some new "Kinderland" designs in the works...

My head has been swimming with new ideas for Blythe hats lately. It all started when I made this sailor-themed knitted hat for Blythe dolls last month. Following my previous fair-isle hat, this sailor hat was great practice for my colour-work techniques. I am completely obsessed with sailor themed clothing (a peek into my wardrobe reveals at least three different 'sailor cardigans'), and my goal is to one day make a whole nautical range for Blythe dolls! 

Before I even got around to designing more sailor-themed goodies, I moved to Melbourne, and put that project on the back burner. While in Melbourne I got obsessed with pompom making (see post below), and decided to have a go at making multi-coloured pom poms! In the sailor hat I achieved the multi-coloured pompom by using more than one colour of yarn, but then it suddenly dawned on me that I could achieve a better, and heck, much EASIER result if I used something like self-striping yarn. 

Ta-da! One multi coloured pom pom made, and it was ever so easy. This pompom was actually made by my boyfriend, who wanted to learn how to make pompoms. Can you believe it's his first? He must have had such a great teacher *winks*. 

The idea for the sorbet hat all came from this single pompom really. This humble pompom made me look at colours like yellow and orange, which I've never previously considered, in a different light. As you might have seen from my current knitting (with the exception of the sailor hat above), I tend to favour either pastel shades or pink shades. I decided to work backwards this time, and make a hat inspired by the pom pom rather than the other way around.

I ended up using my basic cupcake pattern, and used a bright orange yarn with white to create this hat. I wasn't convinced about the colours together, but then I decided to add some sprinkles on top and I have to say, I'm very happy with the result! The hat really reminds me of summer and sorbet, and I hope it reminds you of happier summer days too :-)

Here is my Sorbet hat prototype with some other hats I've made recently. The pink hat on the left is a colour-variation on the "Cloudy Dreams" hat, while the one on the right is a "Colour Me Polka Dot" hat. As the Sorbet hat is a prototype, I am still finalising some design choices. I used my basic cupcake pattern, but I am thinking what I might do is invert the scallops so they face down instead of up, thereby giving it more of a 'dripping ice cream' visual effect. That could be a way for me to distinguish between my 'cupcake' range and my future 'ice cream' range. And I am already thinking of the other "flavours" I could make, like a mint choc-chip one! 

Is it really weird that I give each hat, or rather, each design, a name? And what should the name of this new Sorbet hat be? A couple of my friends on Instagram have pointed out how it looks like a Creamsicle, so maybe I could call it "Creamsicle Delight."

I would still like to work on the design and colour options for these sorbet hats, so I won't be putting them up in my Etsy shop just yet. But I will be putting up the other two hats up at some stage! 

As always, I welcome custom orders and special requests, so just message me on Etsy if you would like me to make something for you, or re-make something I have sold previously as long as I still have enough yarn. I'll be working on the sorbet hats a bit more over the coming month, and I will keep you posted once I put some up for sale!