The one with the versatile hat...

I finished the WG's hat today, made with spotlights DK (8 Ply) Shepherd very crafty pure wool, left over from the granny stripe I made her.  It takes less than a ball and only a few hours to make these berets, they are simple.

To make hers larger than the red one in the previous post, I changed the pattern considerably so I don't think I am infringing on the authors pattern because of the changes so here is how I did it.

The basics are as follows: To make a flat circle -

chain 4, join the last chain to the first chain to form a circle.

Row 1:  Chain 3, counts as first treble.  11 tr into the centre to create a circle of 12 tr.

Row 2:  Ch 3, 1 tr into the same stitch, 2 tr into every ch = 24 tr.

Row 3:  Ch 3, *1 tr into the next stitch, 2 tr into the next stitch rpt from * to end.

Row 4:  Ch 3, *1 tr into the next 2 stitches , 2 tr into the next stitch rpt from * to end.

Carry on increasing the number of single stitches between the 2 tr into 1 stitch until you have 7 single trs between 2 tr into 1 stitch. This should be row 8.

This is a standard flat circle pattern used for many different objects from bags, pot holders and hats to  mats and simple doilies.  Lucy from Attic 24 has a good step by step flat circle tutorial, you'll find her site in the sidebar to the right.

When you have 8 rows as above:

Row 9: Ch 3, tr into each stitch to the end.

Row 10 & 11 As per Row 9 .

so that is 3 rows of plain trebles no increases.

Row 12:  (This is where you start a standard decrease click to see how) Ch 3, 1 tr into each stitch 7 times. Then tr decrease into the next two stitches to turn two into one.  The result will be an upside down V

Row 13:  Ch 3, 1 tr into each stitch 6 times then tr decrease into next two stitches as above.

Rows 14-18:  SC into each stitch join at the beginning with a slip stitch OR if you prefer, keep going to crochet in a spiral and avoid a seam on the band which is what I did, that part is at your discretion.

Row 19:  Crab Stitch to end. Tie off and weave or sew in your ends.

Note crab stitch gives a pretty edge but it's kind of fiddly at first, it's almost backward sc.  Here is a video tutorial that will help.

The crab stitch also firms up the edge slightly.

If you prefer a small picot edging would look pretty too.

I did this in a solid colour but there is no reason why you can't do stripes or blocks of colour.  It's entirely up to you.  The hat can be worn in a variety of ways, as above the WG has it like a beret but you can pull the front forward to form a peak like a cheese cutter cap or wear it further back with hair tucked into it kind of like a snood.  The WG is well pleased with hers.

This hat fits me too.  For a larger head, I am guessing you should add another row of increase as required and the decrease rows should be adjusted accordingly e.g. 8 tr between incr then 8 tr between decr.  I haven't tried it out.  Or you could try a larger hook for a looser stitch.

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For my next quick project, before I get back to my squares, I am making a V stitch scarf for P, my niece who arrived at lunch time from Tauranga to stay for the holidays.

Here is the wool although the colour is kind of off under the lights.  It's Shepherd 8 ply lambswool felted from spotlight. $7.99 a ball which is more than I usually pay but I wanted to see how it went.

In real life it's more a reddish purple, almost a raspberry colour and it will look fantastic on P with her dark hair and peaches and cream complexion.

The V stitch looks pretty good with this wool.   I wanted a stitch that would use the yarn to best advantage but still be warm and cosy.

I found the pattern on Ravelry it's the Rosey-Posey Scarf Pattern.

The yarn helps the stitches look nice and defined although it is a little uneven in thickness some bits being thicker and others thinner as you crochet through the ball.

I am using a 5mm hook.  Even though this is basically a DK wool, I felt that a smaller hook would make the felted wool quite thick and solid feeling, too stiff for a nice scarf.  I could of course be wrong.

Lazy Good Friday

I slept in till 9am this morning, when I got up leaving the hubs in bed to take advantage of the holiday, the Wee Girl was already well awake and watching TV.

We sat for a while watching the Disney channel in companionable silence while I had a cuppa and finished another rabbit.

When the boys got up I toasted up the hot cross buns and made more coffee.  Everyone munched happily.

I wish I could say that we went to church and did good things but we didn't.  We just blobbed out chatting and watching movies.  The hubs bbq'd bacon and eggs for lunch because we have a lot of bacon and eggs left over from last weekend.  The bacon will keep but I brought back a couple of trays of 30 eggs that I will have to use over the next couple of weeks.

This afternoon sick of making rabbits, I grabbed a ball of red wool and made a hat.  I found this pattern on Pintrest but a lot of the comments indicated it wasn't going to turn out as pictured.  So I played with it.

I used a 4.5mm hook and double knit.

I started off following the pattern as written until I got to the bit where you stop increasing.  I did 3 rows instead of 2.

Then I only did 2 rows of decrease.

The 5 rows of sc.

Finally for a pretty edge I crocheted a row of crab stitch.

It's turned out too small for the WG and too big for her dolly.  I will give it to a friend who has two little girls.  I'll try a bigger hook and make another for the WG.

Pranks and the no sew wallet

Where I work, we are often busy and the work is mentally taxing.  As a consequence we make our fun where and as we can.

One of my colleagues has been away at Police College on his Sgts course and we discovered he'd left his drawer unlocked.  Last year we got hold of his diary and covered it in pictures of the "Thunderbirds", you'd think he'd have learned!  So now his diary is covered in pictures of Justin Bieber.  We sealed it with clear contact and I crocheted a pretty "cosy" for his diary, in pink, complete with a large pink flower.  He's back at work tonight and we cannot wait!

Now my contribution to our little prank was literally dreamed up, literally and crocheted in the space of a couple of hours.  It's basically a wallet for his diary.  I crocheted a chain of 50, then single crocheted all the way around the chain to end up with a rectangle. Moved into granny stitch and within a few hours I had produced the A4 diary cosy!

When I got home from work I started again with my leftover gelato cotton to make something smaller. To reproduce it but this time taking a bit more notice of what I was doing.

See the bottom?  By crocheting around the entire chain I made a base.  I then switched to tr and crocheted two into a single stitch at the corners.  Effectively crocheting in the round.  Then I switched to grannies.  The key was having the base chain in a multiple of 3.  This little wallet began life as a foundation ch of 28, with one being used as the first sc when I began to crochet into the foundation chain.

In various sizes this would make an awesome Ipad or Kindle cover, cellphone sock, laptop sleeve, coin purse, make up bag or even a large messenger type bag.  The possibilities are endless and I plan to explore them.

You could use any type of stitch you want, I just decided granny stitch is one of my quickest to do and it grows so quickly.  I'd like to try all sorts of different things and once I have the method for creating the bottom perfected I will post a tutorial.

This one is going to be a make up bag to carry my seldom used lipstick and mascara about in.  I'm not big on make up so a tiny bag like this will do nicely.

I will make a liner and sew it in.  If nothing else my rudimentary sewing skills are getting a good work out lately.

The edging along the top is crab stitch, something I have never done before as an edging but am liking a lot.  It would look amazing on a headband.

It took me some time and patience to figure it out, there are instructions in my book the A to Z of crochet but I have seen instructions on line as well.