Hat lust

Whoo hoo! I know it's too hot to be talking about hats, but I've just spotted that Laurel by Jared Flood has become available as a PDF on ravelry.



I've been wanting to make this gorgeous hat for ages. I think it has the nicest use of cables and bobbles on any hat I've seen, but until now it was hard to get hold of the pattern in the UK.

Just a few months of patience and it will be the onset of autumn, and Laurel will be mine, in a nice tweedy yarn.

Ravelry link here

Little Flower Necklace

Yesterday I found a lovely pattern on ravelry for a crocheted necklace that only requires a tiny amount of stash yarn and can be made in a lightening flash. I have a real soft spot for lariat style necklaces, which I think are very flattering.




This pattern was doubly helpful to me because, having learned to crochet a few months ago, I've done little to cement the skills in my memory. I had to find some online instructions as a reminder for one of the stitches.

I made mine in 4ply milk cotton, and the resulting necklace is so lightweight that it is barely there, You could wear it on a hot, summer's day without feeling as though there is anything uncomfortable loitering around your neck.

I've put more details, plus a link to the free pattern, on ravelry, here.

Cheesy poofs, anyone?

Knitty bods, have you ever freaked yourself out with one of your FOs?

Last weekend I made a floppy doll as a gift for a little girl. Once she was all sewn up I added the face and left her lolling around in the nude for a while, awaiting some clothes. Except I kept finding myself looking at her askance, wondering who she was reminding me of. I had a nagging feeling it was someone a bit dodgy. There was something familiar about the placid, vacant stare and the pursed lips...

And then it came to me. Um, allow me to introduce my friend, Mrs Cartman. (Or to quote a friend, "NAKED Mrs Cartman! Bom-chicka-wow-wow!")



Tempting as it was to leave her like this, I fiddled around and added a couple of extra stitches to de-Cartmanify her. Given my limited embroidery skills, this was no mean feat. But now I think she now looks quite cute, once she's all dressed up.

The pattern is from a book called Knitted Toy Tales by Laura Long and I found it well-written and worth knitting. However if I ever make this again I will definitely knit the whole thing in the round - I can't see any reason not to, it would be very easy to convert. While I was sewing up the endless seams, I developed a newfound appreciation for the little touches of quality that Ysolda Teague puts into her designs.

For example, compared with this doll, Elijah's neat limbs and lack of seams look far more professional.

I had some fun knitting the clothing and will probably make her some extra outfits before the month is out. (Fickle knitters, let me tell you that doll outfits = instant gratification!) The basic dress pattern is easy to knit in the round, and can be adapted to suit your whimsy, such as my obsession with stripes. I might do a fair isle version next.

I ended up having to enlarge the shoe pattern to cater for my doll's big feet. It was easy enough to do and the resulting shoes are still snug enough not to keep falling off. I also made her some improvised knickers to make her look a bit better and improve the angle of her dangling legs.

More details are on Ravelry, here