Golden Pear Hat

pattern: Golden Pear, by Melissa Thomson (free)
yarn: remnants from my stash
needles: size US 9 / 5.5mm 16" circs and dpns

For the next three months I will be making the Golden Pear hat pattern on repeat. It's the start of a new term over in the HPKCHC, and this term I'm working on my Potions OWL.

For the non-cuppers, HPKCHC stands for Harry Potter Knit And Crochet House Cup, and it's where super Potter fans like myself gather to be sorted into houses and complete knit and crochet projects for classes, Quidditch, OWLs, and more, all in an effort to win the House Cup, along with eternal glory.

I win the nerdiest person in my family award, hands down.

I love the Cup (as it's affectionately called); I've made some phenomenal friends thanks to this game, I've stepped up my hat making game by leaps and bounds, and I've managed to convert about a dozen ladies to charity hat-making with as much (and more!) passion as I've got.

I've been looking for a way to knit through my ridiculously large stash of worsted weight acrylic remnants, and while I could make striped hat after striped hat, I wanted something with a bit more interest. After another Cupper started sharing bunches of newborn hats made with the Golden Pear pattern, I knew it was just what I was looking for.

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, but just size 7 needles, so I went up in needle size to 9's, where I'm most comfortable with worsted weight acrylics. I knit the pattern according to the directions, and ended up with a hat that fits Lou's head almost perfectly. There's a bit of room for her to grow into it, so the hat is perfect for donation for babies from 6-12 months!

My plan is to knit 40 of these, hopefully making a HUGE dent in my remnants stash, and adding them to the pile of donation hats I've got growing in the closet. These will be taken to the Med Center for donation to their pediatric oncology center, and I know they'll go to good use there.

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll be seeing so many more of these in the coming months, and I'll be sure to share at least one or two updates on my progress here on the blog in the next 60 or so days! For now, I'm definitely in love with this easy pattern, and can't wait to cast on another hat!