Working Through the Scraps

Pattern: Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat by KnottingHookCrochet - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Buff and TLC Essentials in Navy - Hook: 6.5mm

  I find it interesting that the most drama I ever see in the crafting world recently is someone claiming that someone else stole their pattern.  This would be a bad thing if it were true, since it does happen more often than it should, but the ones that seem to get the most attention are the ones that only have a vague similarity.  Like if two people make a crochet vest with a spider web back, but the fronts look different.

  I recently found a listing on Etsy for a pattern that is a bit like my Googly Sploots.  Their design doesn't have any arms and don't have the splat at the bottom.  We both made a similar shaped body and use the googly eye rings at the top.  They have made their listings after mine as well.  Do I think that they saw my listing and made something of their own?  Possibly, but it's also possible that they saw the googly eye rings and just happen to end up with a similar shape that I did.  I'm selling a finished product while they are selling a pattern.  Personally, I hope they sell many copies and don't wish anything bad on them.

Pattern: Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat by KnottingHookCrochet - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Light Navy and 963 Rambling Rose - Hook: 6.5 mm

  I keep feeling like the brim on my bucket hats flared more than I want them to, so I decided to try something.  Since the top has one plain cluster between the increases, I decided to do 2 plain clusters between the increases on the first brim increase and 3 plain clusters between the increases on the second brim increase.  The nice thing about how the yarn is carried is that if I didn't like it at all, I could take the whole thing out without any consequences.

  I didn't think that the way I did it made it flair enough, so I took it out and tried again.  This time I alternated between one and two plain clusters between the increases for the first brim increase and alternated between two and three plain clusters between the increases on the second brim increase row.  The numbers didn't quite work out evenly, but it was close enough.

  I'm working my way pretty quickly through the giant bag of scraps that Tammy gave me.  Tammy likes to combine multiple yarns at once in her projects, which is why there are so many worms with more than one yarn.  Once I'm through the giant bag, the number of worms will slow down since I won't have as many scraps easily available.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 24 (4)
Yarn Out: 34 (4)

Total: -10

Apple Green

Pattern: Lucky Bamboo Hat - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Ombre in Green Apple - Needle: US 8

  I love how gradual the gradient is!  It is so smooth and subtle that I didn't notice the change at first when I was working with it.  I would use this yarn again, so I think it'll go on my list for yarn I will buy once I get my stash a bit smaller.

Pattern: Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat by KnottingHookCrochet - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Ombre in Green Apple - Hook: 6mm

  I joined the Knit Stash Down's Race to the Bottom Part 6.  When I first joined I didn't select a big goal, but that is because I thought the challenge went through the end of the year.  I increased my goal when I realized that it goes through to the end of next year.  I may have to raise it again with how quickly I'm going.

  I have been having fun trying to match the eyes of the Worry Worms to their butt color if I change colors part of the way through.  I did it accidentally the first few times but then kept it going with it.  I also like how I can include the yarn I use in the worms to my Race to the Bottom total.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 20 (4)
Yarn Out: 30 (10)

Total: -10

Fourth of July Fun

Pattern:  Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in 986 Adobe, 997 Sage Mary, and 963 Rambling Rose - Hook: 6mm

  We were a bit worried about the heat and Bill kept offering to buy me an AC unit, but as we got closer to leaving the expected temperatures kept creeping down to a more acceptable range.

  Bill and I got to the cabin the day before everyone else.  When getting ice cream at Smiley's we saw some fireworks.  Odeh and Jim were the next to arrive.  The guys spent some of the day shooting at various targets and having a good time.  Tank and I stayed near fans to try and stay cool.  It was nice to listen to the rain that kept happening on and off throughout the day, but it wasn't fun to drive through the downpour when we went out for dinner.  I was disappointed that we couldn't go to Village Pizza Too on the Fourth of July, but I also know it's nice to get a day off.

Patten: Pennyroyal by Tracey Lambert - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo Stripes in Sutherland Stripe - Needle: US 8

  My parents were the last to arrive for this trip.  They also happened to arrive on almost the hottest day of the trip.  Turns out the predicted temperatures were lower than the actual temperatures.  During the day the lodge tended to be cooler, but in the evenings the cabin was the cooler feeling one.

  It kept getting hotter day to day, though the nights were pretty cool and comfortable to sleep.  My dad ended up getting a bit too dehydrated on his birthday, so he wasn't feeling very good.  He got to take all the leftovers from his birthday dinner that Bill made home though, hopefully they will reheat well.

  Even with the heat, I think that everyone has fun.  I know everyone liked watching the watermelon blow up.

Patten: Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat by KnottingHookCrochet - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo Stripes in Sutherland Stripe - Hook: 6mm

  When Bill and I got home we discovered that our air conditioner wasn't actually making cold air.  Bill called four places that claimed to be 24/7 and we heard back from none of them that night.  Two claimed they would call us back during regular work hours.  Only one did the next day, though to be fair, Bill called one of the two back in the morning.

  We ended up bringing Tank with us as we did a late-night Walmart run to get a window AC unit.  Tank was confused because I wanted him up front where the fans are, so I only had him in his harness.  Usually, he's buckled in while in his carrier.  For being a small unit, it worked pretty well.

  Charles from Meade's Heating and Air arrived to (hopefully) save the day.  His words, but I agree with them.  He replaced the refrigerant compressor and that did the trick.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 16 (2)
Yarn Out: 20 (3)

Total: -4

I Think I'm Hooked on Crochet Bucket Hats

Pattern: Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat by KnottingHookCrochet - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Pretty in Pink and Burgundy - Hook: 6.5mm

  I watched the video How many granny bucket hats can I crochet in ONE day? by PassioKnitKelsie, which uses the Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat Crochet Tutorial by KnottingHookCrochet pattern.  They looked like they are so much fun to make, and I like how KnottingHookCrochet does the increases more than the other granny stitch bucket hats I've seen tutorials for.  They also work up quickly, but I'm definitely not as fast of a crocheter as PassioKnitKelsie.

Pattern: Granny Square Bucket Hat by me - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Multicolor in 0997 Sage Mary - Hook: 6mm

  I had the idea for this for a while and was never able to find a pattern that looked how I wanted it to be.  I made the top as a hexagon and only had to do four rows.  The sides are all squares where I used the Join As You Go method by Hooked by Robin I shared recently, but without joining at every chain.  When I would attach a side square I would work my partial side, one full side, then join on the second chain before the third side.  If there were other squares I would join the sides on the fourth side.  I probably could have joined the last one using the second side for the body of the hat, the third for the top, and the fourth for the final side.  However, I wanted them all to look the same, so I pulled out the first one back to the fourth side and joined it like I was adding a new square.  Those side numbers might not work if you don't find yourself starting from the middle of a row like I have.

  I started the brim by putting a granny cluster into every chain space I came across.  I also tried out a standing double crochet for the first time and though it felt loose, I think it looks fine in the end.  On the second row I used the increases by KnottingHookCrochet, but with four plain clusters between the increases and a chain in the middle of the four double crochets.

  I had a lot of fun making this, so when I make it again I might try taking out the chain between the clusters on the straight edges to see if I like the shape it makes better.  It might help the brim hold its shape better.  I'm also tempted to make it with different colored squares so it shows the joins better.

Pattern: Granny Square Bucket Hat by me - Yarn: scraps from Tammy - Hook: 6mm

  For the brim, I did a 4 double crochet increase in the middle of each square.  For the next two rows I just worked them plain.  On the next row I added a 4 double crochet increase in the space that was over the seam space with 5 regular granny clusters between.  The last two rows were worked plain again.  I had originally thought to make the brim entirely out of the navy, so it would keep the color blocking feel, but I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough yarn.  Considering I won yarn chicken with both the red and the blue, I probably could have made it.

Pattern: Quick & Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat by KnottingHookCrochet - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Pretty in Pink and a scrap from Tammy - Hook: 5.5mm

  When we were cleaning out the garage, Bill found a paper bag filled with yarn ball bands.  I'm not sure if I was possibly keeping track of how much yarn I was using or if it was from when I was cleaning out the basement and had to wash some of the yarn.  Either way, I'm not sure how the bag ended up in the garage.  I took a quick peak and found oldies like Sensations Sublime, one of JoAnn Fabrics original brand, and also one from Creslan Cyanamid which cost 49¢ when new from the store.

  You probably also noticed the jump in the yarn I got.  I found a really pretty shawl pattern that I want to make, but it is large.  I didn't have enough yarn in the size I needed already, so I asked around.  I got some options from both Tammy and Andrea.  I'm still slowly working through yarn, but getting a bunch of small balls makes it look more daunting than it should.  I know I'm also slowing down my own progress by not counting the scrap yarn I was given while focusing on working on Worry Worms with it so much recently.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 14 (0)
Yarn Out: 17 (1)

Total: -3

Working on Some WIPs

Pattern: Mitered Square - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Pretty in Pink and Burgundy - Needle: US 8

  I can't even remember when I started this project, other than it had to be before 2017.  I wasn't sure what pattern it was, other than I was pretty sure it was a class I would have taught at JoAnn Fabrics.  I thought I had 25 stitches on each side to begin the mitered corners, but when I tried that I ended on the wrong color.  I decided to lean into it and switch which is the longest color every 4 blocks.  It also wasn't until I was most of way done that I figured out it made a smoother edge if I picked up the first stitch of the outside section from the previous cast on instead of casting them all on.

  For this I cast on 48 stitches.  Knit 24, placed a marker, then knit the last 24.  I then knit until 2 stitches before the marker, k2tog, slipped the marker, ask, and then knitted until the end.  On the wrong side rows I just knitted back.  I switched colors every other row.  Once I was down to the last two stitches remaining I removed the stitch marker so I could do one final k2tog before picking up stitches with the right side facing me.  I picked up 23 stitches along the top so I had 24 on my needle.  I replaced the stitch marker, picked up one last stitch on the previous cast on row, then cast on another 23.  With 24 stitches on either side of my stitch marker I knit back to where my other color was waiting.

  When I wanted to change the color of the longest row, I started the square before the change with 25 stitches on each side of the stitch marker.  That will give you one more color change before you get down to only on stitch.

Pattern: Double Basket Stitch

  I vaguely remember this being a square when JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts has a series of knitted and crochet square classes.  At the end of the year, we were going to join the squares to make a blanket, but not enough people signed up for all of the classes.  I liked the pattern and wanted to do something with it.  The pussyhat style was perfect for the square.  I might try making another, but in the round.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 14 (9)
Yarn Out: 16 (2)

Total: -2

Doll Hexagon Cardigans

Pattern: Crochet Hexagon Sweater - Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes in 205 Brown Blue Pattern - Hooks: 3 mm and 2 mm(cuffs)

   On Instagram I saw mamakasskrochet fold her hexagon in a different way than they normally are to make a cardigan.  Instead of making an L shape, you make something that looks more like a bridge.  Since I have two of the same doll, I thought it would be fun to make one style of hexagon cardigan for each.

  For the squared hexagon sweater I did a slip stitch join to connect the edges.  For the bat-wing sweater I followed the Join As You Go method posted on YouTube by Hooked by Robin.  I ended the row on the edge of the sleeve so it was easy to single crochet around the edges.  When I was done with the bat-wing sleeved version, it got me wondering if I made a heptagon, could I get the body to look like the squared off version, but still have the dramatic sleeves.

  I know I told Bill that this was going to be The Year of The Doctor, but I meant things like getting check-ups, and getting his elbow looked at.  After I got home from knitting last week he came home from work late.  I found him in the game room with a concerned look on his face.  He asked if we had any regular aspirin and said I might have to take him to the Emergency Room.

  We only had low dosage Aspirin, but we went to the closest ER.  They ran an EKG and ruled out heart attack.  The doctor wanted a CT scan done to rule out a blood clot in his lungs because of the pain in his chest and the elevated heart rate.  They didn't have the machinery to do it, so he got transferred to the hospital that I had gone to when I had the skin infection on my legs.  Because of the elevated heart rate they took him by ambulance.

  I caught up to the ambulance enroute, even though I kept getting caught behind red lights.  The paramedics told me that I would just need to go into the ER as normal and tell them that my husband was dropped off.  They said that after that they would either take me to his room or tell me the room number.

  When I walked in the security guard told me that if he was transferred from another hospital that they would have given me a room number and was confused why I didn't have that information.  Turns out the first hospital didn't even give that information to the ambulance guys either.  After calling a few people he took me back to Bill's room.

  I got greeted with "Hi, Sweetie" from the nurse in his room, it was really cute.  He got wheeled out from the room for the scan and I heard some nurses talking about how someone has brought Old Bay Goldfish for the break room.  The place was super busy, I saw about seven people in beds in the hallway while Bill was getting scanned.

  The scan was clear but the doctor gave him some ketorolac because he still felt the pain in his chest when reclined or laying down.  It was for inflammation but it also seemed to lower his blood pressure and his heart rate was lower than before, but still elevated for him.  We hung out for a bit longer because the doctor wanted him to have a bag of fluids.  I was feeling hungry and the nice nurse found a bunch of crackers for me to eat.  They advised some Advil for the pain, but couldn't figure out why he was feeling the discomfort otherwise.

  In the morning he said still felt it in his chest, but nothing has gotten worse, other than the headache from lack of sleep.  He's feeling much better now.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 5 (0)
Yarn Out: 14 (0)

Total: -9

They Are at Least Fun to Look At

Pattern: Party Ruffle Hat - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Adobe and Red Heart Boutique Sashay Multicolor in Tango - Needles: US 8

  I cast on 90 stitches.  Worked 10 rows of ribbing and 6 rows of plain knitting.  I worked 18 stitches with the fashion yarn, then plain for the rest of the row.  On the next row I knit plain until I got to where I left off of the fashion yarn and used it for 18 more stitches.  That caused it to spiral upward and not be too dense on the hat.  I wanted it to ruffle like the scarves, so I skipped one open spot on the top.  When using the ruffle yarn I caught the bar of the ruffle yarn with my right needle before knitting the next stitch.  I made sure to pull the new loop through the opening of the bar.

  If I write out this pattern, I'm probably going to have them cast on a number divisible by 10.  That way the math will be easier when figuring out how many stitches to work with the ruffle yarn per row.  It also will guarantee that the decrease at the top will work out with 5 decreases per row.  I'm also going to have more ribbing and less plain knit rows before the ruffle so what you see peeking out from the bottom of the ruffles is more consistent around the hat.

  How the designing process went with this:

• Use each bar, but don't think it ruffles enough

• Work 18 stitches with ruffle yarn, but then worry that 5 rows aren't enough between ruffle rows

• Try for 9 rows between ruffle rows, but realize that will only work out easily with the current number cast on

• Work 9 stitches with the ruffle per row because 9 and 10 are close enough to each other

• Get to row 11 of the ruffle part before realizing that 10 rows make the ruffles lay too far apart 

• Go back to 18 stitches of ruffle with 5 rows between

• Wonder if skipping a bar on the ruffle yarn caused it ruffle too much but figure that's something to play with on the next one

Pattern: Party Ruffle Hat - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Adobe and Red Heart Boutique Sashay Multicolor in Tango - Needles: US 8

  For this one I didn't skip any bars when working with the ruffle yarn.  I also worked 12 ribbing rows and 2 plain rows before I started using the ruffle yarn.  At the top, the last k2tog row, I wanted to work every stitch with the ruffle yarn.  That didn't happen naturally, so I went around the last row and pulled the stitches through the top of the ruffle yarn once I was done working all of my k2togs.

  One inconvenience I was having with this method was that since I wasn't skipping any, there was nothing to really hold the loops down with.  I ended up with random loops of the ruffle yarn bars on the inside.  That probably won't affect the hat at all, but if I have enough ruffle yarn after this I might try knitting with the bar instead of just slipping it around the stitch.

Pattern: Party Ruffle Hat - Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Adobe and Red Heart Boutique Sashay Multicolor in Tango - Needles: US 8

  I wasn't as big of a fan of the every bar technique with the ruffle yarn, so I switched back to the every other version.  It's hard to see in the other picture, but you can see a lot more of the background knitting with the every-bar technique.  Since I didn't have a lot left of the skein I decided to see how it would look of I worked it from the top down.

  It was nice to see that it didn't seem to really make a difference.  I do think that the top of needs to have more bars skipped to keep the ruffle yarn loose and not make a tight top spiral.

  My mom and I did a quick drop off at the Lebanon Springs House Ministry.  Brenda told us that she and Tony are planning on moving to West Virginia with their children by the end of July.  Ideally someone they know will take over the B&B so they can come back and host the soup kitchen events still.  If that happens we can keep bringing things to them, if not we will have to find a new location down this way to bring stuff to.

  While at the cabin we checked some of the footage from the trail cameras.  For quite a while we've seen a deer who has a bad front leg.  She won't put any weight on it.  I'm always glad to see that Limpy is getting by, even through the winter.  I wish I could convince her to become a pet and spoil her, though I know that will never happen.  She's just been through so much and has come out the other end that she deserves some ease in her life.

  At one point during the trip Bill had gotten the fire going and it started to rain.  The fire was well enough established that it only needed some more wood to protect the embers.  I had the idea to get umbrellas so we could still sit next to the fire.  It worked pretty well.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:
Yarn In: 5 (0)
Yarn Out: 14 (1)

Total: -9