Bonnie's 'Hair' Bonnet

I am FINISHED!

• 7 crocheted hats (including the ones for the dolls)
• 1 pair of crocheted booties

It might not look like much but those projects took me quite a while to finish. I can't wait to share pictures of some of the stuff I made for gifts but I don't want the recipients to accidentally stumble onto my blog entry and ruin the surprise so I will be sharing them after Christmas.  They are already posted on my Ravelry account though. So if you are on Ravelry, please visit me!

Here's one of the projects that I can share though.

I made a hat for Bonnie, my daughter's other doll that burps when you tap her back, and says "Mama!" and "Dada!" when you press her hands. And the dress? It's the same one I made for Lizzie, it just gets passed around for both dolls since it fits them both. I really need to make more clothes for her dolls.

What's so special about this hat is that it comes with 'hair'... because you see, Bonnie is a baby doll that came to us wearing pajamas and a bonnet and without any hair.

Hello there!

But since she's all grown up now (according to Andrea), she needs to have more hair (according to Andrea too... she's 2 years old, where does she get these ideas???). I initially wanted to make her another bear hat, because that has braids... but I have already made several other bear hats since the time I posted about it to give away as gifts in a span of a few days and to be honest, I wanted to try something new.

Without a design in mind, I set about making the hat. I didn't use a pattern for this. I just kept fitting it on Bonnie's head until I was happy with the width and length of the hat. I wanted to make it 'girly' so I added scalloped edges. To make the scalloped edges, change your hook to one size smaller than the one you used for your hat and:

Row n+1 (where n is the last row on your hat): YO (if you are using different color yarn, if not, and still using the same yarn,  skip to Chain 1), Chain 1, *SC and HDC on one stitch, HDC and SC on next stitch*, scallop made. Repeat * until you have covered the edge of the hat in scallops.

 I also added a flower using this pattern on Ravelry (I think you have to be logged in to view the pattern). Then comes the fun part, adding the hair! My method was a little rudimentary: 

STEP 1: I  held a piece of yarn at the back of Bonnie's head where the hat meets the nape;

STEP 2: Stretched the yarn to the length I want Bonnie's hair to be and then doubled that length and cut the yarn. 

STEP 3: I then cut more pieces of yarn of the same length as that first piece. The number of pieces you need will depend on how think you want the hair to be. 

STEP 4: Then I attached it to the hat from the side, to the back, to other side, like this:

I bunched my yarn pieces in groups of 3... then using a large crochet hook, I  inserted one end from the inside of the hat through one of the stitches at the bottom.. and then inserted the end again on the next stitch. 

STEP 5: Repeat until all your yarn pieces are hanging from the hat. 

STEP 6: Then part 'hair' in the middle, and secure with pony tails. Yep, the only thing securing the hair to the hat is the pony tail holder. 

I used non-slip pony tail holders for Bonnie's Hat to make sure Andrea does not accidentally undo the pony tail and pull out all of Bonnie's 'hair'. I was so excited about this after I finished because I couldn't wait to make more 'hair' hats for Bonnie! I'm already working out several ideas in my head.

Linking up to the following parties:

Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. |