The Downfall of Katsucon?

Pattern: The Kelp Bucket Hat by Kelsie Beckham - Sized down for a teen - Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Peace and Love in 60712 Groovy Green and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Stripes in 21554 In Motion stripes - Hook: 6.5mm

  Back when I started going to Katsucon in 2001 it was considered a small convention.  After many years and a few venue changes it has become more of a big deal.  Cosplayers have come from overseas even.  At one point they put a cap on tickets because they were outgrowing one of their venues.  People were upset, but it also didn't stop the event from growing more once they took the cap off.  The last few years have been showing that they might be outgrowing their current venue.  It is hard to get places if you are walking through the gazebo area because of how many people are just hanging out there.  Parking was a nightmare last year, and I hear it's worse this year.  It doesn't help that where they are now has a lot of shopping and restaurants and not much else around it.

Pattern: The Kelp Bucket Hat by Kelsie Beckham - Adult - Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Peace and Love in 60712 Groovy Green and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Stripes in 21554 In Motion stripes - Hook: 6.5mm

  Bill and I have been going for many years as our special Valentine's Day event.  Last year we only went for Saturday and we ended up having to park at MGM Casino and shuttle over.  This year all of the parking that could be reserved was sold out before the event even started.  MGM was threatening to tow cars if the owners weren't there to gamble.

Pattern: The Kelp Bucket Hat by Kelsie Beckham - Sized down for a teen - Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Peace and Love in 60712 Groovy Green and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Stripes in 21554 In Motion stripes - Hook: 6mm

  I've now heard stories about hotel staff telling people that they can't have things on their balconies.  Lots of people bring silly things like inflatable aliens, LED light strips, or flags to decorate their balcony with.  There is a bar on the main level and I heard that this year they closed it down for the weekend.  The rooms sell out quickly and with the lack of parking, a lot of people probably planned on hiring a ride to take them there.  However, I heard that they are extending the spaces where bag are not allowed, which would make it harder for someone to bring a change of clothes to carry around.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 10 (1)

Total: 0

Whimsical Hats: Part 2

  It's Hatathon time once again!!

California - 26

• MinnieMay9 - 6

• tangodancer - 6

• LisaDP - 4

• majmlj - 4

• lizcf59 - 4

• landandwater - 2

  I'm so happy that I remembered to sign up before a week or two into the month.  This way I get to be part of a group and don't have to hope to be lumped into a group as long as enough other people forgot to sign up.

Pattern: Jester Style Crochet Hat by Alison Russell - Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn Mandala Baby in Pixie and Honeydukes - Hook: 3.75mm

  I just kept thinking about the jester hats, how cute they are, and how much fun I had making the first one.  I also thought of trying out how to add a larger bell and make the bell removable for washing.  If the recipient was crafty, they could also make other attachments for their hat to really customize it.

Pattern: Jester Style Crochet Hat by Alison Russell - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Ocean and Caron Simply Soft Seasons in White 2901 - Hook: 5.5mm

  I wanted to combine the dark blue and white again.  They are just so pretty together.  I wanted to play around with stitches and was curious how it would look with a cluster granny stitch.  That is indeed different than a granny cluster.  However, the hexagon ended up being flat, but I wanted to try it anyway to see if that would also work for a jester hat.  The shape it was forming reminded me of a hat my friend Sally has.  It was supposed to be a cat ear beanie, but her friend ended up making it way too wide.  She liked it that way and wears it often.

  I do like how it came out, but now I want to see what happens if I use this technique to make the jester "ears" while using the standard method for the body of the hat.  I think it will tilt them nicely.  I could also use the clusters on the body and the standard way on the "ears" to get them longer.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 9 (0)

Total: 1

Whimsical Hats: Part 1

Pattern: Jester Style Crochet Hat by Alison Russell - Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn Mandala Baby in Neverland and Honeydukes - Hook: 3.75mm

  I was scrolling through YouTube and saw Making Hannah had made a video about crocheting jester hats.  The first one looked so easy and fun.  It got moved to the top of the queue, I didn't even finish her video before I started making mine.  I didn't want to make yarn tassels or pom-poms to go on the points, but I figured they needed something to help pull them downward.  I was looking for the large wooden beads that didn't end up working for Worry Worms.  While looking I found some sea creature themed pony beads.  Since I haven't made any kandi in a while, my animal shaped pony beads haven't been seeing a lot of love.  Everyone was disappointed that I hadn't added bells, so did that the second I got home.

  Alison has you sew the sides together, but I just used the Crochet Tight Join As You Go Method by Hooked by Robin on the last row.  I like the look of that better than when I try and sew things together and I'm more likely to get it done if I don't have that extra step instead of working it into the last row.  I also added a ribbed band to the bottom that was 12 stitches wide.  The hat was both too wide and too short for Miss Spud, so I knew it needed the length.  It reminds me of sweatshirts from the '80s.

Pattern: Textured Cat Hat by me - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Ocean and Caron Simply Soft Seasons in White 2901 - Needle: US 6

  I kept wondering what it would look like if I switched which color was the larger stripe on the Textured Cat Hat.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to work two thin stripes or two thick stripes to change it, so I split the difference and worked three rows of each color.  I had intended to make this hat larger than the other one, but I didn't have it with me when I had cast on and didn't remember how many stitches it had.  Looks like I made it smaller, it fits Miss Spud perfectly right now.

  I had a dentist appointment last Monday, but since it was reported that we were going to get a huge amount of snow from Saturday night to Sunday, many things closed preemptively.  I got a call on Friday saying they needed to move my dental appointment.  If Miss Spud hadn't had her appointment in the middle of the day on Friday I would have been able to move mine up.  However, it got moved to Tuesday.  The amusing thing for me was how the closer we got to the day the less and less accumulation they predicted.  Everyone was panic buying things anyway, though I was able to get milk for Miss Spud.  However, the shredded cheese and fresh vegetables at Wegmans were decimated.

  We ended up with a pretty good amount of snow, about 8" inches.  The freezing rain made it harder to take Miss Spud out to play in and made driving harder for everyone braving the roads.  I ended up being able to make it to my Tuesday appointment.  I then had to go back for a bite adjustment this Tuesday, but hopefully my teeth should be good until my 6 month appointment.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 9 (3)

Total: 1