Two hats. One for a friend of Peanut, age 2, and the other for her baby-brother-to-be. Starting with the base hats, then working up dog ears and embroidery for eyes and noses, a la Hello Kitty Hats of the past.

I have noticed that, in this cotton yarn, I need fewer stitches than the pattern calls for to get hats the proper size. So here is my basic recipe for the baby and toddler hats:

Notes:
Baby Hat - Cast on 56.
2x2 rib, 16 rounds.
Stockinette 18 rounds.
Decrease 8 sts every other round until there are 16 sts left.
Work one more row of decreases and close top of hat.
Work ears and face.

Toddler Hat - Cast on 64.
2x2 rib, 22 rounds.
Stockinette 22 rounds.
Decrease 8 sts every other round until there are 16 sts left.
Work one more row of decreases and close top of hat.
Work ears and face.

Ears:
I kind of cobbled the ears together. The first pair, I knit flat, starting with 7sts, increasing then decreasing, joining inside color and reversing the process until I was back to 7 sts. Then I sewed the sides together.

For the second pair, I worked intarsia in the round, starting with 7 brown sts, and 5 purple sts. Same thing, increased then decreased, but I made them slightly longer and a touch wider for the bigger hat. I definitely like them better without the side seams, but the knitting was much more fiddle-y!