FO: Angry Birds Hat

So my grandson, who’ll turn three next month, is crazy for the game Angry Birds. The story goes that he even fixed the internet connection on his mom’s phone once when he was 2 so he could play. So what do you give a 3-year-old gaming superstar? (It’s a rhetorical question.)

Unfortunately, the only kid sized mannequin available for a photo op had a head that wasn’t exactly head-shaped. So the hat is stretched over a block-shaped head with Bart Simpson hair… which would be fine if it was a Bart Simpson hat (hmm…) But hopefully you get the idea. Perhaps when the hat is unveiled Young Sir will consent to be photographed in it and I’ll get a better shot.

Anyway, the particulars are that the yarn is mostly Plymouth Encore Chunky, with a touch of Cascade 128 Superwash (left over from the Question Everything Hat) for the beak. Needles were my trusty Hiya Hiya US 10 circulars (except for the eyebrows, which I did flat on Clover US 10 DPNs). The pattern is… not so much. Funny story, that. There was, once upon a time, a pattern on Ravelry and I was hot to buy it because it was better than any of the others I’d found. But nowhere on the Ravelry page was there a link to be found or any other indication of how one might purchase this fine knitting pattern. So in the fullness of time (actually just a couple of days) I emailed the designer to inquire as to its availability. And regrettably, the makers of the Angry Birds video game took exception to this work and not for nothin’ would they license it for sale. So what you see here is a reverse engineering effort done from the photos from Ravelry along with whatever other graphics I could find. Which means I can’t tell you how I did it because (a) Big Brother at Big Video Game Company would probably send Green Pigs after me and (b) I honestly can’t remember because I was winging it (pun intended). But in a general way…

For the most part, it’s just your basic beanie until you get to the bottom where the white part starts. I’d never done intarsia in ribbing before… or actually at all except for one other time. Feathers on the head and the tail are done in Magic Loop sort of like you’d do the fingers of a glove. The beak is just a basic cone stuffed with polyfill and the eyes and eyebrows were done flat and sewn on with black yarn (so as to get the outline around the white). For sizes you can use the usual size charts for hats… I shot for 16" for this one and based the gauge on the finished dimension I was going for. (Yes, I know that’s doing it backward, but if you don’t have a pattern to begin with does it matter?)

OMG that’s great. You’ll be a hero.

That’s a fantastic hat! :thumbsup:

An amazing hat!! Thanks for the details.

A true one-of-a-kind masterpiece for a huge little fan–and may the Angry Bird folks find something else besides THIS to go be angry about!

Bravo, Mojo, goodo jobo! (Sorry, it started and I couldn’t make it quito! STOP it!)

There was, once upon a time, a pattern on Ravelry and I was hot to buy it because it was better than any of the others I’d found. But nowhere on the Ravelry page was there a link to be found or any other indication of how one might purchase this fine knitting pattern. So in the fullness of time (actually just a couple of days) I emailed the designer to inquire as to its availability. And regrettably, the makers of the Angry Birds video game took exception to this work and not for nothin’ would they license it for sale.

Rovio was brilliant to give away a game that became a craze and then cash in on the marketing that it created though I suspect there was a fair bit of luck involved as well. It seems to me that you can make Angry Birds items as much as you want as long as you don’t sell them; you can give away patterns and the things you’ve made as long as no profit is involved. I guess if someone wanted to put together a kit and sell the yarn but included the pattern for free it might be allowed. Selling the pattern would be the big no no. Copyrighting an Angry Birds pattern wouldn’t be possible either. At least there can’t be a copyright infringement for you to deal with. Just never, ever sell an Angry Birds item. Could you charge for your time to make it? I’d seen that pattern and considered buying it but had figured out that selling the pattern was going to be a violation of something and didn’t even try. I wonder if the Angry Birds folk will frequent craft sales and such to watch for someone to pounce on.

Superb!!! He is going to love it!

I suspect you’re right about the luck involved. I mean I’ve never played the game but even I’d heard of it. And if you consider the number of games released every year both pay-to-play and free that never make it, it’s probably only one in a hundred that get to this level.

I’ve seen other patterns around that WERE available, though (a) they were free and (b) I didn’t really like them. There are also licensed ones available on Amazon, but I assume there was a licensing fee involved. But given that I only cared about making one hat for one kid, I figured my best bet was to “come up with something”. And I was pretty sure that I could do that, and if [I]I[/I] couldn’t Wendy [I]definitely[/I] could. And since the thing’s just not [I]that[/I] complicated anyway, I didn’t figure I had anything to lose by trying. The hard part will be waiting a month to give it to him. (By which time it will probably be too warm for it here in NC.)

Oh, very well done! This really is another triumph to add to the horse and those fabulous chickens. (Maybe don’t let the angry bird see the chickens.)

That is agreat hat!

Oh my oh my!!! Just adorable! Great work!!!

What a wonderful job well done:cheering:

I don’t know anything about angry birds except for a few obstreperous hummingbirds I’ve seen at feeders and some grouchy sea gulls (well maybe a few others). The hat is very clever and certainly has the angry look. I hope the Angry Birds people don’t get too angry, or if they do that at least they can’t do anything to you about it. :lol:

Love it, 200 % angry bird Your grandson will wear it 24/7. If my younger son would wear it too, he’s in his 30’s:woot:

Friggin’ FAN-TAS-TIC!! Good on ya for reverse engineering!!:cheering: :cheering: :cheering:

I’m gonna do the same with one of the new Angary birds in the ice scenes…

Angary birds is a weapon of mass distraction…got three types on all my devices…NOOK, Samsung and Xoom…:slight_smile: