Transformation Tuesday: ‘Holy Vest Batman!’ or A Break From the Birthday Yarn… 8/25/2015

I took last week off of blogging to do some family stuff, including buying a new(ish) car, and spending some quality time with my husband.  I did manage to find quite a bit of time to crochet, though I took some time away from the birthday yarn.  I am really close to done with the sweater but I needed to step back for a blink to break up the monotony.

I have been working feverishly on my fair getting my fair entries together.  I (of course) may have over committed with what I could get done in the month between the entry form due date and the entry due date, but so far I have been making good time on getting all the projects done.

My entries include, a stocking cap Christmas ornament (HERE) (done), a turkey child’s hat (HERE) (done), a braided scarf (HERE) (done-ish),  two hot pads (almost done with the first one), the green v-neck sweater (HERE) (close to almost done), and a multi. colored vest (see below).

As far as my as my yarn transformations go, I want to share a multi. colored vest I have been working on. The best news?  I am almost done!  This is a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.  The pattern can be found HERE.  It calls for Vanna’s Choice, which was what I ended up using.  I really enjoy using Vanna’s Choice  it is easy to work with, fairly in-expensive, and fairly durable.  I am looking forward to seeing how well this yarn wears in the long run.

I am using toffee as the main color, with silver blue, silver grey, dusty blue, and wheat, for accent colors.

I have to say that after the flower motif is finished, this is one of the easiest patterns I have done.  It is also easy to customize the size to fit different body types.  All you have to do is alter the row the arm holes are added onto (add or subtract stitches to account for this), and you can add more or less rows depending on the size you want the garment.

I have a few rows left, and I will be adding a button onto it to make the garment more fitted.  Without the button the vest is really loose and not terribly flattering.  I can’t wait to show you all the finished product!

The down side? All the color changes are going to make weaving ends a full time job…

In the mean time… here it is!

Hopefully in the next week I will make a bigger dent in the laundry list of fair items, and have more done!

What are all the rest of you Naughty-Knit-Chet-ers working on?  Let me know or leave a pic in the comments, I love seeing what everyone is doing out there!

Be sure to like Naughty Knots Knit and Crochet on Facebook for updates, fiber funnies, and drawings for fun fiber stuff!

Happy Hooking and (K)Nifty Knitting!

Megan

Transformation Tuesday: Birthday Yarn Part One 7/21/2015

For this Transformation Tuesday I started working with the yarn my husband bought me for my birthday; 5 balls of Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage.

I love natural fibers as much as the next girl; however there are times when the wallet can’t support lots of work done in natural fibers.  Due to the financial constraints of grad school I have been using more and more acrylic yarn.

I have not used Caron Simply Soft since the first scarf I ever crocheted, and since this was the my first experience working with yarn, I did not know what I was working with.  All that being said, I LOVE working with this yarn!  This yarn is so smooth and easy to work with.

Along with Caron yarn I am working a Caron pattern.  The pattern I am working on is a pretty v-neck tunic, has been fairly easy (so far).  I think it will style nicely with leggings, or skinny jeans.  Best of all this pattern is FREE!

The pattern can be found here:

http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/v-topper.html

The pattern includes double crochet, double slip stitches, and lots and lots of counting.  In order to keep up with the counting I have used stitch-markers to mark every 20 stitches.  This allows me to only have to count to 20, instead of counting to 122 each row; saving me a massive amount of time.

Current progress:

So I have shown you mine; now you show me yours!  What are you all working on out in internet land?

Happy Hooking and (k)Nifty Knitting!

Megan

Easy Crochet Headband

It is 105 degrees outside and of course I am working on an inappropriate project for the temperature.  I decided to create a matching headband to go with the scarf from last week.  I am truly looking forward to fall when it is a more appropriate temperature to wear it.

To see the scarf follow this link https://naughtyknots.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/braided-infinity-scarf/.

I made this using some of the leftover yarn from the scarf.

I made a strip of each color, using a size K crochet hook.

Foundation:  Ch 6
Row 1: Skip the first ch, sc in each stitch to the end of the row (5), ch 1 to turn.
Row 2: sc in first stitch, sc back loop only for 3 stitches, sc in last stitch, ch 1 to turn.

Repeat row 2 until the strip measures about 21″ (or the appropriate length for the head you are making this for).  Keep in mind this type of stitch is super stretchy!  Fasten off, but leave enough of a length of yarn to sew the ends together (about 12″).

Braid the strips together, fairly tightly, I found it helpful to use stitch markers to hold the ends together until I could sew them together.

Using the Grand Canyon color I created a fourth strip using the same pattern above, only making it 5 inches long.  This piece will be wrapped around the area where the two ends are sewn together.

Before wrapping the 5″ strip around the headband I sewed a button on it.

Then wrap the 5″ piece around the sewn area of the headband and sew the ends together.  Weave in all ends.

I am hoping the instructions make sense, please leave any questions in the comments!

What seasonally appropriate  (or inappropriate) projects are you working on?

Happy Hooking and (k)Nifty Knitting,
Megan

Braided Infinity Scarf

Today I finished my first summer project, a braided infinity scarf.  I had been wanting to do something like this for a long time, I just never made the time.   I have attached an outline of the pattern I created to make it. This scarf was created with Lion Brand Heartland in Glacier Bay, Joshua Tree, and Grand Canyon (less than one skein each), and a size K hook.  I made one long strip from each color.

The pattern for each strip is as follows:

Foundation:  Ch 12, turn

1st Row:  Skip the first ch stitch closest to the hook, sc in each of the next 11 chain stitches, ch 1

2nd Row:  sc in first stitch, back loop sc in the next 9 stitches,  sc in the last stitch

Repeat the 2nd row until the strip is about 60 inches. When tying off, make sure to leave a tail to sew the opposite ends of the scarf together. I then attached the strips together at one end using stitch markers. Next, braid the three strips together, fairly tightly (the braid loosens after the last step). Match up the opposite ends of the scarf and stitch them together.  Tuck in the ends and you have a nice snugly scarf.

If you have any questions about the pattern leave them in the comments and I will try to clarify.

Of course it is almost July so using it is a ways off, but at least I have that to look forward to.

What are you working on?

(6/30/2015 see the matching headband here:  https://naughtyknots.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/easy-crochet-headband/)

Happy Hooking and (k)Nifty Knitting, Megan

Sweet Summer

I am happy to report I finished my first year of grad school on Friday with amazing grades.  I spent my first weekend of freedom from homework with Color Me Rad, liberal helpings for friendship and hours of crochet.   That is the amazing part about crochet, it does not matter how long you have been gone, the fiber welcomes you back.  Right now I am finishing a mint shrug/sweater that I started last fall before the heavy cloud of school set in.  The best part is this shrug is made up of single crochet stitches.  This pattern is free from lion brand yarns.  I am using Red Heart With Love in Iced Aqua.

Here is a link to the FREE Pattern!

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L30117.html?ss=

I will post a picture as I begin to finish this off.

What are you working on this summer? Leave a picture of your current project in the comments below!

Happy Hooking and (K)Nifty Knitting,

Megan

W.I.P. Wednesday 11/6/2013

Good Afternoon Friends! Not much to say but I am working on finishing up some great hats and a headband! What is everyone else working on?

Happy Hooking,
Megan

Turkey Hat :)

I skipped Sunday Funday yesterday because all I had to show were several brown baby beanies. Last night I finished one of them off and it is in the picture above. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, though it took quite a bit of time. I came up with the pattern with some inspiration from Ravelry. At some point, maybe over Winter Break I will have some time to write down some of my patterns so I can share them with you all. I hope everyone is having a fantastic Monday!

Happy Hooking!
~ Megan

One yarn… Two hats…

So on Wednesday I showed a hat I was working on and the photo above is the result! I was so happy with how it turned out. The yarn is one on the Sensation yarns from Joann Fabrics. It is blue, pink, grey, and white. I made a total of four child sized hats from the HUGE ball of yarn. The yarn itself was really hard to work with, it was very tangled. I am making pompoms to attach to the hats with ear flaps.

I made three hats with earflaps, an one without. I added a sweet little bow to the one with out earflaps…

Next I will be working on some cute turkey hats 🙂 I will post pictures tomorrow…

As for today I am off to a football game with my dad… Yay!

Happy Hooking!
~ Megan

W.I.P. it good Wednesday 10/30/2013

I have been working on this little cutie today… When I am finished I will post a picture and some more details about the yarn and pattern. What is everyone else working on out there? I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Happy Hooking!
~ Megan

Sometimes the best of intentions just don’t work out…

So I had intended to make a hat from the pattern I posted yesterday… But I got a little overwhelmed with the pattern.

So I made this headband instead… I need to write down the pattern so I can share it one of these days! It is done in Vanna’s Choice yarn in the Autumn Print color. I love how it turned out!  I worked the main body in back loops only so it has a cool ribbed look to it.

I also made one boot cuff.  I also liked how it turned out but I feel like I should make both before I post it online!

One of these days I will re-tackle the hat pattern because I really like it… Maybe on a day when I am feeling more confident and creative 🙂

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Happy Hooking!
Megan