FO: Sleek and Skinny Ear Warmer

With the cold weather, comes my desire to play with yarn. I have a few projects on my needles from last spring, when the urge to knit disappeared, but they are both kind of detailed projects and I wanted something quick to finish to boost my mojo, so I turned to crochet.

Except that I couldn't find my hooks!! Y'all, I have no idea what I did with them. I'm sure I put them somewhere that I wouldn't forget... D'oh. Fortunately, I had a couple of hooks stuck in with my knitting needles that I use to pick up dropped stitches, so I grabbed a 'G' hook and some Knit Picks Chroma Worsted and went to town.

The pattern is the Sleek and Skinny Ear Warmer. You can find all my Ravelry notes here, if you want the technical details (and the free pattern!). It is a combination of single crochet, double crochet and puff stitch, which gives it the slightly nobby texture. I love the sort of ombre stripe effect that happened with the yarn. I totally couldn't have planned that if I'd tried!

The headband closes in back with a big 'ole button. I did my first crocheted buttonholes! Spoiler: They were super easy. My tabs are a little rough, but I played a bit fast and loose with the stitch counts, so that is probably to blame.
The resulting ear warmer is super duper cozy. It'll keep my ears nice and toasty on the playground. I might have to make another to wear with the black half of my wardrobe.

The reason I learned...

to crochet was because I wanted to put crochet edgings on my knits. Flowers are just a bonus.

I thought a nice place to start would be a dishcloth, since they are small and have nice straight edges. I found a book in the library called Knitting Loves Crochet that was very helpful. The first project in the book is a simple garter stitch dishcloth (of the type that I learned to knit on), to which you can add your choice of edging.

I chose a shell border. Shell stitch always seems to me to be the quintessential crochet stitch. Anyway, the resulting washcloth isn't perfect, but it is cute, and matched Myra's princess kitchen. She likes it very much.

This week has been kind of a crazy one, so I haven't spent a ton of time in my sewing room. My fur coat muslins are hanging out, awaiting a decision. I really appreciate everyone's input and you've all given me a lot to think about. I'm going to let the ideas simmer for a bit before a make a final pattern choice. In the meantime, I traced and cut a wearable muslin of Vogue 8747, which will be my white blouse, if it works out as a muslin.

I haven't gotten very far, but here is the front gathered section into the front band. The fabric is a very pretty teal voile from Fabric Mart. I'm not sure the color is really true to life. I took several pictures and they were all not quite right, but this is the closest. It is an intense blue teal with a very nice sheen. Hopefully I can show it to you all in a few days.

Crochet

In the last couple of years since I learned to knit (Thank you, Beth!!!), I've really enjoyed the process of creating fabric from "scratch". I'm working on some mittens for Mitch at the moment and I was just marveling at the thumb gusset increases. I love the process of shaping fabric to fit a three dimensional form. So fun. Anyway, I have been collecting fun knitting patterns (because I need more stash...), and many of my favorites have crochet details, like lovely lace edging or attached floral elements. So, I decided I need to learn to crochet.

I picked up a book at the library and found a hook I generally use for picking up dropped stitches. And I made a chain!

And a swatch! I started with several rows of single crochet, then some half double crochet, and went from there. I think my stitches improved a little as I went along, although I still have far to go.
Anyway, swatching was fun and all, but I ain't gonna lie y'all. I got bored and looked up a YouTube tutorial for a flower.

And I made one!!! My first crocheted FO!! I put a little ladybug button in the middle. There is a hole there that I wasn't a fan of. I am really a visual learner, so it was much more helpful watching someone else form the stitches. I still have lots to learn, but I think it was a fun start.

I stitched on a clip with the thread tails so that Myra can wear it as a hair clip or on her clothes, as she likes. This crochet thing is fun!