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Patterns are like recipes. If you have an understanding of cooking and what flavors you like then you can make some changes that would suit you. The same goes for patterns. I was looking for a simple newborn baby hat online that I was going to use to teach a group to crochet. I was overly ambitious in what I thought we would be able to accomplish in an hour and I researched several baby hat patterns online. Though I have made dozens of baby hats, I don’t necessarily follow a pattern anymore. There are times when I make what I feel or make something according to the amount of yarn I have left, the amount of time I have or to whip up something quickly that is mindless after the first few rounds or rows.

In searching for a hat that I thought the students could make, I tried out a couple and then followed the basic instructions for the first one, then made it my own. I started with fewer chains in the first round, then didn’t join the rounds as I went along. My gauge didn’t match the others and I just ended up saying keep going around after the first three rounds until it measured approximately 6 inches from the crown. This crocheting epiphany was a miracle. I had shunned working on top down hats because of the increasing. The first hat that I made for myself had a lot of increases, which now that I look back on it, they were unnecessary for subsequent rounds. Instead, I made bottom up hats and decreased or side to side hats and joined them. I am not a fan of joining, but it was much better than increasing every other row.

Now that I have a pattern that I like, I used it to make my own hat, which I really like and have discovered that I can use the same basic foundation rows for the crown and then use other stitches for the body of the hat. Depending on the stitch pattern for the body, I have also made adjustments and added a couple of stitches so that the hat will still stretch and fit a baby’s head – approximately – with a 13 inch circumference and possibly fit a baby’s head up to 15 inches when stretched.

Here’s my B3 Hat pattern [basic baby beanie]:

Round 1
Chain 4, slip stitch (sl st) in first chain to form a loop, crochet 12 double crochet (dc) into loop – (12dc); slip stitch to join circle (12 stitches in circle)
Round 2
Chain 2 (counts as a stitch here and throughout),
1 double crochet in same st as chain stitch (cs),
2 double crochet in next stitch & in each stitch around, slip stitch in top of chain to join – (24 stitches in circle)
Round 3
Chain 2, 2 double crochet in next stitch,
1 double crochet in next stitch, 2 double crochet in next stitch
repeat from * to * until end [2 double crochet in every other stitch], slip stitch in top of chain to join – (36 stitches in circle);
Chain 2, then
Continue working 1 double crochet in each stitch until hat reaches approximately 6 inches from crown to brim.
Fasten off with a single crochet stitch and weave in all tails.

If you want to do something other than double crochet for the body, after round 3 get fancy. I did one with 2frontpost/2backpost ribbing and another with single crochet. The possibilities are endless now that I have the basic crown under my belt.

Let me know how this pattern works out for you!

Happy crocheting

The afghans are finished and ready to go. So am I. There are so many skeins I want to use and new patterns and techniques to try. I’m interested in cables. Technically, this wouldn’t be simple postwork, frontpost/backpost, because they twist and turn into cables. I’m quite sure that cabling patterns will be yarn eaters, but I have a lot of yarn. 

I also have plans for some striped scarves akin to their mystery yarn relations but with black, a couple of rows of color, then black, more color and maybe even fringe or tassels which I haven’t done in a while. Scarves and hats are a sabbatical year for me… Quite freeing. This will allow me to explore, dig deeper and challenge myself in ways I haven’t in a while.

I have started making a few hats as a test for a simple teaching pattern which I will share in the near future. This hat works up well and I can use the first few rounds as a foundation to fancier hats as well. As the year progresses, I may amend or add to my goal but it’s like being a kid in a candy store, or in my case a lady in her working yarn stash. I can make what I want and what I want to make are scarves… dozens of them in 2019. Bliss!

We made it out of the sub-zero temperatures today and the weekend is supposed to climb above freezing. For two days we were able to work from home, which means I was quite productive and drank all the coffee I wanted from a mug, not a thermal container. I didn’t finish the scarf to accompany my hat. I started it and worked on a few rows and I like it. The first iteration of the hat was nice, but I decided that I didn’t like it, so I ripped out a bit and made it so it would fit more snugly to my head (also allowing for ease and stretching). I finished up a scarf and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the last afghan. Then I feel like I can just let loose and really try some things. When I was searching for the yarn for the hat and scarf, I found some natural yarn that I bought for dyeing. I have drink mixes and food coloring ready for my endeavors. I forgot to search for Easter egg dye after this past Easter so I may keep some yarn in reserve so that I can dye some yarn in bright colors.

The pictures are proof that I made a hat and though the pattern is similar, the one on the left is the one I ripped out and the right is the one I decided to keep (and wear).

The fresh air was nice, especially after not leaving home since Tuesday. The trek to the train was quite warm especially since my building is toasty.

More finished projects to come…

Happy crocheting!

Today is definitely the day! Since the temperatures are sub-zero in Chicago (-22 degrees F as of this writing), my office is closed for the next two days. Initially, it was only Wednesday, now we are closed for Thursday as well. Many places of business are also closed. Even Hamilton cancelled its Wednesday shows and museums are closed. It’s that cole. The farthest I would even venture out would be to the local coffee shop about a block away and they announced yesterday on social media and at the café that they were closing because of the temperatures today. Mail has been suspended in my area as well. I have done some work at home remotely, and have a few other things that I will work on but I’m excited to start a set for me, a new one in Scarfie. I found where I stored the yarn that I received as a gift a couple of years ago. I know which hook I want to use and I’m not putting it off any longer. I’ve made things for other people out of it, but never myself.

I did make one baby hat, I found a simple top down hat and I believe will change things for me. The first few top down hats that I made were complicated in the increases – increase 3, every third stitch or something that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. This one increases the stitches every other stitch which makes for a more even circle and less for me to rip out if I miscount.

The deadline for the afghans is Sunday and though I have more than enough for the shelter, I want to finish this one so I can take off on the rest of my goal for the year and work on some new techniques. I’m pleased with the finished mystery ball afghan and have some ideas about how to do some future ones incorporating a short stretch of neutral between each color change. There are a few scarves that I could finish – just a few rows left and not enough to take with me because I would need two projects. [I do the same with books, if I have fewer than 30 pages to read, I don’t want to carry it with me on public transportation because I know I will finish up and need another.]

I’ve planned ahead, I have lots of food available and warm beverages oh and of course, yarn.

Happy crocheting and for my fellow crafters in the path of the Polar vortex- stay warm!

My grandmother would call it mismatched. I call it colorful. Two full balls of mystery yarn and an additional handful has allowed me to make this interesting afghan. After a couple of false starts I really like what I see. There are a lot of colors and after a few rows of black, I think it needs some a few more rows of color then finish it in black. Previous afghans that I made from mystery yarn, I did two stranded which ended up being too bulky and I didn’t like working with two strands of worsted. The initial color runs were very long, but as the project grew the sections of color weren’t too long.

A couple of rows of color to break up the monotony of the black border without making it overpowering will be nice. There are some leftover mini balls from scarves which will add a zip of color, though I may join as I go instead of making them into balls, especially since I only need enough for two or three rows.

The bold sections of color are not something that I would have dared chance in the last, but so many scrapghans and other projects that use lots of color make this fun. This will not use all of my odd balls, but there will be a few left over. The ultimate goal is a bold unique gift.

The yarn has arrived for the hats, no hats have been made yet since the deadline for the afghans is in early Feb. Then the hat making extravaganza will begin. I’m hoping for a snow day soon, where work is called off and I can snuggle up with some yarn and movies at home. Since I still have to go to work, snow and freezing temperatures, I have a scarf that I have been working on during my lunch break. This is the one that I ripped twice before settling into a pattern that I thought looked nice for this yarn. Since it’s not postwork and I like how quickly this pattern works up, I may do a few more, especially since the amended goal was to not do as much postwork.

Happy stitching!

Two scarves have been completed toward this year’s goal. What I have discovered is that I like doing a lot of postwork. Different variations of the basketweave and shell stitches are my “go to” patterns. The first scarf that I completed this year was a pattern that I hadn’t tried before and I worked on both sides of the chain so it would be symmetrical and balanced. I worked it horizontally so that the stitch definition could really be seen.

I think as an addendum to this goal, I will make at least half of the scarves in something other than basketweave (or some variation of two or three backpost/frontpost). The beauty of this year’s scarf goal is that I can try so many new patterns, and for wider motifs, if I work the scarf horizontally, there are more options.

In addition to the two scarves that I’ve completed, I have four more in various stages of completion. (I like all of them, so I will finish them.) One I had to buy more yarn, it’s a different dye lot so I will put the odd lot between the matching ones; one I started but decided to add a complimentary color so that it will be long enough; one I started working on during a talk and intermission of a show, and another I was eager to work on because I really liked the yarn that I got for my birthday. My crocheting is like my reading… Several things going at once and a succession of things being finished all around the same time.

I have an afghan that I need to finish but it’s not that exciting to me unless I work on it in long spurts. Another I needed to start, because I want to have an even number to donate. Initially, the mystery multi color balls (from scrap yarn balls) seemed like they would look great as a center puff Granny style afghan and then finish it with black. After a couple of false starts because no matter what I did, the motif started curling on the edges I decided to just make a large Granny Square. I like that much better and it’s off to a good start, with all of the color changes that are flowing together.

The yarn for the hats finally arrived, actually I finally ordered, it arrived rather quickly. Now I can start working on some hats. I do not have enough to do all of the 60 hats but it will make a good dent in the lot. The goal to finish the afghans is mid February, so I’ll have to put in a few movie nights and get going. Then it will be full speed ahead for the hats as well…

My goal this year was 40 scarves, as many hats and I could make from the red yarn I purchased for the baby hats and make enough afghans for each person in the shelter that my church supports. I will have enough afghans to donate, but the shelter closed, so we are choosing another and I have decided to round the number up to 20 afghans for the shelter (along with 20 scarves).

Little red hats were a priority since the deadline was December 31, but since the office is closed and my last day of work for the year was the week before Christmas, I rushed to complete hats. When I counted up how many little red hats I had, there were 19. Nineteen is such an odd number, so I finished up another hat. The additional hat helped me achieve my goal which was to make as many hats as I could from the yarn I had without running out. When I tallied up the scarves that I made then it was time to get the crochet hook flying. The only deadline for those was a personal one. I have 40 complete as of this writing and will likely finish another by the time the clock strikes midnight.

I would have completed my goal of 40 hats sooner, but I made 5 adult hats to accompany scarves for a project, and a another set for a last minute Christmas gift, so I think overall 2018 was a crocheting success!

My other goal of getting to a local yarn shop in 2018 didn’t happen. This will be a craft goal for 2019. Using yarn from my working stash went very well and I plan to keep using up yarn and combining yarns to use up larger leftover bits. I did get some yarn for Christmas in my stocking and will get some for my birthday but I already made two scarves from yarn that I got from Christmas so I would say it’s good progress.

Happy crafting in the new year!

Red is the color of giving.

My first shipment of red items is out the door.

My maternal grandmother’s favorite color was red. Even her kitchen was decorated in red and white. She was a very generous person who taught me that regardless of how much or how little you have, you can always help others and spread kindness. I think of her often when I am working on the red scarves and hats because of the color association, but also because she taught me to give to others. I prepared the scarves and added notes of encouragement.

The next project that I have is to finish a scarf to accompany a hat for a project for the homeless. As I like to say, if you make it they will come. Since I have been making hats for adults, I have been looking at other people in my local coffee shop and on the bus and train to see how adults wear their hats. Not just when it is super cold (and all fashion sense or pretense of fashion sense, goes out the window) but when it is moderately cold and you wear a hat to be more comfortable, not just as a necessity. There are skull caps, toques, slouchy hats and dozens of styles of hats. It’s interesting to see how other people wear hats and I have tried my hand at a few different styles. The same style can look dramatically different with heavier or lighter yarn. I’ve tried all of them and they are warm. I hope the recipients enjoy them as well.

Sticking to the plan of making the hat first and then make the scarf, so I don’t shortchange the hat in length (also to ensure that it will cover the wearer’s ears), I found that I made a mistake in one of the scarves. I left the hat at home because it was already done, so I started what I thought was the same pattern. Nearly a third of the scarf was complete when I compared it with the pattern in the hat, then I discovered that it wasn’t the same. The yarn is the same and the pattern is similar, but it’s a beautiful happenstance, I didn’t rip it out because I like it. Next time, I will look at a picture of the hat before I start working on the scarf.

Crocheting is a fun an enjoyable pastime, so I do it for fun. When I was in my local coffee shop today, the barista asked me if someone made my hat and scarf for me. I said I did. Oh, it’s nice, do you make them to sell? No, I made a lot of things, but most of the things I make to give away. It was refreshing to say that. Though I set lots of deadlines and crochet goals for myself, it’s nice to have something that I don’t HAVE to do, but rather, I want to do it. Even when I make something in the wrong stitch pattern, I still have progress that I can mark. Plus, after each project, I gain new experience and can share what I have learned with other crafters.

Give, because you want to, not because you HAVE to…