Frost Guard Balaclava

I can tell already that this is going to be my new go-to winter accessory! The Frost Guard Balaclava by Marly Bird is one of those projects that provides ultimate comfort and versatility for the wearer while looking so stylish and cute. And because it's crocheted, it's very quick and easy to make. After you make one for yourself, you'll want to make one for all your loved ones too! 😊

Marly included so many thoughtful details in this design. It can be worn with the hood down as a cozy cowl. The ribbing is long enough to tuck inside the collar of your jacket, to keep those chilly drafts from getting to your neck. With the hood up, you get coverage to keep you protected from your neck to your ears to the top of your head, AND the hood is shaped to preserve your peripheral vision while you're wearing it. And for those extra-blustery days, there is a cord for cinching the hood down tight around your face. You can also opt to fold the ribbing up inside the hood to cover your nose and mouth like a scarf. And because it pulls over your head and sits around your neck, it won't slip off like a scarf does. This piece is just the perfect all-around cold-weather accessory. Marly shared a few quick videos demonstrating some of the fun ways to wear it: here, here, and here.

To me, one of the best features about this piece is that it keeps your head warm and protected without needing to fit snugly like a hat, so you can stay cozy without ending up with the dreaded HAT HAIR!!! 😂 Plus, since my typical daily hairstyle is wearing it up in a messy bun, this hood is sized to be large enough to fit over my hair without my having to have a hole in the back for my bun to poke out of, which is how I wear most of my regular hats. 

Marly designed this to be made with Caron Macchiato Cakes yarn, but I used a skein and a half of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Eggplant Taupe colorway, because it's a similar weight to the Macchiato yarn, and it's what I had on hand. I absolutely love this colorway and wish it hadn't been discontinued. 💜 

For the i-cord, I knitted that using my French knitter (the yellow tool seen in the above photo).

Dragonscale Dice Bag for Mika

This is the Dragonscale Dice Bag by Jessie Alameda, a free pattern. It's going to be a belated birthday gift for Mika. I bought 200 iridescent black polycarbonate dragonscales for this project from Michelle's SilverGriffonSkies shop on Etsy. Her scales are so beautiful, durable, and lightweight - they are perfect for this dice bag.

These next two photos are of Mika's two favorite sets of polyhedral dice. The first has holographic lettering, and the second has a geode appearance in the right light. If I do say so myself, these dice are going to look AMAZING with this bag! 😍

Mika's dice with iridescent lettering

Mika's geode dice

My usual supplier for dragonscales is The Ring Lord, but they mainly deal in aluminum/metal scales, and for this dice bag, I wanted something a bit lighter, and I also wanted them to be iridescent. The Ring Lord's scales are wonderful, but I don't think they offer iridescent, so that's why I gave my business to a different vendor this time.

This bag is 52 stitches around, so each scale row required 26 scales. I calculated that I could get a maximum number of 8 scale rows from the 200 scales if I worked 5 rounds of 26 scales and then decreased the bag to be 46 stitches around for 3 more scale rows with 23 scales each. That would have left me with 1 unused scale. But I decided that the bag was already tall enough after working 7 scale rows.

This is the first dice bag that I've actually lined with a sewn-in lining. Even though I'm pretty experienced at sewing, it was still a bit scary to do something new like this. But I'm very pleased with how well it turned out, and I think the finished bag is gorgeous.

With grommet added and lining pinned in place

I bought the dark purple two-tone dress taffeta fabric at Amazon. I think it complements the colors of the dragonscales perfectly. I also bought the black cord and the gunmetal gray cord stopper at Amazon. The yarn is fingering weight Estak Royal Cotton. I used a 3.75 mm crochet hook.

Before adding lining

As you can see in my "grommets test" photo below, I had to experiment with a few different sizes and colors before I figured out which one would look best on this bag. 

Grommets test