Snowboarder - The first design

My yarn has been put through the ringer! The Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn called Kansas City Wheat and Fun Fur Chocolate were my choice. I've enjoyed working with these yarns. The Hometown USA is nice and thick so you can see a hat come together quickly. I'm still not sure about the final design. There may be another approach in the works coming up. I still want it bulkier and I want to try to apply a mohawk of some sort.

The Snowboarder from the front.

The Snowboarder from the side. I added a small detail. I was going to add buttons but because the yarn lends itself to it I made the button out of the yarn.

I also added a button on the back side.

I had a lot of fun making this hat. Now I have to write out the pattern. It's really warm and bulky and would look so cool coming down the slopes not to mention just hanging out by the fire.

The Snowboarder at the beginning

I am still trying to perfect my Carrot Top pattern. It's being tested and it's getting me testy!!! Who knew how intricate it would be to write a pattern. Things you take for granted have to be written out move by move. So I should be ready this week to post the pattern.

In the meantime, I bought the yarn to start the Snowboarder hat. So excited. The possibilities are endless. If I can capture the vision in my head we should be golden.

My yarn haul this afternoon. So excited to start the Snowboarder. I've been working on an Owl pattern hat with scraps in the meantime. I'm doing them for a set of triplets. I think they are cute. Still have some last minute touches to put on them. I'm doing each one in a different combination using the same colors.

The owls are a fun pattern I found on a blog called Slugs on the Refrigerator. www.slugsontherefrigerator.com.  I've gotten this far.

The owls are coming to life. This is a published pattern, not for resale, but so cute. My sister has triplets on her husbands side of the family so I'm going to make them for the kids. I can't wait to see a picture of them all wearing them!

I have a great evening of building a pattern from scratch. Anyone want to take bets about how many times I'll be ripping out stitches and starting over. You just wait, when I get done it will be a masterpiece!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

I have rounded up all the yarn I have left to my name and sad to say I can fit it all in one basket!! It's so sad...only because I love to have skeins of yarn in every corner of my office. I love to have a basket of it in my bedroom. I love to have a basket of patterns and yarns in the living room. But now...I'm down to one little basket. Scraps of cotton from wash cloths, Red Heart medium weights for my hats and afghans and a couple of rumpled up patterns I printed from the internet.

The moral of the story...I need a yarn shopping extravaganza!! Once for my birthday at a family gathering my sister's sister-in-law gave me a birthday bag full of yarn. 8 whole skeins for an afghan. She might as well have handed me a diamond ring!!! I was so excited. So the shopping extravaganza will happen this weekend. Of course being unemployed, I won't go over board. Just a couple of skeins to make my Snowboarder hat.

My last scraps of yarn!! They look so lonely, crying out to be made into something.

I finally finished writing the pattern for my hat design. The pattern is for the carrot and chocolate colored ski hat. I called it Carrot Top. I tested it one more time to make sure it was right. I then emailed it to my sister (my crochet partner in crime) and she's testing it too. Then I'll post it for you all to try. The pattern may be called Carrot Top but use any colors your little heart desires!!!

The final tester hat. I love that furry yarn. It's called Fun Fur by Lion Brand. It just adds such a punch and makes the hat look cozy.

As I was surfing through my Facebook page this afternoon I enjoy seeing postings from www.slugsontherefrigerator.com. It's a blog written by a woman named Kat Goldin who is an American transplanted to Scotland. She does incredible crochet patterns and work. I enjoy her blog and I came across this pattern for an iPhone cover. I quickly whipped one up for my husband's phone. I did it in a nice blue because he's a Coast Guard Auxiliary person. I see Christmas presents in a lot of my friend's future!!! HA!!!

Here's the iPhone cover. So easy and so cute! I never have buttons laying around but I was able to find a few clothes I have purchased that have extra buttons attached in plastic. So now I have to add to my list...shop for interesting buttons.

I see an interesting weekend ahead of me. I plan on beginning the Snowboarder hat. I have such a vision in my head. I only hope I can do it justice. If I can then I'm off to the races.....

Testing one, two, three!

This has been in interesting experience. Writing a pattern. I'm a creature of habit. I usually crochet by using published patterns. I follow them to the letter, except for colors. So this experience has taken me completely off the beaten path.

I am so happy to see the response to my blog for one and then for ear flap hat I posted. It's been so much fun to communicate about crochet. So many degrees of experience etc.

I have had the best time testing this pattern. I have been writing the pattern and photographing it along the way. I tested it without the furry yarn just to see what it looks like. Definitely use the furry yarn. I think it looks cozier. I'll have the names of the yarns etc. in the pattern. I hope I can read my chicken scratch!! When I get it finished I will be sure to post the pattern.

Now that this one is finished I'm looking forward to making the hat I really want to make. It's going to be called The Snowboarder. I'm looking for the chunkiest of yarns and the furriest!! It will be a masterpiece. But it's going to take me awhile!!!

My next dream is to go yarn shopping. Whenever I come around the corner and see all the colors I get so excited. If only I had an endless budget right? My dream is to have an extra $100 and spend it all on yarn!!  Ridiculous eh? Not when you have a million ideas rolling around in your brain.

Baron is asleep on the couch next to me as I work in what I call my COMMAND CENTRAL.

I put my new portfolio together today to get me ready for my appointment Wednesday morning. I hope this leads to a job. I'm praying and crossing my fingers. It's an opportunity of a lifetime.

Anyway, when I get the pattern done I'll post it. It's a great feeling to know that I accomplished it!

Here is the hat before adding the ear flaps.

Ear flaps added, check!

Adding the tassles. I find that if you add about 6 extra inches of yarn to braid and create tassle it's easier to grab the yarn and tie the knot.    

The finished piece. Here's the ironic part, I live in Florida now. These hats would have come in so much more handy in Michigan!!!

Do any of you hold allegiance to only one yarn company? I love Red Heart and it's my “go to” yarn but I also love to mix and match different textures so I go up and down the row picking up things from all different brands. Is that wrong? Can't we all just get along? HA!!!!

So now I'm off to get this pattern written up and add a little bit of graphic design to boot!!!

The Mad Hatter and Dog Whisperer!

The search for the perfect hat pattern goes on!

I stumbled across this pattern this afternoon. So I chose the yarn I have and started to work. It's cute.

I'm making a trip to the store tomorrow to purchase new colors and new textures. Can't wait!!!

While I work I have a fan club. The dogs come from all four corners of the house and have to be in the room at my feet or laying nearby. The calm of crocheting must relax them. They just have to be nearby. So funny.

This little hat has a wave pattern.

A view from the top.

This is my pug Baron the patron of Crocheting! He's always nearby when I work!

Here's Harry my in-law's dog. He had to know what was going on too!!

 I plan to spend the weekend continuing my research. I'm also putting together a new portfolio of my graphics work. I have an interview on Wednesday. No guarantees but at least it's an interview. Send good vibes my way!!!

Now there are two!

The little hat factory has begun!! I now have 2!!! The possibilities really are endless. I can't wait to go and buy yarn this weekend for the hat I really want to make. It's almost going to be sculptural!! So happy to be inspired again!!

The twins!!!

Winter Hat Extravaganza!

I attempted the Sherpa, Ear Flap, Mohawk hat today. It ended up a Sherpa and Ear Flap hat. I started the top from a pattern and then once I had about 4 inches of circle I started to make up the stitches. It's my first attempt at creating something from my head or is that for my head!  I'm a “follow the pattern to the letter” gal. (Not colors, just stitches). So this was off the beaten path for me. Not to mention, it's not an afghan. Let me tell you, pardon the pun, I'm hooked.

I have no idea how to make it bigger or smaller but I'm going to keep at it. I'll do some research and make more and more. My ultimate hat will be with big chunky yarn and a Q sized hook. I want it to look like a Russian Hat with ear flaps. Big and furry!! Something that snowboarders would wear. Funky and cool.

I had a great time using the furry yarn too. Usually that kind of yarn is hard to work with for me being that I have bifocals and it's hard to see the stitches sometimes. Luckily I didn't have a problem with this yarn. By the way did I tell you all that I'm old just now? Just turned 50!! Bifocals are the norm now!!

Here's how the hat turned out.

Red Heart is my “go to” yarn so I chose this appropriate carrot color for the season. The furry yarn was a lot of fun to work with.

I like the shape. The next hat I make needs to be just a bit bigger.

Well I'm going to try to write out the pattern so that I can attempt the next hat. Look for more hats to be posted as I try to figure out different shapes and sizes. The crazier the better!! You have to get noticed on those slopes!!!