cherishables: January 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

D'oh

My brother's birthday is today. I wanted to make him something special. He loves The Simpsons and he was expecting slippers. No slippers today, Bro. Today's it's all about the Homer Hat. D'oh!

Inspired by a picture I found online, this is completely my own design. It's my first time creating something from a picture. I'm pleased with how it came out. More importantly, my brother really likes it. :-)

I even remembered Homer's comb-over.

Side view

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Headbands!

Now that the holidays are over, I have made a resolution to finish all my 2012 Christmas gifts by the summer. I had such good intentions. I bought a pattern that I wanted to test out as I thought it would be a great gift for all the chickadees on my list. I can't share the pattern here, b/c I don't want the surprise to be ruined, but it's a great pattern. I love it! The problem is, the new pattern got me thinking about other things. Mainly...headbands.

Yeah, I know. Who thinks about headbands? I guess I do, b/c once I got started, I couldn't stop. In fact, I'm still making headbands and I just listed 5 on my Etsy shop.

Here they are, one by one:

White with shades of blue made with Sheep(ish) wool-blend yarns.

Bobble stitch in light gray 100% wool yarn.

Pink & light green in a wool-acrylic blend.

Almost all the wool-acrylic blend colors I have. :-)

X-stitch in woodrose 100% wool yarn.

I'm very proud to say these are all are my own design. I just picked a stitch that I liked (or that looked like fun) and crafted away. There were a lot of ends to weave in, but that's because I usually wanted a main color & accent colors. That makes for a lot of work, but the result is fab!

I should also point out that the headbands made in 100% wool are all Patons Classic Wool. The wool blend yarns are all Sheep(ish) by Caron. I LOVE the colors in this line. When it first came out, I didn't think I would ever buy it b/c I usually use only natural fibers and wool is my fave. I bought some yarn anyway, b/c I like the colors so much. I'm so glad I did b/c I love this yarn for headbands. It's soft, yet warm and it works up so well. The yarn is such a good quality, you would never guess (by looking) that it's an acrylic blend. Can't recommend Sheep(ish) enough!

I do see myself making more headbands. They're a fun, quick project. But, unless I end up giving headbands to EVERYONE on my list (guys included!) I'd better start making other things. LOL

Thursday, January 5, 2012

New crochet app

There is nothing more frustrating than running out of yarn when you're working on a project. Sometimes it's hard enough to find yarn in the same dye lot when you're starting a project. It's nearly impossible to match dye lots when you're in the middle or, deity forbid, just about finished. So most of us buy too much and hope to use the yarn for another project. This works well if your projects are small, or if you have a pattern to work from.

What if you don't have a pattern? Or if you want to substitute yarn? Or add a fancy stitch border? It would be great to be able to estimate the yarn you'll need for substitutions, changes and new designs. Apparently, there's an app for that!

Get it here from iTunes

This app is available for iPhone and iPad users. It's called Crochet Handy and it is designed to help you determine how much yarn you need for a project. This could be handy if you would like to substitute yarn for a project or if you're designing something new and would like an estimate on how much yarn to buy.

It's available through the iTunes App Store only, so only iPeople can use it. Perhaps a Droid version will come out soon.

Full disclosure -- I haven't purchased the app. While I have an iPhone, it is for work. Since I don't carry it in my non-work life, I didn't take the plunge to purchase the app. In all honesty, it's only $0.99 so I might buy it soon. I will definitely get it if it ever released on Droid. Also, the only review isn't a glowing one but, like most apps, I'm sure it will evolve over time as more data is added and customer feedback is received.

If you are an iPerson, and you fancy an app to help you estimate yarn for a project, hop on over to iTunes for your copy. If you do, please leave a comment letting us know how well the app worked for you.