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Lobster hat a cute catch at Shipyards Night Market

Rona Schwartz has transplanted her colourful “garden” of hand-knit baby hats from Nova Scotia to North Vancouver.

Rona Schwartz has transplanted her colourful “garden” of hand-knit baby hats from Nova Scotia to North Vancouver.

Schwartz sells adorable bounty from her company Granny’s Garden – tiny hats in the likeness of fruits and veggies – every Friday night on the North Vancouver waterfront.

Her garden patch of toques and hats are encircled by a miniature white picket fence set up at Schwartz’s booth inside the Pipe Shop, part of the Shipyards Night Market, running every Friday from now until September 29.

After she retired, on a whim Schwartz started knitting a hat.

“And somebody said, ‘Oh, that’s so cute,’” recalls Nova Scotia native Schwartz, who now calls the Seymour area home.

The ball of yarn started rolling from there and soon Schwartz was being commissioned to make cute baby gifts.

Schwartz’s hat collection has grown beyond the garden and now includes inspiration from ice cream, other sweet treats and the ocean.

Basically, if a creature or culinary item will look cute on a kid, Schwartz will knit it.

Granny’s Creatures are animal-themed baby hats featuring a ladybug, monkey, fish, lamb, bumble bee, bunny or chicken.

“I have a hat which is really popular on the East Coast, it’s a little lobster hat,” explains Schwartz.

“It’s a navy and white striped hat with a separate lobster sitting on top of it. The lobster is tied on, not sewn on, so it can be removed and then you have a little lobster.”

Schwartz’s hats are made from acrylic or cotton and the average cost is $25.

If it’s a hint of edge you’re after, Schwartz has a popular black hat with pink skull on the front.  

The Shipyards Night Market features a farmers and artisan marketplace, with more than 100 vendors, as well as a wide variety of local food trucks and live entertainment starting at 5 p.m.

Schwartz says she enjoys the Shipyards Night Market because it’s reminiscent of the one she would go to in Halifax which was also on the waterfront.

Her go-to food truck is the Thai one.  

“I get the cashew chicken, load it up with peanuts and I’m a happy camper,” says Schwartz.