My Hook is on Fire

Sorry about not posting the pattern for the Granny Square hat yet. I ran out of the yarn I used for the squares. Didn't want to to work the hat with another brand because I was afraid it would throw off the gauge. We have had over 20 inches of snow in the past week. Had a power outage that lasted for almost a whole day and I am still trying to recover from a bad stomach bug. I've been out only once in the past week. Maybe a few more days before I am ready to venture out again. As long as I still have yarn, I am in good shape. In fact, I own so much of it, I could probably open a small store myself.

Have had a lot of time to work on a few projects on my to do list. I will share some of them and links to the patterns if I can find them.

These are Button up Cocoons I worked with a pattern from Red Heart.  This pattern did have a few new stitches but the instructions were clear and I didn't have any problems following them. It took me about 4 hours for each cocoon. I worked the hats in concession. The first one took a little longer about 40 minutes. Since I was familiar with the pattern, the second one only took about 30 minutes. I really like this set and it is now my new go to pattern.
http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/button-baby-cocoon-and-hat

I finally took the time to learn the Crocodile Stitch. Made this little hat  and learned the stitch  watching a You Tube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ebo8Rqgy4g
The stitch is labor intensive and eats a lot of yarn but it is well worth it. This little hat is very dense and warm. I am going to make myself a scarf using this stitch. Also thought about making another baby hat in red, adding a stem and leaves and sewing little black beads to the end of each petal. Would make a very cute little Strawberry hat. Don't you agree?

 Every little girl should own a Sailor Dress. Made the dress and cap from a pattern I purchased from Leisure Arts. My mind is already working on a pattern for a little boy to match this dress. Who knows, maybe sometime soon I can post it. Made some little MaryJanes in Navy to match the dress. Only finished those a few days ago. Made the dress about 4 weeks ago.

It was only a matter of time. I finally made my first owl hat. I used Fun fur for the outline of the ears and the braid. Most of my earflap hats and beanies are made using either single crochet or half double crochets. I think they are much warmer than those that are made with double crochets.

This is a hat I made for one of my granddaughters. She lives with several Pug friends. This is a purchased pattern. Ira Roth on Etsy is the designer. She has some very cute patterns and is a very talented.

This hat happened by accident. It started as a practice project. I was trying to figure out how to work the spiral. I knew it was just a matter of moving the front post double crochets in a pattern, but I wasn't quite sure how to work it with the increase rounds. I only had to undo a total of 2 rounds before it clicked. Before I knew it, another hat was done. This is also the same day I designed a new flower. It is the same Large 6 Petal flower I used for the Diaper set in my last post. My Mother-in law is now the proud owner of a new spring hat. It fits her perfectly.

A couple of Fun Mowhawk earflap hats I did in January. I made these out of I love this Yarn by Hobby Lobby. The only yarn I was able to purchase locally in Neon colors. Hobby Lobby is having a problem with the manufacturer of their yarn. The shelves are getting empty and I am not sure if they are going to continue selling the yarn I love to work with. These hats are best when worked with a single crochet. I cut my yarn about 5 inches and add 3 strands to the center line of the hat. I am working on a Peace sign and Skull and Crossbones to add to the sides. My 2 grandsons love their hats. They had people at Walmart stop them to find out, where they got their hats.

This hat was designed by my 6 year old granddaughter. This little girl knew what she wanted. The body of this hat is made using the Bobble stitch. I added 2 rounds of single crochets for each stripe of the trim. The final version also had small crochet bows at the end of the pig tails.

As you can tell, I love to crochet hats. They are a great way to work out new pattern and stitches. They work up quick and the possibilities are endless. Most of these hats are made, without to use of a pattern. Once you know the basic construction of the hat, it is very easy to design your own master pieces. If you need a little help, refer back to one of my previous posts on how to design and properly fit a hat. One day soon, I am going to figure out how to link back to previous posts. At this point I can only recommend looking at the menu.

My newest project is a spiral pattern beanie. This is a new and very nice free pattern, I started this morning. I do not recommened working  this pattern without suffisiant amounts of caffein in your system. An hour later, starting it twice, I was stuck on round four. For some reason, my brain and hook did not want to work in unsisom on this pattern. This was one of those rare times, I had to put a project aside for a while. I will try again tomorrow. This pattern is perfect for a male and I thought it was very nice to use as a base for a bearded beanie. Will post some picture if I ever get it done.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swirl-beanie