The Slightly Slouchy Hat pattern was written because a certain surly, sarcastic teenager that I adore enjoys wearing hats that actively annoy people (such as a pilly, linty old rag of a hat, worn to a wedding reception). This teenager is a fan of bright orange, and at the time that I was writing up the pattern, I didn’t have any on hand. Bright stripes of Firefly butt were, fortunately, obnoxious enough, but I still wanted to make one in a bright orange. I asked for recommendations on Twitter, and Beverly of PoMo Golightly graciously passed along a skein of yarn that turned out to be just right. The shades of orange shift and flicker just a bit, giving it a little more interest than a flat monochrome would.
A little while back I ordered 1 ball of Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in colorway “Mix Tape” so I could play with it and see how the long color changes would look. Since I wanted to try using a fingering weight yarn with my Slightly Slouchy crochet hat pattern, I picked up a size E hook and got started. I did wind up unraveling the beginning, snipping off the first color, and then starting again – because no matter what, a big pink circle at the top of a hat is going to make someone think of…something other than a hat.
The colors are wonderful, aren’t they? I like the way the hot brights are balanced out by the dark grey.
This is part of my getting a jump on the winter holidays project list. The Slightly Slouchy Hat has been teen-approved – the Firefly stripes version was made ‘specially for a smart, sarcastic teen who enjoys the added obnoxiousness potential of having the colors of a Lampyridae backside involved. Your mileage may vary.
Pattern: Slightly Slouchy Hat (free! – in US/Canada and UK/Antipodes versions)
Yarn: Knit Picks, Chroma Fingering Sock Yarn, colorway Mix Tape
Last weekend, I had a lot on my mind (Fresh Designs Crochet stuff, mostly) and three skeins of Twisted Fiber Arts Playful in three different versions of the Firefly colorway. I sat down, wound up two of the skeins, picked up a crochet hook, smoothed out my thoughts and ended up with two hats. Made a little longer and then gathered in back with a crocheted cord, so that the amount of slouch can be adjusted to the wearers taste (or the cord can be taken out and the brim folded up, or pulled down over ears and back of neck). I plan to make a few more of these this summer to have handy for winter gift-giving.
The Slightly Slouchy Hat crochet pattern is free and available in both US/Canada terminology and UK/Australia/New Zealand terminology (both PDFs are included; check the top right corner of the page to be sure you are using the version with the terminology you prefer). Sizes XS (child) to XL.
Twisted Fiber Arts Playful Self-Striping yarn (with long-repeat option), colorway Firefly
Twisted Fiber Arts Playful Self-Striping yarn (with long-repeat option), colorway Firefly
Twisted Fiber Arts Playful Evolution yarn, colorway Firefly
Twisted Fiber Arts Playful Evolution yarn, colorway Firefly
download now
Lava Flow Cowl #3, blocking.
The Lana Grossa Alta Moda Cashmere was a good choice. It’s pretty airy for a bulky yarn, it’s next-to-the-skin soft, and it’s got a little bit of halo that you can see close up:
…and great stitch definition when you stand back:
Now I just have to graft the ends.
Pattern: Lava Flow Cowl by Dixie Norton, available free at the Dixie Stix blog.
Yarn: Lana Grossa Alta Moda Cashmere, 80% merino, 20% cashmere. Bulky/12-ply chainette. (YarnDex link)
Lava Flow Cowl #1 is still in progress. I misread the instructions and cabled more frequently than the pattern called for – letting it marinate while I think about working that into the pattern or just starting over.
Lava Flow Cowl #2 – frogged, as posted earlier.
Lava Flow Cowl #3 has knit up quickly; what I need to do now is weave in the ends, wash it, block it, and see if it’s the right length. This time I’m using Lana Grossa Alta Moda Cashmere on US #13 needles, and it is knitting up to be rather light and fluffy for something so bulky.
Lava Flow Cowl, free pattern from the DixieStix blog. I had two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky and a pair of US 10.5 knitting needles that I was okay with losing if airport security decided to confiscate them, so I took this on a very long airplane ride and it was great! Until I ran out of yarn.
It’s not long enough to make a comfortable cowl, and this yarn has been discontinued, so I’m going to frog it and make something else. I’m okay with that; I cast on another one in a different yarn and this time I made sure I have enough!
Isn’t this pretty?
Free download from Life’s Visual Journal, via craftgawker. She also sells a matching fabric clutch sized to fit an iPhone!
Originally published in the Winter ’07/Spring ’08 issue of Knitscene, the crochet pattern is now available as in a free eBook from CrochetMe (How to Crochet Granny Squares with CrochetMe). The pattern with full article on how to dye the motifs with food coloring is available for sale through the Interweave online store.
Springtime Baby Beanie (no flowers)
For a the newly arrived baby of longtime friends, I chose to purchase handmade items as gifts so that I’d have things ready to send before the child entered kindergarden. Crocheting a simple beanie felt attainable to me, though, so I chose some Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton from my stash (I’ve been wanting to use this Pickle Green for a while now) and did a simple striping with Lemongrass Yellow and Shell Pink. Cute, right?
Well, the color changes for the stripes weren’t completely even. I wasn’t going to rip back and redo them, so I figured I could just do a quick flower and cover it up.
Springtime Baby Beanie (1 flower)
Aww. Might redo the embroidery in the center, though.
It was getting late, but I had an idea about other flowers I could make, so I stayed up to crochet “just one more.”
Springtime Baby Beanie (3 flowers)
Okay, two more. And I think I need to do more to the one on the right.
Pattern: Basic Crochet Baby Beanie (it’s free, and you can use it to make and sell as many finished items as you like). I haven’t worked up full instructions for the flowers yet; I’ve been thinking about doing a for-sale pattern set of multiple sizes in different yarn weights and might chart up the flowers for that set. I’m also thinking about formatting the free version as a downloadable PDF for Ravelry.
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton. Pickle Green (body), Lemongrass Yellow (stripes) and Shell Pink (stripe). kpixie.com has it on sale as of this writing.
