Hats, cowls, and mittens

Since I haven't been stitching amigurumi right and left like I have in years past, what have I been making?  Stuff to wear.  It really is too bad that I moved to a state where a lot of this clothing isn't seasonally appropriate for more than two months out of the year....

Hats are so fun to make!  Yes, they need to fit correctly, but they are a heck of a lot easier to fit than, say, a sweater.

Anna from Frozen (this is more a hat/wig combo!!)

Yoda

Super Mario (for my Super Mario-loving nephew! What a crazy-awesome pattern.)

Declan's hat (I have done cabling on many knit projects, but this was my first cabled hat!)

November Cabled Hat (I loved the first one so much that I jumped right into another!)

Cowls are also so much fun to knit and crochet.  They are relatively small projects and you don't have to worry as much about fit issues.  For my first cowl attempts, I wanted to give Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn a try....  If you haven't seen the amazingly beautiful color ways offered in this brand of yarn, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest big box craft store to check them out.  GORGOUS!!!  First, I crocheted a cowl:

Turquoise V Stitch Infinity Scarf

And then I knitted one:

A Very Braidy Cowl (This pattern showed off the gorgeous colors so much better, I think! And what a ridiculously cool pattern...)

With these successes under my belt, I asked my sister if she would like a cowl.  She ordered a chunky chocolate brown one, and I decided to make this project with my first ever purchase from a store that is devoted to yarn and yarn only (Holley's Yarn Shop in Dallas).  I think it turned out so beautiful....

Vite Cowl

I think the Vite Cowl might also have been my first attempt at knitting lace.  Once I figured out the whole "yarn over" thing, I was entranced.  There will be more lace to come in future blog posts....

With my knitting confidence climbing, I attempted my first pair of mittens.  How fun are these?!

Frozen Mittens (made by combining two patterns: Basic Cuff-Up Mittens and Warm Mittens)

Unfortunately, I didn't take into account that the mittens twist a bit when you put them on (due to the placement of the thumb on the palm as opposed to the side), so the snowflake stitching is a bit off-center.  Oh well, hopefully Avery doesn't mind!

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!

Ella & Audrey's Frozen-inspired hats

My friend, Melissa, and I are kindred spirits who love handmade items.  Another thing we share in common is that we both have blond four-year-old daughters (though hers is soon to turn 5 this month!) who are completely enamored with the Disney movie, Frozen.  So when Melissa came to me and asked if I might be able to crochet some Elsa & Anna hats for her daughter, I jumped at the chance!  Here's the Elsa hat, modeled by Melissa's daughter, Ella:

The hat looks great with the Elsa dress!  Ella looks born to be royalty.  Also, when Sonia saw these pictures, her eyes almost bugged out of her head and she is now reminding me daily that she would LOVE an Elsa dress for her birthday.  She's currently cobbling her own together out of a turquoise tutu, a blue felt super hero cape, and a sequin tiara I bought for her out of the dollar bin at Jo-Ann Fabric.

Melissa & I looked at some finished-product listings for Frozen-inspired hats on Etsy to get inspiration, and I headed off to Jo-Ann Fabrics to check out the yarn possibilities.  When I saw Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Sequins yarn in a color called "Snow Crystals", I almost fell over.  It was perfect for an Elsa hat!  It is a gorgeous white yarn with silver sequins woven throughout.  Too bad sparsely-placed sequins don't show up in pictures; you'll just have to take my word for is that this yarn is simply awesome and perfect.

I used a really nice free pattern, Basic Bulky HDC Beanie, from the Charmed by Ewe blog.  It worked perfectly with the size 5 yarns that I used for both hats.  

Even Elsa the Snow Queen needs to take a rest sometimes.

Ella loves to play Elsa & Anna with her little sister, Audrey.  But the day that Melissa took this picture, Audrey was NOT in the mood to pose as Anna.

Luckily, Audrey decided posing wasn't all that bad later in the day.  The Anna hat was crocheted with size 5 Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky yarn in the color "Spice".

I made the braids an appropriate length for Ella to wear the hat, so the braids are hanging a bit long on her one-year-old sister!  Oh well, she still looks super-fabulous.

We decided that the Anna hat needed some flowers (made with Red Heart Super Saver yarn) on it as a counterpoint to the Elsa hat's wintry theme.  The cute little flowers at the bottom of the braids aren't very visible in these pictures, but one is pink and one is purple.  I free-handed the flowers.

The sisters from Arendelle! (Ella stuck her Elsa tiara on the hat for this picture....  Perfect!!)

To jazz up the Elsa hat a bit, I used some cotton yarn to crochet white and turquoise snowflakes (using this fantastic free pattern).  Then, I sewed the snowflakes and the big pink flower (from the Anna hat) onto barrettes so that they could be taken on and off the hats as the girls desired.  Or, they could wear the snowflakes and flower in their hair!

Happy early birthday, Miss Ella!  May you and Audrey spend many happy hours pretending to be Elsa the Snow Queen and her plucky little sister, Anna.  Thanks for the pictures, Melissa!!