BB8 Beanie

I thought I'd try something a bit different with my character hats and go for a Star Wars one.  Usually I like to sit back with the Minions, Ninja Turtles or a cute little mouse.  But I thought I'd give this one a whirl. 

 

Now before we go too far, just remember I'm still a newbie with my crocheting so yes, there are some mistakes.  When I decided to go for trying to make this hat in an infant's size I forgot to scale down the "extras".  Well, just the first big one really.  But me being me, I was too tired (and yes, lazy) to tear it up and start over again.  I guess I lucked out though because the recipient either didn't notice or was too nice to say so.

 

Overall it was a fairly easy hat to put together.  Heck, if I can pull it off anyone can.  Still I had some issues and I'm hoping that one day - sooner rather than later - this practice makes perfect thing will pay off and my crocheting will get better.

Infant Evil Minion Hat

My son has a friend that wanted an evil minion hat to give as a Christmas present.  Being new to crochet I had not yet tried making one of the evil minion hats like I did with my knitting looms, but I was willing to try.  So over Thanksgiving break while I was on vacation I gave it a go.

 

In a nutshell I just crocheted a basic beanie (using Redheart yarn), changing the colors for the band.  To create the 'hair' I used Lion Brand Hometown USA in two different shades of purple.  Cut the strands and tie them to the top portion of the hat all way around.  I then separated the strands and fluffed it up.

 

And that's my take on the evil minion.

Minion Scarf

I decided to try something a little different.  I've made a couple of minion hats but never tried to make a scarf so I sat down the other night and gave it a whirl.

 

Turned out pretty good I think.  I was tempted to try putting a smile on it but was afraid that I'm not yet skilled enough to do so without my yarn showing through on the reverse side.

 

It took a couple of days to get this done but the end result was well worth the time spent.  And now I'll see about making some more.  I'm sure the kids will love these and who knows - I just might have to try branching out and seeing what else I can do.  I'm finally feeling more confident in my ability to crochet after all these years............

Pokeball Beanie

So I thought I'd share another one of my crocheted hats with you today.  Trying to make this beanie was something new for me as I am still learning this craft and throwing in color changes was quite interesting. (I made this hat before I attempted the turtle one I shared yesterday)

 

Even though I've made several such style hats since I still have a lot to learn about how to change my colors correctly.  I've watched several you tube videos so maybe I'll get the hang of it eventually.

 

I'm really enjoying this craft after several years of on and off learning.  Until this past year I just couldn't get coordinated enough to make a proper chain stitch but now I've got it.  And who knows maybe I'll get comfortable enough to branch out and try new things.  But until then, it's a beanie and scarf making heaven when I'm not paper crafting......

Turtle Hats and Tags

 

Remember a few days ago when I said that I've been working a quite a few turtle projects lately?  Well today is the day that I reveal a peek of what I've been creating.

 

Next Saturday is the Oktoberfest and I am furiously crafting away in preparation.  One of the items that I had success with last year was turtle hats so I decided to make a few more this year.  And then Marjorie Ann Designs released these wonderfully cute Warrior Turtle files - one with the boys and one with the girls.  So I thought why not create some fun tags to go with the hats this year.

 

To create the tags I started with plain shipping tags like you get from Office Depot.  Then I used the shaving cream method that Splitcoaststampers shared with us a couple years ago.  In their tutorial they use re-inkers for the coloring and I simply used food coloring which as you can see works beautifully.

 

After the tags dried I added my turtles along with a small strip of comic paper.  The turtles were done using the clipart that comes with the files and the print n cut feature on my Cricut Explore.  (I still haven't figured out how to use it on my Silhouette Cameo)

 

Here's a pic of all 8 of the tags I created.

 

 

Hershey Kiss Hat

Today I'm taking a break from the paper crafting to share a hat with you that I crocheted for a friend this past week.  Her daughter has a birthday coming up soon and she had pinned this hat on one of her Pintrest boards.  So mom thought it'd be fun to surprise her with the hat for her birthday.

 

If you crochet you can find the free pattern here.

 

Now I'm new to the world of crochet and have been teaching myself off and on for a couple year and just finally picked up the hang of it......well with the exception of holding the yarn correctly.  But that's another story.  Anyhow, I am fortunate enough that my mother (who has been crocheting for 60+ years) lives right in front of me so when I had trouble converting the pattern for a larger size I knew where to go.  Plus she gave me this great tip that made all the difference in the overall look of the hat...........You ready?

 

Every row begins with what is considered a throw away stitch. "Ch 3,  dc in same sp" Instead of chaining 3, chain 2 and the dc in the same space.  Seriously, it lays much nicer.

 

And there you have it.  My first crocheted hat that's not a straight out beanie.

My First Crocheted Scarf

After many years of on and off attempts at trying to learn how to crochet, I decided a couple months back to give it yet another try.  I still can't hold the yarn properly but at least now I'm kind of getting the hang of it.  At least enough that I was able to complete this scarf.

Hmmmm, maybe I'm not a lost cause after all when it comes to the world of crochet.  After all I've only been trying to learn it for 24 years now and if my 10 year old niece can do it surely I can too.

Oh well, off to try my hand at yet another one........