Tis The Season

As Christmas is coming, my knitting needs have heated up. I have been working on hats quite a bit. The hat Noah is modeling is called Turn a Square and is quite a great idea. It starts with stripes that are round, but it turns into a square shape at the top of the hat as you make decrease stitches. I have made a couple of these and really like them. You don't get the effect very well in this picture, but when you work with models who aren't paid a living wage, you take what you can get. Scott is not on the list to recieve any home made gifts this year as we all know he doesn't understand why people would wear yarn. It hasn't stopped me from threatening to make him some wool underwear though.

My neighbor Pete works for a wine distributor and every year for his birthday I make him something out of his discards. Last year it was the wine cork wreath with grapes and this year it was a Christmas ornament with a cork body. It is called a Korknisse, should you want to look the pattern up on Ravelry. He swore he loved it. He also got the hat that Noah was modeling, and I know that was a well loved gift as everyone in his house tried it on and his daughter asked for one in purple. I don't care much for the Korknisse myself, but Seth wants one in blue.

Seth made us dinner last night. He has been asking if he can make French Toast but we are always out of some ingredient for him. Last night he couldn't wait to get cooking. He started asking what time he could start as soon as he got home from school. He said he wants to make us eggs and bacon next time, but that most of the bacon will be for him. I gotta get the kid into the spirit of giving that goes with this season. I can't wait till he wants to cook dinner every night. cooking is definitely one skill I want to pass on so I don't have to be the only cook in the family.

I have been volunteering once a week at the school library. I am glad to have a mini job as it gives me something to do every week. I put on a blouse and jewelry and everything, just a like a professional person would. Then I sort magazines, catalog books, whatever needs to be done. Plus, I get to be out of the house and amongst people who read. I haven't gotten any good book recommendations yet, but I am hopeful. I am always looking for my next good book.

Seth put up the Christmas tree this weekend. We used my friend Maria's tree that she left us last year. It is so lovely! I have never had a tree before that had only white lights on it. I thought Seth might fuss about it, as he is definitely a guy who likes colored lights. He likes this tree because it is so tall and it is prettier than our old tree. I tried to take a picture of it, but I couldn't get far enough across the room to get a good shot.

Noah has taken up fencing and goes to Fencing Club once a week. It meets at the high school and he has tried to get me to pick him up at the middle school and drive him to the high school. (Ha!) I tried to tell him he is old enough to cross the street, but he is always a kid looking for the easy way to do something. I wish fencing was everyday, he is a much happier child when he gets some exercise.

We are well and happy, and I hope it won't be so long between posts again.

It's A Miracle

My friend Maria called last week and told me that she lives vicariously through my blog and that when i don't update, she is very sad. well, what is a friend to do? I get off my lazy behind and post some of the pictures I have taken. I am a good friend! The picture above is of the Christmas presents I have wrapped already. I know, it's barely October. But Christmas comes at the same time each year and is year I am determined to be ready to meet it head on.

I give little homemade gifts to the children's Sunday school teachers at church. This year I didn't make the gifts, but, still, they are homemade. Everyone is getting a duet of two crocheted wash/dish cloths. I found a lady who sells them for a dollar each and I have been buying all I can for presents. I hope everybody wants to be eco friendly this year!

Seth's teacher had a birthday in September and I made her a little person. I had not gotten out my wooden pieces in a while, so this was fun to do again.

I found a link to marthastewart.com and her High Hat Cupcakes. I just had to try them. I made the cupcakes from a box mix and then you make the marshmallow topping and pipe it on as high as you can. After you have the topping, you turn it over and dip it into melted chocolate. Oh. My. Word. These were so good! I cannot even tell you how enjoyable I found these. My tops got a little flat, but the taste was divine.

I took Seth to the state fair and we spent some time at the Agricultural displays. This year they had a jar set up and were taking pictures of people who had been canned. Seth thought he would be funny and pretend to be trapped in the jar. He and his brother are always the comedians.

School is fine, the laundry piles up and I wish dinner would make itself. Pretty much nothing changes around her. It is life as usual. And a good life it is!

Busy, Busy

What can really be said? Anyone who is home with kids in the summer knows that they will be kept hopping. We dog sat for a friend. And I made some bookmarks with a new stamping set I got from Papertrey Ink.

I made a bunch of cookies for the Indiana State Fair. I haven't entered in years, and now I can remember why. I was on my feet all day long trying to get things made, iced, packed, stored, tagged, entered, labeled, recipes added, etc...

I also knit a few things. Seth will agree to model for me , for a small fee. You'd think room and board would be enough, but no such luck. I made a cowl with yarn from Mountain Colors, the colorway is appropriately named "Crazy Woman". I am going to make matching fingerless mitts and a hat from this yarn, too. I don't want to be sportin' mismatched knits this winter

And I made a hat from Plymouth Mushishi. The best thing about the Mushishi is that it is sold in a huge skein, almost 500 yards. So, you can get plenty of knitting done from just one skein and don't have to worry about dye lots.

School starts in a few days and as happy as I am for some alone time, I am not happy that the boys will need to be at school at 7:15 in the morning. It is way, way too early for anyone to be awake and ready to go.

How did It get to be July?

I tell you, I don't know where the summer went. I also don't know where my photos went. I have crafted much more this summer than I am able to show you. I also scored some yarn at a yarn sale that I was going to post, but some of my photos are unfindable right now. SIGH.I made the card with a brayered background. I took a class about making these backgrounds last year and promptly forgot everything I learned. This card did turn out well, though.

I have been on a bit of a kick this summer where I am making fingerless mitts. It's one of those things I can do without the written instructions, so if I need to pick up yarn and knit I could pull the pattern out of my head. Noah obviously thinks these make great fighting gloves. My pattern is pretty basic and is called "Easy Fingerless Mitts" on Ravelry. As soon as school starts and I have access to knitting help, I plan to use a different pattern and step it up a bit. I have a slightly fancier idea in mind. The self striping yarn helps the simple pattern out tremendously.

We did take vacation this year in between the kids' summer camps and went to Atlantic City. We stopped in Gettysburg on the way and came home through Philadelphia. Noah did not want to go to the beach in Atlantic City, saying the sand bothered him, and that there were not any shark teeth to hunt for. He is spoiled by the teeth we have found on our trips to Myrtle Beach. In my opinion, the treasure of finding shark teeth is the only thing Myrtle Beach has going for it.

I loved Philadelphia and seeing the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's printing shop and printing press...we all enjoyed it and we saw only a bit of it. It is definitely worth a return trip. Plus, it was all free except the parking. For those who feel like I do about how you bleed money on vacation, it was great to find a free day long activity.

This time with Pictures

Now you can see that I really do knit things. Above is the Three Way Shawl, knit with Lion Brand Amazing yarn in Aurora. I love it. Amazing really is Amazing to work with. Below is another Three Way Shawl, knit with Geologee yarn that I found on the clearance rack at my local store. It can be worn three ways, hence the name. It can be a scarf, a shawl, or wound around the neck like a cowl. I'd show you, but my model is still on strike.

Below is another use for the geologee yarn. It is called Lacy Baktus. You can knit a Baktus without the holes, if you prefer a less lacey look.

I prefer the holes, the yarn goes further this way. I can't wait to wrap it around my neck this winter and hope that it will add some style to my usual windblown and frozen appearance.

Even Mumbles the penguin approves. Just wait till I show Seth that I don't need him anymore anyway!

Quickie

A quick link of a stash bit that I have for trade on ravelry. It's Soy Wool from Paton's.

Again, the Camera

Oh yeah, believe me when I tell you that I have a lot to show you. Too bad I lost the camera and cannot prove to you how productive I am. I swear I saw it just the other day. Now it is nowhere to be found.

This is the last week of school for the kiddos so I am busy. There is an end of the year party, a review of the year's activity on video for everyone, a music program, a sending off party for the Fourth Graders as they move to the Intermediate School next year, a pizza party, an Honor Roll award ceremony. My youngest went to a minor league baseball game last week and my oldest goes bowling with his class this week. In order to make the baseball game an educational field trip the kids are to keep game stats, and they do a math unit at school related to the game. As for bowling? it is just a way to spend the last day of school and have it count into the 180 days required by state law.

I am trying to tidy up loose ends and get ready for summer with kids. Stocking up at the grocery without them underfoot, a trip to Target that is not for water guns or slip and slides, much to their dismay. One last call for clothes for me. My kids like to shop, but only when something is in it for them, so there is a lot to work off of my to do list before they overtake it and my schedule.

I knitted a three way scarf and went I went to look for my camera to photograph it. I was told by Seth that he needed a fee for all the male modeling I have him do. So, I had the dog model it for me. She works for kibble and appreciates the little joys in life. If you happen to be on my gift list, please excuse the dog hair. I also made a lacy baktus. I knitted some of it at the hospital last week when my dad had shoulder replacement surgery and my mom did not even pretend to like it. Funny how friends will love whatever you make. But family? It's the wrong color, wrong weight, wrong pattern. No attempt to be polite in telling you how much your project really isn't what they like. You would think the people who are stuck with you would at least try to be polite about it.

Oh well, it helps to know who deserves hand made gifts and who does not. The sun is shining, the pool will be open soon, and I will be sleeping in. Life is good.

Late Update

I would love to update my blog with photos but it seems that while I wasn't looking, Picasa changed inside my computer and I am not able right now to load photos. I would have Scott help me, but his office is in the process of moving and he is figuring out office space, placement of staff, and fielding off the infighting that comes with a move. It doesn't matter that they are moving two blocks away, it could be two states away, the work is tremendous for him right now. If I see him before June I will be lucky.

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and I made handmade gifts for the kids to take in to their teachers and other staff members everyday. I made Strawberry Freezer Jam, Homemade Granola, Individual Pies in a jar, Cupcakes in a Jar, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and ended the week with a stamped and framed piece of art about being a teacher. I'll have to share the pictures for sure (when I can.) You can google my gift ideas and find all kinds of recipes.

My life is busy with track practice and meets and running my oldest back and forth. Poor kid had been asking about coconuts all weekend. They had some at school and he wanted to use his new found skill to open some at home. He wanted to drink the juice and carve the meat out. we finally located some and let him have a go at them last night. Seth wants to dye Easter eggs as we didn't do that before the holiday. I am more than happy to do that as well, if we can find the time. I set aside some ugly white-ish wool yarn, and I want to dye the yarn with the left over egg dyes. Again, I learned how to do this on the Internet. Google yarn dying and you will find all kinds of ideas and you tube videos.

Sorry it has been so long between updates, but I am busy living life, rather than blogging about it, I guess.

So Very Busy

I never meant to leave the blog for so long. We have had a birthday, Easter, and Spring Break all in a row. I thought I might post an update while I was gone, but I was so very wrong about the amount of extra time I thought I might find. I did make some washcloths while I was on the road. I know, it is mindless knitting, but many times mindless makes me happy. And it is all I can do while in the car. Between the talking and the movies and the radio and the stops, I need things I can pick up and put down with ease.

I made some cupcakes for the boys this week. It was just Chocolate Cake Mix in large cupcake/muffin papers. I put the icing into an icing bag with a decorative tip, and squirted it on to make it look pretty. I added sprinkles and half a cookie to add some glamour. These are the rejects. The neighbors got the ones with the pretty icing and non broken cookies.

I was inspired to make cupcakes after we stopped in Charlottesville, VA on vacation and went to a place called Cappelino's Crazy Cakes. While I knew my homemade ones might not be as pretty, I knew I could glam mine up a bit. Seth chose a red velvet cupcake with the ladybug and Noah got a chocolate raspberry cupcake. I was told they were tasty too.

Seth had a birthday and wanted to decorate his own cake. I don't remember what he told me the design was, but he had a Percy Jackson themed party and invited the kids to come in costume and about half of them did! Seth decorated the sides as well, so he is a full service cake man.

I was asked a while ago to post a picture of the card I made for Scott for Valentine's Day. I hope you are all patient as I am only now realizing that V day was two months ago. Time flies.

You can see we are all doing our crafty best here, and even if we don't look like professionals we are having fun and that is what counts at this house. I don't want to die having done everything just perfectly, I want to die happy and having fun. (Not that I have any plans of it being soon.)

I have yet to make plans about dinner, so I am going to go see what I can thaw out in time.

Home Spun Fun

For Buy and Sell Day at school, Seth is also making lip balm. You can see the ingredients above. It is really very easy. The recipe is supposed to be 1T Vaseline and 1 t Kool Aid. You melt the Vaseline a bit in the microwave and mix in the Kool Aid. We found the recipe a bit strong and added more Vaseline to the mix. We put the mixture in small (non food grade) bead containers from Joann Fabrics (bought with a coupon!). You may remember Seth made and sold these out in front of our house last summer, like a lemonade stand. We decorated the tops with small pieces of paper cut with a circle punch and decorated with rubber stamps. I am sorry I don't have the finished product to show you, they are cute.

I knitted up a market bag from a pattern I found on Ravelry.com. It is called a Hexagonal Bag. Seth says he likes it, but he wouldn't put raspberries in it.

Here is another photo of it, without the model. It was super easy to knit, and took 2.5 balls of Sugar and Cream cotton (bought at Michael's, regular cost $1.79 a ball.)

And a photo of Mumbles wearing his hat. On days when it is cold enough to wear his hat to school, Seth makes sure Mumbles has his on, too.

As for Noah, he is busy with track. He throws discus and shot put. He came home very happy the other day that there is one kid on the team who is worse than him. He threw something 13 feet and this kid can only throw about 12 feet. the school record is 40 feet. As long as he is happy, we are happy. He seems to love it, so we encourage this activity.

Never a Dull Moment

If you can't tell what you are looking at in the picture above, it is homemade soaps. The school is having "Buy and Sell Day." All the Fourth Graders have to make at least 30 of one item and sell it to the other kids at school for "funny money" in order to compete an Econ unit. The kids earn the money all year long, then buy things with their money at the Buy and Sell Market. Seth is making homemade soap with toys and shells and plastic jewels hidden inside, along with homemade lip gloss and book marks. He wants to put them all into "Mystery Bags". I think he'll make more money selling the items individually, but this is a good opportunity for me to remember it is his homework, and not mine.

Everynight this week we have been crafting for his Buy and Sell project, and let me tell you, I am tired! Bone tired. Weary. Why my kid can't just pick one thing and make that, I will never know. Other kids will sell greeting cards, autograph books, string games.... simpler items.


I have decided to organize my knitting yarn. I saw this idea on the Yarn Harlot's blog. She wants to knit one pair of socks a month. So, she put the pattern and the yarn together in bags and each month she grabs a bag, and that is what she knits. I decided to find patterns for yarn I have on hand but have not found the right project for. This yarn I bought for a scarf, but didn't like the way it looked. I am scrapping that plan and making baby hats instead. they should be quick and easy and I can use what is on hand. Whenever I want a new project, I can just look in my stash and see what I have on hand. I have a few more bags to put together, mittens to make, a scarf to finish, a felted wool bag that needs knitting.

I can't remember if I posted about the Fish Hat I knit for my son's favorite lovey, Mumbles the Penguin. I definitely have to keep my kids off of Ravelry. they come up with too many things they want me to make for them. I think I have knit enough for them, and I need to get some Christmas presents started. Laugh if you want, but I am a slow knitter. And easily distracted too.

Sorry I didn't update in a timely fashion this week, the kids keep me busy even when they are at school. One son just called and asked me to bring his pedometer to track practice. Uhhh, No. Mommy wants to nap. I have already taken too many things to him this week that he has forgotten. Lunch or homework may get delivered if I am in a good mood and realize it was left behind in time. A pedometer? No, thanks. Maybe he'll have a better memory next time.

Knitting Updates and Johnny Weir

I bought some red yarn because I was so entranced by it's beauty. Plus, it was on sale, and it was NOT green, which is what I usually buy. Show me some green yarn and I usually like it enough to make it mine. So trying to live like a wild woman, I bought some red yarn and thought "I'll just go home and look it up on ravelry and decide what to make with it." Silly me. The yarn is cotton and about the only good thing to make with cotton is baby stuff or washcloths. Lucky for me, I love knitting washcloths. I never knew! This skein made four and now I am knitting some more in brown. I decided I might as well make some that match my bathroom.

My youngest said he would model a cowl for me. I wish I could remember the name of it.

The cowl is lovely and soft. Again, the yarn was on clearance at the local yarn store. I would buy the rest of it, but even on sale, it wasn't cheap enough to allow me to own it all. As soon as I finished this cowl, warmer weather came, and the snow melted. I can look forward to next winter, now that I have some warm hand knits to wear.

Seth's birthday is coming and he has planned out his "fungenda". The list of things that will happen at his party, in the order he wants them to happen. He wants to have a Percy Jackson themed party along with a costume party. He wants his friends to come in costume, dressed like their favorite Greek God. Here he is modeling his Hades costume made from an oversized tablecloth. He then asked if he could borrow a pair of my high heels so his outfit would not be so long. I wonder if this is how Johnny Weir started out.

Winter Knits

See these fingerless mitts? I never thought they were exactly the brightest idea out in the knitting world. My fingers are the coldest part of me when I am outdoors. Who wears these things? Well, never mind. A friend got a pair for Christmas that had owls on them and I immediately knew that I had to knit a pair. My MIL loves owls and she loves handmade stuff from me. I found the pattern and knit her up a pair as fast as I could. I guess my thumb is hiding in the picture, but they really do have a thumb gusset in them.

Because the mitts felt like an incomplete gift I knit her a cowl, too. It was part of my plan for the Knitting Olympics. To compete in the Olympics you choose a challenging project that has to be knit in the 17 days that the Olympics last. You cast on at the Opening Ceremony and have to finish by the closing ceremony. I learned cabling for the mitts and learned to read (and knit) a lace chart for the cowl. Whew. I learned two new skills and completed my items before the end of the games. That means I am a gold medalist!

This is the full length of the cowl after blocking, but before buttons. See? Lace. The buttons add some extra bling to the cowl, and you know how I love some bling.

I made Taco Salad for dinner the other night. My youngest thought I was crazy for photographing it. Why not? It was very pretty and I love it enough I could eat it every night. The recipe? Lettuce, shredded cheese, ranch dressing, taco meat. Crunch some fritos on top and you've got dinner. I give it a healthy dose of tomatoes in summer, but the tomatoes at the store are not worthy enough to be purchased this time of year.

It looks like my little blog has 6 followers. I have to find a way to check and see who you are. I had no idea I had "followers". How fun! Maybe I can convince you all to check out my little etsy store in the sidebar. More will be added soon to my store.

Winter Weary

It wasn't until I began loading pictures for this post that I remembered my friend Laurie wanted to see the card I made for Scott for Valentine's Day. I'll have to take a picture and post it this week. I absolutely forgot that there is anything to write about except Winter. Along with my children being underfoot, Winter is the constant in my life.

Why? This is the most snow I remember receiving in Winter before. It snows and snows. It stops for a day or so then it starts again. We go from one televised Winter Warning to another with rarely a break. The kids have snow days, 2 hour delays, and built in days off for MLK Day and President's Day (today).

I often worry about money issues and things like paying for college someday, then I know that I may never go back to work. My oldest son proves his irresponsibility again and again and I know he can't be left to his own devices for any length of time. I don't know who these mothers are who work outside the home. What do they do with their kids in the summer? Who gets them on the bus when school is delayed? Who watches them after school when they are burning their bagels in the toaster? God forbid the day will soon come when they are entertaining friends of the opposite sex and looking for unapproved images on the internet. I am just not at a place in my life where I feel that my kids are safe without parental supervision. At the same time, I like it more when they are in school and I can do things like a knitting class or grocery shopping in peace and quiet.

I took the kids to the local park last week and we went sledding on a snow day. We crossed the bridge to the sledding hills and the snow was softly falling. It looked like Narnia to me. It was warm enough to be enjoyable and we played for about an hour. I eventually fell off the sled and went bare stomached down a hill. Once I got snow melting into my under garments it was time to head home.

I made cookies last week for all the people who work with my husband. I do this every year for Valentine's Day. Everybody gets at least one dozen cookies, many get more, based on their family size. I baked and packed and loaded up the cookies. Scott delivered them so I didn't have to make an extra trip out through the snow. I made 23 dozen cookies, and thankfully we had enough that some stayed home. The kids love to come home after school and have cookies waiting for them. Despite the fact I have days when I think I may go crazy as a stay at home mom, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Snow and More Snow

We got some snow in the past few days, like many people in the U.S. It is under six inches, so once it stopped falling we were fine to get out and go somewhere again. The snow started on Friday, during the day and the kids were released from school an hour early so they could get home safely. We are supposed to get another big batch of snow Monday and into Tuesday, so I am hoping school is not cancelled.

The kids were out of school last Monday for Staff Development and are out next Monday for President's Day, I don't need them to have a snow day this week. There just isn't enough to do to keep them entertained in cold weather. Maybe we could go see a movie or go out to eat, but that's all I can offer, and the roads have to be good for those things to happen.

I don't have any pictures to post. The kids spent the day out in the front yard playing with the neighborhood kids, all day yesterday. And I do mean all day. There was not the usual in and out. The yard looks like a herd of moose trampled through, so there was no use in trying to take pretty snow photos. I did not step even one foot outside with my camera to get pictures of the kids, either. I like to stay in with some hot chai, a book, some knitting, and maybe even fall into a nap. That's my kind of living. The kids are letting me live the good life right now and I don't want to disturb the pattern.

I hope you are warm and cozy where you are, too.

More Auction Items

This is another item I sent to my friend Beth for her amazing work on the charity Ball she is hosting. I made push pins from the stamp set she designed. I sent a set for her to use and a set for her auction basket of homemade items. I hope she loves them. They are made with Stazon stamped onto shrink plastic and glued onto push pins. Easy Peasy.

She also got this cute little cupcake pin cushion for her cupcake basket. It is made out of recycled wool sweaters and a bit of felt. These are so cute it is tempting to make a basket of them and place them somewhere in my house. They just make me smile.

I also donated a set of lampwork beads made in my studio. These are made with Italian glass and have a swirled pattern that gives them more of an organic feel. I donated another set similar to this for my Ukrainian friend and the International Talent Academy she is associated with. I am hoping this will be the end of charity season for a while so I can concentrate on opening an etsy shop with my friend Steph. We both would like to make some money with our crafts so we will see if we can do it or not.

I may add comment moderation soon or a word decoder type thing. I don't want to make it harder for anyone to leave a comment, but it seems as though the spammers have found me and I want them to go away. This seems to be the only reliable way to block them that I know of. My apologies for the inconvenience.

If there is something you think you'd like to see in our etsy shop, or something I make that you think would sell well, please let me know. For those who don't know, etsy is an internet marketplace for hand crafted items. I'll add a link to it (our store site) when it is fully functional.

Shadows Expanded

The boys are both in love with the loom. I haven't woven anything on it yet, at least not by myself. Now I have two shadows waiting in the wings to get their hand son my craft items. Both boys took turns weaving on the first item I cast onto the loom. They look deep in discussion about some trivial aspect of weaving here, don't they? At least they are cooperating.

You can see I have not had a lot of time at the loom, since Seth has taken it over. I left the room and Noah and Seth could not wait to weave the day away. We finished the first practice piece and Noah was dying to make scarves in school colors. I bought some cheap yarn and got the loom ready for him, only to have him weave a few rows and no longer be interested. It is okay, though, the project was not very attractive (Noah picked out the yarns himself) and we learned an important lesson (Cheap yarns i.e. acrylic, stretches too much and isn't good for weaving.) Better to learn on his weaving than mine, I say.

I have an internet friend from my Hanna Stamps days (Beth Silaika) who is hosting a huge charity auction/dinner/dance and asked for handmade items for some silent auction baskets. I was packing up some crafts to send her and I remembered I had previous plans to make a bracelet for her out of a stamp set she designed for Papertrey Ink.

I made the shrink plastic charms using her set,Winter Swirls, but hadn't actually made the bracelet. I finished the bracelet for her this week, and it is on the way to her in New York now. I hope she likes it, as I made it for her to keep and not for the auction. I'll post pics of other items I sent for the auction in my next post.

I think she'll love it.

Fish Bake at 250 for 20 minutes

I was searching Ravelry.com for knitting ideas a week or two ago when the pattern for a Fish Hat came up. Unfortunately Seth was with me and saw the pattern so he immediately exclaimed "Oh, I just have to have one of those!" He was dead serious. He wanted it in blue, so I had to search my scraps till I found the right colors for him.

Thankfully the pattern was pretty easy, since I often can't read patterns written for knitting. I don't know why they don't just use plain English for them. Seth is thrilled with his hat!

One of the eyes looks wobbly here, it's just the way it was laying at the time. You knit and knit for the hat, then I washed it gently to soften it up a bit. Because we aren't patient people, I often dry my items in the oven. I know, it's odd, but even the Yarn Harlot does this. I took my damp hat and baked it at 250 for about 20 minutes. It wasn't completely dry, but close enough that it would be dry by morning and I wouldn't give poor Seth frost bite while he waits for the bus. He adores this hat. He wears it every day. The ladies in my Friday morning knitting group have asked about it, but I can't get it off his head long enough for show and tell.

I baked the hat before I added the buttons, just in case they might melt in the oven. I added circles of white felt for the eyes and blue buttons for eyes, both sewn on with a needle and thread
Oh, the things we do for our kids!