Shark Attack!!!!!

Ordinarily when someone approaches me and asks me to knit something as a favor I say NO.  This article pretty much sums it up my reasoning.  People mean well, but they just don't understand.

 

Having said that, during the holidays a young woman approached me after church with some pictures of a crocheted hat she'd seen somewhere, asking if I could make something like that for her.  I laughed, and as she and I share both a birthday and a mutual love of every shark movie ever made I said yes.  There's an exception to every rule!

 

The hat got put on hold until I finished Sean's sweater...and then was further delayed because of the blasted shingles.  Fortunately, I had ordered the yarn shortly after the request, so it was ready to go just as soon as I was.  Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I went to Ravelry for some pattern searching.  There are (not surprisingly) a gazillion crocheted shark hats on Ravelry...but only 9 knit patterns.  Fortunately one, the Fish Hat, was close enough that I could use it as a template to base my shark version on.  You can find a full list of my alterations, which turned out to be fairly substantial, on my Ravelry project page.  I am particularly proud of the fins and tail...which I did in the round to give them a bit more substance and a cleaner look.

 

I'm going to freely admit...I'm not someone who knits a lot of whimsy, although I've always adored knit toy patterns and the like.  This was a super-fun project, and my entire family was even drawn into it.  In fact, I'm ordering more yarn today because my husband MUST have a shark hat of his own!  (He says he's going to wear it everywhere...)

 

The details:

Fish Hat, by Thelma Egberts (link above)

Knit Picks Gloss DK - 3 skeins agean, 1 skein cream

Addi Turbo, US 5/24" and Knit Picks Harmony DPN, US 5

January 26 - February 4, 2015

Pattern changes listed on Ravelry page (link above)