And I now have been able to add pictures as you can see! Thanks, Cass, for making a bag that feels like it was made just for me!
It fits her just right, and I love it so much that I intend to make myself one and promptly went out and bought more of the same yarn so that I can. I have to say that I really do love the little button in the center of the flower. It's such a cute hat. Happy Birthday Lynette!
I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light and a size 4mm hook (Addi Turbo). You can find the pattern on Ravelry.com (Simple Beret by Suzanne M. Barrow) or you can find it on her blog here.
It does a nice job of keeping my head warm (unless the wind is blowing hard). I do think that I will make another of these, and I think I will size down the hook to get a tighter stitch.
I LOVE the colors and how they work together. And this yarn is a dream to work with and relatively inexpensive as well. I picked up my three skeins for $5 apiece and have plenty left to make a cowl or another hat.
I made one adaptation to the patter, and that was to crochet 2 together in each stitch around before beginning the green single crochet border. I needed it to hold its shape better to get the fit I needed for my slightly smaller than average head. I think that this actually helps the hat hold its shape and makes a better fit. I just learned about knitting elastic, and I may find some and weave a row or two in to keep a slightly closer fit. Overall, I love this hat!
I feel like I make no progress at all on it even if I can manage an hour or two. It will be lovely when it is finished, and I will be so happy when it is!
It certainly isn't a difficult pattern, it's simply chains and single crochet after all, but maybe that is what makes it so tedious. One of my least favorite parts of crocheting (I now know) is working into the chain.
I just keep plugging away and hoping I will reach the end of the skein. It will be beautifully soft and quite lovely when it is washed and blocked. Oh, and can I say how great the Fibersphere has been for this project? I am so happy I bought it.
Look how easy it is to use: Simply sprinkle them on the floor and start dancing!
There's no work to the application, you can even wear your tuxedo while sprinkling them on the floor. And in one place on the box it lists all the places you can turn into a dance floor with them. Places like garages, sidewalks, patios, basements, streets and other things. Too funny. But we couldn't ever find what they were made of either. And if you look at the picture above, you can see that you don't want to get them on your soil!
A fabulous Amy Butler knitting (well, obviously crochet for me) bag and a couple of patterns you can see below. I love this bag so much. I of course ran right down to Shelly's shop to pick it up as soon as I was notified I had won. And sweet, sweet, Shelly, she went through the pile of patterns for prizes and picked out a couple of crochet ones for me. I love her! And I can't wait to make one or both of these. The blanket I especially love! And that sweater would sure be great for work.
Mmmmmm, Noro Matsui cotton blend. This yarn is so soft and luscious. The shop had it on sale for 50% off, so I bought several. This bunch will be for a capelet or shawl. It's black with gray and green and purple. Kind of Halloweeny, I guess, isn't it? But it's the colors I wear!
I love the Sockotta I used on a scarf, and fell in love with this warm pink/orange/green and purple blend. The yarn is so soft, and the cotton blend makes it perfect for a summer scarf.
Here's another few balls of Noro cotton, with a little texture. I thought this would make a fun scarf. Again with the greens and purples. I find myself adding a lot of them to my wardrobe.
This is a great collection I picked up at the shop in Salina. It's a mix of warm pinks and golds. I just bought a couple of petal pink sweaters, and this will make a nice accompaniment to them.
Yarn. The shop in Hutchinson had these terrific bags. Who can't use another project bag?
Yes, my love for fall colors betrays me at every stop. This Blue Face Leicester just called to me, and I couldn't resist. It's a beautiful, large hank and will be so warm and cuddly.
This is a skein of hand-dyed Andes and while the picture doesn't show it very well, the skein is a wonderfully soft lavendar and sage blend. Beautiful!
And this is a treasure from Idaho Falls. Of course, when I arrived for the conference and had an hour to kill, the first thing I did was find the yarn shop. Conveniently, it was across the river from the conference hotel, and a comfortable walk. This is a gorgeous soft pink sock weight and I think it will make a lovely shawl.
Organic cotton from Heritage Hut here in Wichita. I think it will make yummy washcloths.
Kind of blurry, but I got this Fibersphere in Salina. I love that it keeps my sock yarn neat and clean.
A collection of hooks that I bought: Addi Turbos, including a thread hook that has a cover (so cool!), a Brittany hook (and I'm not sure I like it), and a smaller bamboo hook (I know I like bamboo for certain fibers).
Some Lorna's Laces DK weight I picked up in Newton and I think I will use it to make the La Mer scarf in the fall (I think) Interweave crochet magazine. It's Tunisian, and I have not tried Tunisian before, but the scarf is beautiful. The shop had one made up and on display out of this yarn.
You Are a Red Crayon |
 Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors. You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself. Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming. Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships. Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy. |
This is Earline with her pool pals hand towel. Sharon made it on her embroidery machine. We all put in orders.
This is Ronna with the most awesome strawberries and cool use-it-for-everything pouch Carol brought back from Hawaii. Someday I'm going to make her take me there. Carol, I mean. To Hawaii. Before I die.
This is Anita. Technically, she's not a pool lady because she never had mine or Carol's classes. But she's Nancy's friend and we like her so we let her come along :-). She got a fuzzy pen!
This is Carol, the drill sergeant. Yeah, for real. I dare you to get in the pool with her. But she'll smell good when she gets out thanks to that nice basket of pretty soap she got!
This is Nancy. you could pretty much call her the ringleader and you'd be right. She's modeling the fabulous fish hat she received. And it's a lovely accessory to her red dress.
This is Sharon with one of the amazing creations that find their way out of Nancy's basement. I hope that maybe someday I am lucky enough to land one of them. They are always the best!
Shirley will join Carol in the smelling-good party. Mmmmmm, Oil of Olay body washes with ribbons and pearls (of extra moisture). Just what the doctor ordered for that chlorine-dried skin we suffer when we spend hours in the pool.
And, finally, Barb with her frog wind chimes. No aquatic fitness class is complete without plenty of frogs, and we have them in droves. And collect them by more droves. And love every minute of it.
I had so much fun making the first one of these that I made another. The swim meet Mark and I were supposed to judge ended up canceling after about 48 (of 84) events because of a giant thunder storm that came through the area. No threat of tornadoes though.
So the cost to make one is only about $3 and some change. A bargain! I loved this little dog print. The black and white puppies remind me a little of Chewie (except he NEVER went into a dog house in all his 13 years!). The lining is a black random-bones-in-various-colors print. They just go perfectly together. I used red ribbon to match the fire hydrants. Too cute!
. . . thanks to my sister! She made a terrific little project bag out of fat quarters. No cutting involved, just some seams, a casing and threading some ribbon through for handles. Voila! A great little bag!
— and I mean a bunch — and came home and tried it out. I mean, you can never have too many bags for crochet projects. And this is just the right size for a few balls of yarn, a couple balls of thread, the bag with all the necessaries in it and a copy of a pattern. Pattern books don't fit so well, but I often run a copy of the pattern I'm making to carry along.
I could throw one in my gym bag with that stuff in it. A handy little lunch sack. And washable. You could even sub it for a purse. I added a layer of lightweight fusible interfacing between the bottom layers of this bag. It seems to hold its shape OK. I might pick up some heavier if I wanted the bag to really stand up. But fast and fun. Thanks, sis!
It is laying on the ironing board after being pinned down and sprayed and steamed. I'll let it dry overnight. I'm not too worried about getting it perfect, because it has to be folded up and mailed away to Idaho.
Anyway, it's a beautiful, soft, superwash from Sugar Bunny Boulevard dyed especially for Twist. Mmmmmm.
being finished with the stitching on the doily. I still have some ends to weave in where I had to join, and obviously when it's finished. So far, so good. The final round is pretty much all triple crochet, all the way around for a fairly solid edging. But by now, the pattern is apparent and I love it. I really hope mom likes it. I swear I am going to put a note in with it that says if she doesn't like it she needs to send it back to me! And when this one is done I've got the thread for a large doily for the top of the piano (where this one was photographed).
piling all their junk there. So I put a cloth I bought in Germany on it, and added some fresh flowers. I think the flowers may become a semi-permanent addition to the piano, because they just add such a nice touch. The doily pattern I have chosen is a pineapple/spiderweb combo that makes up to a 28-inch diameter. That ought to do the job.
heathery color will be the main body and I plan to trim it in the dark brown. Mmmm it's soft and cuddly and washable!
