Longies, Shorties and Cuties...

I love longies or shorties, possibly because I love to knit, and I love seeing little baby legs crawling around in beautifully knit diaper covers... so cuddly, old fashioned and cute.

Another great thing about wool covers is that they are super absorbent, wool can absorb 30% of it's weight in moisture before it starts to feel wet, and it also has amazing insulating properties keeping the wearer cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 

These qualities make wool an ideal material for natural, eco-friendly diaper covers.  Baby will stay dry and comfortable longer and the soft wool will not irritate sensitive infant skin.

SO click on any of these pictures to be taken to the Etsy shops that made these cute creations, or search for longies, shorties, or soakers and use the tag etsyclothdiaper as well to find sellers from the Etsy Cloth Diaper team.

Sherpa Hat with Aztec Design

I knit several hat of this pattern before Christmas.  The original pattern can be found here.  I wanted a different look for one of my sons, as he requested a mohawk hat, as I couldn't find any good patterns or instructions for the look I wanted,  I modified the original pattern to what I wanted... Here are the directions and chart for what I did.

On this Oh Snappi hat pattern, or any basic stockinette hat pattern, begin chart where you want your pattern to start.  It is a simple 2 color pattern worked in repeats of 12 stitches.  The pattern is 11 rows in length.  To add the mohawk, I blocked the hat, then layed it flat to find the center.  I started just above the colorwork pattern and used 3 strands of yarn cut about 6 inches long.  I looped them through the center stitch, making sure to get both legs of the stitch.  You add them just like latching a rug.  Pull center of yarn strips through your knit stitch with a crochet hook, then thread the ends through the loop and pull till yarn is secure.  Do this all the way up the hat until you get to the top of the pattern in the back of the hat (see picture).  After all your "Mohawk" strings have been looped on, simply lay it out flat again and give them a hair cut to desired length and to make them even.  I did not use anything to stiffen the mohawk, and it seems to be staying up and holding up well with lots of wear.

You are welcome to share this, but you may not sell this chart, it is available for anyone to use free of charge.  

Feel free to comment with any questions, or leave a picture of your own project.