Making gifts for Christmas ALWAYS seems like a FANTASTIC idea, right? You’re so excited to get all the stuff to make that special person that special gift. Oh, it is SO EXCITING!!

Maybe you learned a new skill or craft, and you can’t wait to make those four people on your list a new pair of socks or a hat…am I right?

Well, in this series, you will see how my gift making came out of sheer necessity. There just wasn’t enough money for a retail Christmas for fourteen kids and my husband. I had to get crafty in more ways than one.

Hamilton Hat

My girls are big fans of the play and music of Hamilton. So, when I found the hat pattern on Ravelry, I couldn’t pass it up. And it was a free pattern as well so there was no not doing it, right?

Hat Details

It was a neat hat. The brim was folded under and acted as a lining but when it was folded up, it read, “Hamilton.” Pretty cool, right?

Then, if you left it folded down, the rest of the hat had all these words from the Hamilton play.

I ordered the yarn on October 2, 2017, and began the work as soon as it came in the mail.

How Long I worked.

Well, to tell the truth, I don’t know exactly how long I worked but I made several attempts at this hat. Seven, to be certain and I was just done. The last attempt was ripped out on November 24, 2017.

Some of the attempts were ripped back because I made mistakes in the colorwork and some the hat was puckered and looked bad.

I know I ripped back the provisional cast on three times to be sure.

It was not the best experience I had ever had knitting. I probably gave it six weeks on and off and then called it quits.

Yep, gift knitting fail. I tried.

What I Used

BUT, the good news is, I still have the yarn and pattern and I WILL be making another attempt this year at this Hamilton hat.

Will it still be relevant? I don’t know, and really, I can’t worry about that. I have the yarn, right?

The yarn was a fingering weight 75% superwash merino 25% nylon in mustard and black from Webs. It is Valley Yarns Huntington.

I got three skeins of each at 218 yds per skein because I wanted to make matching gloves/mitts and now I still can!😃

What I Spent

The entire purchase was $35, roughly. I am sure I will have extra yarn when the projects actually become finished.