Sugar Plum Tassels

I - LOVE - THIS - HAT

I've made a bunch of fairly crazy hats lately, but this one... I LOVE!!!

Mostly it's the colours - the mixed purples with a bit of grey - they work beautifully together...

And purple IS my favourite colour!

But best of all, I love the tassels.

You probably recognise the yarn. It's that snowball stuff. It's been all over the shops here for a couple of years now.

People seem to buy it, but then not know what to do with it. Then when they de-stash, they give it to me! I can't imagine actually using it for an entire garment, but it's quite fun to use for little embellishments like this.

Accidentally Mauve

Hats... Hats... Hats... Hats... Hats...

Starting to feel a little overwhelmed by HATS at the moment!

And there are still more to come...

I'm still working on a batch to send up to Alice Springs for the Beanie Festival - two for the Competition, and ten for sale at Beanie Central...

Plus a bunch of assorted Chemo Caps for Loved Ones...

Today I'm sharing a slightly different take on the Stretchy Accidental Hat. Usually I would tie all the loose ends across the top of the hat to form a seam. This time I have gathered all the ends together in a bunch, and wrapped some yarn around them to create a tassel.

I like it.

It gives the beanie a more traditional shape, but the giant tassel keeps the Element of Crazy strong.

Another Hat Fixed...

I was on such a high after seeing how nicely Yesterday's Hat turned out... that I decided to update another one! Plus, it's the perfect excuse to show off some more photos of Little Miss Charlotte...

 

The Original Hat was a gift from one of my Crochet Buddies. Julie did a beautiful job when she made it, and Charlotte has had a lot of wear out of it.... but it was getting to be that little bit too short to really stay on properly.

 

It really only needed an extra couple of rounds added to it, and I then finished off with a spike stitch in dark purple. I was happy with the new fit, but the look wasn't really inspiring me. You can see from the photo below that it's nice enough - but just a bit too blandish...

 

So I figured it needed an embellishment of some kind. I tried stars and hearts and button clusters, but none were quite right... then I ended up back with the basic flower! 

Plus a button.

And some simple embroidery.

Look - We're nearly walking!

Yes.

I did it!

Charlotte's hat is fixed, as promised.


If you missed my post on Friday - you can take a look here at how small her hat had become - it wasn't even long enough to cover her ears.

(which kind of defeats the purpose of a winter hat, I think)



Anyway, I removed the edging and then added a few more rounds to lengthen the hat... plus a little flower to finish it off.

The whole process took me about an hour - although half that time was just me fluffing around trying to make a decision - so it was probably only about 30 minutes of actual work.

Better than giving the hat away...

And I actually like it more than the original.

Head too Big?

Is my head too big? Or is my hat too small?

Never mind... my brother still LOVES ME...

And Mum promises to FIX my old hat at the weekend! She says it will be so easy to do with crochet. Hopefully she doesn't let herself get distracted (that happens ALL the time).

Embellishing gifts

Here's an idea for using up those scrap embroidery threads...

You can crochet up some Gorgeous Flowers for jazzing up your gift wraps (I just glue mine in place with a dab of white PVA glue)

Most of the time I'm just a Brown Paper and Raffia girl, but every now and then the occasion calls for a little more zhuzh!

Winner Announced

Congratulations to Dawn for her winning Quirky Koala.





Now I have to be completely upfront here, and let you know that Dawn is in fact a very dear Real Life friend of mine. We met several years ago through Ravelry and have since become wonderful friends.


I almost didn't choose Dawn (or Dawnie-Pants, as we like to call her around here) as the winner... because of our friendship. I didn't want to appear to be 'playing favourites'. But that hardly seemed fair! Because I really REALLY loved her version of True Blue the Quirky Koala. She deserves to win... and shouldn't be disadvantaged for being a friend!

Choosing a winner is always tricky... but here are my favourite characteristics of this toy:

• the realistic colours - my personal style is to steer away from the expected colourways, but I loved seeing the Koala worked in true colours (complete with a couple of gum leaves)
• those ears - Dawn has actually brushed those ears with a wire brush to create a fluffy effect - how clever is that???
• the green eyes are so striking
• and I'm loving the extra effort Dawn has put into the photography - it finishes her entry off beautifully!

He is such a wonderful interpretation of my original pattern.

So, as the winner.... Dawn will now tell ME what to design for the next Crochet Challenge, which will begin in June 2012.

Stay tuned, and I will let you know what she chooses!