My Go-to hat

There are a few things that I go back to time and time again, patterns are no exception. I have favourite patterns and I though I’s share them this week.

Today its hats, or rather THE HAT. There’s only one hat pattern, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s by Krista, over at rescued paws designs, it’s called Autumn is here. You can find the pattern here

What I love about this pattern is that once you get the knack of the stitch, its easy peasy. Its quite a forgiving hat, once its finished. I’ve hidden many a bad hair day under one of these beauties and they’ve done me proud.

It’s a very tactile hat and I can’t have enough of them. I’m already planning a magenta one and perhaps a stripey if I get the time.  I made these out of Drops Lima DK, a scrumptious wool/alpaca mix. It’s super cosy, which is ideal for the windy, chilly days. The ribbing on the brim keeps the hat in place but the body is quite relaxed, not slouchy relaxed, just enough for you not to worry about helmet head!

So, if you’re looking for a great hat, here it is. Get crocheting, cos you’re not getting mine 😉

When a plan comes together.

I’ve been planning my own crochet design for a while now and it just hasn’t been taking shape, until this morning. It was all about shapes, I was thinking in curves when I should have been looking for angles. It was like knocking down a brick wall and racing ahead. It was a literal block that I worked through, finally.

Breaking down a project to its base shapes takes the mystery out of it. A blanket can seem daunting but one square? easy peasy! Then another and another and voila you have a blanket. When I first started looking at crochet patterns like this, it was a revelation. It makes the impossible become possible. This was why I learnt to read charts, I wanted to see what the shape of things were and how they were built. Charts show you that in a way that a paragraph of instructions simply can’t.

Shape is only one thing that makes a pattern catch our eye.  Colour, texture and size play a big role too. Although I’ve worked out my shape issue, and the colour’s already decided, I’m still swaying when it comes to size and texture. Its an animal design so any size could work, but I know somehow that there’s a perfect size, if only I could work it out. At the moment the prototype make you go hmm, that’s quite nice, but I want it to make people say OMG! how cute is that!!!!!

I guess its the difference between a crochet toy and amigurumi. They’re the same on paper, but in reality, one is a cute toy and the other is just way cuter.

The texture is dependant on the size, and plays a big part in the cuteness factor. Fluffy is cute, super smooth can be cute, but in between, meh!

I want to write more but the patterns just not quite ready to share. Neither am I, really. The idea of sharing my ideas and creations is really challenging me to finish pieces and be open about what I’m working on. One day soon, it’ll be finished and I’ll take a deep breath, probably close my eyes & press post. And that will be that.