Valentines for Hunter and Jones

I used to hate Valentines Day. I’m a bit of an un-romatic (unlike Emily, who is a rather romantic gal) and so Valentines seemed a little like an obligation and fraught with possibilities for let downs and social awkwardness. Now that I have 2 little kiddies though, every holiday is an opportunity for crafting and baking! There will be cupcakes, cookies, crocheted balls, and an adorable i heart rainbows hat!

i heart rainbows is a matching sweater and hat set from our first book, 9 Months of Knitting (the hat is a *free* pattern!). We wanted something super sweet for a little one and rainbows fit the bill. We are children of the 80’s after all, Rainbow Brite was kind of a big deal.

I thought Hunter could use a bit of whimsy for Valentines so I whipped up this hat using one of my favorite colourful yarns: Tanis Fiber Arts. While I adore the original rainbow, I thought something more subdued was in order for Valentines. I used Yellow Label DK instead in of sock yarn, since I had all the right colours in DK (see more about my Tanis obsession here and here). I followed the pattern for i heart rainbows hat with the following changes:

Pattern Changes: Since I was using DK weight yarn I had to make a few changes. I cast on 96 sts for the ribbing and increased to 100 sts after. I worked a my rainbow, my heart chart, and my rainbow in reverse, then I knit in MC until the hat was 5″ . For the decrease set up round I knit 10 then placed marker, the rest is according to pattern.

i heart rainbows hat project details:

Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Label DK in Frost, Royal Flush, Pink Grapefruit, and Poppy

Needles: 3.5mm for the ribbing, and 4mm for the rest

Pattern: i heart rainbows hat (with the above alterations)

Jones loves to throw balls. It’s a little uncanny how accurate he is and how much entertainment he gets from throwing them one after another. He loves to throw them with a pre-emptive ‘throw!’ too. When I saw these crochet balls on the Purlbee I knew they were perfect. Soft (now more goose eggs for Hunter) and a great opportunity to practice my weak crochet skills.  I whipped up a set of three and immediately I was hooked. The possibilities of stripes and solids, big and small, it was endless! I gave the first set to my neighbour’s son for his birthday and then I got started on Jonesies for Valentines!

crochet balls project details

Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Label DK in: Blue: Frost, Seabreeze, Teal. Pink: Royal Flush, Pink Grapefruit, Sunset. Green: Buttercup, Lemon Grass, Spearmint. Purple: Garnet, Lilac, Velvet

Hook: 3.5mm crochet hook

Pattern: Crochet balls from the Purlbee

What are you working on for Valentines? Something sweet for a loved one?

More sweet patterns from Tin Can Knits