A Hat and a Shawl

I have a few more yarn projects to show you. I really should post some more variety, but besides school, it's all I've been doing lately.

I made Maxton a hat from this pattern, Knotty but Nice. I made a few mistakes and even dropped a few stitches, which I've never done before. However, you can't really tell so I didn't frog back. This is my 2nd cabled project. My first is mostly done, just waiting for some fabric flowers before I show it off.

I pretty much followed the pattern until the decreases, which I did a little differently. Maxton loves it and thinks its soft, even though it's wool, which is pretty much a miracle.



My 2nd project is a small shawl, which I like to wrap around my neck, sort of cowl style. It's crochet, which was a fun diversion from all the knitting I've been doing, and it is based on this pattern, My Blue Jeans Shawl. I had a terrible time interpreting the written pattern, because I would always forget where I was in the sequence, so I charted this one out too, with a few small changes. I'm sharing the chart with you, in case anyone wants to try it. You can add as many pattern repeats as you want.

Incidentally, I love the first picture. I think it's my new favorite shot of myself (Thanks, Mom!). I've been slowly loosing weight a bit, so it's nice to see my face a little leaner. The brooch is one I inherited from my Grandma Jensen and I finally figured out how to wear it, which makes me happy.

Crochet Headband

I know you all are probably sick of my yarn projects, but I cannot stop making them. I really need to get pictures of some of the things I've been doing, but it's hard when I have to get someone else to take pictures of me--plus I have to get all ready and wear makeup and that just doesn't happen that often. But today I got Aubrey ready for church (I didn't go--migraine for the 2nd day in a row) and put on her new crochet headband and had to take pictures of her.

This is a super easy project. I based mine from two posts from the blog Creativeyarn. You can see them here and here. She has directions, but I thought I would share what I did. It's the same basic concept, but adjustable for size.

Ok, first make a chain. It needs to long enough to fit around your head, plus about 1/2". Chain is stretchy, but don't stretch it too much to get your measurement. A little is fine, but not to full stretching capacity.

ROW 1: Single stitch in the 2nd chain from hook. Single stitch for about two inches, then start chaining again. Chain until you are about 2" from the end of the foundation chain, then join with foundation chain with single stitch and single stitch to the end. Turn.

ROW 2: Chain 1. Do the same thing again (single stitch along the singles you've already made), then chain until you get to your single stitches again, join and single stitch along until you have about an inch left. Then chain four or five stitches (this will form your button hole--make sure your button will fit through it), then join again, leaving at least two single chains at the end. Single stitch in remaining stitches. Turn.

ROW 3: Chain 1. Single stitch along previous row and in chain you formed for button hole until you get to the end of your single chains. Then chain again to match the two strands you already did, join with single stitches and single stitch to the end. Add a button on side without button hole. Weave in ends.

If you're visual like me, here's a chart. If you haven't done any crocheting from a chart, I highly recommend it. This is a great pattern to start with, because it's super simple.

Um, yeah, another knit hat

I might have been neglecting some other things I'm supposed to be doing to do more knitting. I don't have a project lined up, so maybe I will take a break and finish a kit or something.

I had to show you my most recent hat. I love the swirly design. I got the pattern from a blog (Hurricane Hat Pattern), and it is so fab! Love it. I was a little worried, because I haven't done too much knitting from other people's patterns, but I'm slowly learning to read them. It was tough, because I added the stripes. I started out with just the pink wool, but then it looked like cheap acrylic yarn and I got confused on a few stitches, so I decided to frog it back to the ribbing and try it with the stripes. That was David's brilliant suggestion and I adore the way it turned out. It's a bit of a challenging pattern, because it is not at all forgiving. You have to make each stitch perfectly, or it's going to show up. I wish the pictures showed it a bit more, but the purl stitches in the middle of the gray stripe continue in a swirling pattern to the center. After a few lesser frogging episodes (you know, taking out two or three inches instead of 5), I finally finished. I'm happy I will have a hat I made myself to wear on the way taking the kids to school--it is very cold at 8:00 in the morning, but I don't think I'm going to be repeating this pattern again anytime soon.

Finally, Some Pictures of Knitting Projects

I've been having a lot of fun figuring out different knitting techniques. I'm slowly learning. My first real project was a knit scarf, which is not quite long enough and just boring ribbed knits and black, but it gave me a lot of practice. Next, I tried a hat that was way too small to fit anyone who hadn't just emerged from a womb. I try not to get frustrated with those types of mistakes and instead see them as necessary practice to move up the learning curve--which is a stuffy way of telling myself to stop cursing over projects: there are children nearby. After that hat, I was fairly confident I could repeat it in a more adult size, and I was intrigued by the idea of stranding, so I did four hats using the technique. Stranding is making some stitches a different color from other stitches. I made Christmas gifts for my brothers and my husband doing different types of two color stranding. The one I made David was unfortunately too small, so I did another one that would actually fit.

It's far from perfect, but here is David in his new hat:

Argyle is surprisingly hard to keep straight, but I figured it out eventually. I wish I had insisted on getting pictures of my brothers in their hats, but it was Christmas and they were mostly crashed on the couch all day.

I did all the hats on flat needles, then doing a seam up one side. I wanted to try circular needles next. This is my first project on circular needles, using up some scraps and leftover bits from past crocheting projects. When I do it again, I'm going to do the decreases a little bit differently, but it turned out pretty cute, I think. Aubrey just woke up from her nap (she was barfing a lot last night) and it fits, which is pretty much a miracle, considering my track record, and very cute.