Scrappy Sock Monkey Hat

I don't use patterns much these days. Usually I just plan what I want to make and start hooking. Sometimes it works - and sometimes not... but I like it that way!

On the rare occasions when I do use a pattern, I tend to start out with good intentions to follow it all the way through - but somewhere along the way I get all distracted, and end up doing my own thing.

The other day I was trying to help someone out with a pattern they were struggling with, and it seemed that the easiest way would be to grab my yarn and hook, and test the pattern out for myself.

To be honest, I don't love this one. There's nothing wrong with the pattern itself, it's just my project which is leaving me a little cold. I think it's the eyes. They don't POP as much as I'd like them to. In fact, they kind of get lost in the scrappyness of the hat.

Maybe it's just that I don't have an adorable model to pose wearing the hat for some photos. This hat is a size 0 - 3 months... and my Little One is almost two and a half years old. I did try it though. Just in caes it MIGHT have fitted her! 

Not. Even. Close.

Anyways... the pattern is from Sarah Zimmerman at Repeat Crafter Me. It's called the Crochet Sock Monkey Hat and is written for all sizes, from newborn to adult.

Junk Mail and a Really Cool Surprise

There's a Federal Election just around the corner... and day after day the letterbox is filled with voting paraphernalia. It's horrendous to think about just how much money must be wasted on this paperwork. I'm sure that ours is not the only household where those forms all find their way directly to the recycle bin...

But underneath today's glut of political nonsense, there were some fun surprises...

First of all were the samples I ordered for my new roller blinds. It always fascinates me how many different shades of WHITE there can be! And I'm so excited to finally be ready to order new blinds. When we first looked through this house EIGHT YEARS AGO... I declared that the window furnishings were hideous, and we agreed that they would be the first thing to change when we bought the place. Oh well. We'll get there eventually!

The other fun arrival was this Crochet Calendar for 2014. It's one of those pattern-a-day ones, where each time you turn over for the next date, you find a new pattern.

But here's the really cool part...

My "Callipo the Very Naughty Monkey" pattern is inside.

And he won FIRST PRIZE...

So I also have a cheque for US$500.

Yipee!

Maybe I can buy those new blinds sooner than I thought...

I hate this monkey!

Did you ever have a project which you hated working on? 

Hated with absolute passion?

I did!

Don't let this monkey fool you by how adorable he looks...

I know he seems so innocent and unassuming - but that is not the case at all...

This monkey has been doing my head in. Actually, I shouldn't really blame the monkey. Mostly it was the pattern. It was one of those nightmare ones - you know the type. Where every piece is worked as awkwardly and as untidily as possible. And you kind of hope that it will all make sense when it comes to the assembly. But then those instructions make no sense whatsoever? And there was no clear photo to work with either.

So I ended up making it up. I kind of know what a monkey should look like, so I ditched the instructions and did my own thing.

Aarghhhhhhhh!

Honestly, if I was making it for myself...

Well - I just wouldn't!

If it was for me, I would have got five minutes into it and then tossed it aside and started something different. Unfortunately, I was given the pattern to make it up for someone else - so I had to persevere with it. 

And PERSEVERE I did!!

I wish I could say I did it without cursing... But I'm not that tough!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who had endured the project from Hell, and lived to tell the tale.

A Baptism Gift...

Had a Family Baptism to attend over the weekend, so I worked up a Baby Girl version of Callipo the Very Naughty Monkey...

(pattern available here)



This time I used cotton from Bendigo Woolen Mills - love the softness of the pinks - but the original is still my favourite, with his black and white stripes...