Knitted Earflapper Hat(s) & Bracelet Purse

This story begins in October when I made this little pink purse for my niece Isabel:

Isn't it great? It's felted and uses bracelets for the handles. So I wanted to make something for Zoe as well and with the onset of winter, a hat seemed appropriate. I found a pattern for a child's earflapper hat and made one in black, intending to put cat ears on the top.  About the time I figured out I really don't know how to do cat ears, it occurred to me that the hat would be too small for this three year old. I crocheted a pink edging...

...and found another taker.

 

In the meantime, Aidan saw me knitting this. "Hey! Can you make me one of those??"

What!? My really picky teenage son wants me to make him something to wear? Alrighty then, moms can't let such an opportunity go by...

I found another pattern for adults. There was no gauge shown, so as he has a smallish head, I chose the "woman's" size and went for it. This one was in black with a silver fair isle pattern. Before I was done, it was clear this would in no way fit Aidan's head. But hey, it would probably fit Zoe! I added tassels to the cords and Marji assured me she could sew some embellishments so it would look a bit more feminine.  Still waiting for a photo of the finished product... but here it is the way I sent it:

Shucks, the tassels aren't showing in the picture. Go ahead and take a look at the pink ones above and imagine them in silver here... 

Well then, on with the "man's" size. This one was black with grey and fit much better, however still a bit snug on me. I tried again with the next size larger needles and swapped the colors. By now I pretty much know this pattern fairly well.

For Christmas, wrapped the black one for Aidan which was the color he'd requested, and the grey one for Rich (not that I expect him to wear it!) As soon as they were unwrapped and Aidan discovered the grey one is not as tight, he promptly commandeered the one he wanted.

It gives me a warm fuzzy to see him wearing it. He hasn't worn anything I've made since the button-down shirt in jungle print when he was six. He loved that one and wore it for a long time.


January 6 update: I got a picture!!