I wanted to take part in the season’s furry Pom Pom hat trend. I also wanted a hat with cables, so I searched around Pinterest and didn’t find anything I liked. Then I went to Etsy and found this cute Mini Plaits Winter Hat crochet pattern.
Tag Archives: accessories
Note to Self: Always Buy an Extra Skein of Yarn
I’ve been seeing these hats with the fur pom poms and I wanted to make myself one. I also wanted texture. So I looked around for free patterns and didn’t find anything I liked, then went to Etsy and found a really cute pattern and bought it.
I started making my hat the week between Christmas and New Year. I was up New Year’s Eve until midnight trying to finish it. I got so close, I just needed maybe 3 or 4 more rows, but I ran out of yarn.
Crickets Infinity Scarf
After I made a scarf for one of my co-workers for Christmas, I felt a little guilty that I didn’t make a scarf for one of my other co-workers, so I decided to work one up real quick. I found this free pattern for the Crickets Infinity Scarf by Crochet Cricket.
More Little Hats, Big Hearts
I finished making my baby hats for Little Hats Big Hearts.
But first, my husband got me this photography tent for Christmas. This was my first time playing with it. Still working on setting up the lighting. But, this is the first time using it and showing off my pictures with it. OK, my photography skills need some work, I admit it.
All seven hats completed
Noro Windowpane Scarf
Last week I was wrapping gifts for my co-workers and I realized that I was missing a gift for one of them. I had a half day on Friday, so I decided to quickly make a scarf for her. I went searching on Pinterest and came across this Noro Windowpane Scarf pattern by Adrienne Lash. I was looking for something lacy, but what I liked about this pattern were the open “windows” through the scarf. Not exactly lacy, but had that openness I was looking for to show off the fluffiness of the angora yarn. I still had plenty of Ice Yarn, that I had used for one of the skull scarves.
The completed Noro Windowpane Scarf hanging off of my awesome bear head. Unfortunately, the lighting is a little dark. I have to wrap this tonight, so no time to wait for natural light.
Baby Shower Gifts
My co-worker was expecting earlier this year. So I decided to make her a baby blanket. I didn’t want to make my typical baby blanket that I normally make. I found Zig Zag Puff Stitch Baby Blanket pattern on Pinterest. I decided to use my Maxima yarn by Manos del Uruguay that I bought during Yarnapolooza.
24 Hours of Harry Potter
A local movie house hosted a spectacular event called 24 Hours of Harry Potter back in February. The theater, Row House Cinema, is located in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, which is a bit of a hipsterish part of the city. My friends, Connie and Trisha, decided to go and we thankfully snatched up tickets quick, because they sold out. The theater was playing all of the Harry Potter movies over a 24-hour period starting at midnight on a Friday night and running to midnight on Saturday with short breaks between the movies and a breakfast and a dinner break.
My full Luna Lovegood costume, but I blinked. If only I was wearing my glasses. Sigh.
Teaching Connie to Crochet
My mom taught me to crochet when I was a little girl, maybe 10, or so? Then in my 20s I picked up one of those learn to crochet kits to refresh my memory. I’ve been crocheting off and on through the years, currently on a two year stint after being inspired by Lucy Ravenscar’s Star Wars Crochet.
My friend Connie wanted to learn how to knit and she wanted to take a class together. I thought, sure sounds like fun. (My mom also taught me how to knit, but it never stuck. She even tried to teach me again last Thanksgiving, but it just doesn’t feel natural after years of crochet.) Anyway, Connie and I are also fans of Harry Potter, so I told her I could teach her how to make this Slytherin Scarf.
She came over and I started to teach her how to chain and how to single crochet (sc). I also taught her how to turn rows. Her grasp was really tight, so I told her to try to keep it loose. I was making my own Ravenclaw Scarf as well while she made her Slytherin Scarf. After a couple of hours I thought she was doing pretty good and we could pick up on changing colors.
Next day, she says she went on YouTube and found a way to hold the yarn that felt better to her. I guess my hold on my hook (claw) and my hold on my yarn (also claw, I guess) is different than what is used out there on YouTube. So she showed me what she learned and it really did help her a lot. She also learned how to change colors. I’m so glad that I was so good at teaching, that my student learned more on YouTube.
Connie ended up making this cute little scarf for her cat, Squeaky Bob. He is the chillest cat ever. He loves his little scarf. She also made a full sized scarf for herself.
She recently took a knitting class and has been knitting now. So, to summarize, my first crochet student learned more from YouTube videos and switched to knitting at the first opportunity. And my hook and yarn hold is all off. That is how great I am at being a crochet teacher. Lol
Leg Warmers
I found this free pattern for colorful leg warmers on Pinterest by B. Hooked Crochet. I thought these would look cute with some leggings or jeggings and would bring me back to my childhood in the 80’s.
Final leg warmers pulled up.
I started the pattern with Caron Cakes, because there is a sweater I want to make next that uses Caron Tea Cakes and I wanted the colorways to be similar. I was doing pretty good with the pattern and I thought it was working out pretty well. But my calves are a little larger than the pattern suggested, so I needed a few more stitches, it called for 35 and I tried 45. Well a chain of 45 turned out to be way too large for me, plus the colors didn’t change often enough with the Caron Cakes, so I ended up buying the yarn that is used in the pattern, Lionbrand Landscapes. I also ended up only doing a chain of 38 stitches and, while still a little loose on my calves, not bad.
I liked the Lionbrand Landscapes yarn. It was so soft and easy to work with, which was funny because some people commented that they thought it was difficult to use. Or more specifically, more difficult to pull apart. I think as long as you yank gently, it’s pretty easy to pull apart if needed.
Anyway, this was a quick and easy pattern. Once I got the right yarn and the right circumference, it only took me four days to make them. I wore them to work today and got several compliments and requests to make them for others. lol
Pumpkin cuddling while I work on my first version of the leg warmers.
Pumpkin cuddling with me while I work on the second version of the leg warmers.
Final leg warmers, slouchy style.
Skull Scarf
I found this free skull scarf pattern on Pinterest by Amanda Pants. There are actually a ton of various skull patterns on Pinterest for hats, gloves, scarves, etc., but I just loved this one.
Skull scarf #1 made w/ tc stitch and super long
The pattern is actually pretty easy. The first one that I made, I admit, I was a little confused so I used a triple crochet (tc) instead of a double crochet (dc). How could I make such a silly mistake? I guess I had been doing a lot of British patterns at the time and I just upped the pattern from what I was reading. Mt first attempt at this pattern came out really long as a result, which I love for scarves, so no probem. And this yarn matched the color of my hair at the time, which was super fun.
My scarf matches my hair!
I also bought some angora yarn to make some more. I thought about making them to sell, but as I’ve said before, I get bored if I keep making the same thing over and over again. So I only made one and kept them both versions of the scarves for myself. This time I followed the pattern closer and made a smaller version of the scarf. I love the angora yarn for this second scarf; it’s the juxtaposition of soft pink angora yarn and skulls that amuses me.
Super sweet and soft angora yarn
Grrr. I’m a skull. But I’m also soft and fuzzy.
Little Bit of Foolishness 
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