Shark Week 2014, Day 7 and a Stash Bust 2014 Update

Posted on August 17, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Shark Hat Finished!

His name is Cap’n and he is mighty proud of his multiple stripes. I’ve had a lot of fun making this hat during shark week. I’ll have to remember to do this again next year. But I do have a slight confession. I only watched one shark show while making him, the one on giant hammerhead sharks. We recorded a couple on the dvr and will watch them eventually. It seems like every year the researchers get themselves in more and more dangerous situations in order to get the great whites to breach or catch the elusive Old Hitler (giant hammerhead) on film. Watching the shark shows gives me the heebiegeebies a little but they are wildly entertaining. Now back to the hat…

I do love the pattern by Monica Miles but as I’m working with limited yarn and a totally different weight than what the pattern calls for, I have to make a lot of adjustments to the pattern. You can see a few more details on my project page as well as a couple more pictures. One day I’ll get the right yarn and make one as the pattern is written. Cap’n will be donated to Halos of Hope and is another hat completed for my Stash Bust Challenge 2014. He weighs in at 5 1/2 ounces.

Total hats made in the 2014 Stash Bust Challenge: 12

Total weight of the hats to date: 2 pounds, 5 3/4 ounces.

Shark Week 2014, Day 6

Posted on August 16, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Shark Hat Update, Day 6-Almost Done!

Moving right along! Last night I adjusted the body of the shark by removing about 10 rounds and reworking them. The hat was a little too loose so I frogged back to the last increase and reworked the rounds without it. I also saved enough yarn to finish the fins. I wish I had enough to outline the fins in sc but this will have to do. I had less than 2 feet to spare of each color! I added the gums and worked in some of the ends. With a couple more ends to work in, teeth and eyes left, I hope I’m able to finish it tonight. CHOMP!!

Shark Week 2014, Day 4 and 5

Posted on August 15, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Shark Week Hat Update!

I made a lot of progress on the hat Wednesday (day 4) as you can see by the photo! I really like the two colors together. I was a little concerned about the different yarns as one is worsted/aran and the other is bulky or maybe even chunky weight. I worked the bright blue, the thinner yarn, in hdc and the aqua, the thicker yarn, in sc and used the same hook for both yarns. Therefore, the sc stitches are stitched pretty tight. Last night (day 5), I finished up the body of the hat and started on the fins. Unfortunately, it looks as if there won’t be enough yarn for all the fins so I will have to frog a couple of rows. I’ll just make the gums and teeth section larger to make up for any lost length. There’s nothing wrong with a lot of big shark teeth!

Shark Week 2014, Day 3

Posted on August 13, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Update on the Shark Hat for Halos of Hope

Last night I realized I wasn’t going to have enough of the bright blue yarn to finish the shark. I’ve made them before and they usually use more than a full skein. So a frogged a few rounds and added some aqua stripes. They are totally random and I add a stripe as I feel it is needed. I’m happy with the progress so far. I have a couple free minutes so it is time to squeeze in a round or two. Check back tomorrow. : )

Shark Week, 2014 Day 1 and 2

Posted on August 12, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Crochet a hat for Shark Week!

In honor of Shark Week, I’ve decided to crochet a shark hat for Halos of Hope. I’ve made a number of these hats before and I have a lot fun giving each shark a different personality.

The crochet pattern is available here and the knit version here. I always make a few adjustment to the pattern as I prefer to work in the round and the crochet pattern is written for rows. In addition, the pattern is written for bulky yarn and I only have aran available so I’ll add few stitches to adjust for the sizing.

I started the hat on Sunday but was REALLY tired and didn’t get to far. That is a good thing because I frogged what I did and restarted it last night. I wanted to make my shark in hdc so I started over. Now I’m really behind and have a lot of catching up to finish it before the week is over.

Anybody care to join me?

Waiting for Spring Crochet Pattern by Darleen Hopkins https://crochetbydarleenhopkins.com/patterns/hat-flapper-waiting-for-spring/

Crochet Pattern Re-lauch

Posted on July 11, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Pattern Nightmares (not really) Episode 1: Waiting for Spring, Flapper Hat

My husband and I are big fans of Chef Gordon Ramsay and all his crazy cooking shows. We watch Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef, Kitchen Nightmares and Hotel Hell. He seems to always have something airing every season. My favorite show of his is Master Chef. Even though his entertaining antics and colorful language and sayings keep us giggling and wonder what the heck will he do or say next, I prefer the encouraging chef he is on Master Chef as opposed to the ticked-off chef on Hell’s Kitchen. A close second is Kitchen Nightmares. If you aren’t familiar with the show, Chef shows up to a restaurant that is failing (at the request of the owners) and he tells them what they are doing wrong and (tries to) help them. The smart ones take his advice and the others often end up closing their doors for good. The first 40 minutes of the show highlights all the things wrong with the restaurant with a lot of nuttiness in the mix. There’s usually about 10 minutes of self-realization for the owners, makeover of the kitchen, dining room and menu and the last 10 minutes of the show is re-launch night of the new and improved Restaurant X.

So, what does all this have to do with my Waiting for Spring Crochet Hat pattern? I’m re-launching it of course! This was my first self-published pattern, 2 1/2 years ago. Although the pattern never was a “nightmare”, I’ve learned a lot and have made many formatting adjustments over the past 2 years. So, the pattern has been reworked to my current format. The pattern itself is the same, just a lot prettier and cleaner in its presentation.

This is a perfect hat to work in worsted cotton for the warmer months. It is available in 5 sizes to fit premie to teen/small adult. Got an American Girl fan in your family? Make the Extra Small to fit an 18″ doll and a matching one for the big girl!

Get it while you can on sale! A restaurant can only serve so many people at one time-so, the first 25 to respond will get this adorable hat pattern for 50% off! Use coupon code “RelaunchWfS” at checkout or click this direct link: http://www.ravelry.com/redeem/crochetbydarleenhopkins The sale is running now until 7/18/2014 midnight EST.

Stash Bust Update, May 2014

Posted on June 2, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Stashing Busting for Halos of Hope

Last week I mentioned how lucky I was to receive some beautiful samples of Cascade Yarn. (See post here.) I also made a brief mention of Halo of Hope’s latest hat collection campaign, the Kanine Kap Kampaign. I wanted to transform some of the cotton Cascade Yarn into a dog hat for this collection but was stumped. What kind of dog can I make with bright red yarn….hmmm… Seriously, I don’t know where my brain was. It hasn’t been that long since I was teaching my boys how to read…with CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG easy readers!!!! Finally my brain fart ended and ding! the light bulb went off. I just love Avalon and it was the perfect yarn and the perfect red for this hat. I didn’t use a pattern. I kind of made up the ears and nose as I went along and had to work them a couple of times as I had to limit the hat to just the one skein of yarn. I ended up with about 8 inches of yarn to spare. The nose and whites of the eyes are scrap yarn and he has shiny black button eyes. This hat weighs in at 3 3/4 ounces.

Total hats made in the 2014 challenge to date: 10

Total weight of the hats made in the 2014 challenge to date: 1 pound 12 3/4 ounces

Stitches South, Always a Pleasure

Posted on May 30, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Stitches South and Halos of Hope

A few weeks ago I volunteered to help Pam with Halos of Hope and the booth at Stitches South (Stitches) in Atlanta. For those not familiar with a Stitches event, it is an event put on by Knitting Universe; basically a yarnie convention. There are classes for knitters and crocheters, a fashion show and a market where you can buy yarn (surprise!) but lots of other vendors are there too; local yarn shops will get booths, manufacturers of various knit and/or crochet related gadgets, local guilds, yarn companies and many more. Halos of Hope had a booth to promote the charity, sell fundraising patterns and collect hats. Last year Pam put out a call to help man the booth so she could take a break or two and I eagerly offered. When she asked again this year, I was the first to raise my hand.

This is me donating hats I made.

I absolutely love experiencing the stories of those who stop by. Although many are happy, some are sad. Those who told stories of loved ones who lost the battle to cancer made my heart weep. But being able to talk of their loved one, if only to a stranger and for a few minutes, helps them heal and allows their memory to live on. One woman came by and told how her husband was recently diagnosed. Pam instantly pulled out the big bin of donated hats and found some manly ones for him.

I love the stories of the survivors who stop by and the nurses who work in centers where the patients receive donated hats. And I love when others come by with hats they made, whatever their motivation to knit, crochet or sew for Halos of Hope may be, they come with lovingly handmade hats to bring hope to others who need it most.

This year the Halos booth was located across from the Cascade Yarn booth. I recently had the pleasure to work with Cascade Yarn’s Avalon when I designed the Picture Perfect Baby Blanket or Throw. It is a lovely super-soft cotton yarn. Pam introduced me Shannon Dunbabin with Cascade Yarn-a very nice woman who could knit without looking at her work-an accomplishment I hope to achieve one day with my crocheting.

The event took place just south of Atlanta which is about an hour and a half drive from where I live. So I made a day of it and spent a little bit of time enjoying the market before and after my shift was done. After I strolled around the market and returned to the booth to collect my things, I found a bag full of yarn samples Shannon had given Pam to share with me! How sweet! and when I walked over to thank her, she gave me another beautiful hank of yarn! WOW!

I’ve already started working with the red Avalon yarn. Can you guess what I’m making? I’ll give you a hint-it has to do with Halos of Hope’s current campaign,the Kanine Kap Kampaign and has something to do with a dog who is red (obviously) and big. : )

Stash Bust Update, March 2014 – Stash Busting for Halos of Hope

Posted on April 13, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Still On Safari with Halos of Hope and Stitches South

Going along with the On Safari theme, I made three more hats in March for Halos of Hope. Two are flamingos, a variation of my Chirp! Chirp! Tweet! Tweet! pattern. The third is another wacky variation of the Zombie Monkey pattern turned into a Lion. After making two of these lion creatures, I still have some Pomp-A-Doodle left. I guess a third lion will appear later in the year. I had the privilege of dropping these hats and others off at Stitches South yesterday. It was a great day-check for a blog post about it later this week. The 3 hats weigh in at almost 8 ounces.

Total hats made in 2014 challenge to date: 9

Total weight of the hats made in the 2014 challenge to date: 1 pound 9 ounces

Stash Bust Update, March 2014, on Safari with Halos of Hope and Stitches South

Posted on March 20, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

I’m always so excited to hear when Halos of Hope has a new collection campaign. Mainly because they are awesome and do awesome work but also because it gives me some direction on what type of hat to make. Sometimes I’ll have a ball of yarn sitting in my basket begging for me to make a hat with it but I’ll have no idea what design or pattern to use. Then, along comes Halos of Hope with a new themed collection and BINGO, the light bulb comes on (and I don’t even need my Thinking Cap!) and I know exactly what to do with that yarn. That is what happened with both some brown yarn and this crazy Pomp-A-Doodle yarn I had purchased.

Halos of Hope’s latest themed collection is ‘On Safari’ for Atlanta area children’s hospitals. Basically, they are requesting any type of themed hat that can be found on safari or at the zoo. They are collecting the hats and plan to distribute them while in town for Stitches South in April. If you remember, last year they went ‘Under the Sea’. So with this in mind, I peered into my yarn bin and that super soft, dark brown yarn I had no idea what to do with yelled out at me-MONKEY! but not just any monkey, ZOMBIE MONKEY!! He’s a cute little guy with mismatched zombie button eyes. I hope he brings a smile to a brave young man (or lady).

The second ball of yarn to call to me was this crazy Pomp-A-Doodle yarn. I thought it would make a pretty good lion. I had to get a little creative with this one. Click on the photo to bring you to the project notes-you won’t believe what pattern I used!

My last hat to share was actually started in …2012… and I finished it up in February during the Winter Olympics (Ravellenic Games on Ravelry). This is another hat where I got creative with the pattern as I used the Candy Corn Stocking Cap for this one. I’m real please with it and it too will be donated to Halos of Hope when they are in town next month. The three hats come in at 9 ounces.

Total hats made in 2014 challenge to date: 6

Total weight of the hats made in the 2014 challenge to date: 1 pound 1.25 ounces

Crochet By Darleen Hopkins

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