Tag Archive | hats

Never too busy for hats

This last weekend was full of physical labor, so very little yarning got done. We’re so close to being done with our flagstone patio, which we’re doing all by ourselves and I can’t wait to show off, but it meant that I spent Saturday shoveling sand and Sunday laying stones. But late last week and during the evenings the last few days, I did manage to work up a few more hats for the craft fair next month. I used up the last of my purple Caron for three more Princess Anna hoods, and I got one newsboy done. I want to do a matching doll newsboy with the last of the variegated yard. That might be all I get done before the show, and that’s okay. I did these hoods plain, no flowers, because that’s what Anna’s hood actually looks like. (And because the embroidery and sewing on of flowers was too time-consuming.)

Hopefully the patio doesn’t distract me too much, because I’d still like to get a few more hats done!

Prepping for Craft Fairs (Oh no, the panic!)

Sep25

I’ve gone and done something silly: I signed up for a craft fair next month. You’d think that would be a good thing, right? It is, of course: I’ve got a nice stash of lovely things I’ve made that have no home. And I’d love to make a bit of extra cash for the upcoming holiday. But as soon as I sent in the registration form, the panic set in.

What if I don’t have enough items? What if no one wants to pay my prices? Should I lower them a little bit, just to get some sales? Should I raise the prices on my very best items? What if I don’t sell anything? Maybe I need to make some new things just for the show, and if so, what would sell? The craft fair is an elementary school fundraiser, so I expect to see a lot of parents and grandparents who might be inclined to buy cute hats for their kids. That means the owl hats and Princess Anna hoods could be popular. Those don’t take too much time to make, and I’ve got the yarn, so now they’re on my list to make…in the next OH GOD TWO WEEKS.

The show is October 11. I knew that all along, but this is September. I thought, “Oh, October, that’s ages away.” Guess what I just now realized?? It’s not. And then do you know what comes after that? Christmas! That’s right! And I’m nowhere near done with my holiday knitting (although I did cast on for a gift last night). I need to knit all the things! Right now!

So yeah. Panic time in my head. I think I’m going to step back for a moment and make a cup of tea. And then I’m going to make some hats.

These owls are ready to leave the nest

Sep24

It’s a cool, gray, drizzly day, and I’ve spent the morning with my fancy crochet hook, finishing up an order. That makes two that are ready to ship out tomorrow! Now the dog is impatient, so I’ll step away from the yarn and take him for a walk. When I return, I’ll be switching back to knitting to give my wrists a break!

Princess Anna crochet hats, and some mittens

Sep22

Finally some FOs to show off! I worked hard last week on a proofreading job, but I had some yarn time too, and over the weekend I finished a few things. A friend posted a picture and link to a Princess Anna-inspired hat for girls from a blog called Over the Apple Tree, and my MIL asked for four of them for grandkids. How could I say no? These hats are too cute! The hat pattern originally came from Vallieskids and is flexible enough that it will fit a wide range of head sizes. The girls are similar ages, so I just sat back and cranked out four hats all the same. Then I had to learn how to crochet embroidery for the green stems, and it was a lot easier than I expected. The hard part is making them all look the same. The flowers came from my favorite flower pattern, called the Fabulous Flower. I could have done the smaller one to make it more like the original blog post, but I rather like bigger flowers.

I also had a request for a hat and mitten set, so I got to do my first pair of mittens! I’ve done fingerless gloves before, but never a whole mitten and a full thumb. Well, it was a piece of cake. And since they were for a young girl, they knitted up so fast. I did a whole mitten and most of the second yesterday, and this morning I finished up the thumb. I loved making these. I think mittens might be making an appearance this holiday season. Both the mittens and the hats were made with Caron Simply Soft. I love how it feels, and that it’s machine washable.

NOT my favorite WIP

Sep11

Dagnabbit. Another knitting failure. I refuse to blame it on not checking gauge, but it *is* my fault. So I got an order for these hats for Christmas presents, and I wanted to get an early start. Plus I love making hats so this is a fun project to have in my rotation. Unfortunately, when I went to cast on, I realized I didn’t have size 7 16″ circulars. I have 6 and 8, but no 7. I have size 7 in my interchangeables, but those tips with the 16″ cord are still a bit longer than 16″ and it’s more awkward than a true 16″. You can guess what I did. Yep. I thought, oh, I’ll just use the 8. They’re for slightly older boys so it’ll be okay if they’re bigger than the kid in the pattern’s picture. So I used the 8. Here’s where I am. It’s cute, I like the pattern, it’s knitting up quickly, blah blah blah. Whatever. Last night I tried it on my 11yo son. It’s too big. Not terrible, but loose. And it’s for a younger boy. And it’ll stretch a bit with use. So yeah. Too big. Sing along with me (to the tune of “Crying Time”. I hear Barbra in my head, but there are a lot of versions): “It’s frogging time again, you’re gonna leave me. I can see it by the way you lose your shape.”

A Crochet Newsboy Cap, just because

Jul23

I sent off that box of girl and doll hats yesterday. It had three sets of matching hats for a girl and her doll, and two sets of cowboy hats and boots for a doll. I had so much fun getting back into crochet to make those, and I didn’t want to stop. The last few months I’ve been so absorbed by knitting that I’d forgotten how much I love the rhythm and speed of crochet. The last hat I made for my friend was my favorite; I fell in love with the pattern and needed to make another one. I was at loose ends last night, with nothing that *needed* to be worked on, but I still wanted to play with yarn. I grabbed a single skein of bulky Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky yarn and got busy while I watched America’s Got Talent. Since I can’t show you the gifted one yet, I’ll show you that one.

I do love bulky yarn, and this is a lovely soft one. The random stripes of blue and brown were kind of strange, and not my favorite, but at least it went back to the pink quickly. I ran out of yarn halfway through the last row, which was the finishing edge, so I just pulled back and edged the brim. This was a perfect one-skein, one-evening project. If you’re interested, here’s the pattern. It’s easily modified for any size from newborn to adult.

Chasing Rainbows

Mar19

I’m Bonny, and I knit. I crochet too, but mostly knit, and besides, most people look at crochet and say “Ooh, what are you knitting?” So, I knit. I’m also a stay-at-home mom of two kids who are active and smart and delightful and also kids so they’re challenging. So, I knit. It makes me happy. A few days ago, I fell in love. Hard. So hard I saw rainbows. No, not with my husband–that happened many moons ago. This was yarn. I was out with my sister-in-law and my daughter at a local yarn store (LYS) http://www.thestudiokc.com/ and this little ball caught my eye. It wasn’t just any yarn, but rainbow yarn. (I feel like it deserves a special name, something more poetic than just “yarn”.)

See all the lovely colors, and how they just flow together? I gazed at this special yarn and imagined all the things it could grow up to be. Did it want to be a cowl? A scarf? I touched it, and it was soft. I picked it up, squeezed it, rolled a strand between my fingers and realized it was fingering weight. Uh oh. Trouble in paradise? I’m a bulky gal–I usually work at least in worsted weight if not thicker. I don’t have the patience for these thin yarns and the teeny needles they require. But this yarn was speaking to me: it said it needed to be beautiful fingerless gloves. For me! Well, in that case, I had to take it home.

After The Studio, we went to Knitcraft in Independence, MO. I found the same brand, the same colorway…in BULKY! Well, my heart just lifted and I sang “Hallelujah!”, only silently. I snatched up two balls that said they wanted to be a matching hat for my gloves. The next day, that’s what happened.

I love how it turned out, especially the way the colors striped so smoothly. As I updated the project in Ravelry (you can find me here: http://www.ravelry.com/people/bonnyknitsforyou) I realized I had two more balls of this bulky yarn in a different colorway. This time I used a slightly different pattern, which made a nifty square design on the top.

This is why I knit. I can find gorgeous raw material that speaks to me, and I can do something that relaxes me and feels good in my hands to create something equally beautiful–something that’s functional, something I can wear often to bring a smile to my face, and maybe even to yours. And if that happens, well, color me happy.