Couch Craft: Cowl & Hat

During the Great Pumpkin Crochet Frenzy of September 2013 I spent a month creating a tiny family of stuffed pumpkins. There were adorable little stems and twirly green vines on squishy little pumpkins. And then I completely lost steam for my favorite Couch Craft, crochet. [Couch Craft: That which you create with your hands while sitting on the couch in the evening watching, or rather listening to, TV.] I even had the plans and the yarn to crochet up some ornaments for Christmas gifts and it never happened. Momentum completely gone.

After the New Year I had one last holiday gift for a friend that needed to be sent and I still didn't know what exactly it should be. Then, inspired by images of Christmas gifts I saw among my crafting friends, I got it into my head that an infinity scarf would be perfect. So I sat down to try. Night one, pattern one felt awkward and stiff. I pulled a couple of hours’ worth of work and remade my yarn ball. Night two, pattern two felt painfully slow. I frogged it again. Night three, pattern three something finally clicked—there was an ease and an elegance that worked with the yarn.

A little over halfway through completing the scarf and in the middle of a seriously cold cold-snap, Mr. Wren noted that The Peanut's current hat didn't really cover her ears. In my defense it does, as long as she's not sporting her now-daily ponytail. So I halted the red scarf to whip up an earflap hat in her favorite blue complete with pom-pom and braids. The first pom-pom I made for the hat was too large. But it’s so wonderful I can’t part with it. It would be perfect to hang from the review mirror of The Peanut’s blue toy Beetle, but alas, it doesn’t have a review mirror. For now the lonely pom-pom sits in my project basket waiting for a home.

Then it was back to the sparkly red infinity scarf. The yarn and pattern created a lovely, light drape. I was thrilled to finally send this off to its recipient. And now I don't know what's next on deck. Should it be a blanket? A hat for me? Mittens for the family? Or maybe my next Couch Craft is some counted cross-stitch. I'll let you know.

Pattern

Patons Lace SequinCowl and SeamlessEarflap Hat by Lindsey Carr

Yarn

Cowl: Caron Simply Soft Party, Red Sparkle.

Hat: Caron One Pound, Cape Code Blue; Caron Simply Soft, Navy; Caron One Pound, White

Love

The pattern for the scarf has a lovey drape while not being visually loose/lacey. And the sparkles in the yarn are fabulous.

The hat is adorable with or without the pom-pom, but I love that pom-pom on The Peanut’s noggin.

Note

Because I crochet tight (even with a larger hook), I added a number of stitches to the foundation chain of the infinity scarf—I’m sorry to say I can’t remember how much I added.

I wish patterns explained better how to join edges. I made it up as I went for the infinity scarf.

Right after I completed the hat I found this tutorial (Tip #4) on crochet in the round and joining colors without an obvious seem/jagged edge. Ah well, I’ll apply it next time.

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You should really see all that goes into each project!

From my model preferring to wear washi tape on her navel instead of the clothes I've sewn for her, to the ingenious way that I’ve re-purposed my favorite sewing tool, a chopstick, into a spool pin for double needle sewing on my machine. Daily updates on Instagram (and Flickr) of works-in-progress will give you that behind the scenes view you’re looking for, and sneak peeks of First Tuesday Tutorials, too.

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