Take Hat and Rosettes: Shake
I made this hat out of handspun yarn that I bought off of Etsy with a pattern called Pinch Hat from Cecily Glowick MacDonald which I found in The Best of KnitScene, a book with patterns from the magazine. You can also find it online at Ravelry.com. KnitScene is the younger sibling of Interweave Knitting which often features simpler patterns that a new knitter can take on. This is a super simple hat that you knit flat and then sew together with the ends of the yarn, so perfect for someone like me who is new to knitting but very comfortable with sewing by hand.
The pinched part calls out for some kind of adornment. The book uses a jewel, Ravelry photos added buttons and bows, but with such a rustic yarn, I thought more yarn would do the trick. So, I knitted rosettes from the yarn left from my Hello, Sunshine Scarf. These are also very simple, just a length of garter stitch a few rows deep that you can roll up and sew. I made them with 2 rows, with 3 rows, and in different lengths, and then I played with them, to see what I liked.
I used what is called a doll’s head and used in millinery. I like the name because it is kind of a doll and I play with it. They come in head sizes, are stuffed with sawdust and can be pinned into, so you can try out different configurations. Then you pull out those pins after more pinning only to the hat itself, so you can sew the ornaments permanently. I left on the yarn ends on the rosettes when I realized I could use them to sew the rosettes to the hat.
While the doll’s head is useful, trying your design on the human who will wear the hat is essential. You may discover that your proportions are off, or some other element of design is wrong, and you need to tweak what you made up on the doll’s head.
You can find Ravelry here: https://www.ravelry.com/
You can find Etsy here to look for handspun yarn: https://www.etsy.com/?ref=lgo