Basic Slouchy

Basic slouchy hat pattern.
It should fit a small to medium adult head, it's very stretchy.

I used a sport weight yarn for one, and a worsted weight yarn for another. It really depends on how you want the final product to look. Using the sport weight yarn made the hat have a more lacy look, whereas using the worsted weight yarn gave the hat a more solid appearance.
If you like a longer slouchy, increase dc rows between row 5 and 8 to however long you like it.

Materials:
Yarn - a medium weight is recommended. I have not tested this pattern with bulky yarn.
I hook
K hook
Tapestry needle

R1: With K hook, FDC 72. Ch 2, turn
R2: FPDC, BPDC to the end of the piece. Sl st to the first st on the foundation row.
R3 & 4: ch 2 FPDC, BPDC around. Sl st to first st of the row
~~Switch to I hook.
R5-8: ch 2 Dc each dc around, sl st to the first st of the row
R9:  ch 2. Dc in next 5 dc, dc2 tog. *dc in next 6 sts, dc 2 tog. Repeat from * to end. Sl st to first st of round.
R10: Ch 2. Dc in next 3 sts. dc 2 tog. *dc in next 4 sts dc 2 tog. Repeat from * to end. sl st to first st in round
R11: Ch 2 Dc in next 2 sts dc 2 tog. *dc in next 3 sts. dc 2 tog. Repeat from * to end. Sl st to first st in round
R12: Ch 2. Dc in next st. dc 2 tog. * dc in next 2 sts. dc 2 tog. Repeat from * to end of round. Sl st to first st in round
R13: Ch 2. Dc in nesst st. dc 2 tog. * dc, dc 2 tog to end of round. sl st to first st in round.
R14: Ch 2. Dc next st. Dc 2 tog to end of round. Sl st to first st in round
R15: Ch 1. sc dec each 2 sts to end. sl st to first st in round. finish off.

Use tail to close remaining hole. Pull tail to ws, tie off & weave in.

On foundation row, use tail to sew up the seam, pull tail to ws, tie off & weave in.

It started out as a joke...

 A gay friend of mine had a dream in which the lesbians were presented with a new mascot. It's called a "lez-ard" and is a rainbow iguana. 

I decided to photoshop up one and posted it on Lizzy the Lezzy's facebook page. As of the writing of this post, her repost of my picture has gotten over 22,000 likes and almost 1,000 shares. I'm pretty blown away. My original post got somewhere around 75 likes.

Some commenters on the post started naming other LGBTQ animals; the PAN-da (pansexual), Trans-Gander (transgender), GAY-cko (a gay gecko), BI-per (bisexual), etc. 

I decided to make these creatures using the colors from the corresponding pride flag for each. I present to you, the LGBTQ-nimals.

Clover Pom Pom Makers

I ordered my set off Amazon for a total of about $30 for all of them (I got a couple other things, and used the ad on program for a couple of them so I ended up saving money) Here's a link to the mid sized ones. 

The largest one makes a 4in pom pom, the smallest one makes about a 1/2in pom pom

I've tried a variety of yarns, and I've found that some are definitely easier to form once you make them into pom poms, but the makers are extremely easy to use. 

I will never go back to the cardboard circle method again. These are so simple, and the pom poms come out perfect every time. They look a little different based on what yarn you use and how thickly you wrap the yarn, but I'm gonna say that they are a uniform size and shape. 

I definitely reccomend purchasing these if you make pom poms for your crochet or knitting. Or even if you just want to make pom poms for other things. (My five year old son loves the pom poms and calls them his "earths". So, to him, they are planets.)

There's also several videos on Youtube that explain how to use them, because the instructions on the package are a littler weird. This one is my go-to

http://youtu.be/d2Ma-hgQIDU -for some reason, it won't let me post the actual video...

So, there you have it. Happy crafting.

Spider Web Barrette

It's me again.

By request, I made a spider web barrette for a friend of mine. Her only stipulation was that it have a purple spider on it, so that it would match some earrings she got for halloween.

And here it is:

Approximately 5.5in in diameter, finished. It has an alligator clip on the back. 

Here's how you do it.

What you need:

• Size E hook
• Sport weight yarn
• Enough straight pins to pin each spoke of the web
• A soft spot to pin to, a little bigger than the finished size of  your web.
• Glue mix (1 part glue to 1 part water. probably need only a teaspoon of mix)
• Barrette or bobby pin
• Spider (I used the top of a halloween spider ring)
• Hot glue gun with glue
• Glitter glue or gel
• Blow dryer

**picot - ch 2, sl st to first ch

Ch 4, sl st to first st to make a loop.

R1) Ch 5 (counts as dc and ch 2). *dc in next st, ch 2. Repeat from * around. Sl st to 3rd st. 

R2) Ch 6 (counts as dc & ch 3). *dc in next dc, ch 3. Repeat from * around. Sl st to 3rd st.

R3) Ch 8 (counts as dc & ch 5). *dc in next dc. ch 5. Repeat from * around. Sl st to 3rd st.

R4) Ch 10 (counts as dc & ch 7). *dc in next dc. ch 7. Repeat from * around. sl st to 3rd st.

R5) Ch 12 (counts as dc & ch 9). *picot. dc in next dc, ch 9. Repeat from * around. Sl st to bottom of first picot. Finish off and weave in. Trim off excess yarn.

When you weave in, try not to do it too tight, because you're going to want to stretch it out in the next step.

Get your straight pins out, and prep your pinning surface. With the wrong side facing you, hold the middle of your web with your thumb, and, angling the pin toward the center of the web, pin the top picot to your surface. Stretch the bottom spoke to the length you want it, and pin the bottom spoke of your web at the picot, again angling the pin toward the center of the web. Continue around, pinning one side, then the opposite side to make the web even. Like so:

my epic drawing skillz on the pc...

Mix your glue mix on a small plate or in a bowl. With your fingers or a paint brush, dab a drop of glue along each spoke and connecting piece of the stretched and pinned web. Cover the entire web, and blow dry with your blow dryer or heat gun. Unpin your web when dry.

If you're using an alligator clip like I did, you're going to want to wrap it in yarn or ribbon matching your web color. Just get the whole thing as covered as you can. Hot glue the web to your barrette, attach your spider, and let cool. I added some hot glue to one circle of webbing nearest the spider, and also to the outer circle, while using a purple glitter gel on the opposite rounds and on each spoke. Blow dry after you do this to set the glitter. The hot glue will make the web a little more stiff and durable.

And there you have it! Let me know if you make this. Pictures are always welcome.

Crochet Star

Hey, it's actually me again. I know, I know, I'm not around much these days. I've been working hard outside the home. Ah, well. I'm here now.

So, I follow the Crochet Geek on facebook and youtube. She occasionally posts these "what did you make with this pattern" things on facebook, and after trying out her crochet star- sirius pattern and thoroughly confusing myself because I was sleepy when I watched the video for the first time, I made a few pretty little barrettes.

Like so:

And one of me being super awesome wearing the mint barrette:

I basically followed Crochet Geek's pattern, but only used rows 1&2 to make the barrettes. Also, in row two, it calls for 3hdc ch 2. Instead of the ch 2, I did a picot, which is ch 2 then sl st to the first ch. That's how I got the pretty little points on the ends. 

The pattern I used/modified is as follows:

R1 = ch 3, sl st to beg ch. [2hdc, ch 2] five times to get the star pattern, sl st to first st 

R2 = sl st to first ch 2 space [3hdc, ch 2, sl st to 1st ch, 3hdc, single crochet decrease over next 2 sts] around. Sl st to first st. Fasten off, weave in.

You have the option at this point to do a little modifying if your star looks, for lack of a better word, flat. On the black star above, I used the tail of the yarn after I fastened off to then go up through the star to "tuck in" the narrow parts a bit more than they already were before I tied off and cut off the excess.

Let me know if you make this, and of course, pictures are welcome.

Life

Life has gotten very hectic for me. I'm still trying to do some crochet, but haven't had a chance to lately. I have gotten out and done some photography and some light editing of said pictures, but I haven't had the time to sit and, well, hook. **giggle**

But here are some of my recent photos. You can see more on my Flickr.

    

Droid Hat

I got a request from a friend to make a Star Wars Droid hat. So I found a pattern on Ravelry and got to it. It was fairly easy, but time consuming. I wanted it to be just perfect to I paid close attention to the lines and even checked some screen shots to make sure the different elements looked right (like the lense, all the little dots and vents and what not).

I am quite pleased with the end results. This is the pattern I used (Droid Beanies). I added the ear flaps, blue border, ropes and tassels per my customer's order.

Next up, for another nerd friend, a Link (from legend of Zelda) slouchy hat.

Stay Tuned