Yes, I realize it's been a very long while since I've posted anything crafty. A very long while... But here in the past few weeks, I've decided that instead of wishing and blogging about projects I want to do, I'm just gonna do 'em. And the results have been rather pleasing.
Since the beginning of Summer, I've made...
A baby gift for a college friend (not posting the pic because she still doesn't have it yet. Nicki, that's what you get for moving to Korea)
A duffel bag for Josiah to take to the beach. I started to be brave and sneak in Josiah's room while he slept to snatch said duffel bag for a picture, but I opened the door and heard him stir, so I chickened out and ran like someone was chasing me. So no pic.
A drool mat. That is not used anymore because of baby mobility. I didn't even get a picture before I put it up, but I made it using a vinyl tablecloth, an egg crate mattress pad, a fleece throw and blanket binding. All stuff I could get from our local Fred's or I already had.
A dress for one niece, a shirt for her sister, and matching shorts for my Stink Bug
An umbrella cover, because the existing one didn't have much SPF to it.
A Hello Kitty applique pillowcase shirt and Boutique Jeans for my little cousin.
A crocheted football hat for Stink Bug. It's just like all the ones that you see on Pinterest, Etsy, and elsewhere.
The "All American Hero Hat" for Stink Bug's Halloween costume (Pattern to come later, like in just a few more lines)
A crocheted skinny chevron scarf (Pattern to also come later, like in another post)
Another crocheted chevron scarf in my favorite cream, burgundy and navy color combo.
And in the works are...
The coat that I first mentioned here about 2 years ago. This thing is so close I can taste it. I just have to finish the hem on the lining and reposition a button.
A bag to match the coat. That is actually done now. Amazing what two weeks between writing a draft and publishing a post can do. Too bad I can't make shoes too.
Another pile of ID wallets to put in the shop. 4 of 9 are done now.
A "Bowling Bag" inspired by the Vera Bradley bags that everyone seems to be toting nowadays.
And I think I'm maybe gonna make some baby cords out of some of my old pants and some rice warmers that hopefully Stink Bug will hold on to when we go to Dollywood at the end of November. He sure does like his rice sock, but I don't want to carry my grungy old mismatched sock out in public. And maybe a microfleece animal/lovey of some sort. I am NOT willing to cut up my housecoat for the baby, so I've got to find some cheap fabric. And maybe a baby hoodie sweatshirt. I say maybe because Josiah really doesn't need it, but it's kind of fun to just see if you can do it :)
So I said that the "All American Hero Hat" pattern was coming later. It's later. I wanted to get it out there in time for Halloween so if you wanted to make one for your little Hero, you can. As you may already know, my brother's name is Sam. When Josiah was born, that made him Uncle Sam. Megan, Sam's girlfriend, found a Halloween costume for a couple that was Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty. And they decided that Josiah needed to be Captain America. She even got him a Captain America T-shirt. So I set to work on the hat. I call it the "All American Hero Hat" because it's not exactly Captain America, and I don't want to infringe upon any copyrights or licensing or such. If you make this hat, I do ask that you don't sell anything you make from the pattern. I usually don't care, but I'm still kind of funny about the licensing stuff. Please make as many as you want for personal use or as gifts, just please don't sell them. Thanks! I didn't pay much attention to guage since I wasn't going to go commercial with this pattern. And this pattern involves switching yarn colors. I didn't include instructions for that, but I'm sure you can find some better tutorials than I could write on the matter.
Size: Made to fit my will-be 10 month old who has a large head
Yarn Used: Lily Sugar 'N' Cream, 1 ball each Red, White and Blue
Hook Used: Size I, but I usually use a hook 2 sizes larger to obtain guage on commercial patterns
This is an American termed pattern with standard abbreviations, bpdc = back post double crochet, fpdc = front post double crochet
Hat Base, starting with blue yarn
Round 1: SC 6 in a Magic Ring. Sl st to join to top of first sc. If you don't know how to do a Magic Ring, I made a video here, but please feel free to find something better elsewhere on the net.
Round 2: ch 1, 2 sc in each sc around. Join to top of first sc with sl st (12 sts)
Round 3: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 4: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 2 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 5: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 3 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 6: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 4 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 4 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 7: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 5 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 5 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 8: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 6 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 6 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 9: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 7 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 7 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 10: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 8 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 8 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 11: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 9 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 9 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 12-24: ch 1, sc in same where joined, sc in each sc around. Join to top of first sc with sl st. Finish off at end of Round 24.
Round 25: Join white yarn. Ch 2, dc in same sc where joined, dc in next 2 sc. Join red yarn, dc in next 3 sc. *Switch to white yarn, dc in next 3 sc, switch to red yarn, dc in next 3 sc* 11 times (or around depending on whether or not you like to count). Join with sl st to first white dc.
Round 26-27: With white yarn, ch 2, bpdc around same dc where joined and around next 2 dc. Switch to red yarn, fpdc around next 3 dc. *Switch to white yarn, bpdc around next 3 dc. Switch to red yarn, fpdc around next 3 dc* 11 times. Finish off at the end of Round 27. (White yarn should be around white yarn, red yarn around red yarn.)
Wings
Make 2 with white yarn Row 1: ch 10, turn
Row 2: sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 8 sc, do not ch when turning(9 sts)
Row 3: 5 dc in next sc, skip 1 sc, sl st in next sc, skip 1 sc, 4 dc in next sc, sc in next 4 sc. Finish off.
"Target" applique
Rounds 1-5: Follow instructions for Rounds 1-5 of Hat Base with red yarn
Round 6: Switch to white yarn, sl st in each sc around, finish off.
Star applique
Round 1: sc 5 in magic ring, join with sl st to top of first sc, do not ch
Round 2: *(sc, dc, sc) all in next sc, sl st in next sc* 5 times. Finish off.
Stitch star applique to center of target applique. Stitch target applique to center front of hat (I just guessed at this). Stitch wings to sides of hat using just the first 5 dc cluster. Position them slightly closer to the front than to the back. One will be "wrong side out" but just don't look too close and no one will really notice :) Weave in ends, you may want to use some fabric glue to tack down the yarn ends on the wings since there's no really good place for them to go.
And there you have it! It's not Captain America to a T, but I bet anyone who sees it will recognize it as such. Enjoy! And thanks for stopping by!
