Molly hat!

A friend roleplays Molly from the comic Runaways, so I made this hat for her.

I used Bernat ‘Soft Bouclé’ in ‘Soft Rose’ for the pink and Patons ‘Be Mine’ in ‘Wuzzy White’ (so soft!) for the pom-poms.

I used size 10 needles, starting with 16″ circular needles and casting on 63 stitches, and added the flaps on after. (I actually used a Jayne hat pattern as a model and adjusted it as needed.)

I used Bryspun 5″ plastic needles in size 6 for this, and I loved them. The yarn didn’t slide off, they were just the right length and the tips were nicely tapered.

For yarn, I used Trendsetter Tonalita in “Ocean and Sky” (48% acrylic/52% wool.) The texture was nice and cozy, but I nearly went crazy trying to get the striping to match up on both gloves. As you can see, I finally gave up on that.

I'm gearing up for the BGAL by creating Gremlin patterns. Still not sure exactly what my BGAL project is going to be. But I tested one of the patterns, so I share it with you. Here's my basic crocheted gremlin chart: (Based on this image by Ang. Free to share, if you want it.)

And here is how it looked when I tested it.

This was done with Patons Canadiana yarn in Royal Blue and Gold. I pulled the yarn a little too tightly at first – you can really see it in the rows around the tips of the hands. But overall, a gremlin!

ETA:  Larger, more detailed chart.  This one is 70 x 70 stitches – too big for a pillow, too small for a blanket.  But if anyone wants to try it out, go for it!

I have been crocheting off and on for years, but lately it's been more off than on. So when I decided to crochet an afghan for my dad, it started off a little rough. I redid the first few rows several times. I think that's why the first section is fuzzier than the rest – over handling. But once I had the pattern down, it went quickly.

I used a pattern from the Velvet Touch Decor book – page 20, the Chevron Comforter. (Sorry, no picture of the afghan itself.  I'll try to scan it when I get a chance.)  I loved the colors in the picture, so I attempted to use the exact yarns they recommended. (Uncreative, yes, but pretty!)

The pattern suggested Lion Brand Homespun yarn – soft, fluffy and acrylic. I know there's some yarn purists out there, but my dad lives in jeans and polo shirts. (He's a mathematics professor.) He needs stuff that's practical and machine washable.

The pattern recommended 4 skeins of #368 (Montana Sky), 3 of #341 (Windsor,) 3 of #326 (Ranch) and 3 of #346 (Bella Vista).

I couldn't find all the recommended colors in stock locally, so I substituted #302 (Colonial) for the dark blue (Montana Sky) and #380 (Fawn) for the tan (Bella Vista.)

I screwed up the counting near the beginning. I don't know if that's why I ended up using less than 3 skeins of the dark blue and less than 2 of the other colors, but it came out a nice size anyway

Along the way, the project outgrew my small crafts basket, so I asked my friend Lauri to pick up a big one for me from the local Rennaisance Faire. Here's my new all-inclusive crafts/yarn basket. It's perfect for hauling large projects around the house, or just throwing all the yarns I'm thinking of using together and sorting through them downstairs in front of the TV.

The afghan took me about a month and a half of free time, including one cross-country plane trip. (The subject line of this post is the punchline to a joke – why wasn't the woman allowed to take yarn on the plane?) Do not drop your crochet hook on a plane, by the way. I had to bother everyone around me to get it back because it had rolled behind my seat.
Next project: knitting an illusion scarf.

New craft blog! Created for the BGAL.