Category Archives: Projects

My knitting and crochet projects

Kitty Hat

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How to make a square hat and turn it into a Kitty Hat

Making a square, knit hat is so easy.

Although I crochet a lot I really do love the look of a knit hat.  My 13 year old wanted a kitty hat so I tried several patterns that had sewn on ears.  They all flopped over which was disappointing.  I noticed some hats I had seen were square and when worn the top corners would stick out like ears…kitty cat ears?  They did!

Here is all there is to it.

Size 8 needles  (5 mm)

Worsted weight yarn (about 125 yards)

Yarn or Embroidery Floss for adding the face

Ribbon or fabric for the bow and an optional button for the middle of the bow.

My gauge is: 18 st in stockingnette = 4″ (10cm)

To knit in the round – Cast on 80 stitches, ribbing for first 1″ and then stockingnette stitch until work measures 7 1/2″.  Either use the Kitchener stitch (grafting) or a 3 needle bind off to close up the top.

To knit flat – Cast on 80 stitches.  Work in ribbing of your choice for first 1″.  Stockingnette stitch until work measures 7 1/2″ .  Divide stitches evenly onto each of your needles and use either a 3 needle bind off or graft the top shut.  Turn hat inside out, with a large needle run yarn up the back to close up the seam.

Embroider as desired and add a bow if you would like.  I used a left over piece of satin and sewed two 4″ x 3″ pieces together (right sides facing) leaving a small opening, stuffed and gathered in the middle and sewed a button on the front to cover my ugly stitches before attaching to the hat.

Resources:

These are the videos I used to learn both grafting and the three needle bind off.

Here is a helpful video for the 3 Needle bind off:  http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/casting-off

And also a video from KnittingHelp.com demonstrating how to Finish with the Kitchener stitch/grafting:  http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips

 

Baby Beanie with Mouse Ears and a Bow

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On my favorite animal hats page there is an adorable hat that was decorated up with mouse ears, a bow and polka dots and just screams “Minnie”.  The original pattern for the hat disappeared off the Internet and there are many comments from readers asking how to make one.

Mouse hat crochet pattern

Click on the link to see the pattern I used or simply crochet a beanie and add round ears and a bow

Over the weekend I hooked up this basic beanie and added embellishments.  The pattern used is free and Ravelry and she has great videos to help with sewing on the ears so they don’t flop over.

Baby Booties

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Baby Booties for the Bootie Brigade

I’m a member of bev’s country cottage friends at Ravelry.  Recently a fellow member, Familydiva put out a call to anyone interested in making newborn baby booties for charity.  Her group is hoping to have 300+ by the end of March. Bev provided links to many of her free patterns and I started crocheting and knitting.

This was the first time I had ever made newborn booties.  They are so tiny and cute that it just helps make them a fun little project.  And talk about stash busting!

Below are pics of the booties I have made so far using just free patterns from Bev’s website:

Want to volunteer some of your creative time too?  The request is here:  http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/bevs-country-cottage-friends/1994721

5 1/2 Hour Afghan Throw

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Looking for a quick gift idea?  I made this throw sized afghan for Ally in just about 7 hours of actual crochet time.

The pattern is free from Lion Brand at:  http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80112AD.html

By using Caron One Pound I was able to crochet the entire thing and still have some leftovers :)

Update on Knitting Hunting Socks – they are done!! Yay

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They are as done as they are gonna get til Christmas time anyway
Thick and warm, wool blend socks for hunting, ice fishing, shoveling...

Well I finished Wil’s socks.  Now if you remember (last week was it?) I swore up and down I was going to get those toes grafted but it has been sooooo cold and these socks are so warm that I already know what will happen….they will end up on my feet and will no longer be giftable.

That’s not all though, it will mess up half a dozen Christmas gifts.

You see I know my family.

All three boys and my husband will see them. Wil will say he wants a pair.  The other two boys will make a comment that since they live down in their ‘man cave’ and the floors are so cold down there they could use a pair.  The oldest will ask if they are wool and will mention he would wear his to sleep in too.   Then dad who’s office is the hub of the said Man Cave will mention that he could wear those too since the floors are cold down there 9 mos our of the year and when he was a kid they always had wool socks and when he lived in Montana…..  (there was the original 1 pair plus  3 more pair =4)

Then Vee will pipe in and say if all the guys are getting a pair she wants on but could I make them prettier? (we are up to pair number 5 now if you weren’t counting) At that point she will say I should make Grandma some because she always buys everyone slippers and because these thick socks look like something old people might like.  (We are up to pair #6 now)

TJ will say ‘nut uh, those are warm socks, Vee’  At that point Vee will correct herself a bit (CYA is more like it!) and say “I just meant the colors look like old people stuff mom.  If you did them in cool colors they’d be fire”.

……and then……

The first time Ally comes over.  Since her and Vee decide to snoop thru my room while I am down doing laundry, in the kitchen working or out in the garden, Vee shows her the socks.   Ally feels them and although she could probably smell they were wool from 5 miles away has to make a loud gasping ‘Ewwww!  They are soooooo scratchy.  Why would she use wool?  OMG Vee, don’t let her make you a pair like that, they will make you itch so bad.  OMG those are atrocious. ”

In the midst of all this TJ has heard voices coming thru the vent work as he is down in his partition of the Man Cave.  He recognizes the voices as his sisters,  he knows that vent is connected to my room and my room only,  and because he notes he has not heard my voice in the mix heads upstairs to investigate.   Correction, he heads upstairs to join in but not without reminding both Ally and Vee that if they rat him out he will take them down with him.

Ally shoves the worn sock into TJ’s hands and he says “I know mom made those. They’re pretty warm, huh?”

“They are hideous!” Ally snarls and does a strange little head shake thing that causes her glasses to slide down her nose a bit.  She repositions her glasses, and never taking her drilling, ‘I am older and more superior than you, Rat Boy Little Brother’ gaze off  TJ says “Feel how rough that yarn is.  Now would you want that against your skin? Do you like things making YOUR legs itch? Huh? Why don’t you guys ever tell her this stuff? I told her in the car that day that this yarn was gross, it was rough and itchy! It’s 2011, not 1811, she doesn’t have to use wool when there is soft yarn in the stores.”

TJ flips the sock over in his hand.  Although he stands several inches taller than her and has muscles, when his older sister has that bossy look on her face and is nearly tip toed to press her nose up against his, he just doesn’t look like that big, strong young man anymore….

Vee starts to say something but TJ cuts her short just into her second syllable. “Wow” he mutters and proceeds to rub the single sock against his cheek. Vee tells him Ally picked that out of my dirty cloths hamper but he doesn’t hear her.  His mind is on influence overload at the moment.  Throwing the sock across the room (where it will stay until I find it) he decides his exit. “Ah, you’re pregnant” (she’s not)

“You’re an ***hole” She retorts and pushes him toward the door (even though he was nearly to it anyway) and in the background Vee giggles but doesn’t pay much attention because she has already fired up my laptop and is signing into Facebook.

At dinner, Ally is gone, TJ states he doesn’t want me to make him any socks like mine.  Vee agrees, Wil asks why and TJ says with a full mouth something that sounds like ‘itchy’.

Wil says “you don’t have to make me any mom”.

Grandma says “You were going to make everyone socks?  Well don’t worry about me, they are cheaper to buy anyway”

Hubby says “You know I should check at the Farm Supply and see if they still carry those hunting socks I wore in Montana, Caledonia, the mountains, Korea…..”

Vee mentions there is a sale at Old Navy and Abercrombie and says she wants to go to the mall.

So then I have a drawer full of socks that no one wants.

BUT I have a plan. Since I know them, they are easy.  I do not wear the socks.  If I do make myself a pair they do not show up until Christmas day.  From Thanksgiving thru Christmas Eve I fuss so at least each person hears me once mention how cold the floors are, how I wished I had some of those hunting socks like my dad had, how I should check and see what kind of wool I can buy and how I need to learn how to knit socks.

LOL, a plan such as this will ensure that each and every member of my household will be wanting what I am making them for their Holiday Gift ;)

 

Grandmother’s Favorite Dishcloth

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Another Excellent Gift Giving Idea

This is probably the singlemost popular dishcloth pattern there is.  I made this one for Ally as she picked out the green she has in her kitchen and have already whipped a few more out.  They only take a few hours and are a great way IMO to practice yarn overs if you are considering some lace knitting or a project with eyelets.

You can get the pattern here:  http://www.groupepp.com/dishbout/kpatterns/grfavorite.html

Be warned though.  Just as Thelma’s Great Neice stated, as soon as someone uses one of these you are more than likely to get a phone call requesting more :)

Tawashi Facial Pads

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Here is another great gift idea….and ya know, Mother’s Day is just around the corner :)

I made these along with the round Facial Cleaning Pads for Vee but before I hit that great sale on Sugar N Cream yarn when I made Brady’s Easter Chick Beanie hat so the colors shown above are the colors from my kitchen but that worked out just fine as you will read ahead.

I had never heard of or seen a ‘Tawashi’ but in my opinion they looked like they would be a little easier to use than the round face washing pads.  Vee reported that she likes the Round Facial Cleaners better and they are better for removing eye make up.  Then she mentions she has seen similar items like this used as Kitchen Scrubbers so this stack of crochet Tawashis found their way into my kitchen where they are marvelous at fitting right in my hand to wipe off plates, the high chair try or even scrub out the bottom of a skillet.  This week they will get a new companion as I replace the cream, purple and green dishcloth the girls used to clean up a huge nail polish spill.

The pattern takes only about 10 minutes to whip up and is a great way to use up some scrap yarn.  And of course, these pads, as the previous post, are machine washable.

You can get the pattern here at the Shh, I’m Counting Blog by a talented lady name Marte.  The link is here:  http://arpelia.blogspot.com/2008/09/super-simple-tawashi-flower.html While you are there check out her patterns. I am dying to make the beautiful ‘ridiculously huge pom pom hat’ on her site that is crochet with earflaps using ThickThin yarn.

Facial Cleaning Pads

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Looking for a very quick gift idea?

I stumbled across these crochet facial pads or face ‘scrubbers’ by accident while Vee was sitting by me.  She said she would love to try one instead of using a washcloth on her face every morning and night.

Each of these literally only took a couple minutes as they are only two rounds of crochet.  This pattern is a great way to use up some of that scrap cotton.  Make half a dozen or so, tie them up with a ribbon or even include them in a basket beauty or facial products for a unique and usable holiday or birthday gift.

The pattern for these is at Crochet Spot  http://www.crochetspot.com/crochet-pattern-facial-cleaning-pads/

Dishcloth Knit Along

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Knit-a-Long anyone?

Dishcloths are so easy and quick to knit up and make great gifts

I like knit a longs where everyone works on the same project at the same time opposed to those where forum members can just drop in.  Ravely has KAL groups–quite a few actually but when I ‘ve searched I haven’t found any projects I was interested in making.  It has been years since I searched thru Yahoo for groups but I happened to see the groups icon in my toolbar and was actually surprised that groups were still around.

A quick search for knitting brought me to a dishcloth knit along group that has been in existence for years.  What’s so great about the Monthly Dishcloth Knit Along group is that you create two dishcloths a month (that’s 24 gifts you make each year!!!) and the host provides you will 7 or so rows to knit per day.  Committing to that 30 minutes or so per evening means you have two dozen Christmas Gifts at the end of a year.  To me this is incredibly helpful and keeps me on track.  It also means I’m not spending hours every week searching for the next pattern to make.

You can join the group to at:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MonthlyDishcloths/

The first KAL I was involved in was for the cloth above.  It turned out to be a Giraffe which works out because it coordinates with the high chair our grandsons use here.