For a friend

I found out this week that a dear friend has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. As she faces this battle, I wanted to give her something to remind her of the warm thoughts and love that people who know her are sending her way.

She is such an elegant lady. So I thought that Britta Graham's lovely Shell Stitch Cloche would suit her well.

I added a clip-on detachable rose that she can wear - or not - according to her mood each day.

Yarn hug. Please get well, J.

School colors hats

OK, I spoke too soon when I said it was time to take a break from making hats. Hats are just such quick and easy projects - and therefore satisfying - so I guess it's difficult to stay away.

Now that we're pretty sure my daughter Mika will finally get to transfer to Academy of Art University in January, I figured she needed an earflap hat to showcase her school pride.

Chevron Lace Top-Down Cardigan free pattern

It's time to take a little break from making hats, and I am so glad I went pattern browsing at Ravelry.com because there I found a link to this easy, one-piece Chevron Lace Top-Down Cardigan pattern, which I have been working on for a couple of days in Red Heart Grey Heather yarn.

The cool thing about this pattern is that you start working from the top in one piece and branch off to finish the sleeves and body. In the above photo, I'm just about far enough along to where I will begin to branch off.

Hats for Xmas

Using Britta Graham's Easy Peasy Earflap Hat pattern, I crocheted matching hats for Charlotte Rose, Wendy and Jill in winter white/pink stripes; for Daniel in Superman colors; and for Breanna in Oregon State University colors.

Here's Daniel's hat finished with a Superman logo patch.

Hand warmers and hat for Laura

One of my co-workers, Laura, always gets cold hands at the office during the winter season. To help keep her warm, I crocheted a simple pair of hand warmers (based on the pattern found here) with a matching cap in Caron Simply Soft Paints yarn in Oceana, which I will give to her at xmas.