached by a thick velvety layer, I could have done taller, random height, stitches.  But that might have been overkill.  I wanted to put a bead of glue on the backside of the attachment point, but I couldn't find my good glue.  They seemed to stay up, though they were a little floppy.

All in all, I think it turned out rather nice!  And Jennifer loved it, that's what counts! 

Yarn In:  12 957gr
Yarn Out:  32gr + 14 195gr = 14 227gr
Balance:  1270gr more OUT than in
Costs:  $258.29/317 days = $0.81/day