All the Hats!

Because I'm taking forever to actually get things updated, I'm going to combine several projects in this post. After finishing my Avatar: The Last Airbender blanket (another post I need to get up!) I needed a couple of small projects to carry around with me. Hats are pretty much perfect for that!

Hat Number 1: One of my friends was deciding whether or not she wanted to get her haircut. I told her if she cut her hair short I would make her a hat. I wanted it to be a fancy hat, and found this pattern for a Spider Web Slouch. Super cute if I could pull it off. I added some extra pizzazz by using sparkly, white yarn.

Side view

Top view

Detail of design

Overall I was happy with how it turned out (my friend says she was too!). My only gripe is that it came out bigger than I expected, but that's really my fault more than anything!

Next, I had a skein of brown speckled yarn that I had lying around for awhile and I decided it might make a nice project. One of my favorite bloggers, Sarah Zimmerman of Repeat Crafter Me, had posted a polar bear hat pattern awhile ago, and I thought, 'hey, bears are brown too!' (Obvious, I know). So I decided to quick whip myself up a bear hat.

Because I made this hat for myself I decided to leave off the face. I put the ears just on the top of the hat when I probably should have moved them farther forward a little. This hat has been perfect for these last couple weeks where its been in the 40s! 

Lastly is the bobble poof hat I also made for myself! I am completely in love with this hat. I had some bulky yarn that I really wanted to use, and even though the pattern called for worsted weight I decided to go for it anyways. A good choice in the end! 

Bobbles!

It's pretty warm because of the thicker yarn. I've gotten a ton of compliments on it too! And it's three of the best colors in the world. Win-win-win situation.

A Commission

Over break I was hanging out with one of my best friends. We were spending the evening by introducing her to Firefly, and naturally I brought my crochet bag with me (because I bring it everywhere). Here mom came in and was talking to us and saw that I was working on a hat and commented how cool it was that I knew how to crochet and she wished she had learned. She then went to her room and grabbed a bag of yarn that she had bought at a garage sale and asked if I would make something for her. I showed her this blog with the things that I had made and so we decided upon an infinity scarf and a hat!

This is the 5th infinity scarf that I've made with this shell stitch pattern! Gotta say it has become a favorite.

The yarn that I used was really cool. It was spiral shaped and had a silver strand with all the blues (and purple). Also, it was at least ten years old.

My friend was even kind enough to let me take a picture of the back of her head!

Infinity scarf pattern: http://yarnchick.blogspot.com/2011/10/simple-shell-stitch-infinity-scarf-free.html
Beanie pattern: http://linz-craftingadventures.blogspot.com/2012/10/neon-green-beanie.html

Infinity Scarf Surprise

She has no idea yet, but as a frequent reader of my blog she'll find out soon. My best friend of 13 years is an absolutely amazing person, and significantly more fashionable than I am. I hadn't created anything for her yet and I'd been seeing a lot of infinity scarves around campus lately and they look like something she would absolutely love. So combining this pattern (http://yarnchick.blogspot.com/2011/10/simple-shell-stitch-infinity-scarf-free.html) with some black, sparkly yarn will do the trick! :)

I really liked this pattern because of the shell stitch. It's unique and the scarf pattern almost has a vintage feel to it (as described by my boss). If you were to undo the scarf so that is was straight, it's approximately four and a half feet long.

Hey, look, it's a vertical infinity symbol!

The great thing about this pattern is that pretty much every female I've shown it to has said how pretty or neat it is!

So...surprise, Natalie :) Thanks for being an amazing friend!

Dinosaur!

Being a geologist means I LOVE Dinosaurs. A lot. I found this pattern (located here: http://amigurumibyknotty.blogspot.com/2010/05/longneck-dinosaur.html) for a long-neck dinosaur early on in my crocheting career, and I've been dying to make it ever since.

I finally did, and I am very pleased with the result! If any of you have been reading this blog you might notice that this is the same yarn used in Joy's birthday scarf. I used it in this pattern because this dinosaur is for a fellow geology undergrad who is graduating this year (I just got it done way ahead of time!). When I was working on the scarf she noticed it and decided she really liked the colors and the sparkle and so declared I should make her something with the extra, hence this dinosaur.

The reason one of his legs is purple is because I originally thought I wasn't going to have enough of the teal color. Turns out I did, but my friend decided she liked the idea of a purple prosthetic. (He got into a really intense fight with some raptors) My friend will have to careful though, or I might steal him for myself!

Isn't he too cute!?

Surprisingly, I managed to make this guy in about a week! I guess that's what happens when classes haven't started yet and you have free time...

Joy's Birthday Scarf

After three months of getting weird looks from people in my Psych lecture, I finally finished this scarf!

I made this scarf for my best friend for her birthday...which was in January, so I'm only a little late, right?

Here's a picture with my foot to scale. (I wear size 11)

 It's a little hard to see in the picture but the yarn is actually very sparkly! It's an easy way to to add a little bit of flair to an otherwise plain piece. This was my first time trying to switch colors of yarn within a piece, and so it was a tad difficult at first, but by the end it worked out. The rest was very simple, I just used a single crochet stitch, but the next time I make a scarf I'm planning on learning the double crochet stitch! 

Next up on the list of things to make is a Gryffindor bracelet since I got sorted into Gryffindor on Pottermore! Check it out: http://www.pottermore.com/