I think that matching is an underrated declaration of love, so when it was time for me to tackle my list of homemade Christmas presents, I knew a matching Mommy and Mini set would be on my list. I also knew that I would be short on time, so a bulky or super bulky project would be ideal.

• 78g / 78m of Bernat Softee Chunky – a super bulky weight (6) yarn (colour A: Faded Denim)
• 162g / 95m of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick – a super bulky weight (6) yarn (colour B: Fisherman)
• Size 15 (10.00mm) knitting needles (I used ChiaoGoo 100cm circulars)

Pattern by Janine at Knits ‘n Knots

Please note that I sized up to 10.00mm needles instead of the recommended 9.00mm, purely due to what needles I had available. Despite using the bigger needles, I found that the 40 stitch cast-on was smaller than I expected. Instead of being the adult hat, I used it for the child, and followed the pattern as written. For the adult version, I cast on 48 stitches, and added an extra two rounds of decreases (48 to 42 stitches, and 42 to 36 stitchess) before following the rest of the pattern. I will also admit that I did not swatch at all, so that’s on me, and that probably accounts for the size differences that I encountered.

I also added pompoms to both hats, as they felt unfinished to me without them. If you are short on yarn, you could definitely leave them out, as I used 6g of Bernat yarn for the blue pom, and 10g of the Lion Brand yarn for the white pom. I would also add a note of caution that simply using yarn weight is not always the most trustworthy way to select yarn, as the Bernat yarn was substantially thinner than the Lion Brand yarn, even though they were both categorized as Super Bulky.

At any rate, I am very excited to see these two matching hats worn by their recipients! I am a little worried about the fit, as I was taking my best guess for both sizes. I really liked the double brim though, and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to do! For some reason, I had always thought that it would be a tricky technique, like a provisional cast-on or something. Do you like to make handmade gifts for Christmas? Do you have any go-to patterns?

Until next time, happy crafting!