What an interesting hat

So the other night I was all like "I wanna make a hat... Ravelry, show me a hat to make!" and Ravelry said... No.

So I was frustrated and decided, screw you Ravelry and your lack of hats to make instantly, I'll make my own.

Ta Dah! This crocheted hat is a bottom up hat, but with a sweet brim!!

This pattern is pretty simple, I'm not going to lie to you. But I think the end result is like a knitty/crochet-y hat. Want the pattern? Huh? Ok!

Notions:

Yarn: Worsted

Hook: H or however you can achieve the right size for your noggin. Yarn needle.

Abbreviations: st - stitch ch- chain ss- slip stitch sc- single crochet sc2tog- single chain 2 together.

Rd 1: Ch 5

Rd 2: Sc in each ch, ch 1 and turn (5 st)

Rd 3: Sc in back loop only, ch 1 and turn (5 st)

Rd 4-60: Sc in back loop only, ch 1 and turn (5 st)

*Note- you can always crochet more rows if you have a bigger head. I used malabrigo yarn which is a loose wool so I only needed 60 rows. But if you use more rows, you'll have to tweak the decrease, send me an email and I'll help you out with that should you need the assistance.

Rd 61 (This is the joining row!) Hold both ends together and ss to join rd 1 to rd 60. Do not fasten off, turn the brim inside out (which is now right side out) ch 1 and turn.

Rd 1: 1 sc at the base of the ch 1, and sc in each st. ss to join, ch 1, turn (60 st)

Rd 2: sc in each st. ss to join, ch 1 turn (60 st)

Rd 3-15 (or more if you need): sc in each st. ss to join, ch 1 turn (60 st)

Rd 16: sc in next 8 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (54 st)

Rd 17: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (54 st)

Rd 18: sc in next 7 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (48 st)

Rd 19: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (48 st)

Rd 20: sc in next 6 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (42 st)

Rd 21: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (42 st)

Rd 22: sc in next 5 st, sc2tog, Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (36 st)

Rd 23: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (36 st)

Rd 24: sc in next 4 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (32 st)

Rd 25: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (32 st)

Rd 26: sc in next 3 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (24 st)

Rd 27: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (24 st)

Rd 28: sc in next 2 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (18 st)

Rd 29: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (18 st)
Row 30: sc in next 2 st, sc2tog. Repeat 5 more times. ss to join, ch 1 turn (12 st)
Row 31: sc in each st, ss to join. ch 1, turn (12 st)

At this point in my hat, I fastened off and left a long tail. I then took a yarn needle and sewed loosely through each st around and then pulled the tail tight, bringing the hat together without that funny cone effect that sometimes happens with bottom up crochet hats. You can always just continue the decrease as well, whatever makes you happy.

Anywho, I hope you like my pattern! And I hope it works. Send me an email if you have an issue, or just leave me a comment. I'm pretty quick about answering.

Now to pack, so I can go home to the mountains for Christmas!

Hello again!

Alright, I know its been a long time since I've updated; but to be fair, I moved across the country...

I am now officially an Ann Arborite. Which is a pretty significant change from the Rocky Mountain Wonderland that is Salt Lake City, UT. There are no mountains here and while there is a blizzard raging against the Wasatch Front, its sunny and brisk here in the Great Lakes region.

Two months after we moved to Ann Arbor, my lovely man friend and I went to California and got ourselves hitched, and that was pretty life changing too. It was a very successful marriage and the weather was beautiful.

All this life changing stuff made it really hard to update the ol' blog. But don't think that I wasn't hooking and knitting and spinning. That's right... I was knitting too. Because I have no friends in Ann Arbor, I decided that my new best friend would be fiber.

First and foremost, I ventured into the land of home decorations and made a curtain for our kitchen. Living in an apartment complex is really f-ing depressing, and Pete and I didn't even have furniture until October, so anyway, I decided that yarn would make my kitchen feel better and it did.

I got it out of Special Techniques and Stitches and it worked up really really fast (I

actually crocheted it during my lunch breaks at work). It was a pretty easy pattern, but it did eat up a lot of yarn.

When I was done in the kitchen, I decided the try my luck at a new hat. Its pattern that's always evaded my understanding and patience, but I was feeling stubborn...

Its the Lattice Hat, by Sarah Arnold. Its a really unique pattern, and the hat you end up with is thick and oh so warm. But you have to really read the pattern. It gets a bit tricky when you first start to lattice, but once you pick up the pattern its easy and very quick. This is a yarn eater too, so make sure you have a lot before you start in on it.

The pattern also calls for an H hook for the body and a G for the ridge, but I went one hook bigger because 1) I have a huge head and 2) I crochet on the tight side. If you're a little looser, then by all means go with an H, but I would gauge this one out if you don't know your hooks terribly well.

Finally I went into Christmas land right around Turkey day and made Pete and I

Lauren Osborne's Stuffable Stockings to spruce up the fireplace. I got the Pattern from Crochet Today, and while their patterns tend to walk down the cliche road, this one is cute and not stab your eyes out with a blunt object annoying.

I used scraps from my yarn shed and they came out very nicely. When I did the first one it took me a solid five minutes to figure out why my sewing was being so annoying. I then realized I am left handed. And being left handed means sometimes (always) your patterns come out backward. So if you're crocheting on the left side of life, don't get disgruntled, and take a deep breath before you start to sew.

Anyway, I think that's all the space I have right now. But don't fret my friends, I will be updating regularly again! Being alone in the midwest makes fiber arts 1000x more important.

Keep on hookin'!

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has arrived here in Salt Lake City (finally!). I was feeling a bit burnt out with my hooks for a while but now that all my trees are in bloom and the sun is so nice and warm I finally felt my yarn calling my name again.

So I came up with this lovely hat.

A few weeks back, I saw a guy come through my line at work and he had a plain white hat with a really cool pattern on the bottom. His hat was knit, so I couldn't completely recreate it but I knew I could try.

I took the Secret Method Hat for the top and worked about 15 rounds of white then began with the colors. I love the look of spikes but I've never really been able to master them. This time I just sat down and stopped thinking so hard and stitched.

I'm really proud of myself too. I think this is a cool look and something definitely different than what's in my vast hat collection currently. I'm also proud of the inside of my hat. When you're pulling your colors throughout your work, its extremely important to keep everything neat. If you don't, your yarn will start to knot up and then your head will hurt every time you try and wear your creation.

My trick to is to keep one ball on my right and one on my left. I also try really hard to keep a good eye on twists and knots. This is not quick crochet. Its slow and deliberate but the end product is so satisfying that you'll love every minute of it.

Anyway, that's project for this week. I adore it.

Look at my flowers!!

The Secret Method

So Chloe Nightingale on Ravelry and Crochet Me has made, quite possibly, the easiest hat ever. And the best hat to use as a template to make a myriad of different hats from one simple pattern.

She calls the hat The Secret Method Hat and if you haven't tried this hat, you have to!

Since I have to make a ton of hats for SLCitizen and now for Whole Planet (more on that in a sec) Chloe's hat pattern is ideal. Its super quick and the hats turn out warm and perfect.

Now, if you're not down for an entire hat made of single chains (it can get REALLY tiresome) that you should tweak this pattern into something a little more varied, but if you can hold out for a single chain hat, yours will look like mine above. A really tight, very simple hat but absolutely worth it.

Now. Whole Planet. I was approached a couple weeks ago by my bosses to see if I would be interested in donating my time and projects to our Whole Planet Foundation at work. How could I really say no to micro-credit loans to women in developing nations. I dare you to try. You won't succeed... So I said yes, and sold 2 hat and a pair of booties with all 40 dollars going to the foundation (sweet!). Now I'm back to my hooks to make some more stuff and see what I can't sell. Ah giving. How good it it feels.

Hope your weekend is swell and your hands are hookin!

Baby Booties

So in my last post I made a reference to these super cute baby booties Well here are a pair of the ones that I've done.

I thought they needed a little something on the toe to break up the green so I made a button out of some baby weight white yarn. (Really simple, sc 10 in a magic loop, then 2 sc in each sc, sl st together and you've got a button!).

I also lopped off the top of the boots because 1. I hate putting baby feet in anything taller than a sock and 2. It wasn't working and it looked weird so I just made them super simple, basic little slippers.

There were some problems with the pattern, I'm not going to lie and its a really rough one to try and read because she wrote it kind of funny but once you get it right these work up fairly quickly and obviously they're adorable. If you've got some fingering weight yarn and a D hook, this is your kind of pattern.

Now, my nose needs to get back to the grindstone.

Keep on hookin!

Hat Ornament

So I have to do a Secret Santa at work this coming week and so I thought I'd do something really quick and really easy. Therefore: The Hat Ornament.

Here it goes. You'll need an H hook and some leftover worsted weight yarn.

To begin the hat, you can either use the magic ring method (click here for a how-t0) or ch 3 and then ss in the first stitch to make a loop.

Rd 1: sc 6 times in the loop (6)

Rd 2: sc twice in each st (12)

Rd 3: sc one in the first st, sc two in the next - repeat 5 times (18)

Rd 4: sc one in each st (18)

Rd 5-12: Repeat rd 4 (18)

Fasten off.

For the hanger just take a piece of scrap yarn, pull up through the top and tie into a loop. Double knot for extra strength.

To add on decorations you can put ear flaps like mine, or a bobble or you can put in stripes in the middle. These little guys can be easily customized into the perfect gift. Also, they double as beer bottle hats! Sweet!

Tube Gloves!

So I told ya'll that I would give you the pattern for my tube gloves. Which are awesome. And good lord, they are fast and easy.

Yarn: Lion Brand, Vanna's Choice

Hook Size: H

You can chain as many as you need to fit your arm length, and

make as many rows and you need to go around your wrist comfortably. Just make sure that the thumb hole goes in the middle. So if you do 40 rows, put the thumb at row 20 etc etc.

Ch 30

Rd 1 - hdc in each st, ch 2 and turn (30)

Rd 2 - hdc in the back loop only of each st, ch 2 and turn (30)

Rd 3- 17 - repeat rd 2.

Rd. 18 - hdc in first 24 sts, ch 3, skip 3 st, hdc in last 3 sts, ch 2 and turn (30)

(thumb hole)Rd. 19 - hdc in back loop of first 24 sts, hdc in next 3 sts, hdc in last 3 sts back loop. ch 2 and turn (30)

Rd 20-36 - hdc in back loop of each st ch 2 and turn (30)

At end of row 36, fasten off and leave a long tail (for sewing together). Then sew the tube together and you're set.

Take a 2nd color and use it to accent the thumb hole, and edges and you're good to go

If you have any problems with the pattern, or if it just doesn't want to work let me know and I'll fix it. I think it should work though.

**With the turn, I only ch 1 because my chains are loose, so if your edges are looking sorta loose and you're not liking the look, try ch 1 instead of 2.

Happy Hookin'!

Manos del Uruguay Hat

So as you well know, I bought some Manos del Uruguay yarn while I was in Boston. When I got back to Utah, I knew I had to do something with it. Well I think I did something pretty cool. Using the Single Spike Crochet that I found in Interweave I made this hat.

I made the pattern up, so I can put it up here on this blog. Its super simple once you get the stitch down.

The single spike crochet (ssc) is basic, once you have your foundation chain done, insert hook in next stitch, 1 row down, yarn over, pull loop to height of working row, yarn over and draw through both loops on the hook. This creates the slight bobble effect throughout the hat.

The other stitches I used are:

SC: Single Crochet

Sc2tog: Single crochet together. Insert hook into st, wrap yarn once (two loops on hook), insert into next stitch, wrap yarn once (3 loops on hook) pull hook through all three loops.

So here's the pattern:

*Do not join! Just keep working in the round, marking the first stitch with a marker*

Rd 1: Chain 61 (or however many it takes to fit your head, but it must be an odd number to create the effect we want).

Rd 2: sc in each st (61)

Rd 3- sc in first st, spike stitch in sc one row below the next stitch (this is the spike single crochet), continue this until the end of the row.

Rd 4 - spike stitch in sc one row below first stitch, sc in next stitch - continue this until the end of the row

Rd 5-17 - repeat rds 3 and 4.

(add rows if needed for height after row 17, just continue using rds 3 and 4)

Begin Decrease!

Rd 18: sc 1, sc2tog, sc in each of the next 58 st (60)

Rd 19: sc 8, sc2tog (6 times) - 54

Rd 20: sc 7, sc2tog (6 times) - 48

Rd 21: sc 6, sc2tog (6 times) - 42

Rd 22: sc 5, sc2tog (6 times) - 36

Rd 23: sc 4, sc2tog (6 times) - 30

Rd 24: sc 3, sc2tog (6 times) - 24

Rd 25: sc 2 sc2tog (6 times) - 18

Rd 26: sc 1 sc2tog (6 times) - 12

Rd 27: sc2tog (6 times) - 6

Fasten off, leaving 1.5 inches to sew up top hole.

If you need a brim like I did, join yarn on the bottom, anywhere will work.

Rd 1: Sc in each st (61)

Rd 2: Sc in each st (61)

Rd 3: Sc in the back loop only of each st (61)

Fast off and weave in loose ties.

If you have any questions, or if its not working for you, let me know and I'll try and clear it up for ya.