another custom order mailed out!

Yay.  It's Wednesday.  Which means it's not Friday.

Innyhoo, I finished up this slouchy hat last night for a custom order:



The photo's a wee bit grainy because I took it a night, but my tripod avoided completely destroying it.  I  was dropped it in the mail this morning, so it should be on the way to its final destination shortly!

I have to say, I love the final result.  It's based on the Ballpark Hats I've been making (pattern courtesy of Lion brand), but it didn't have a pom-pom.  It's made in Vanna's Choice black, which was surprisingly soft after my experience with the much rougher grey.

Speaking of yarn, I just discovered that there's a Hobby Lobby not too far from us.  Paint me green and call me Gumby, because I am SO EXCITED to get me some sparkly "I Love This Yarn".  I'll let you know if I can get there this weekend.  My guess is my bank account will say "No".

Wavy Zig-Zag Striped Crochet Beanie Pattern Now Available!

Hi, all!  If you haven't already heard, my Wavy Zig-Zag Crochet Beanie pattern is now available for purchase and download on Ravelry.  You can also purchase the pattern through my etsy shop, but Ravelry is best for instant gratification :)

The pattern includes instructions for both a normal beanie and a slouchier version.  More information on what's includes and what you need to know are available on the download pages.

Enjoy!

a post from my sick bed

Hi, everyone!  I'm just making this quick entry to let you know I've been busy dealing with my face falling off of my face.  Okay, not really, but I have the worst-ever case of Man Cold and can't stop complaining about it long enough to pick up any yarn.

I had already been hit with the ultimate Crap Trifecta - it was Monday, I had worked for 9 hours and spent 4 hours in classes for my graduate program, and I had driven home in sleet and freezing rain.  That's when the sore throat hit.  Today, Sneezing came late to the party, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever feel human again.

Suffice it to say, I've been really bad at responding to any comments you've all been leaving me on any of the sites I'm on, and I'm trying to catch up as best I can.  Please don't think I'm being mean :)

I'll leave you with photos of my slouchy zig-zag hat.  If/when I return to you from my grave this weekend, I'm putting the accompanying pattern in InDesign and listing it for sale in my etsy shop and on Ravelry.





With any luck, I'll be able to let you know on Monday that it's available!

Hopefully you're all martyring your way through Cold & Flu season better than I.  See you next week!

pink & black crochet zig-zag hat prototype

I've been trying to perfect this pattern for a couple weeks now (which has been hard with the holidays and everything), so I have a few of these prototypes floating around the house.  Hubby is really happy about this, of course.

Here is one of my favorite zig-zag hats I finished over the weekend:





I have at least one more to show you, and I might make one more before finalizing the pattern.

I've been really lucky in this whole experience by having some talented and fast pattern testers giving me feedback.  I appreciate all your help: Beth, Kimberly, Erin, and Bobbie!

super cute slouchy hat from lion brand

Last week, I finished this cute little number I had seen floating around in my Internet travels:







It's called the Ballpark Hat, and the pattern is from Lion Brand.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn, which is actually the yarn called for, and I'm loving it.  I wore it the other night and it was sooooo super warm - so warm that I started sweating, so I'm not sure it'll be a wardrobe staple, haha.

One thing about this yarn I hadn't realized before is that it makes me itch a little - almost like wool.  Not sure what that's about, and I've never worn Vanna's Choice myself before (I usually opt for Caron Simply Soft).  I think it'll be better after I wash it.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!

five days of ziggy hats - day five

Good morning, everyone!  The slow march to Friday has come to an end, and so has my daily Ziggy hat updates.  I hope to make more of these hats in the future, so maybe there will be another short series - unless you're totally sick of them :)

This last hat is also the very last hat I made.  I knew I wantd to make another one, but wasn't sure which colors I wanted.  Originally, I was thinking neutrals: black, grey, and white.  But then I decided it needed some extra pizzazz, so I added the bright pink.







Yarn used is once again Caron Simply Soft.

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

I hope everyone enjoyed these posts as much as I enjoyed making the hats featured.  Have a great weekend, and maybe you'll make some Ziggy hats of your own :D

five days of ziggy hats - day four

Welcome back to my super short "5 Days of Ziggy Hats" series!  I'm really excited to talk about this next hat because it's one of my favorite color combos - bright pink, bright green, and sparkly all over.







I used the always fabulous Caron Simply Soft Party, which I can't get enough of.  Literally.  No stores in my area carry it.  I even checked our Joann's, which is where I picked it up in the first place when I visited a friend in West Chester.  It's a shame because I would use this yarn in almost every project if I could.

One more day left of Ziggy hats!  I'm hoping to make a ton more in the future, but we'll see what happens with classes (they start up again next week... fun).

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

five days of ziggy hats - day three

The next Ziggy hat I made during my crocheting marathon last week resembles an ocean sky.  I totally didn't do that on purpose.  In fact, all I knew was that I wanted to use a bright purple.  So I put a bunch of skeins together and picked a combination that really stood out to me.

Here's the pretty result:







The turquoise and purple yarns are both Caron Simply Soft Brites, and the light teal is a random unknown ball of yarn I found wedged in the back of my cubby.

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

See you tomorrow for Day Four!

five days of ziggy hats - day two

For the second day of Ziggy Hats Mania, I'm going to show you this fun Christmas hat that I made.  After Christmas.  So maybe next year, I'll get to wear it and enjoy it.




I got the yarn years ago in a Herrschners Holiday Yarn Pack that came with 10 balls of sparkly deliciousness.  It's a pretty good price for the amount and quality of yarn.  The particular pack used was the Victorian Christmas pack, and I just love the colors - but they have quite a selection, so make sure to check it out for your next holiday project!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Ziggy hat - which one will I choose? :P

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

five days of ziggy hats - day one

Happy Monday/New Year, everyone!  Time to get back to some level of normalcy now that the holidays are over.  I'm not too excited about that, but at least I have this new crochet pattern to keep my entertained.

If you haven't already checked out the Ziggy Hat, make sure you do.  I bought it right before Christmas to reward myself for all the stress I put myself through knitting all my presents - and I wouldn't allow myself to make one until after Christmas was over.

So as you can see, I went a little nuts and made five over the past week, taking breaks in between to work on other things:



Since there are five, I'm going to feature one each day this week because I think they're all beautiful enough to get their own posts!

This first one is what I'm calling "French Country".  I love this color combination and thought the Ziggy Hat pattern lended itself well to it:





The designer, Liz McQueen, graciously allows sales of hats made from this pattern with proper attribution (details in the pattern itself), so I will probably be putting these in my shop sometime soon.

Make sure to check out the pattern and make your own!  It's not expensive and it's sized for adults, children, and babies.  How cute would a matching set of these be for the whole family?