• Crochet - hats - red hats

    All good things must come to an end…

    October 31, 2019 - By 

     

    The American Heart Association has ended its Little Hats Big Hearts program. Many of us who made hats for the organization were concerned. The hats that were already sent to the AHA will be donated. Those of us who hadn’t sent in our hats were looking for other organizations that would accept the hats. In the Little Hats Big Hearts Illinois group, another organization’s founders said they would gladly accept the hats. This isn’t the first time that a program has ended and won’t be the last. When one door closes another opens. Several years ago, another program which asked knitters and crocheters to make items for special Olympians ended. That was the first year that the women in a shelter also received a scarf along with other goodies that were donated from my church.

    While both of these endings made me sad, there are dozens of other organizations that seek handcrafted items made with love and would be ready to receive them. Some organizations are local or very small but they are out there.

    For a few days I was concerned that I wouldn’t have a place to donate 75 red baby hats to, but that didn’t stop me from making other items. Everything I make will eventually find a good home.

    Just keep going! Don’t get discouraged when you don’t like the yarn you are working with, put it aside and work on another project. Try a different hook or pattern with the yarn and the project will practically fly off your hook, There may be crafting setbacks, learn from the experience and move on.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - hats - red hats

    Inspiration is everywhere

    August 3, 2019 - By 

    A few weeks ago, I found a crochet-a-long for an afghan that piqued my interest because the center section would allow me to make a creative top down hat. I made a hat with a few modifications to the center section of the afghan because I didn’t want it to be too big. It was ok and on the smaller side, but the next one I made worked out beautifully, then I decided to make a third with a change in the pattern – same basic premise and it also turned out well.

    As I’ve mentioned before, patterns are like recipes. Instead of moving forward with the afghan crochet a long, I was inspired to use the beginning techniques to make a hat. I like the flexibility of the bottom up or brim up hat, but I like how the top down hats seem to be warmer and have fewer holes in them in the crown.

    I was online and saw the first portion of the Study of Planet Earth afghan and thought I could use that in making a top down hat that would be warm. I changed things a little bit since I’m making smaller hats and I know that the crown should be in the four inch range. The techniques used in the video can be adapted for an adult hat since the crown is larger. Once I got to the proper diameter of approximately four inches for the crown, then the decreases stop and I just continue crocheting in the round, until the hat is the right height, then single crochet in the last round or two.

    Since I’ve almost met my goal for scarves (four in progress as I’ve been concentrating on little red hats) I’ve been thinking of donating to the Seamen’s Christian Institute. I want to make sure that I follow the guidelines of an organization before sending any item. On their page there are several patterns, mostly for knitted garments. The Seafarer’s scarf seems enticing and I’m interested in challenging myself to create a crochet version. There are a couple of different ways to do it, but I’m up for the challenge. The knitted pattern has the dimensions listed and that will be my starting point for the crochet version. As much as I’ve searched Google and Ravelry, I can’t find a crocheted version of the Seafarer’s scarf. As I always say – patterns are suggestions. The approximate dimensions are given for the knit patterns as well as suggested yarn weight. To me, as a crocheter that means challenge accepted.

    Now all I have to do is pick a color and make sure I have enough for a hat and scarf. Stay tuned!

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - hats

    Met my scarf goal… now what?

    July 18, 2019 - By 

    Forty nine completed scarves as of today, July 18, 2019. My goal was to make and give away 50 scarves this year. I have 49 completed scarves. I don’t know how that happened. This has happened before where I just finish something and then begin a new project or two after putting the last one away and not thinking about my goal being met. I guess I just lost count.

    The way that I discovered that I had two additional scarves was when I decided to consolidate my storage and put them all into one container. I counted the finished scarves several months ago and put 20 into one of the containers that I use. When it was full, I put the completed scarves in different nooks and crannies in my home. This weekend, I gathered them up to transfer them all to my workroom, which is when I discovered 2 scarves that were hanging out in another container.

    The red hat tally has also been inching upward. The goal for hats is 60 and currently I have 50 with two in progress. I reached the end of my preferred red yarn that I used for hats so I ordered more and it is ready to be used.

    This isn’t the first time that I have found more completed works in my workroom. My friends in my knitting group and my family members tease me about my crocheting speed. I don’t think I am that fast. But I guess I don’t think about how quickly I work and actually complete projects. Which may be why I have no problem taking things apart when I am not satisfied with how they look.

    I need to set new goals. Maybe I will reset my scarf goal to 75 and 10 adult hats. Then when I meet the red hat goal, extend that as well. There are still a few things that I have been planning and want to do before the end of the year – dyeing yarn with egg dye, making a color block scarf with some odd lots of yarn from previous projects and purging more yarn from my work stash that I don’t like to make more room for completed projects.

    Happy Crocheting!