Some people don’t like to crochet or knit during the summer months when it’s hot, or will switch to lighter weight yarns. What I’ve noticed just from looking at pictures of sets that I’ve made from the past few years, certain patterns or motifs are seasonal. Or, at times I become fixated on a pattern and try it out in different yarns.
I make a few specific patterns during the summer months because I want to try something different and generally I will have reached the halfway point of my goal and don’t want to get bored. I’ll make something I’d like to try in a particular yarn. Maybe it’s the yarn I have and have used before or want to improve upon something. Whatever it is, I’ll notice there might be two or three of the same designs or maybe slight alterations or modifications to a certain design or motif because of something I’ve seen or revisited in one of my pattern books, or got an idea from YouTube. Whatever it is, it seems like I haven’t made that in a while so I’ll make certain patterns. As long as it’s something that is fun and I’m still enjoying what I do who cares?
Now I’m in a period where I am using up different colors not necessarily small amounts where they’re oddballs but combining different yarns for a small a bit of a color or mini skeins where combined if it’s enough to make a hat and scarf set but too much just for a hat. Some experiments are more interesting than others. I have some mini skeins I bought two sets and combined similar colors in the same color family to make a hat and scarf set with charcoal as a neutral. I think I’ll do that again with another color family and a lighter gray. As I keep trying things and experimenting with yarn in my working stash, I have a better idea of what I want to make with the mystery ball of yarn that I’m creating. Instead of using it alone, I would likely combine it with one of my current favorite neutrals – charcoal to pull it all together.
For me, sets are for summer, winter, spring and fall… As July closes, I’ve surpassed the halfway point for completed sets (61 and counting) and four scarves. Hats, well, there are only two solo hats so far. The plan is to make a bunch of hats when I have a lot of small remainders from sets in the fall, for very unique, one of a kind colorways. Stay tuned it’ll be a hat making extravaganza in October or so.
Happy crocheting!
A hat pattern that I have memorized this year is 
Though I’ve made dozens of hats, I want to get better at making them. To improve my technique, I look at patterns and stitches to see what I can incorporate into future hats. Particularly I’m looking to see what works, what doesn’t and to develop a better eye for hat making.
My eye for hats hasn’t developed yet. I make plans for afghans and can see the best use of oddballs and color combinations. While hats are smaller, it’s the varied sections: height, crown, brim, circumference means there’s more variables to take into consideration, not to mention style. Is this a close fitting beanie or a slouchy hat? So many options.
A year of hats and scarves – won’t that get boring? Not to me. Many people might find making the same thing over and over again repetitive. To keep the projects interesting, I have been using different yarns and patterns or trying the same pattern with different yarn. Lately I have been making coordinates instead of matching the hats and scarves with the same stitch pattern in both, I have been using the same yarn and changing the stitch pattern. The sets are made for warmth and may be the only warm item a person has, so I try to make the hats that don’t have a lot of eyelets or lacy features. There are many different patterns to use for scarves but to have the pattern also match a skull cap/beanie can be limiting unless the design or pattern focuses on color. A few yarns don’t need a lot to make something unique, especially if they are color changing or novelty.
Instead of matching the hat and scarf in a set, I figured why not try to use a different stitch, with the same yarn: A coordinate, instead of an exact match. The yarn is the same and gives a bit more creative freedom to the process. If there are stripes in the hat, there can be stripes in the scarf, but why not mix the stitches and match the yarn. The results have been pleasing. Especially when there are patterns that don’t necessarily lend themselves to a hat or a scarf. Long rows of ribbing can make a scarf curl on the edges and it won’t necessarily work to make a border when using a color changing yarn. A scarf can have a design with a little openwork and still be warm, a hat, not so much.
I’m at the halfway point of the 60 set goal for 2021! Just completed 30 hat and scarf sets and it’s not even April, and I’m still excited about the project. It’s really not so much about being excited about the project as much as making the sets look unique, especially if I’m using similar yarn.
Last year I decided that I wanted to use up a lot of my working stash, even before the pandemic. That worked well. Now in 2021 – all bets are off. I have taken advantage of sales and bought new yarn while still using some yarn that isn’t set aside for afghans. As much as I crochet and make hats one of my favorite patterns is the basket weave stitch or some variation that includes front and back post stitches. It doesn’t make a difference how many new patterns I try for hats: I like the look even in different yarns.
The beauty of working with yarn that doesn’t have a dye lot is that it’s easy to make a coordinating item or incorporate some of the original color into a hat to make something with stripes or a color block. There are a few unmatched hats and scarves that are going to be donated but I am thinking of working right up to the end of the year since it gets colder in January and many donations are made Christmas time and there’s a lull afterward though the need still remains.
Like many metropolitan areas I’m going to be working from home for a few weeks because of COVID-19. I’ve been planning and have much of what I need, I bought toilet paper when it was on sale several weeks ago, because it was a really great sale and I have a lot of food in my freezer so I’m good. There are at least two bags of coffee beans in my cabinet, as well as lots of tea and hot chocolate.
There are a couple of projects that I have finished since my office closed. I completed a hat to go with a set. Completed a scarf to go with a set, picked up an afghan that had been just sitting by my favorite chair in my living room. I generally work on it during a weekly conference call, but it was shorter than the usual hour, so I only finished a couple of rows. It may get promoted to my movie watching chair in the living room when I finish the other afghan, so I can finish it sooner.
I finally wound the yarn I dyed a few weeks ago with Easter Egg dye and found a bag of eight hanks Lorna’s Laces Bullfrogs & Butterflies in Cat Bordhi’s Ahah! I figured since I had the ball winder and swift out, why not make it worth the effort. In the yarn I dyed, I chose one to use for the hat, as it has once section where the colors blended together more than the others and there’s a section of dark orange/rust. I didn’t wind all of the Lorna’s that I found, just enough for a hat and scarf this time around. I’ll save the other four for another time.
