Textured Hat

I'm not crazy about the term "scull cap," but I think this is a cute idea and it looked like such an easy pattern, I had to try it out. I had a "popcorn" scarf that needed a partner hat, and this was just the right look.

For the first try, I used an inexpensive yarn in a nice gray:

This pattern was SO easy that I decided to try it again. The second time I used a cotton yarn that had blues and purples in it:

I didn't want to take on another popcorn scarf (way too time consuming), so I tried this pattern. My scarf looked NOTHING like this--I'm guessing because I didn't pay enough attention to the size of my hook or yarn. Still, I like the way it turned out:

Gummy Ghosts

I absolutely LOVED these little Gummy Ghosts from the cheese thief that I found on Pinterest.  SO cute! I needed something for my boy's Halloween party, so I took these on.

I thought the instructions on the website were very good. I have always had trouble melting chocolate, but the directions on the blog made it super easy. I found it easier to put the gummy bears on the toothpicks, then pour spoonfuls of chocolate over them. For me, dipping was just messier and I wasted a lot of chocolate. I used an empty foam egg carton to hold my wet bears. I just poked the toothpicks through the carton and let them stand until they hardened (only about 10 minutes or so).

I had little treat bags that I made toppers for--very simple-- and added a little cutout detail from JoAnn's. Here are a couple of photos of the finished project:

Owl Cap

I searched all over the stores for a character hat for my 10 year old, and it seemed like everything was either too young or too ugly or too...something.  So I decided to try making one myself. The hat in the picture is an owl (without the triangle nose).

I had this inspiration that I found on Pinterest--which I absolutely love--but I knew my 10-year-old would scoff at the "cutesy" factor, so I had to modify.

 I started with a basic pattern for a hat with earflaps. The link to the pattern I used no longer works, but I found this one that is similar. The earflaps in my pattern were only about 14 stitches, and I thought that was way too small, so I almost doubled that number. I had a lot of trouble counting the stitches to place the earflaps. Instead, I just found the center back and measured an equal distance to find the placement.
In my pattern, for the last row of the earflap, the instructions said to crochet two, then skip two, then crochet two. This created a little hole that allowed me to feed the yarn through...a great way to attach the ties at the bottom. After feeding the yarn, just braid and tie.  I did the same thing for the ears--just worked the strands through the cap and braided.The ties and the "ears" are made from braided yarn.
I wanted to keep it subtle, so I chose two colors that were fairly close (brown and tan) and stuck with those for everything. The eyes are just made from simple crocheted circles, and I stitched them on with yarn.  Here are some close ups:

That's so pinteresting!!!!

Well, I'm sure I'm not the first person to find myself in this pickle...I create something AMAZING inspired by Pinterest (which is the best thing EVER invented) and I have no place to post a picture with a description of the troubles I had, or adjustments I made, or....just the whining in general. That's where this new blog comes in.  I'm going to post photos of my Pinterest projects, along with links to the original plans and modifications I made. I hope someone, someday, will find it helpful.  Who knows, that person might even be me when I want to do it again but can't remember how...