Conical comparison

I decided to try an exercise in making three different cone shapes with some yarn that's essentially throwaway stuff (ancient creslan fiber circa the 1970s -- in orange, no less).

I made each cone using the same pattern/number of stitches; the only difference between them is cone 1 is stitched in single crochet, cone 2 in half-double crochet and cone 3 in double crochet. Each one starts with 5 stitches at the peak and uses a standard increase through seven rows to end up with 35 stitches around at the base.

Another toddler cardi

I couldn't resist making a second cardigan and hat set for my grandniece. The cardi pattern is Crochet Baby Cardigan (formerly Abby's Jacket) and the hat is Flower Power Cap; both patterns are by designer Britta Graham.

These pieces are made with Lily Sugar-n-Cream cotton yarn in Panorama.

Infinite Granny Square Baby Blankie no pattern needed

This is a simple baby blankie made with ever-increasing rounds in a classic granny square cluster stitch pattern. You can make it as large or as small as you like. I stopped at 30 rounds, making the blanket about 40 inches square, then added a basic shell trim around the edge.

 I made the blanket as part of a set for my grandniece Morgan, with a matching cardigan and hat.

The cardigan is Crochet Baby Cardigan (formerly called Abby's Jacket), and the hat is Flower Power Cap, both designed by Britta Graham.

These pieces were made with Lily Sugar-n-Cream cotton in Kaleidoscope.

Wide headband free pattern

I got a hankering to make some wide headbands in crochet, and the first pattern I tried was the Nadie wide headband pattern designed by Susan Iacuone.

It has a nice open weave and closes with a button. I made this blue one in Lily Sugar-n-Cream cotton.

But this design also looks cute in this Mini Mochi yarn in the Intense Rainbow colorway.

Knit to crochet: Lost in translation

I'm a firm believer that some patterns are best suited to knit and some patterns are best suited to crochet.

If you are like me and generally prefer one technique over the other (in my case, if given a choice, I would always choose to crochet a piece and only resort to knitting as a last resort).

But sometimes it's fun to take an attractive pattern that was designed in one technique and attempt to translate it to the other technique - for example, to take a pattern designed for knit and translate it into crochet.

That's what I recently attempted to do with Adela Illichmanova's lovely and unique Capucine hat, which she designed for knit. (The following samples were made with Lily Sugar'n Cream Cotton from 14-ounce cone in 02178 Potpourri.)

I worked up her basic pattern (meaning just the hat portion without adding the finishing tassels).

However, translating from one technique to another does not always yield the desired result - or if it does, sometimes it requires more than one attempt to be successful, as we will see here.

As I was working, I could tell that what I was crocheting was going to turn out to be far too small to fit an adult's head, and by the time I was about halfway through with the ridged portion, I could see what my piece was becoming: My first attempt to translate Adela's knitted Capucine design into crochet resulted in what I can only call a girl's pioneer-style sunbonnet. (And probably in a toddler girl's size at that.) So I finished it up by adding some chin ties and will pass this first translation "failure" along to one of my grandnieces for dress-up playtime. (Of course, it really isn't a "failure" if you end up with something usable, eh?)

But there is definitely a big difference between the knitted Capucine hat (left) and my first attempt to translate it to crochet (right).

Now back to the drawing board to try again! That's the fun part.