My very good friend Beth from San Francisco was having a baby shower and I wanted to make something cute for her little boy. San Francisco can get chilly, so I thought a hat would be perfect, but I wanted it to be unique too. I found this pattern, Top Down Bonnet With Anime Character, which is inspired by Totoro (from My Neighbor Totoro, one of my favorite kids’ movies). I really liked the style of the bonnet but decided to modify the pattern to make kitty ears instead of Totoro ears, and also leave the face off.

The pattern used a number of techniques which were new to me, including a figure eight cast-on, knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, and increasing using the M1 (make one) method. I love challenges and learning new things, so it was actually a lot of fun.

When I got done with the main bonnet, I improvised for the first time ever in order to knit the kitty ears. I had to do them three times before I was happy with the shape and placement on the bonnet. Of course, then I forgot to take any pictures of the hat on my lovely doll model after the ears were done!

Thankfully I managed to snap  a few pictures at the baby shower, and Beth really loved it…so much that she tried it on herself! (She has it on backwards though, the rounded edge is for the back of the head.) I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I can’t wait to see pictures of her little guy wearing it!