Santa Sack Hat free pattern

New free pattern alert! This Santa Sack Hat has a comfortably loose, slouchy fit and no side seams on the crown for a smooth appearance.

I admired Penny’s cute double-tailed Santa hat that she wears in a Christmas episode of the popular American sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” This hat isn’t an exact replica, but its dual pompoms do provide a touch of whimsy.



I have a large head, 22.5 inches, so to achieve a loose fit, I worked a foundation chain with 88 stitches. To make different sizes, simply work a foundation chain until it’s a length that fits loosely around your intended wearer’s head. The foundation chain needs to have an even number of stitches, so if your foundation has an odd number, either add one or remove one to make an even number of stitches.

Hat is worked from the bottom up.

Fandom Headband commission

My friend Pam messaged me to ask if I knew of a pattern for a headband similar to the ones made by crochet artist Sydne Elam of Simply Squid on Etsy. Pam said she had looked but couldn't find one made with stripes that go around the head the long way instead of up and down, and she also wanted a layered flower on the headband like the Simply Squid ones have. (The flower part was not going to be difficult, as I already had bookmarked a favorite layered flower pattern designed by Melissa of Action Hero.)

I searched around but had the same difficulty Pam had in not being able to find a nice headband pattern online that looked similar to what Pam showed me, and Simply Squid only sells the finished headbands in her shop (no headband patterns for sale there).

It didn't take long for me to realize that I would need to write up my own pattern for a striped headband for Pam and then write a blog post about how oddly difficult it was to find a pattern for this particular type of item!

As I set out to design a pattern for Pam, my first question was whether she wanted the headband to button in the back the way the Simply Squid ones do, and she said yes. Then I crocheted a prototype, sans flower, with some green, white, and black yarn scraps out of my stash so she could see what I came up with. (When I made the prototype I didn't know what colors Pam wanted for the headband she had in mind.)

My prototype photos show how the green headband fits on a 21-inch wig form head:

Pam said my prototype looked like it would be perfect (with a flower added, of course!). For the colors she wanted brown, orange and white -- Cleveland Browns colors. She said her sister's family goes to all the Browns' home games, and it is really cold up there during football season.

It took me a couple of days to find time to work up the headband again in Cleveland Browns colors, but eventually this is what I came up with:

I didn't have good lighting for this photo, so the main color looks more black than brown, but it really is brown. I set out an assortment of buttons to see if Pam liked any of them for the button closure, but she ended up deciding to sew on a button herself.  I think Pam also was going to add a decorative football type of button to the center of the flower, similar to what Simply Squid adds to the headbands in her Etsy shop.

Alien mask balaclava costume prop

I started to crochet this Alien Mask (free pattern by Cirsium Crochet) for my grandniece Jill, a tween who loves aliens. 👽

Ran out of yarn about 3/4 of the way through

 

But two things stopped me. First, I ran out of the Red Heart Super Saver yarn in the Spring Green colorway I was using. And second, I sent Jill's mom the in-progress photo of the mask at the point where I ran out of the yarn and asked if she thought Jill's two younger sisters, one who is still just a toddler, might think the mask was too scary if Jill wore it around the house. Jill's mom, who thought the mask looked really cool, reluctantly said, yes, it probably would be too scary for them.

So instead of going out and buying more yarn to finish the mask, I frogged the yarn and will save it for another project. 😂 Maybe I can make it again for Jill later, after her sisters get a bit older.

The pattern really does make an amazing-looking alien mask, though!! If you or someone you love loves aliens, you should give this pattern a try! 

Checking for size

1-2-3 Flip-brim Beanie free pattern

Two new free patterns released in two days! Wow!

Like a lot of us, I get busy with day-to-day things as well as just simply spending my time actually WORKING on yarncraft projects rather than blogging about them, so it can sometimes be months between my posts. Sigh. But sorry, there are only so many hours in a day. I'm sure you've been there, too, and can understand.

Today I am releasing this pattern for a 1-2-3 Flip-brim Beanie because in the USA, October has become the single biggest month for cancer-awareness causes in the form of the Pink October breast cancer movement.



Cancer (not specifically breast cancer) has profoundly touched my life and the lives of so many people who are close to me, and because of this, I feel moved to make and donate attractive caps each year to support the patients battling this terrible disease at a nearby cancer treatment center.

I offer this pattern for free, forever, in honor of Pink October and all the men and women who have battled and survived or lost the fight to any form of cancer.

If you download this pattern, please consider making and donating at least one of these hats to the patients at your local cancer center. Thank you so much.

The “1-2-3” portion of the name for this beanie comes from the texture that is achieved by working in repeating rounds of sc, hdc, and dc.

These instructions yield a simple but sophisticated cap with about a 20-22 inch circumference, depending on your yarn and tension, which should comfortably fit the head of an average adult - and particularly adults who have lost their hair to the cruel ravages of chemotherapy. The fit is intentionally a bit oversized (although not slouchy per se) for comfortable ease. The brim flips upward as you work the brim instructions and will remain in place on its own.

If you are making this hat to give to a chemo patient, choose a soft, hypoallergenic fiber by following the guidelines provided by Halos of Hope.

Simple Vertical Stripe Placemat free pattern

Just published on Ravelry: my new free crochet pattern for a Simple Vertical Stripe Placemat.



This super-easy project works up in just a few hours. I hope you will go check it out!

I made this one with Lily Sugar ’n Cream in Country Side Ombre, which gives the fabric almost an argyle plaid effect that I really like.