Elise Hat - Linked to a Contest!

I'm back!  And this time I'm linking to a contest - holla!  I'll start off with the project at hand and then I'll show you where to link to the contest where you'll have a chance to win this super cute hat or one of many other cool prizes.

The pattern for the Elsie Hat comes from one of my favorite designers - Mamachee.  I have almost all of her patterns and am never disappointed.  You can buy the pattern for this hat on her Etsy shop here or at her Raverly shop as an instant download.  Okay, so on to the hat.  I love it.  I made one for myself last year near the end of the season and was almost sad to see the spring come.  When I was asked to participate as a prize giver for the contest below, I knew this was what I wanted to make.  This pattern is for an intermediate crocheter.  The instructions for the special stitches are easy to follow and understand - just remember to count and pay attention.  This hat it meant to fit slouchy style but can definitely be worn beanie style as well and be just as cute.  That's one of the reasons I love this hat so much - it's so versatile.

And here it!  Using a bigger hook makes this hat light and airy, while still being nice and toasty.  It also has some nice stretch to it, which I love.

How can you win this hat, you ask?  Well, just head on over to delighted to write and enter the 12.12.12 essay contest.  All details about the contest, as well as other prizes offered can be found there.

If you decide writing's not your thing or you don't win my totally awesome hat but still have to have one, I'll be more than happy to make you one!  Just leave a comment and we can work something out.  But remember, this blog is not doing the contest so don't comment here to enter.  I'll have a giveaway here pretty soon - I'll be a little busy with next few weeks taking care of a new baby.  But I'm hoping to post a lot of the fun stuff I've been making for the new little one.  Good luck!

Crocheted Boot Cuffs

Ugh.  I always have high hopes of keeping up on this blog but it never happens.  I have been super busy though making lots of fun stuff.  Another problem I have is taking pictures.  For this project, I had the recipient take the pictures, so I was off the hook.  And she came through with flying colors.

This request came at the same time as the Storm Trooper hat in the previous post.  My friend, Becca, had seen some boot cuffs on Etsy but didn't want to spend the money they were asking.  She asked if I had ever made anything like that before and would I be willing to make her some.  I have made baby leg warmers before so I thought it wouldn't be too difficult.  I told her if she got me the pattern and yarn, I would give them a go.  I found a pattern on Etsy from Polkadot Squirrel here.  The pattern was somewhat easy to follow.  The directions for joining rounds were a little confusing at first, but I was able to figure it out.  The pattern was written for a small leg but can easily be made larger as needed by adding an even number of rows to the ribbing and the body.  If I were a boot wearer, I would definitely make a few pair for myself.  I already have some gift requests for Christmas.  If you are a crocheter, this is definitely a great cheap gift considering you can make a pair with one skein of yarn, which you can get on sale for about $2.50.  Now that's a deal.

Now, without further delay, here are some cute pics.  Thanks Becca!  And check out Becca's Etsy shop LittlePolkaDot for cute handmade banners and accessories.

Here is the boot cuff in all it's glory.  It gives little pop of color without adding too much bulk under the boot or warmth.

Here are the three colors she choose.  I love them!  Nice and neutral to go with lots of outfits.

Stormtrooper Crochet Hat

While I was at a party this weekend, I was talking about some hats I have made for someone at Tim's work. (Pics of those coming soon!)  While talking about these hats, I got my first custom request for a hat.  A stormtrooper.  While I usually work strictly from a pattern, Dallas encouraged me to branch out and figure something out for myself.  It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  He drew me a picture of the part he wanted and I looked up some other pictures as well.  I used my go to hat pattern found at Easy Makes Me Happy!  and went to work.  In Dallas' wife's words, he has a big noggin so I added about an inch to the circumference on the adult size to compensate.  Through a little trial and error I figured out good shapes for the eyes and knobs.  I am going to work on actually putting together a pattern for the patches and will post here when done.  With Halloween just around the corner, this would make a super easy costume for those who don't want to get totally dressed up but still want to participate.  It's also a fun hat to keep your head warm all winter in Star Wars style.  If you want one for yourself but don't know how to crochet, I will make you one for $18 in any size from infant to "big noggin".

the hat - sitting on top of a stormtrooper bank.  thanks to Dallas for lending me the bank for inspiration (and Josh did get that last penny out of it - he was very proud of himself)

profile complete with little gray knobs

back side with knobs

 Oh, and for those of you more into the Princess Leia thing, I can make a hat for that too.  Pictures coming of that as well as soon as my sister sends me some of her cute girls all decked out.  Until then, check out All Things Belle where I found the tutorial to make it.  I'll make you that hat for $15.  Hope you enjoyed the post and "may the force be with you"!

Lil' Pumpkin Hat

I've made a new hat and I'm loving it.  Actually, there are very few hats that I make that I don't love.  That's why I get the pattern in the first place.  You can purchase the pattern here on Etsy.  This shop is great!  I get a lot of my patterns for hats and booties here.  Tara's patterns are super easy to follow and she has sales quite regularly.  I have also been a pattern tester for her.  When you are a pattern tester, you get the pattern for free!  Holla!  She calls for pattern testers on Facebook but you have to be fast.  Her Facebook page is Mamachee*crochet makes me happy.  Also, check out her website here.  She has free patterns and tutorials on her site.

Anyway, on to the hat at hand.  This pattern was a little different in that it had the stem to work with on top.  It took me a couple of times to get my counting right but I got it.  After that it was smooth sailing and worked up very quickly.  I made it while Benj was watching a couple of shows.  I opted not to put the little patches on this one.  I can still add them if I choose, so we'll see.  It does seem a little on the bigger side but I'm not always a good judge of sizing and I didn't have a baby around to try it on.  If you want one of these cute hats for your lil' pumpkin but don't know how to crochet, I will gladly make you one for $15.  I can make any size from newborn up to adults.  Leave a comment if you are interested and a way to get a hold of you if I don't have your contact info.  

Bobble Stitch Afghan

After way too long, I'm back in the blogging world.  I'm not promising for how long, but I'm here today.  I've actually been making lots of stuff and taking pictures, it's just the dang posting that's getting in the way.  The latest project that I finished today took me soooooo long to make that I had to celebrate by posting.  I'll catch up on the other stuff later.

This is just a simple crocheted baby afghan using single and double crochet with a bobble stitch thrown in.  You can find the pattern and tutorial here.  If you're not sure how to do a bobble stitch, the tutorial has a link to a "how to".  It is a very easy pattern but it just got a little tedious with the repetitiveness of it.  I tend to get bored rather quickly when working on an afghan, so maybe it's just me.

The only problem I ran into was totally my fault.  I had three skeins of the yarn the pattern called for already so I decided to go with those and add some extra colors.  I picked up 4 more colors, brought them home and started on the afghan.  But I decided that I didn't like my color choices and instead of doing 7 different colors, I would stick with 4.  Back to the store I went to exchange the unwanted colors - enter problem.  They didn't have one of the colors I was going to need.  I didn't worry about it too much until after like 3 more trips to the store, they still didn't have the color I was lacking.  After checking inventories online, the only store that had the color I needed was about a half an hour away where we don't really travel much.  BOOOOOO!  I finally made the trip, got the needed yarn and finished it up.  Let that be a lesson to everyone - make sure you have all the yarn you need BEFORE you start a project.  That's probably why it took me so long.  I lost steam with the yarn debacle and it took me a long while to get it back.

So here are the pictures.  I took a few so you could see how the front and back turned out differently when using a bobble stitch.  I do like how this turned out and I may make another one in the future, but for now I can't wait for the next two months to pass quickly so our little baby and I can cuddle under it.

front side of afghan with the bobbles

front and back side of the afghan

more front and back

close up of the back side of the afghan

close up of bobbles