FO: Noble Cowl

A quick but luxurious little lace cowl....

It's the yarn that makes it.  A luxurious, brilliantly dyed (yet sadly discontinued) skein of Schaefer Yarn Helene, a super soft and shiny single comprised of merino and silk.  Heavenly.  Cuddle it close and never let it go.  

 The colors are brilliant- reds, pinks, peaches.  Reds are the toughest color to photograph, so I feel like this really doesn't do the subtleties in tones justice.

Originally, this was going to be for a friend "in the know", who would totally notice that I failed to make a gauge swatch before beginning, running out of yarn before I could finish the last lace repeat and unceremoniously cast off the cowl failing to make a full repeat.  Chop chop!  Should have gone down a needle size.  It still looks just fine....I wasn't about to rip the whole thing back or anything.  My solution was simpler:  simply gift it to someone less likely to notice who doesn't read my blog.  Genius, I am.

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The pattern is called the Noble Cowl, and it is free.  It makes for a lovely gift and only took me a couple days to whip up.

FO: Beaufort Hat

My, my. I do make a lot of hats.

They seem to be my chosen way to use up odd skeins leftover from sweaters. I can usually turn one out in a few hours if it's a worsted weight yarn, and it's no problem sizing it up or down depending on your yardage. I give them away as freely as a fireship gives away herpes, but you know. Most people think of me fondly for the hats.

Beaufort is a lovely lace cap.

Easy to make, easy to adjust. This yarn will not die and I'm so sick of it but I can't let that ruin a perfectly nice hat. Cascade 200 tweed in Stone Beige.

FO: Pup Tent

Growing up, I had many, many cousins. I lived pretty far from them, so I wasn't really part of the tight-knit core group. When I would visit them, it was fun, if mostly because I got to ride around in the bed of a pickup truck and I was allowed to operate heavy farm machinery at a tender age. Plus, my vocabulary of bad words and insults would grow tenfold anytime I spent more than a few minutes with them. That is if I could stop coughing enough from all the cigarette smoke being inhaled second-handedly.

Anyway.

The name of this hat is Pup Tent. I can not say the words "pup tent" without cracking up a little bit. It's mostly because my disrespectful trash-talking cousin once yelled while observing clothes hanging out on the line, "Aunt Linda, your underwear are so big, I could use them as a pup tent!" and then we all scattered like so may giggling deer to escape the wrath of a chubby, angry aunt. When you are six, it's funny. Or, as we might say, "wicked funny".

The pattern is a freebie. I made it a little larger to use up the yardage and ended up with a nice slouch. I used it to use up the last 150 yards of Canopy Worsted leftover from the Vine Yoke Cardigan. It's simple and it used up what I had left, and it will now make a very nice gift for a winter-climate dweller (although perhaps just not for my Aunt Linda).

FO: Owlet Hat

Oye! I crocheted something!

While I've taught and re-taught myself the basics time and time again, only to never use the skills and have to re-teach myself....this time it's different, I swear. While I think crochet lace is beautiful, and crochet is greatly useful for when you need structure like for all the amigurumi toys, I much prefer the look and drape of knit fabric. What the world doesn't need is another acrylic granny square blanket to collect dust on the back of the sofa. Haters gonna hate.

A couple we know are expecting. She's American, he's British. They live in Brooklyn, but they are in Paris for some time. She is very bravely going to have le bebe at the American Hospital here in Paris before they move back to Brooklyn in January. Anyway, I sat down with this pattern and whipped up a cute little hat for them in just a couple of hours. Crocheters always wax on and on about how much faster it is than knitting, and yup. They don't lie. Even with my learning curve getting in the way, I spent very little time that (but don't tell the recipients. I toiled, I really did!) I made it the 6 month size since a warm wool hat won't be needed until the child is at least that age. I hope anyway...the weather here is rather manic at times. We did get a bit of frost in mid-May.

Even if you don't Crochet, it's easy enough to follow the pattern, and I just looked up videos on You Tube when I got stuck on something. It's just double crochet, half-double crochet, and single crochet. It used up scraps from other hats I had made...you can get really creative with colors and textures with this.

So there. I made something. It's terribly cute, even without a wee one peering out from underneath the button eyes.

FO: Binary Cable Hat

Another quick gift hat for a friend:

It's the Binary Cable Hat- a functional cabled beanie with a fibonacci sequence of cables for the nerdlings who love these sorts of things. It used a bit less of a skein of Cascade 220 Tweed and FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, WHY CAN'T I EVER GET RID OF THIS YEARN FROM MY STASH. There's always an odd half skein lying around.