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. : )
On more than one occasion I’ve been asked where I get the names for my patterns. Some are obvious, The Happy Pets pattern set, for example, includes both a smiling kitty hat and a smiling puppy hat in the pattern set. Sometimes my family members make suggestions on the name. My mom named the Picture Perfect Baby Blanket and my husband suggested the name for the shawl, Whispers. Occasionally a name just pops in my head, Nighty Night Baby Blanket is one of those.
But not every pattern has a name that easily jumps out to me. Often I have to ponder the options during the design process. When this happens, the final name can appear to be a little obscure or random but there is always a logical reason. For example, the Black Raspberry Shawl was named after one of my favorite candles. Every fall the local high school and middle school bands sell candles as a fundraiser. My oldest son plays trombone in the band now but I’ve been buying these candles from the neighborhood kids for a number of years. My favorite scent is one that is a mix of black raspberries and vanilla. While I was working on the shawl design, I had one of the candles on the table next to me. I enjoyed the scent for many hours while I worked out the details of the shawl. In addition, the yarn I used was very similar in color as the candle itself. So when it came time to name and publish the pattern, it was obvious (to me) what to call it. I realize not everyone will use the same yarn and color used to write the pattern. So if you choose to make your Black Raspberry Shawl in orange or beige, then go for it!
My latest pattern has a story to its name as well: The Charmed Shawl. When I swatched, drew out, chose yarn and started crocheting the initial design, the shawl had a different name. I’m keeping that name in reserve as it may appear in a later design. Unfortunately, I ran into a couple of issues as I worked the pattern. My goal was to design a shawl that used a specific amount of yarn, no more than the 6 balls I had. As I neared the end of the shawl I realized my supply was going to fall short. So rather than order more yarn, I reworked the body of the shawl a total of three times before I was happy with the results. In addition, I had to work the edging three times to perfect the lovely eyelet lace with the given amount of remaining yarn. So…you’ve heard the saying…Three Times the Charm…that is this shawl! I believe the finished design was well worth reworking as the shawl turned out stunning AND it can be made with exactly 6 balls of Knit Picks Galileo! Phew!
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.
Use coupon code “Savings25” for 25% off your entire purchase, today only! March 9, 2014 until midnight Eastern Standard Time. Over 30 patterns on sale!
CLICK: Crochet by Darleen Hopkins on Ravelry
Have you ever had a pattern tell you to hdc-whb or whb-hdc? Huh? Half double crochet worked in the horizontal bar (also called ‘back bar’) is a pretty easy stitch and creates beautiful ribbing. After watching the video, take some time to work a few rows of hdc-whb and you’ll feel like an expert crocheter!
Wow, only one month in and I’m already falling behind in my goals. I’ll get there, I PROMISE! I did manage to get one hat for Halos of Hope completed during January. If you are on Ravelry, plynn (blog) has started a CAL/KAL forum for Halos of Hope hats. Since I don’t really knit much, I’m participating in the CAL. For January she chose the Shells and Trellis hat by Melody Hamor. It is a really cute hat and easy pattern. With a few modifications, you can use just about any yarn. As always, I made a few tweaks. You can read my notes on my project page. This pattern has been on my radar and I’m glad to finally have had a reason to make it-thanks Pat!
Stash Bust 2014 hats made to date: 1
Total weight made to date: 1.75 ounces
Want to see more hats made for Halos of Hope? Check out this Pinterest board!
Textured Halos of Hope Hat, pattern by Yvonne Tate
September was a busy month. I’ve been working on two blanket designs, both of which I hit a snag in the design and had to work it out. Because of this, I fell behind in my other projects and only made 1 hat in my Stash Bust Challenge for this month. But I really like this one. This design was written by Yvonne Tate, specifically for Halos of Hope. You can find it on her blog. I used a thicker yarn than the pattern calls for so I made few adjustments and ended up with a slightly slouchy hat rather than the beanie as the pattern is written. You can see my notes on my Ravelry project page. I’m real pleased with the results. It’s a cute hat pattern. Thanks Yvonne!
The hat used almost an entire 3.5oz skein of yarn. I’ve got 3 months left in this challenge and 2 pounds to go. I gotta get stitchin’!
Total hats made to date: 21
Total yarn used to date: 4 lbs 1 oz
Star Pattern
I’ve moved all my free patterns to one location. You can find this pattern here:
Thanks for stopping by!
Use a mix of similar fiber yarn in colors that blend well together
For those who crochet, STASH equals possibilities. Will this skein be a hat or scarf to keep your son warm while he plays in the snow? Maybe a market bag for weekend shopping? How about a baby blanket for your co-worker’s newest family addition? But sometimes a crocheter’s stash becomes overwhelming. Do you have boxes or bags full of lone skeins or partial skeins? Not enough for that sweater you’d like to make or not quite the right fiber for a hat?
Beautiful use of bright colors with Caron Simply Soft.
I’d like to introduce my latest pattern, the Made with Love, Heart Baby Blanket. I designed this pattern to be a “stash buster”. I’m a collector of sale or clearance yarn. It’s hard to pass up a good sale. Eventually the skeins build up and a stash of yarn ends up taking over the closet. This blanket is designed to use only 1 or 2 skeins of each color. If you don’t have full skeins, you can substitute different colors in place of 1 color. For example, the pattern is written using 2 full skeins of Vanna’s Choice solids as the darker background color. You can substitute the 1 color with 2 or 3 or more colors of similar shades. As long as the colors work well together, you can use your stashed yarn to make a lovely blanket for someone special.
Here is a beautiful example. Jennifer had only partial skeins of 2 different darker blue yarns. So she combined the 2 and ended up with enough yarn for the darkest background color. She alternated the 2 shades where the pattern called for 1 and used up some of her leftover yarn. The result is gorgeous!
Jennifer’s stash for Patchwork Heart Baby Blanket.
Adorable! Jennifer subsituted 2 colors for 1 (background dark)
This beautiful pattern can be found on Ravelry, Etsy and Craftsy. Intermediate skill required as you must be familiar with changing colors mid-row.
Thank you and Enjoy!
Darleen
I’ve moved all my free patterns to one location. You can find this pattern here:
http://freecrochetpatternsbydarleen.blogspot.com/2013/08/free-pattern-slouchy-football-hat.html
Thanks for stopping by!
Crochet By Darleen Hopkins 