What I've Been Up To: 4 Finished Projects

Upon finishing my Mario Granny Square Rug, I decided to tie up some loose ends (heh.) with some other unfinished projects that had been looming about about for the last few weeks (or even months) before starting even ANOTHER big project. There is still a doily sitting in my Box of Estranged projects, but hey, no one really needs to know about that.

These are just a few noteworthy projects I've made recently. I've linked to the ones I can, but a couple of them are from either magazines or books (both of which I've mentioned).

1. Archipelago Handwarmers 

Okay, so they're actually called Ravenna Mitts, but the colors I chose were 'low tide' and 'sand', and since I happened to be making them to the tune-age of the Chrono Cross OST, well, the name just fit. I used some bamboo yarn I had gotten on sale at Michael's, and it ended up being (I think) just under 100 yards total. I've worn these a few times when typing (or crocheting, even), and I have to say that they're very lovely!

2. Cafe Wristers

 

 These were a project in the most recent issue of Crochet Today magazine, and I literally started making them within 5 minutes of seeing them. I didn't even flip all the way through the magazine before I had my yarn and hook out. This color was a skein of Caron Simply Soft I bought back in December because I had a gift certificate to Jo Ann fabrics and I thought "IT'S SOFT. AND BLUE." Since it was lying around anyway, I decided to use it. I wish I had gone with something a *little* different, since I use so many blues, but the wristers came out nicely nonetheless.

If you happen to have this issue of Crochet Today, or have just managed to stumble upon the pattern, my only suggestion is to make the ties quite a bit longer. I couldn't make a bow, I could only tie them once, and I'm sad to miss an opportunity for a cute wrist bow T^T

3. Stargazer Tarot bag

I've been reading Tarot for a handful of years now, and after buying my 3rd deck of Tarot cards almost 2 years ago, I was sad that they didn't really have a place to belong. My other decks stay in wooden boxes, but my newest deck was just wrapped in shoddy fabric. When I found the pattern for this, I decided to, once again, use some random yarn I had bought because of a gift card, and once again I thought. "OH. SHINY. BLUE.", and thus, this bag was born. I love the color, and it's a silk/bamboo yarn, so it's incredibly soft, and I'm certain my tarot cards are very warm and happy in there. As I recall, I didn't have to make even the slightest change to this pattern, and my cards fit perfectly. On top of that, it's super easy, pretty much just single and double crochets alternating. Love it.

4. Misty Taupe Broomstick Lace Hat

This was my first broomstick lace project, and also my first project from Kristin Omdahl's "Crochet So Fine". The band was supposed to be a sort of 'faux cable', but my skills are clearly not up to par with the book, so I alternated fpdc and bpdc to make a ribbed pattern. It's not as elegant as the book, but I'm happy with it.

I used a size 3 bamboo yarn infused with aloe, and I want to rub this hat on my face forever. The texture of the broomstick lace is not only amazing to the touch, but also keeps the head surprisingly warm. I was also pleasantly surprised at just how easy broomstick lace actually is. Wouldn't mind playing around with broomstick lace on other projects at some point.

As of right now, I'm just about halfway done with another huge project, it's a Doily Wrap, also from Kristin Omdahl's "Crochet So Fine", and I can't wait to share it with you guys...although probably not for another few weeks! The first few parts have taken me about a week, and I spent almost the entirety of today trying to figure out how to put all of them together via a very stressful session of trial and error. In the end, I managed to get it together, and I think it's going to look very nice when it's done :)

Halloween Project # 6: Viking Hat and Beard

Well guys, here you go. As promised, one full-on amazingly badass Viking get-up. As I write this, my eyes are drooping and my whole body feels numb with exhaustion. I'm finished with day 7 of a 9 day work week, and I can honestly say that this project got me through most of it. It kept my spirits pretty high, my hands busy and my mind occupied on other things besides...well, work.

This whole project took about 6 days, and I'd say overall it cost me about $25 to do (although worth every penny when Gabe put it on and the thing actually fit). I'm sure one could also do it for cheaper, but I used Caron Simply Soft, which runs about $4.50/skein. You could easily use Red Heart for $2.90/Skein, I just wanted it to be as nice as I could make it (I tend not to skimp on yarn when it's a gift).

Unfortunately, $6.50 of that expense was purchasing the pattern, so unfortunately I can not provide it for you here, it would not be fair to anyone, especially the creator of the hat.

If you would like the pattern of the hat, it can be purchased through Etsy here.

If you would like the pattern for the beard, you can get that for free on Ravelry here. However, as I stated in my last entry, throughout the beard I used long rows of fringe to make the beard more realistic, then added 'sideburns' so they could properly connect to the hat.

If you're looking for something to get you through a long week, or something to keep you warm and silly through the winter, I definitely recommend both the hat, as well as the beard. Both of these pieces were equally fun to make, and I had a ton of fun getting a laugh out of my co-workers by explaining to them that I spent my day crocheting a beard :)

Here are some more detail shots:

I added a button to the inside of the hat, and a loop at the end of the 'sideburns' so the beard can be attached or detached whenever you want.

Hat, sans beard.

I'd never used 'fun fur' yarn before, and although it looked quite sparse and difficult to use at first, it ended up being rather easy and fuzzy.

This was a great project, and I definitely recommend spending the $6.50 to make it (or if you're really crazy, you can just improvise based on photos).

Hopefully next project will be something great, but I'm not sure what yet! I hope you guys got a little bit of inspiration from these pictures, and I can't wait to take more 'action shots' of this as Halloween approaches :)