Orange Crochet Baby Hat. Almost as good as tomato hats

I never got a photo of the two cute little tomato hats I made a while ago. They were both used, but neither set of proud parents managed to get a photo of his be-hatted sprog before it grew out of the tomato hat. "Useless" is the word that springs to mind.

The hats seemed to have gone down well, especially with Al's brother, who asked me to make a bigger hat for little Maya, but requested that I make it an orange instead.

Thanks to the lovely Craftster forum people, I came up with the bright idea of making the hat using the orange peel stitch that Jan Eaton uses in her 200 Crochet Blocks book.

I think it came out pretty well - though I ended up over-estimating the size and produced something that almost fits me (as you can see in the pic). However, Maya's growing like a fast-growing thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if it fits her soon. Though, no doubt, now she can speak she may have something to say about being made to wear a comedy hat.

I learned a useful lesson while making this hat, which I can't believe I hadn't learned earlier: never iron acrylic wool. It goes floppy and lifeless and there's no getting it back once you've killed it.

The hat's still wearable - it's just a bit limp.