Vstrecha-blog

FO: Hats two ways - Stripey Winter Hat & “Fair Isle” Earflap Hat

I also made a couple of hats as Christmas presents. I really like making hats, since they work up pretty quickly (as compared to say, an afghan or a sweater :)

The first of these was for my sister’s boyfriend, who is (sadly) a Gamecock fan. 

Pattern: the hat portion of Galen’s Manly Scarf & Hat
Project: on Ravelry 

I worked it up in garnet and dark charcoal, for South Carolina colors. My favorite part about this stitch pattern is how it comes out looking very houndstooth-esque. In better colors, I think this would be cute not only for men. ;)

For another friend, I also worked up this earflap hat in a sort-of “Fair Isle” color pattern.

Pattern: Aspen Ski Hat (Crochet Today! Nov/Dec 2011)
Project: on Ravelry 

Funny story, I’d made a hat for this same friend a couple Christmases ago — an earflap hat in a different pattern — and it turned out too small! I felt so bad, I promised him that I’d make him another hat that actually fit, and this Christmas I finally came through. That original earflap hat also gave me somewhat of a complex, so now I’m super careful about how a hat fits. (Which is why the striped hat came out a bit big. Oops.) The good news is, this hat came out perfect!

When I start a project, I usually just go to my LYS and get all new yarn for it, but this Christmas I made a conscious effort to use up the yarn I have already in my stash. I had all of these colors for the Fair Isle earflap hat from another project. Truthfully, I was a bit worried that all of these bright colors would compete with each other and clash. Perhaps they would for any other person, but the combination of all these bright colors fit my friend’s personality so well! I was just glad I could make up for my previous failed attempt. :)

Ravelry Christmas Ornament Swap

Pattern: adapted from Matrioska bookmark
Project: on Ravelry

Before Christmas, I participated in an ornament swap (see the Seasonal Swappers group on Ravelry if you’re interested in joining future swaps!). 

I think these matroshka (Russian stacking dolls) turned out pretty cute, despite the fact that

1. each one is slightly different since I had a hard time following the pattern (it’s translated from Spanish) & I did a lot of supposing what I should do next from the pictures.
2. embroidering is kind of a pain, so I just did it for the face & hair, and took the easy way out for the body by sewing on buttons instead.
3. after looking at the pictures on facebook, my mom declared that “Those snowmen are so cute!” Oops. Though, I think if you worked these guys up in all white, they would make really cute snowmen.

Super secret step: after crocheting, but before decorating, I sprayed these over with stiffener & let them dry a whole day. That way they wouldn’t be flopping around on the Christmas tree.

And these are the new handmade ornaments I have for my tree! I love them, and I definitely got lots of comments on how cute they were :) Thanks, ladies!

FO: Minnesota Mitts

Pattern: All for One Family of Mitts
Project: on Ravelry

   
in progress… 

First in my Christmas present series! These were for my cousin (along with the Doctor Who cross-stitch you saw), who goes to the University of Minnesota. Apparently I matched the color pretty well. (Yay!)

Y’all, these were so comfy and so warm, I almost didn’t give them away! I’m definitely making a pair for myself, but maybe going up a size, so I can crochet them in DK with a smaller hook — that way the ribbing isn’t so bulky. These are super-easy to whip up, btw. I took my time with these (I didn’t want to screw up the cables), & it took me 2 nights per glove (one for the ribbing, one for the palm) working in front of the TV.

FO: E-Reader cover

Now that I’ve sent it off to its recipient, I can blog about this little project I did as part of the summer round of swaps for the Seasonal Swappers group on Ravelry.

I used the Geek Chic Cozy pattern, which I got from the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of Crochet Today! The pattern was sized for a laptop, but directions were also given to figure out what the pre-felted size of the cover should be, based on the size of the e-reader going inside. It seemed reallllly long to me! But my swap partner said her e-reader fit perfectly!

I used Full-o-Sheep (which is what they recommended). I knew I wanted to use purple, since that was my partner’s favorite color, and then I picked this vibrant green as the contrasting stripe. (The actual color names are Plummy and Meadow :)

The cover escaped from my pillowcase once when I didn’t stop the washer soon enough & accidentally let it go through part of the spin-dry cycle. Oops. I’m pretty sure that’s why the purple kind of bled into the green a bit. And of course I forgot to take a picture of the final product! You can see below how it looked once it felted. I added a leather strap with a magnetic snap closure to hold the top flap down.

I think it turned out pretty cute, don’t you? :)

WIP: Crochet Club 2011 April patterns progress…

I’ve actually had these guys done for a few weeks now, but i’m just getting around to blogging it. They. Are. Gorgeous. Hands down my favorite piece of the mystery blanket so far. (I haven’t gone back in the archives to check, but how many of the pieces have I said this about? :)

Don’t you just love all the colors! And the star-flower pattern. And the teensy bit of sparkle that the round of beads gives. <3

I’m behind, so a bit of the mystery is gone for me since I know what’s next. That certainly hasn’t taken any of the fun out of the process, though! In this case, it helped me out — I knew that May called for another 2 Mandala Circles, so I went ahead and did those as well. Four Mandala Circles done, 2 for April and 2 for May!

I can’t wait to see what these look like once I’ve blocked all the wrinkles out!

WIP: Crochet Club 2011 March patterns finished!

A combination of it being so blazing hot & me catching a summer cold have kept me inside & recooperating. Which has resulted in me zooming through the rest of the March patterns, yay!

The pieces are slightly difficult to photograph in their current state (not blocked and with no ends woven in), since the ends are going every which way & the corners are curling up ridiculously. The only tweaks I made this month were to the bobbles on the chevrons. I switched out the blue Lenpur Linen color for Bubbles, since I hate that linen yarn with a passion! I also think it gives the pieces a nice pop of color amongst all that dark blue and garnet. :)

On a lark, I laid out all my finished pieces roughly according to how they’ll go together for the final blanket. I’ve got quite a bit of blank space, still.

On to April…

WIP: Crochet Club 2011 March patterns progress

Slowly but surely, right? That is definitely how i’m finishing this project. It’s by far the most ambitious thing i’ve ever done, and i’m loving the experience. Much thanks, btw to everyone on the Ravelry forum. Y’alls FO pictures are keeping me motivated! Everyone’s pieces look absolutely gorgeous :)

On to the pictures, amiright? I’m about halfway through with the March patterns, thanks to the heat wave we are having right now in NC. Makes me want to stay inside! It’s even too hot for the pool (and if you know me at all, that’s saying something. I <3 the pool so much.)

I’ve also started blocking the finished pieces. I’ve been crocheting for a while, but I’ve never done a project that required me to block it afterwards, and i’m kind of astonished at the difference it makes. You can definitely tell in the picture of the beaded steps above — i’ve blocked the piece on the left, but not the one on the right.

Four pieces blocked so far… perhaps after March’s patterns are done, I’ll actually start sewing things together!

Woo, famousss again!

A photo of one of my FOs has been featured on the Ravelry pattern page again! I will always be excited about this. I made this wine cozy for a friend as a Christmas present back in 2009.

I don’t really think the yarn I chose showed off the lovely leaf and lattice cutout patterns all that well. I also didn’t measure with the actual wine bottle I was gifting until I’d almost completed the cozy — which was a mistake, as the actual wine bottle was bigger around than my test bottle. It almost didn’t fit! I probably would go up a hook size the next time around.