"Summer" Trails Hat

This past summer, my husband and I were getting ready for another backpacking trip. This time, we were going to be climbing South Sister, and then hiking around the Three Sisters in the three sisters wilderness. The forecast said that it was supposed to be about 40 degrees on the summit, with wind.

Knowing how chilly I get, I knew I needed a little wool hat to keep my noggin warm. I found some scrap wool yarn in my yarn stash, and set out to make a simple wool hat. It was cute, with stripes of dark gray, light gray, and teal green.

My husband came home and decided he wanted it. Ah well.

So I went to the yarn store and bought myself some pretty purple yarn I thought would go with my daypack. At that point, I forgot that my down jacket was also purple. Hmm...

I finished this hat on the way to the trailhead. It was about a three hour drive from our house, but this simple hat design did not require three hours to execute. No ma'am. It is your basic double-crochet hat and works up super-quick.

Supplies

• Size I or 5.5mm crochet hook
• I used part of a skein of Patons North America Classic Wool, worsted weight yarn and a little leftover light gray of the same kind for the edging. 
• Scissors
• A long car ride to the trailhead...optional, but oh, so fun!

Abbreviations

• st - stitch
• ch - chain stitch 
• sc - single crochet
• dc - double crochet

Starting at the toe... 
To begin: Make a magic ring, 

Round 1: ch 2 (counts as first dc, here and throughout pattern), 11 dc in the magic ring, join with slst to top of ch2
Round 2: ch 2, dc in same st, 2 dc in each st around, join with slst to top of ch2
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same st, *1 dc in next st, 2 dc in next st*, repeat * * around (ends with 1 dc), join with slst to top of ch2
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same st, *1 dc in the next 2 sts, 2 dc in the third*, repeat * * around (ends with 1 dc), join with slst to top of ch2

Here you have a choice, you can skip to round 6 if you would like a tighter-fitting hat (I did) or you can continue the increase in order to make it larger with round 5. 

Round 5: ch 2, dc in same st, * 1 dc in the next 3 sts, 2 dc in the fourth*, repeat * * around (ends with 1 dc), join with slst to top of ch2

Round 6: ch2, dc in each st around, join with slst to top of ch2

Rounds 7-14 (or as long as you need): repeat round 6

Round 15: ch2, dc in each st around, join with slst (pulling up the new color) to the top of ch2 (you can look on youtube for how to do this, but it saves cutting the thread, making a knot, and starting a new yarn... although if that's simpler for you, go for it)

Round 16: ch1 (counts as first sc), sc in each st around (trap your yarn tails from the color change inside your sc) , join with slst to top of ch1, cut thread, tie off, tuck in ends. 

And there you go! A quick and simple, thin but wool summer trail hat! 


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Garden Lattice Shawl Pattern

This playful triangle scarf has been in progress for a few months.  I was inspired to make the main body of the scarf a while ago, and then set the scarf aside to think through what to do about edging the design in a way that would not detract form the simplicity of the scarf.  I don't currently own any fringy triangle scarves, and think this might be a fun addition to my growing scarf collection.

Materials

• sizes G and E crochet hooks
• size 1 yarn - superfine, between 400 and 460 yards (I used under 2 skeins of Deborah Norville Serenity Sockweight in soft white.)
• scissors

Abbreviations

• ch - chain
• slst - slip stitch
• st - stitch
• sc - single crochet
• dc - double crochet
• ps - puff stitch (see below)

To begin: Using size G hook, ch 201 (or multiples of 6+3), ch 1, turn

Row 1: sc in 2nd st from hook, *ch3, skip 2 ch, sc in 3rd ch from hook,* repeat * * until last 3 sts, ch 1, skip 2 sts, dc in last ch, ch1, turn

Row 2: sc in same ch space, *ch3, sc in next ch space,* repeat * * across until you reach the last ch 3 space, ch 1, dc in last ch 3 space, ch 1, turn

Row 3:  sc in same ch space, *ch 3, sc in next ch space, ch 3, ps in next ch space,* repeat * * across until you reach the last 2 ch 3 spaces, ch 3, sc in next ch space, ch 1, dc in next ch space, ch 1, turn

Rows 4-55/56: repeat rows 2 and 3 until you reach the tip of your triangle

To make the edging: 
Switch to size E hook.
Attach yarn to one corner of the top of the scarf.  *Ch 15, slst into 10th ch from hook (creates loop), ch 5, sc in next ch space along the edge of the scarf,* repeat * * along edge to the bottom point of the scarf, ch 15, slst into 10th ch from hook, ch 5, sc in point space, *ch 15, slst into 10th ch from hook, ch 5, sc in next ch space  along the edge of the scarf until you reach the opposite corner, cut yarn, tie off, weave in ends.

To make a Puff Stitch: 

yo, stick your hook through the next st, pull one loop through st, (3 loops on hook, yo, stick your hook through same st, pull a second loop through st (5 loops on hook), yo, stick your hook through same st, pull a third loop through st (7 loops on hook), yo, stick need through same st, pull a 4th loop through st (9 loops on hook), pull loop through all the loops on hook


Garden Lattice Shawl by Emily Bittel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Hearts on a String...

Recently, I was at the store and found some adorable painted metal heart decorations... and one thing led to another... and so far I have made two different valentines day heart garlands as gifts... and I'm planning to make one for myself.

Country Hearts Garland

Lacy Hearts Garland

So, if you are in the mood for a pretty quick crochet project to share the love this Valentine's Day, then get your hook and yarn ready.

Supplies: 

• yarn (The kind of yarn isn't super important - think of this more like guidelines than anything else. I used worsted weight cotton for the Country Hearts Garland and thread for the edging and stringer for the Lacy Hearts Garland); You will need a decent amount of yarn for the stringer; unfortunately I was using yarn left over from another project and am not good at estimating lengths...  Feel free to let me know if you figure this out. :) 
• Size G or 4 mm hook for the Country Hearts Garland and size E for the stringer and edging on the Lacy Hearts Garland.
• Scissors

Step 1: Pick your heart pattern and make your hearts.

I used two different heart patterns for the different garlands! There are a ton of different options out there... take some time to browse around and find one you like! 

• For the Country Heart Garland, I used the Crochet Heart Pattern from Hinzpired verbatum.  I started out by making 9 hearts - 4 in the burgundy and 5 in the ecru.
• For the Lacy Heart Garland, I used Heart 1 from Nina O'Brien's Be My Valentine Garland pattern.  I then added the border to the hearts: 

Lacy Hearts Border Pattern: 

Start in the 3rd st along the side of the heart with the stitches showing:

Round 1 - ch 1, sc in same st, sc in each st around moving toward the two lobes of the heart, slst in the sc between the two lobes, then 1 sc in each st back around to the point, put 3 sc in the point, continue with 1 sc in each st and join with a slst to the top of your first sc.

Round 2 - (You may have to fudge some of these, but it should come out fairly close) ch 3 (counts as 1st dc), 4 dc in same st, skip 1 sc, sc in next st, {skip 1 sc, 5 dc in next st, skip 1 sc, sc in next st,} repeat {} around to the slst between the lobes of the heart where you sc down into the space below to help define the heart shape, repeat {} around to the point of the heart, 5 dc in the point, ch 4, slst to 1st ch st (makes picot), 4 dc in the point, skip 1 sc, 5 dc in next st, skip 1 sc, sc in next st, join with slst to top of ch 3, break thread, tie off, weave in the ends.

Once you have your hearts all made, you're ready to start making your garland string. 

Step 2: Make your stringer.

The stringer is the same for both garlands, the Lacy Hearts stringer is just made out of thread and a size E hook instead of worsted cotton and a size G hook like the Country Hearts Garland (above).

Lace Garland Stringer Pattern: 

To begin (makes 1st two rows): ch 4, 2 dc in 4th ch from hook, ch 2, 2 dc in same st, ch 3, rotate 180 degrees, 2 dc in same st, ch 2, 2 dc in same st, ch 3, turn

Row 3: 2 dc in ch 2 space, ch 2, 2 dc in same space, ch 3, turn

Repeat row 3 until your stringer has reached the desired length.  

Step 3: Attach your hearts. 

Attach the hearts using string, spacing them evenly along the same side of the stringer.  

• For the Country Hearts Garland, I left 41 rows before I started attaching hearts, spacing each heart 10 rows apart. I tied the hearts to the stringer by looping an 11-in length of string through both the top of the heart and the ch 3 loop of the stringer, tying them off with a knot and then tying the ends into a bow.
• For the Lacy Hearts Garland, I left 42 rows before I started attaching hearts, spacing each heart 20 rows apart. I tied the hearts to the stringer by looping a length of the thread through the top of the heart and the ch 3 loop of the stringer, keeping the knot close to the top.  I wove the loose ends into the stringer after I had made the knot to hide them and give it a cleaner look.

Step 4: Sit back and admire your handiwork!