FO: Baby Boy Owl Hat

Pattern:  Baby Owl Hat
Hook: I hook, 5.5mm
Yarn:  Lion Brand Vanna's Choice and Purl Essence Angel Hair
Made for:  My hair stylist's baby boy
Size:  3-6 month

Baby owl hat #365frandz #project365 #crochet #crochetersofinstagram #ced2016 #owl

A photo posted by Lisa (@lalocadesigns) on Nov 10, 2016 at 9:11pm PST

This hat is my favorite children's hat to crochet.  I only made one modification to the pattern by adding one extra round to the bottom of the hat.

 Isn't it adorable?

 Have you ever tried this pattern?  What did you think?

FO: Unicorn Hat

Pattern:  Unicorn Hat
Hook:  H
Yarn:  Random Yard Sale Acrylic

I made this hat for a boy who camps next to us at Country Fair.  We are friends with his parents, and he loves to hang out with us.  He even made us some refrigerator magnets this year.  In return, I made him this awesome hat.  I cannot describe the joy I saw on this boy's face when he saw this hat.  It was amazing!!  I want to make him a new hat every year just to see that face again.

Sorry the pictures are dark; they were taken at the campsite.

I highly recommend this pattern and will definitely make this hat again.

FO: Earbud Cozy

Pattern:  Easy Listening Earbud Covers
Yarn:  Rainbow-colored thread
Hook:  1.65mm steel hook (#7)

My husband and I recently bought new earbuds.  We both bought the same earbuds, same color, same style.  The thing is I get weird about putting other people's earbuds in my ears, so I needed to find a way to differentiate mine from his.  This pattern helped solve my little problem, and it couldn't have been easier!

To make my earbuds even more user friendly, I added green thread to the rainbow on the left earbud and purple thread to the rainbow on the right earbud.  I love them!

 Have you ever made an earbud cozy?  What do you think?

FO: April ATCs

ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards, are small works of art that are made to be traded with other artists.  ATCs are the same size as baseball cards, 2.5" x 3.5", and every single one is completely different.  

Last month I participated in my first swap on Craftster, the Ongoing ATC Swap (here is a link to this month's swap).  I have wanted to sign up for a swap for a very long time, but I know that I am not always good with deadlines.  ATCs seemed like the perfect choice: small enough to create within a deadline.  Now I am addicted :)  I love making tiny little works of art and experimenting with new ideas and techniques.

During the April ATC swap, I created two cards.  The first was titled "Lord Shiva."  The person I made this card for listed two themes that I combined to make this card: gods and goddesses and collage.  I started by covering some cardstock with a page from an old book.  I then painted the page with acrylic paint.  Then I collaged an image of Lord Shiva (from a National Geographic story about a water park in India) and a yellow flower (also from a National Geographic).  Finally I added some gold  around the edges and glued a jewel over Shiva's third eye.

I made a little tangled notecard to send the ATC in.

The second ATC that I made in April was for a science fiction theme.  I checked out the swapper's Pinterest page and saw a board devoted to Doctor Who.  One of her pins was a Tardis necklace.  It was shaped like the Tardis and had neat circular designs cut out.  I tried to recreate it with paper, markers, paint and pens. 

I started this card with some water-soluble markers.  Then I painted over them with some pearlescent paint with smudged the markers a little and gave the whole card a blue hue.  I added details on top of the paint with gel pens, then varnished the whole thing to protect it.  I also make a cute Doctor Who themed notecard for this ATC.

Because I sent two ATCs, I also received two ATCs.  First I received an awesome drawing of a dolmen from Craftster member blupaisan.

I also received a sugar skull themed fabric ATC from audio.  It has little beads sewn on it.

I've signed up for the May ATC Swap and have already sent out 3 different ATCs.  Have you ever made ATCs?  Have you ever participated in a craft swap?

FO: Alicia Legwarmers

Pattern:  Alicia Legwarmers
Hook:  H
Yarn:  Pinguin Eclat

Modifications:  Added single crochet edging to top and bottom in coordinating color, completed shell edging in coordinating color, did not add buttons.

This pattern was very easy, and I like the final product a lot.

In progress

And now for the badly-lit action shots....

 I like to wear them all slouchy around my ankles.

 They are a little too loose to wear pulled up.

Have you ever tried this pattern?  What did you think?

FO: Twisted Toque

Pattern:  Twisted Toque from 60 Quick Knits
Needle:  Size 7, circular and DPNs
Yarn:  Vanna's Choice in a beautiful green

My first FO of 2016

I messed up the pattern a little bit, but I still like it.  I started knitting this because I could not find a hat this winter, then I found three of my missing hats and received more hats as Christmas gifts.  Now I am hat rich!!   :)

FO: Flying Spaghetti Monster Hat

Pattern:  Flying Spaghetti Monster Hat

Hook: G

Yarn:  Acrylic

I made this hat for a friend who loves the FSM.

The pattern was easy to follow and even included a diagram of where to place all the different parts.  I really enjoyed making this hat and especially enjoyed my friend's reaction when he first saw the hat.  He loved it!  I would definitely make this hat again.

FO: Sock Monkey

Pattern:  Sock Monkey

Hook:  F

Yarn:  Random Acrylic

Modifications:  I didn't do all the color changes.  I also did not add any facial features because I felt that the yarn coloring was busy enough without more clutter.  I did not put plastic in the ears.

Rating:  I really like this pattern and would definitely make it again.  It was easy and fun to crochet.

I paired this sock monkey with a baby bear hat and gave them both as a gift to a coworker of my husband who recently had a baby girl.  They loved the gift.

I love his adorable little ears.

Tamara's Kismet Square

Linking up with Freshly Finished Friday.

  Last night I finished the first square of the Moogly 2015 Afghan CAL!

Pattern:  Tamara's Kismet Square

Hook:  I hook

Yarn:  Random yard sale yarn

This square was a lot of fun to crochet.  The Jacob's Ladder stitch was new to me and made the square really interesting.  I know there are a few errors in my square (I had problems finding the ch2 space after the first border of Jacob's Ladder) but I love it just the way it is.  I am not sure yet if all my squares will be solid colors or not.  Probably depends on my yarn situation :)

What did you make this week?

FO: Baby Sweaters and Blankets

Pattern:  Baby's First Sweater

Needle:  US Size 8

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft and stash yarn

Ravelry Project Page

This sweater was really fun to knit.  It is knit in one piece, then seamed up the side and under the arm.  I decided to add an icord tie on the front instead of a button after seeing a project picture with a baby eating the button on his sweater.  I don't want my twin nephews to choke on something I made for them.  The sweaters are a little big for them now, but I hope they will bring them days of comfort in the future.

Pattern:  Star Blanket
Hook:  H
Yarn:  Caron Simply Soft and stash yarn
Ravelry Project Page

My new favorite baby blankets.  They are so beautiful.  I love the colors, the shape, everything!  My sister started using them immediately after receiving them.  I think she liked them.  I hope they become a treasured possession for years to come.

New Dishcloths

For more great FOs, visit Tami's Amis.

Pattern:  Open Ridge Cloth

Hook: H

Yarn:  Lion Brand Cotton

Pattern:  Falling Leaves Cloth

Hook:  H

Yarn:  Lion Brand Cotton

We needed some new dishcloths, and I found some patterns through a group on Ravelry.  Now I want to make more.  They are so quick and easy to make.....and so satisfying when doing the dishes.

What are you working on?