Nesting Instinct

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of Mother's Day, I want to share this photo of someone with real parenting instinct.

A pair of robins have been busy building a nest atop our bat house for the last few days.  It's been fun to watch all the carrying and arranging going on.  I was especially tickled to see one of last year's hydrangea blooms, which I cut off the bushes just last weekend, has been selected as building material.  The bat house is on the front of our two-story garage, just under the eaves.  I was able to get this photo with a telephoto lens from the upstairs porch of the house.

Mother's Day hat update:  My mother seems pleased with the hat I made her.  She said it fit perfectly!

Off the Hook for Mother's Day

I decided to make my mother a hat for Mother's Day this year.  I started out knitting one from a pattern that I like quite a lot.  I used that pattern for what has become my go-to winter hat, a slightly slouchy brown tweed.  Here's a picture of it from a 2011 blog post. For my mother's hat, I was using Lion Brand Homespun in a really pretty purple. Unfortunately, I gave up after getting only a few rows in past the ribbing because it was turning out huge.  The bulky Homespun yarn is obviously too thick for this hat.

Undaunted, I decided to begin a new hat.  I scoured Ravelry, looking for something with a bit of a brim.  I found a Patons pattern for a crocheted Women's Peaked Hat that many Ravelry users said ran small.  My mother has a small head, so I figured this would work out well.  I switched to Vanna's Choice yarn in dusty purple.  I like how it turned out, though it seems a trifle long.  I can't really judge the fit because it is a little too small for me.  I tacked up the brim with two coconut husk buttons in a coordinating purple from Dritz Belle Buttons.  Here's hoping it will fit my mother and be a hit on Mother's Day.