Newsboy cap

One of my good friends recently requested I make a hat for her kiddo. She wasn't really sure what she wanted, so I set up a pin board for her with a few ideas, and she picked the one she liked. Well, I also really liked it, so of course I had to test it out for myself first ;-)

The original pattern calls for a K / 6.5mm hook, but I have a giant head, and have learned that I need to use a bigger hook to make hats fit me...so I used an L / 8mm hook and it came out near perfect.

Here is the original pattern with my minor changes marked:

Bobbi Hat: Adult Pattern (this is just the pattern for the actual hat, I will talk about the detailed finishing towards the end of the post)
Modified from Everyday Handmade

Round 1: Chain 3 (counts as stitch here and through out), 9 Double Crochet, Slip Stitch to second chain (top chain) of your first stitch on this round to join. Pull Loop Tight, do not turn (10 stitches) I did a Ch 3 and 9 DC in a magic circle.

Round 2: Chain 3, DC in same stitch, *2 DC in each stitch around * Repeat, SS to join round (20 stitches)

Round 3: Chain 3, *2 DC in stitch, 1 DC in stitch * Repeat, SS (30 stitches)

Round 4: Chain 3, DC next stitch, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 2 stitches * Repeat, SS (40 stitches)

Round 5: Chain 3, DC next 2 stitches, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 3 stitches * Repeat, SS (50 stitches)

Round 6-10: Chain 3, DC in each stitch, SS to join round, Fasten Off I did not fasten off. I simply sl st around the 14 sts for the brim. I hate stopping and starting like that when there is no real reason to.

Brim: Count 14 stitches to the left from where you joined the rounds

Row 1: 2 Single Crochet in this stitch, SC in each of the next 18 stitches, 2 SC in next stitch, chain 1 and turn (chain 1, counts as stitch here and through out) (22 stitches)

Row 2-4:1 SC in each stitch across, chain 1 turn (22 stitches)

Row 5: SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 16 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (20 stitches)

Row 6:SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 13 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (18 stitches)

Row 7: SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 11 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, fasten off(16 stitches) I had a problem here because with the L hook, the brim came out HUGE! (as in it looked like a baseball cap) So I modified the brim pattern to this:

Row 1: SC in this st and in each of next 18 sts. ch 1 and turn

Row 2: SC in each st across. ch 1 and turn

Row 3: sc2tog, sc in next 16 (or so) sts, and sc last 2tog. ch 1 and turn.

Row 4: sc2tog, sc across and sc last 2tog. ch 1.

Finishing: SC in each st around, working 3 sc in each corner. Fasten off.

Another thing I like about this pattern, is that there was a child's size modification included on her site. My older sister saw the hat on my pin board and wanted one, too. She has a normal sized head, so I thought about using the adult pattern with the recommended K hook. But, I really liked how the big sts came out on my hat, so I decided to try using the child's pattern with the L hook. It fits her like I measured her dang head!

Bobbi Hat: Child's Pattern

(for an adult with a normal sized head, use L/8mm hook. For a child's head I used an H/5mm hook)

Round 1: Chain 3 (counts as stitch here and throughout), 9 Double Crochet, Slip Stitch to second chain (top chain) of your first stitch on this round to join. Pull Loop Tight, do not turn (10 stitches)

Round 2: Chain 3, DC in same stitch, *2 DC in each stitch around * Repeat, SS to join round (20 stitches)

Round 3: Chain 3, *2 DC in stitch, 1 DC in stitch * Repeat, SS (30 stitches)

Round 4: Chain 3, DC next stitch, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 2 stitches * Repeat, SS (40 stitches)

Round 5: Chain 3, DC next 2 stitches, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 8 stitches * Repeat, SS (50 stitches) Basically, you are doing the adult pattern, but only doing every other INC.

Round 6-10: Chain 3, DC in each stitch, SS to join round, Fasten Off

Brim: Count 14 stitches to the left from where you joined the rounds

(this is my modified brim pattern, again)

Row 1: 2 Single Crochet in this stitch, SC in each of the next 18 stitches, 2 SC in next stitch, chain 1 and turn (chain 1, counts as stitch here and throughout) (22 stitches)

Row 2:1 SC in each stitch across, chain 1 turn (22 stitches)

Row 3: SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 16 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (20 stitches)

Row 4:SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 13 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (18 stitches)

Finishing: SC around, working 3 SC in each corner.

On the picture above, you probably noticed that there was ribbon and flowers on it.

I learned after my test hat that the ribbon should meet at the edge of the brim, and the flower should be sewn on to cover the joining. I just wove my ribbon in, and when it got back to the meet point, I sewed it together with yarn and my large-eye needle. Nothing complicated, and no messy hot glue. Then I tied an extra piece of ribbon in a bow and sewed the flower down on top of it to hold in it place.
For the flowers, I just used the accent flower I put on almost everything, and simply changed colors for the 3rd row.

On two of the hats, I also added a leaf to the flower. I think it came out super cute. On one of the hats I sewed the leaf all the way down to the side of the hat. On the other, I only sewed down the base, and let the end stay loose, which made it curl in a little. I thought it was adorable.

*~*NOTE*~*
For the hats with the leaf, I attached the leaf after the ribbon band, but before the flower. It was easy to sew down before I added the flower because half of the leaf should be behind the flower.    :-)

Leaf Pattern

Found at Crochet with Raymond (which you can see in the background of the above pic, lol)

Hook used: G/4.25mm

Ch 10.  dc into 3rd chain from hook, htr into next ch, tr into next ch, htr into next ch, dc into next ch, hdc into next ch, sc into last 2 ch.  (You should have run out of chain here!)
Make picot by ch3, slst into 3rd ch from hook.
Now working along the opposite side of the leaf, sc into first 2ch, hdc into next 2ch, dc into next ch, htr into next ch, dc into the next ch, sc into last ch.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

And here I am, showing off my new hat. As you can see, this is the test hat before I figured out that the flower needs to go further up towards the front of the hat. But I still think it looks adorable.

 

Garden update

Last weekend I posted about starting my budget container garden.

I did some home made seed starters and planted lavender.

As you can see, my lavender are starting to show themselves (they actually started poking their heads out on Friday, only 6 days after planting)

I also planted peas, onions, carrots, cabbage, strawberries, potatoes and tomatoes...

One week (and a thunderstorm) later, I have seedlings starting to sprout!

Cabbage (they are a pretty purple and green color that you can't really see in this picture)

Cucumber (again, sorry about the picture. I was just so excited I wasn't worried about quality of the pics, lol)

onion

Peas

Also, to update you on my sweet potatoes. I had taken 2 sweet potatoes, cut them in half, and had 4 halves starting in water. I guess they taste good because my puppies knocked 2 of them down and ate them while I was at work. And of course they took the only 2 that had started shooting out vines and roots :-/

So, now I'm left with 2 (and about to start another one, lol), one of which is just starting to send out a vine. The other hasn't done anything yet. Oh well. I have since moved them off of the porch and into the back yard so the puppies can't get into them (I hope).

Celery Update

*~*Update*~*

If you read my previous post, you know I am regrowing celery from a kitchen scrap celery. I forgot to read all of the directions, which said that I was supposed to set the base in water for a week or so (until roots started) then plant it in the ground. Instead I just dug a hole in a pot of dirt and put the celery in. I completely covered it and went on my way. Watered it every other day or so.

I planted it on February 25. The original blog post showed the progress on March 2 and how leaves had started to grow. This is how it looks 1 weekish later on March 11.

Not too bad for kitchen scraps, right?

Crochet Frog Outfit - updated

*~* Final Update *~* The outfit is complete. You can find patterns for the different elements below. This is how everything looks put togther...on my Sonic cup, lol.

I'm going to piece this one together as I make each element, so if there is only one pattern on this page, keep checking back :)

My mom's friend just had a little baby boy this week. Mom purchased a giraffe hat and diaper cover set from me and gave them to her friend, who thought they were adorable. The friend asked if I could make her a frog set, too. Well, I've never done a frog set, nor did I have a pattern, so I've been looking around for different ideas. I knew that for a frog I also wanted to do little frog slipper/booties if I could find them. I couldn't. However, I did piece together a couple of different patterns (like this one and this one) to make one that worked...



Frog Bootie Slipper-Flippers (make 2)

Hook - G / 4.25 mm

ch 10. SC in 2nd ch from hook and in next 7 ch. 5 SC in next ch to make turn. Working on backside of ch, SC 8. sl st to join

RND 2: ch 2. HDC in same st, 2 HDC in next st, HDC in next 6 sts. [2 HDC ch 1 2 HDC] all in next st. and in the following 2 sts (in other words, 2 HDC CH 1 2 HDC in each of next 3 sts). HDC around. sl st to join.

RND 3: SC around. When you get to the points (2 HDC, CH, 2 HDC) from the previous rnd: sc in each of 2 HDC. in ch sp, [2 HDC ch 1 2 HDC] skip to next ch sp and [2 HDC ch 1 2 HDC] skip to next ch sp and [2 HDC ch 1 2 HDC]. SC rest of way around. sl st to join.

RND 4: In back loops only, sc around. When you get to the points, work on top/backs of sts from RND 2 to cut across and leave points exposed. continue to SC around in back loops only. sl st to join.

just to give you an idea of where to cut across

RND 5: SC about 7 (until you get to the part where you cut across the foot). SC DEC, SC, SC DEC, SC, SC DEC, then SC around. sl st to join.


RND 6: SC about 6 (until you get the the part where you started dec above). SC DEC, SC, SC DEC, SC, SC DEC then SC around. sl st to join.

RND 7: SC about 5 (until you get the the part where you started dec above). SC DEC across (about 3) and then SC around. sl st to join.

RND 8: SC about 4 (until you get the the part where you started dec above). SC DEC across (2-3) and then SC around. sl st to join. You should have a pretty circular ankle hole now. If not, repeat this row.

RND 9-11. HDC around, sl st to join. After last rnd, fasten off.

FINISHING: I added one more row to the flippers.

starting where the flipper meets the sole:

SC 2. In Ch sp: 2 HDC,  make picot (ch 3 and sl st in 1st ch made [3rd from hook]) then 2 HDC. SC over to next CH sp (should be 3 SC). In Ch sp: 2 HDC,  make picot, 2 HDC. SC over to next CH sp. In Ch sp: 2 HDC,  make picot, 2 HDC. 3 SC to where flipper meets sole, sl st to join and fasten off.

So you can see where the finishing meets

Frog Beanie

This one was very simple. I used this pattern from Micah Makes. I used the 0-3 months size. Even though the pattern called for using an I/5.5 mm hook, I found that my gauge was too small at the end, and had to redo the whole thing with a J/6.0mm hook.

I made the hat in the same olive-y green that I did the flippers, and added a mocha brown edging.

For the eyes:

with black: 8 HDC in a magic circle, sl st to join
Switch to white: 2 HDC in each black HDC around, sl st to join (16)
Switch to green: HDC in same st as joining, HDC in next st. [2 HDC in next st, HDC in next st] repeat [ ] around. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Sew to hat.

Couldn't be easier. :-D   (my favorite kind of pattern)

Diaper Cover

To finish the outfit, I made a diaper cover to match. Nothing cute or frog-related here. Just a diaper cover to match the outfit.

I used this pattern with a few small changes, which I will note in red.

0-3 month size.
H crochet hook Worsted weight yarn So I made it twice. The first time I made it with the recommended H hook, but the waist of the cover was very small. After referencing a sizing chart, I decided to start over with a J / 6.00mm hook. This made the waist about 18" in the end, which lines up with the sizing chart.

Chain 45
1. sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each st across
2. ch 2 and turn. dc in each st across I made buttonholes in this row. I started by Ch 2, turn. DC, ch 1 and skip next sp, DC, ch 1 and skip next sp, DC, ch 1 and skip next sp. DC 31 across, one in each st. ch 1 and skip next sp, DC, ch 1 and skip next sp, DC, ch 1 and skip next sp. DC.
3. Ch 2 and turn, sc in each st across, 2 SC in each ch sp from previous row.
4. ch 2 and turn. slst in the next 10 sts. slst, ch 2 and dc in the next st. Dc in the next 23 sts. Leave remaining sts unworked.
5. ch 2 and turn. dc in each st across
6. ch 2 and turn DC2TOG, dc in the next 22 sts, dc2tog
7. ch 2 and turn. dc2tog, dc in the next 20. dc2tog
8. ch 2 and turn. dc2tog, dc in the next 16 sts. dc2tog
9. ch 2 and turn. dc2tog, dc in the next 16 sts, dc2tog
10. ch 2 and turn. dc2tog, dc in the next 14 sts, dc2tog
11. ch 2 and turn. dc2tog, dc in the next 12 sts dc2tog.
12 - 19 ch 2 and turn. dc in each st across. DO NOT fasten off. Here I switched to brown and did the edging/finish in brown to match the cap.
finish: ch 1. sc all the way around your work. Make sure to use 2 sc on the corners. I do 3 SC in each corner Fasten off and weave in ends.
Attach button to the center of the front flap. You can use any button you'd like, just be sure the button will fit through the row of DC on the side tabs. I used a crocheted button.

This diaper cover was very easy to make. It took me less than 20 minutes, including the edging and making and sewing on the button.

I also decided this morning that the flippers needed something to match the rest of the outfit, so I added a row of SC in brown to give it the brown edged look everything else has.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures. My camera wasn't really cooperating this morning. :-)

And that's it. I'm finished with the project. All said and done, I used yarn I had lying around the house, and didn't spend anything on it, which to me is a special kind of win.

Weekend Projects pt 2.

To continue on my previous post...

Other than just starting some seedlings, I wanted to get serious about planting veggies. As I have said earlier, husband and I are renting, so we need somesemi-permanent planting methods. We wanted to do raised beds, but we didn't want to cause any problems. Instead we decided to try container gardening.

Containers sounded like the perfect solution for us. We could try our first vegetable garden on a small scale, not place anything we couldn't remove, and not damage the rental property. There was one problem. Planters are expensive!!!

Inspired by a post I saw on pinterest where a woman was growing potatoes in a tall landry hamper, I decided to see if I could use landry hampers to plant. I went hunting and found hampers at WalMart and the various dollar stores for $2-3 each.

I lined each one with my junk mail (like grocery store mailers) that I have been kepping in my "paper to be recycled box." I had some masking and painters tape in a craft box from when husband and I painted an accent wall in the living room. So, the cost of turning a laundry hamper into a planter was free.

You can see the regular landry basket in the background. In front you can see my basket lined with a gracery store add, and the blue tape I used to hold it in place. As you can see from the photo, the soil stayed in the basket very nicely. I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

Another technique I tried was using these pails and buckets I found at the dollar store. They are brightly colored and have nice handles on them. The only problem is that they didn't have any holes in them for drainage. I meant to drill some holes in them (or have husband do it) but completely forgot! So, I got to have the fun of drilling holes after I had already planted in them *facepalm*

Let me say this, using a drill and a bit, most of the buckets gave way and I had perfect drainage holes around the bottom with about 5 seconds of constant pressue with the drill.

pretty, right?

On some of them, just putting the drill onto the bucket made the plastic crap out.

And I would end up with this mess (which happened to several of my buckets)

And some of them , after 30 or 45 seconds of pressure with the drill would suddenly bust like the hole above...

And leave me with this drill-sized hole...which happened twice.

So...learn from my mistake. Drill your holes before you plant so you don't end up with a nightmare. And good luck! lol. These buckets were only a dollar, and I bought about 10-12 of them. Similar sized planters at Wal-Mart and Lowes were $4-12 each (depending on how fancy they were). Even with the cheapies, I saved about $30 just by buying cheap buckets and drilling my own weep holes as opposed to buying planting pots.

And, at the end of the day, I have my first wave of plants in the dirt. More to come at the end of March and April. But for February, I'm finished (good thing it is already the beginning of March...)

Please ignore my neighbor's junked out yard, haha

At the end of the day, I planted 7 baskets of yellow onions, 2 baskets of peas, 2 baskets of carrots, 2 baskets of cucumbers, 3 buckets of tomatoes, and 10 buckets of strawberries (I let my lovely niece plant those, and she insisted we plant the whole pack, lol) Not too bad for a day's work.



Celery

Another "I read on pinterest and decided to try it" story...

So, I read on pinterest that you could take the bottom of a grocery store celery and replant it and it would make a new celery.

What I didn't read what that you were supposed to take the celery and leave it in a dish of water until it started to sprout. So I just planted the base in a pot and started watering it. (I literally dropped it in a hole and covered it with dirt).

I threw it in the ground on Monday, February 25

As of Saturday, March 2, I have new little leaves growing out of my celery bottom

So, I guess sometimes forgetting to read all of the instructions is okay :)

I'll try to keep posting pictures as my new little celery plant continues to grow.

See the update on March 12 here.

Weekend projects pt 1

As of March 2 (Saturday), my sweet potatoes are starting to sprout. You can see three little sprouts coming up out of this one. No roots yet, but I'll keep you posted.


I worked on a couple of projects this weekend. It was time to get my garden in the ground, and I needed a few projects to get that started.

First, I wanted to start my lavendar seedlings, and my puppies ate my seed starters from the fall. Instead of buying new seed starters, I decided to try making my own. I've seen on pinterest about a dozen ways to make seed starters. I've been saving my toilet paper and paper towel rolls to try one of those faux wrought iron art things, which led to me having an entire box of rolls. I decided it was time to use them, and this project was perfect.

So I started by cutting the tubes in half

And then rounded them back out (because I smushed them when I cut them)

Until I had an entire box of them

And put them in these "shoe storage" boxes that I found at the dollar store (for a dollar! lol)

And filled them with soil.

Then I just added my seeds, watered and put the lids on.

I labeled my lids so that I knew what I had planted in them. Now I had psuedo-greenhouses for my seed starters.

Cost of tubes: free

Cost of soil: I used about an eighth of a 2cu ft bag of soil for 4 boxes, so soil cost was about $.80

Cost of 4 boxes: $4

Cost of seeds: $4. I used 2 packets of $2 seeds.

              Total <$10.