What do you want to do with your life!!??

A Yarn Review and A Pattern.

In many ways, I feel like crocheters have to be like high school guidance counselors with a new crop of freshmen when it comes to independently produced yarns.  Sometimes, they're forthcoming and straightforward but with others, you may have to try several different hooks and techniques before a yarn will tell you what it wants to be. 

Knit Picks Suri Dream has a thin nylon base with a plus-size halo of Alpaca/Peruvian Wool.  At first glance, you would think that a yarn this special would need something complex to showcase it, but in reality it's the opposite.  

After a few turns I discovered that this one speaks for itself.  It says "Hello, my name is  Suri Dream  and I will allow a very simple stitch to dance like a prom queen in a warm and soft, yet light and lofty kind of way."  So that's what I did.  With a simple V stitch, I was able to get a nice, long length out of two balls and a 6.00 hook and it isn't weighty at all. 

Hookers, I give you the "I Wanna Rock" scarf.

Materials - Two balls of Knit Picks Suri Dream in the colorway of your choice. (The ball band says it's a Super Bulky, but I don't buy it, btw. ) 

Hook:  J (6:00)

Notions:  Carrots and peanut butter are two great tastes that go great together.  Oh, and you might need a yarn needle.  

Ch 18.

Row 1:  DC in the second chain from the hook.  *Skip 1  stitch and V stitch in the next.* Repeat * thru* and dc in the last stitch. 

Row 2 - Chain 2. DC in the first dc, V stitch in each V stitch. DC in the last stitch.

Row 3 through whatever - Repeat Row 2 until you run out of yarn, or leave yourself enough yarn to make a fringe if you want. I'm not a fringe sort of girl, so I didn't bother. 

Fasten off and weave in your ends.  Put a fringe on if you're so inclined. 

 

Hooking for a Cause

On Christmas Eve, we went to services at a church about a block from the house.  While we were there I noticed that they were collecting yarn and finished projects for hats and scarves to deliver to the Women's Shelter in Coatesville.   

These are my contribution to their cause.  

Materials: Bernat Softee Chunky.  Scarf patterns:  Keyhole scarf  Cowl  I'm sorry to say that I can't help you with the hat patterns.  I pretty much pulled those out of my ahem.... brain.  

Two Blue for Baby Who?

These sets are coincidentally for the same head that will sport the Jayne hat.   The second set (blue and tan) was made as an afterthought to the blue set and both were done using this super simple pattern.

To make it a little more masculine, I did not make the collar as indicated in the pattern.  

This pattern is super, super fast and easy to modify.  You should try it!

Materials:  Small Dark Blue Set - Unidentified blue 100% acrylic

                     Light Blue and Brown Set - Sugar & Cream 100% Cotton

"Something Dignified" Scarf

I have a hard time getting a friend of ours to wear anything except old t-shirts, jeans, hooded sweatshirts and a nasty, old beat-up ball cap.   In my quest to provide him with something warm for the winter, I came up with “something dignified” should he choose to dress it up a little bit but would be more likely to be used because it matches the beat-up ball cap. 

I have yet to see him without it this winter.  

Materials:

Two skeins of Caron Simply Soft Black, One skein of Caron Simply Soft Burgundy.Feel free to use your own yarns and adjust the stitch count and hook size to your liking.

Hook: 5.0

Notions:  You can wear white after Labor Day and you may need a yarn needle for this project. 

 

Foundation Row:  Very loosely, CH 301.  (Very loosely to avoid the “rainbow effect” that sometimes happens with longer pieces.)

Row 1 -  Sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in all remaining chains.  Ch2,  Turn.

Row 2 – Dc in each sc across.  Ch 2, Turn.

Row 3 – Dc in each dc across, Ch2, turn

Row 4 -  Dc in each dc across, Ch2, turn

Row 5 – DC in each DC across, switch to Color B, Ch2, turn.

Row 6 – DC in each dc across, Ch 2, turn

Row 7 – DC in 1^st dc, Ch1, Sk 1 dc, dc in next dc.  dc, ch1, sk1, dc until the end, CH2, turn

Row 8 – Dc in each dc and each Ch1 space across.  Return to Color A, Ch2, Turn

Row 9 – Repeat Row 3

Row 10 – Repeat Row 4

Row 11 – Repeat Row 5

Row 12 – Repeat Row 2

Row 13 – Slip stitch in each sc across. 

Finishing: Weave in ends and add fringe if you wish.

You may also wish to continue these rows several more times to make a throw.  Let me know how it works out!

 

 

 

A baby crawls down the street in that hat; people know he’s not afraid of anything...

Cunning Crochet Baby Jayne Hat –

for the next generation of browncoats.

 

Materials: Less than a skein each of your favorite sport-weight yarns in yellow, red, and orange.

Hook: F (4.0)

Notions:  I'm thinking you might need a yarn needle and a pom-pom maker (or you can consult any one of the many pom-pom tutorials online.) 

Ch 4, join with a slip stitch to form a circle.

Round 1 – Ch 3, make 6 dc in circle. Join.

Round 2 – Ch 3, make 2 dc in each dc, Join.

Round 3 – Ch 3, make 2 dc in each dc. Join.

Round 4 – Ch 3, make 1 dc in the first dc, then two dc in the next. Repeat to the end. Join.

Round 5 – Ch 3, make 1 dc in the first 2 dc, then 2 dc in the next. Repeat to the end.  Join.

Round 6 – Ch 3, make 1 dc in each dc around.

Round 7 – Repeat Round 6.

Round 8 – Repeat Round 6.

Round 9 – Fasten off yellow, join orange.  Repeat Round 6.

Rounds 10-12 – Repeat round 6.  Fasten Off.

 

Ear Flaps: 

Leaving a 6 inch tail, Skip the first 5 stitches after the seam and join red in the 6^th.  

Row 1 - Ch 3, make 1 dc in each of the next 8 stitches. Turn.

Row 2 – 4 – Repeat Row 1

Row 5 – Ch 3, 2 dctog in first and last two stitches.

Row 6 – 8 – Repeat Row 5.  You should be losing a couple of stitches on each row so the flap comes to a point.

Fasten off. 

Repeat the above on the other side of the seam (You should have 10 unworked orange stitches between the two flaps.)

 

Make a pom-pom using a small amount of each of the three colors. 

Finishing: 

Weave the tail of your red joining thread down the earflap and tie it off with the earflap end. Do not weave in.  Leave them dangling.

 Weave in any yellow or orange ends that might be loafing about the place.

Attach pom-pom to top of cap.

Let me know if you have any questions!