Harmony Shawl

It took me a few times restarting the Harmony Shawl pattern by Bodhi Sasa before I figured out that it's essentially alternating rows of shell clusters and V-stitches, where the V-stitches are worked between the shells of the previous row, and the shells are worked in the top of the V-stitches of the previous row.

The pattern is well and carefully written, but because every stitch/step is spelled out, it can become a bit cumbersome for the reader to follow. IMO, using abbreviations for the repetitive stitches (V-stitches and shell clusters) would make the overall pattern easier to read. 

But on the other hand, having every stitch/step explicitly spelled out in detail might make this pattern easier for a beginning crocheter to interpret.

I was looking for a short triangular shawlette or scarf design, and this one yields a very pleasing finished product that can be worn in several different ways (for various stylish looks) and cross multiple seasons.

Sigh. I really do like this shawl pattern. But I ended up cannibalizing the Caron Simply Soft Paints yarn in the Oceana colorway to make the 22.5 degrees pattern instead. I intend to come back to the Harmony Shawl, though, because I think it would make a lovely gift for some of my family members.

Boo!

I'm going to go to work Oct. 31 as a Halloween-style Cabbage Patch Kid. *hehehe*

I used this pattern by Debi Dearest: http://dearestdebi.com/crochet-cabbage-patch-kid-newborn-beanie

The pattern is also available on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabbage-patch-kid-beanie

Autumnal textured unisex cloche free pattern

Happy autumn! As the weather takes a turn toward cooler temperatures, I felt inspired to make a seasonably jolly orange version of Vonne's free Textured Unisex Hat pattern.

It's a great cloche design to make and donate to patients undergoing chemotherapy at your local cancer center. I'm donating this one!

Foxy crochet hat free pattern

It has been a busy past few weeks, but I finally had time to make the crocheted fox hat pattern from Lisa and Tanya's Foxy KAL.

The crochet fox hat pattern was originally written to be worked flat, but I deviated from the instructions and made it in the round (although it’s still square shaped!) seamlessly from the top down.

The free pattern isn't widely available just yet, but if you want to get your hooks into it sooner rather than later, you can request a copy by signing up for the Foxy CAL Ravelry group.

It ended up being a little big, but I still like how the project turned out. :-)

Joining the KAL

For the uninitiated, "KAL" stands for Knit-A-Long, which is a fun way of expressing the event where a designer shares a pattern with a group of knitters. Generally, the pattern and instructions are released in small portions at a time over a period of time, and the knitters work on each portion of the pattern as they receive it. The designer and the knitters usually correspond online, both for fun and to share questions and answers about how to work the pattern.

At the end of the process, everyone who sticks with the project has a new item to show off, and people from the group often share photos of their finished pieces. It is fascinating to see the creativity of the other group members in how their finished pieces can vary from person to person -- even when everyone was following the same pattern!

In similar fashion, "CAL" stands for Crochet-A-Long.

I have never tried participating in either a KAL or CAL before, but I just heard of "A very FOXY KAL" being offered by Tanya and Lisa, who hail from Australia, and I just headed over to their Ravelry group to join in. It looks like it will be a lot of fun, and the free fox hat pattern they are sharing is SO CUTE -- AND it's available in BOTH a knitted and crocheted version! I hope you will check it out and join in, too!