Hats, hats, and more hats!

Whoa, I fell off of the crochet blogging bandwagon...  I did not, however, fall off the crocheting bandwagon.  Since I last blogged, I have completed 43 crochet projects.  FORTY-THREE. Granted, 31 of those were 12" afghan squares, but still.  My hook has been a-flying, but my fingers haven't been a-typing.  What have I been up to?  Hats, afghan blocks, and amigurumi, mostly.  And an afghan that I can't blog about yet because I was one of the testers and it's super-secret until the pattern is released.

Let's start with the hats!

First up is a Minnie Mouse hat that I made for a sweet little girl turning two years old.  The pattern came from one of my favorite crochet blogs, Repeat Crafter Me.  I love how it uses buttons as polka dots!

Next, my friend, Pauline, asked me to make a beautiful hat (for her 5-year-old daughter) that was making the rounds on Facebook, but it turned out that the pattern was in Russian.  So, I used this pattern for the actual hat, and by using Google Translate, I was able to figure out the flowers from the Russian pattern.

Sonia loved the hat so much that I made her one, too!  And, then Pauline's co-worker asked if I might be able to make an adult-sized one, too!  It turned out just as beautiful, I think.

When one of my new Texas friends heard that I crochet, she asked if I might be able to make her a slouchy hat.  It turned out awesome and looked great on her, but you'll have to take my word for it because she didn't want her picture posted on the internet.  I should have had Sonia take a picture of me wearing it!  When the hat is just lying on a table, the brim rolls up and doesn't look all that great.  But I would definitely make this Neely Slouchy Hat again! It is a fantastic pattern.

I also made two more Elsa hats and one more Anna hat....  

I also crocheted two Spider-Man graph beanies (like the one I made for Cameron earlier this year)

This one is a bit bigger than the other one....  I hope both of them fit!

With no intended recipient in mind, I grabbed some pretty yarn (Red Heart Super Saver, "Tea Leaf" color) and gave the Crochet Seafarer's Cap a try....  I love this pattern so much!!  The hat turned out a tiny bit snug on my head, so I'm going to have to go up a hook size if I make it for an adult.  But how cool is the brim of this hat?  It almost looks knitted!  And it is very stretchy.  I highly recommend giving this pattern a try.

 I already have a red seafarer's cap about halfway done, and I know I'm making a few more hats before Christmas.  Crocheting hats is so satisfying because they usually only take a few hours and can be done while chatting (unlike a lot of the afghan blocks I've hooked over the last few months!).

More blog posts to come!

Cameron's Spider-Man Beanie

I am in LOVE with a new crochet pattern: The Graph Beanie by Liz McQueen.  What a simple yet perfect way to make a hat!  Unlike most crochet hats, it's really stretchy (due to working the hat sideways in the back loop only).

This next part appeals to my math-loving mind: because the hat is worked in single crochet rows, you can incorporate designs into the hat by using a chart.  Basically, you take any simple design and pixelate it as if you are coloring it on graph paper with one color per square.  Because this was my first time making the graph beanie, I bought a graph of Spider-Man's eyes.  The author has a bunch of different graphs for sale; she obviously crochets for a a bunch of little girls because I saw several My Little Pony graphs!

I think if I practice a bit, I can make that seam where you crochet the two ends of the hat together disappear a little better.  You can kind of see it in this picture of the back of the hat.  But it looks pretty ok.  I'm not too mad at it.

Now that I know roughly how the process of crocheting off of a graph works, I think I might be able to design my own graph to incorporate any sort of image into a hat.  Hmmm.  Maybe an interlocking ND....

This hat was made for Sonia's little buddy, Cameron, who is turning 5 this month.  Happy birthday, Cameron!  He reminds me so much of Niki's son, Peter, that I think they would be thick as thieves if they ever met.