Finished Object – L.A.M.B. Inspired Hat [NaBloPoMo]

Spent the day not doing some house projects I’d hoped to get around to – seemed like a good day to kick back and just chill a bit….So I spent the time I’d planned on doing some Fall Clearing Out working up this hat.  It’s a variation on the L.A.M.B inspired hat on Ravelry.  (Modeled by my ever fabulous yet very serious youngest.)

I decided to use Caron Eco Soft just ’cause. Figured it was worth a whirl, and would turn out with a nice texture/feel. It did, but based on the exact pattern it’s a bit small for me – which is a shame, as it’s kinda fun.

I was thinking of gifting it, but it’s a bit funky for most of the potential recipients I can think of. I may give it to Eldest Son’s girlfriend – she *does* have a birthday coming up and she’s a petite little thing. I’ve no doubt it’d fit her well. My only thought is whether she’d like it….Hmm.

LOL – on the other hand, Youngest just reminded me that *his* birthday is in a few days as well, and he’s pretty fond of the hat as well.  He has just enough panache to pull it off, too – da boy knows how to wear clothes.  Certainly doesn’t get that from me. o.O

Two more pics are below – sorry that last one is blurry – as you might be able to tell, I took these in a hurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventures in Mistakes [NaBloPoMo]

Looks like I’d better get on the ball if I’m going to get this post in today, for NaBloPoMo. o.0 Whew. I wanted inspiration to write more, but ZOMG, ya know?

I’ve been crocheting like mad – working on different projects, trying to improve my technique and also really enjoying learning to *make* things!  I’ve got some mistakes and tribulations to share, as well as some really basic FOs, but not today, methinks – thought I’d stick to showing you a couple of hats.

Firstly, I should mention I mostly taught myself to crochet with the Klutz Learn to Crochet kit book.   I love that book – it’s the one I kept referring to when I was trying to sort out the basic stitches – lots of good pics and good descriptions. *However* I never really groked the front loop, back loop, both loops thing and I pretty much taught myself using just the front loop.  I’m sure you can imagine what my (newbie) projects all look like.  o.0

When I got Crochet the Complete Guide the first thing I started working on was the Basic Single Crochet Hat pattern.  However, I knew I wasn’t going to have enough yarn (part of a skein of Caron’s Simply Soft Eco in Ocean), so I didn’t make the hat anywhere near as long as it should have been.  Also, since all my stitches went into the front loop, the texture came up very differently than Ms. Davis intended.  Still, my Eldest seemed pleased enough:

A couple more silly pics of said hat and boy:

Hopefully I didn’t crop these too small for you to  see the ribbed effect my stitches gave the hat. Ah well, I learned something, and it’s warm, and he seems happy enough with it, so it’s all good, yes?

Anyhoo, I was reading The Complete Guide when I came across a note about how, unless specified, the hook always goes through both loops.  Whoo-boy.  After an educational spin around YouTube (Lots of good crochet how-to videos there!) I took a couple of minutes to oh, roll my eyes and sigh dramatically, but then I took to working on new projects that involved really basic stitches.  One of them was a rework on this same pattern using Peaches & Creme Shaded Denim worsted weight. (have a big cone of it I got for $3 bucks @ Wally-World).  Things went swimmingly for a while:

About 5 steps after this, however, I crocheted half a row just in the front stitch.  It looked *really* wonky, so I frogged it back to the mistake and promptly lost track of my increases.  I have *no* idea how I should have recovered from this – it was really hard work counting all those stitches and looking for increases.  If anyone has advice on this I’m all ears!

I eventually decided to salvage what I had done, quit making increases, and just finished the hat off for Youngest Son.  It’s not perfect, but I think it turned out well enough, and YS is pleased:

See you tomorrow!

A Little Yarn Expedition

I had to go into town, so while I was there I hit up Tuesday Morning and Wally-World looking for budget-friendly yarn.  I’m still a newbie, so I wasn’t looking for anything fine, just workable and practical yarn for a beginner.

Tuesday Morning was mostly a bust, ‘though there were two small packets of  Bernat Organic Cotton.   I didn’t think it was a good enough deal at the time (three balls for $4.99) so I didn’t get it.  In retrospect, looking at the Herrschner’s Yarn Sale, I guess it was a decent deal.  Ah well.  The Lion Brand Homespun *definitely* wasn’t at a good enough price.  Actually, I wasn’t hugely impressed by the whole store – the prices weren’t what I’d call…a bargain.

I  dropped by Wal-Mart’s craft section while I was out – I got 2 skeins of Caron’s Simply Soft Eco in White and one in Natural, as well as two Red-Heart Super-Savers, one in Dark Sage, and one in Claret – all for a dollar a piece.  The latter two I view as practice yarn more than anything else – a bit scratchy, but good for practice scarves, hats, etc.  The Caron yarn I love – I had already bought a skein of Ocean on sale ($2) for my middle son – he wanted a “lovey” blanket to cuddle under, which I did make – I didn’t think to photograph it, though – guess I should.  Their Simply Soft Eco line is really soft, though a bit friable – hard to keep from separating strands, sometimes.  The fun thing is – it’s partially made of recycled plastic bottles.