PurlSoho hat: ta-da!

February 12, 2016 by 1 Comment

The pattern was the Classic Cuffed Hat but I didn’t do the cuff, so I can’t call it by it’s actual title, hehe.

Classic Hat | Not Your Average Crochet

The hat is made of 105 yds of PurlSoho’s Merino Script yarn (aran weight, 100% merino) in colorway 1530 Ice Blue.

Classic Hat | Not Your Average Crochet

I made some changes in the pattern, though; obviously I didn’t make the cuff, so the brim is 2″ instead of 4″, and I also worked the brim flat, joining in the round only when I started on the body of they hat.  This split brim goes at the back of the neck and makes it a lot easier to pull the hat low over the head and ears without bunching/pushing up at the back.  I also had to go up a needle size, using sizes US 6 & 8 instead of 5 & 7 (which I did try first but was too small — my last PurlSoho project had a tighter gauge as well, perhaps I should just start going up a needle size with all their patterns).

Classic Hat | Not Your Average Crochet

And finally, I made a couple of pom-poms to put on top, but I can’t decide which I like best.  Faux fur poms are all the rage right now, apparently, but I don’t have any and I think these are super cute:

Classic Hat | Not Your Average Crochet

The pink one was made of KnitPicks Comfy Worsted and the light blue was made of KnitPicks Stroll Glimmer.  Maybe I’ll leave the tails long and just tie them onto the top of the hat with the bow on the inside, then they can be interchangeable.  Or maybe I can put safety pins on them and change them out that way.  What would you suggest?

Well, that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!

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Classic Cowl: ta-da!

February 9, 2016 by 5 Comments

Purl Soho’s Classic Cowl is a fun pattern to make, and it both looks and feels really neat!

Classic Cowl on Not Your Average Crochet

That’s it folded in half.  It measures 52″ in circumference instead of the expected 60″ (I swear I cast on the right number of stitches — my gauge must have just been tight or something), and I saved enough yarn to make a hat by making it 8″ tall instead of 12″ tall.

Classic Cowl on Not Your Average Crochet

The “fluffy brioche stitch” is really cool and looks even more so in real life!  And the Purl Soho Worsted Twist yarn (100% merino) in Otter Brown is really pretty, although it was hard to get the brown to look accurate without making the backgrounds yellow, so yellow backgrounds it is.

Classic Cowl on Not Your Average Crochet

This is #9 of my 25 projects goal for 2016, so I’d say I’m moving right along!

I’m planning some crochet soon, so check back for that, and thanks for stopping by today!

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Chunky Circle Scarf #6?!

February 7, 2016 by 1 Comment

Yep, my 6th one, although this one was  not joined in the end to make a circle but was made slightly longer for a regular scarf instead of a cowl.  This was made for another coworker of mine who saw the one I made for my first coworker and loved it.

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This one used about 240g of yarn.  The yarn is Cascade Yarns Eco Alpaca in Charcoal Twist, and let me tell you this yarn is some of the softest I’ve ever used, ever.  So soft that it’s hard to tie off because the fibers are so slippery.  And made into a pattern like this, it’s certainly cushy and feels very luxurious!

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That is it folded into 4 layers.

The only thing I don’t like is that I think it’s too short.  I almost hate to give it to my coworker since she’s even paying for the yarn but I don’t think I can face undoing the whole thing and starting all over.  Hopefully it will stretch some.

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The Catherine wheel pattern is visible with this yarn but looks slightly less distinguishable than it does in completely solid yarn. I hope that’s OK with my coworker, too, but she wanted shades of grey so I think it’s what she wanted.

Well, that’s all for today, see you soon!

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Classic Cowl: begin!

February 5, 2016 by 5 Comments

Couldn’t resist the urge to start something new, and I’ve been eyeing Purl Soho’s Classic Cowl pattern for some time now.  There were already 4 skeins of the required yarn in my stash (Purl Soho Worsted Twist in Otter Brown), so I got started on Monday.

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I don’t know much about brioche knitting but the texture of this “fluffy brioche stitch” is awesome; I think it will be super warm and cushy!  The yarn is really soft, too, and enjoyable to use.  Here’s a closeup of the stitches (although it’s still hard to really see the texture as clearly as you can in real life):

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For some reason my ribbing is slightly slanted, but that should be fixed with a light blocking.  I might not use all 4 balls of yarn, though — it would be cool to save some for another project and I think even just 2 balls would make a very adequate cowl.

Well, that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!

***Edit: and somebody asked to see the whole mandala ottoman cover from my last post, so here it is:

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FO: mandala ottoman cover

January 31, 2016 by 10 Comments

Crochet and mandalas just go hand in hand, so I decided to try my hand at making a mandala pattern of my own!  Made up as I worked, this nicely covers the lid of a new storage ottoman we got for our wedding (that way we can actually put our feet on it without worrying about getting it dirty).

Mandala ottoman cover from Not Your Average Crochet

I used a variety of stitches and the yarn is KnitPicks Comfy Worsted (leftovers from the embroidered rose hat) and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton DeLux.  Used a US H/8 hook.

Mandala ottoman cover from Not Your Average Crochet

The sides are just granny rounds and some sc rows to stabilize everything.  It’s held on the ottoman with a strand of yarn run through the next-to-last round and cinched around the edge:

Mandala ottoman cover from Not Your Average Crochet

This way the cover can be easily removed & washed, and since it’s a storage ottoman with a lid I didn’t have to do more than cover the lid itself.

This was fun to make and just took 1 weekend, so I got the pleasure of starting a new project as well as not really adding to my current list of WIPs.  I think this is my 6th completed project of the year, so my goal of making 26 projects definitely seems attainable now!  The only problem is that now I want to start another new project, but I really should work on all those WIPs…

Hope you guys had a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

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