TIS THE SEASON FOR VEGETABLES

I took some time off from beading to knit this cute fruit cap for Seth, the latest addition to our extended family.  I combined patterns by Ann Norling and Michele Sabatier for my version.  Ann's pattern calls them fruit caps but the yarn I chose makes it look more like an eggplant cap. I actually chose the eggplant color because it was closest I could find to the maroon color of his dad's favorite college.

 I wrapped the hat in a conventional wrapping paper but it didn't look very special so I got creative.  First I crocheted some mini-vegeatbles.

crocheted vegetables from left: cherry tomatoes, eggplant, corn,  and mushrooms

I found a lot of crocheted food patterns at Crochetpatterncentral.com.  For my purposes, Sheepdogsfleece had some patterns for cherry tomatoes, corn, and mushrooms that provided a good starting point for my experiments.  I couldn't find an eggplant pattern the right size so I made up my own.  Here it is:

Crocheted Eggplant

Small amounts of worsted-weight yarn in purple and green

Fiberfill or cotton balls

Size F crochet hook

Eggplant Body

Round 1)  With purple yarn, make a magic adjustable ring and put 5 sc in the circle

Round 2)  2 sc in each sc (10 stitches)

Round 3)  *1 sc in next stitch, 2 sc in stitch after that* 5 times (15 stitches)

Round 4-10)  Work 15 sc around.  Stuff eggplant as you go along.

Round 11)  *1 sc, 1 decrease* 3 times (12 stitches) 

Round 12) Work 12 sc around

Round 13)  *1sc, 1 decrease* 3 times (9 stitches)

Round 14) *1 sc, 1 decrease* 3 times (6 stitches)   Fasten off and sew hole

                       together.

Stem

Round 1)  With green yarn, make a magic adjustable ring and put 3 sc in the

                       ring.

Round 2)  2 sc in each stitch (6 stitches)

Round 3)  2 sc in each stitch (12 stitches)

Round 4)  *1 sc, 1 increase* 6 times (18 stitches).  Slip stitch to 1 st stitch

                      and fasten off.

Sew wide end of stem to the eggplant body

After I finished crocheting the vegeatables, I put the hat in a brown paper bag, strung the corn, cherry tomatoes, and eggplant on twine and ribbon, and put 2 holes through the bag.  I then tied a knot in the twine and ribbon.

The front of the present

For the back of the present, I made a tag that said "Fresh Produce from the Recklies Farm, Brooklyn, NY".  I then strung the tag on the twine and put 1 mushroom on each end of the twine and ribbon and tied it shut.

The back of the wrapped present

I sent the package on its merry way and am now waiting to hear how Seth (and his undoubtedly overworked parents) likes his new hat.