I don’t much like designing craft patterns. My passion for craft manifests more as a desire to curate, to pontificate, to advocate. I usually either follow other people’s patterns or just wing it.

I decide a couple of weeks ago to do an experiment, though. The weather was getting colder, and I realized Owen’s going to need a bunch of hats. A few hours later, I’d made him one, and the experiment is that I decided to size it and write up the pattern – would it take me an unreasonable amount of time? Would I recoup the cost of my time?

We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.

For now, allow me to introduce to you the Virtual Planetoid Hat, inspired by my kid and his huge noggin. It’s like Sputnik.

It’s worked in worsted weight yarn in the round from the top down in extended half double crochet, with the ear flaps added after and worked in rows. Sized for baby, toddler and child, it’s quite possible you could keep your kid’s head warm for years – it’s a unisex design, too, so all your kids’ heads can be warm. (Owen’s wearing the child size here. Huge. Noggin.)

You’ll need 70-120 yards of worsted weight yarn, a 6.0mm hook, and a button.

Because I love you guys, here’s a code for a buck off. It’s good till the end of the month, so tell your friends, hey? Just enter FFlove11 during checkout.

Virtual Planetoid Hat: A New Pattern! is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

And to top it off, I finished the first sweater I’ve made for Owen, and he wore it to the park yesterday. (The park was deserted in the middle of a gorgeous Sunday. What on earth were people doing?)

I followed the Willie pattern by Pamela Wynne, sans intarsia wiener dog (best pattern name ever, hey?). It’s a very simple round-yoke project, though next time I’ll set aside more underarm stitches so joining the sleeves and body for the yoke won’t be so painful. (If that’s Greek to you, speak up. I’d never made a round-yoke project before, and had I known the effect of the set-aside underarm stitches, I’d have done things differently. Mad props to my pal Alexa for helping me fight through the beginning of the yoke.)

This project was an adventure in frugality for me. I’d bought the drab-coloured yarn when we were first applying to adopt, having in mind to make a wee baby sweater. But then Owen arrived suddenly, and by the time I had my knitting wits about me again I needed to make a bigger size than my yarn would accommodate. So I dug around my stash till I found the cream yarn in the same weight, and used that for the edgings. And, as you can see, I switched to it when I ran out of drab yarn at the top of the yoke. I think the sweater looks better this way, actually, so I’m glad I was forced to make that decision.

I found the buttons while cleaning out my crafts stuff, so that was further stash-busting serendipity.

As a crafter, I now feel like I’m properly providing for my kid. This is a hard thing to explain, but perhaps you crafty parents know what I mean. Sure, I make his food, but this is different. This is the warmth and comfort of a handmade sweater.

ETA: Project details are all on Ravelry.

Fall is the best season, especially in a handmade sweater. is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

Greg’s started going to a class one or two evenings a week, which is like added crafting magic. I put the baby to bed, eat something, then watch all sorts of vaguely uninteresting television and knit.

Which means I’m actually making progress.

And that’s a very good thing, because there’s a wee fetus out there who will need some handknits for his arrival in a few months. I didn’t have enough notice to make newborn stuff for Owen, but this cousin-to-be of his, oh, he’ll have handknits.

 Starting with a wee toque from my friend Alexa‘s spanking new book, 9 Months of Knitting. (I have it in mind to make the same toque in the adult size for my brother- and sister-in-law, but I won’t get that ambitious till I finish the other things I’m making for the-fetus-otherwise-known-to-me-as-Nephew.)

I love this book. There ain’t an ounce of nauseating baby pastel cheesy saccharine precious bullshit in it. And yet there also ain’t an ounce of manufactured irreverence. The projects are freaking adorable. And practical. And awesome. So. Right. I highly recommend it if you have tiny humans to knit for. (Also, some patterns are totally for adult humans.)

The Details

More on Ravelry
Pattern: Hunter, from 9 Months of Knitting by Alexa Ludeman and Emily Wessel
Size: Newborn
Yarn: Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran, one ball
Needles: 4.5mm dpns
Started: 8 October 2011
Finished: 12 October 2011

Finished: A Wee Toque! is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

Hank Vest, from Robyn Chachula's book Baby Blueprint Crochet

I finally made Owen some clothing. It was killing me not to have made him clothing. So now I won’t keel over!

I blogged about the project over at CrochetMe.com, so I’ll just nudge you on over there.

Hank Vest, Finished! is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

Regardless, instead of passing out from exhaustion at 7:30 last night, I parked myself on the couch in front of the television and finished off my groundhog (huge thanks to June Gilbank for such a fabulous pattern) for the Groundhog-along. As I mentioned in my post announcing this absurd little crochet-along, his name is Ned Ryerson, a name befitting as you can see from the photo to the right.

ETA: Check out more completed groundhogs on June’s blog.

Not familiar with Ned Ryerson? Educate thyself:

And the best follow-up:

Project specs:
Started: 9 January 2010
Finished: 1 February 2010
Pattern: Groundhog, by June Gilbank
Yarn: Red Heart Designer Sport
Hook: 3.75mm

So, has spring already hit where you are? And anyway, will you be watching the movie tonight?

No Shadows in Sight. BING! is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

Working outside of my house means, you know, hat head blows. So I needed a slouchy hat and here’s what I made. Read more about it on the Crochet Me blog.

Summary

Pattern: Phannie, by Phoebe Gaughan
Yarn: SweetGeorgia Yarns Speed Demon
Hook: 4.5mm
Started: 3 December 2009
Finished: 6 December 2009
Ravelry deets

Warming My Poor, Cold Head is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

When I was in the seventh grade we had to take home ec. I hated it. Mostly because I hated my teacher. She was everything the stereotype isn’t—cold, hard, severe. What she lacked in imagination she made up for in negativity. I remember some of the projects we worked on that term, but one sticks out. It was a monkey pillow and I loved that thing. My machine sewing was uneven and the stuffing was lumpy, but I rocked the embroidery on the face. In fact, the only thing I learned in that class that stuck with me is how to do backstitch embroidery.

That feeling of success from embroidering never left me, but it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I sat down and did some for real (discounting minor features I’ve put on crocheted dolls and the like over the years).

I have a larger project in mind, but wanted to get my feet wet on scraps first. I cut a piece from a big, old curtain I’ve been harvesting for years, bought a couple of patterns (robot and big star, bird and flowers), and a bunch of thread and needles, and whipped this up.

It is intensely liberating to craft in a medium that isn’t yarn!

Whispers of Home Ec is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

I started this scarf during Knitting Daily TV taping in September. I had a sample ball of yarn, came into a sample pair of needles, and picked the simple one-row lace pattern from Eunny’s Spectrum Scarf.

Little did I know the colour changes in the yarn would lead to such an entertaining project. You should’ve been sitting with me when that pink started feeding my needles—the words that came out of my mouth! After the dull orange, warm brown, and hideous cold yellow, it was a shock, that’s for sure. And that green! What were they thinking when they made this yarn?

That said, of course I freaking love the scarf. It’s soft and comfy, and I hate the colours so much there’s nothing to do but love it.

Project details on Ravelry.

Love the Ugly Scarf is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

Not really a sheep or a wolf; I have no idea where that came from. But this is the first time I’ve knit something that made me realize how flexible knitted fabric can be. By which I mean there are a lot of different fabrics you can produce out of just those two stitches, knit and purl. It’s more straightforward to mess with fabric in crochet, but it’s really fun to do it in knitting, too.

Anyhoo. This is knitted herringbone stitch, in the form of a neck warmer for my friend.

Oh, but there’s another way this post is about something behaving against its nature: I took these photos with my iPhone because my real camera’s battery was dead. Not too bad for an unsophisticated phonecam.

Started: 24 Sept. 08
Finished: 11 Oct. 08
Project on Ravelry
Pattern: Herringbone Neck Warmer by Craig Rosenfeld
Yarn: Rio de la Plata Multi, 1 skein
Needles: 8mm circ
Mods: Made the buttonholes in crochet. Crocheted a slip stitch border around the whole thing to neaten up the edges.

I’m so tired I nearly fell asleep while writing this. Enough of that, I say.

Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing is a post from Kim Werker's blog.

On Tuesday our good friends welcomed the most adorable infant into this world and on hearing the news an hour after she was born, my ovaries hijacked my body and made me crochet a tiny blanket.

I am not kidding.

I had the day off. I planned to do a hundred loads of laundry, go to the bank, and catch up on blog reading.

Instead, I read a few things and crocheted a tiny blanket.

With my ovaries.

There’s no other explanation for it.

I gave her the blanket this morning. It’s just big enough to cover her wee self, and maybe as she grows up it’ll be a good size for dragging around with her without actually dragging on the ground.

My ovaries are safely back in their place now. I’m sure you were concerned.

Started: 7 Oct. 2008
Finished: 8 Oct. 2008
Pattern: Around the Rosy baby blanket [Ravelry] by Woodhill Design
Yarn: Unknown from stash; cotton blend, machine washable
Hook: 5mm
Modifications: Worked only through Round 13 of the pattern
Project on Ravelry

My Ovaries Made Me Do It is a post from Kim Werker's blog.