The Third Loop Reversible Messy Bun Beanie

Extra long for a bit of slouch and stretchy with good coverage for ears. The "right" side looks knit while the other side resembles garter stitch.

[I'm placing this post here as a placeholder to remind me to write up this pattern!]

Kinderspiel or Seamless Kitty Cat Hat free pattern

Here's a pattern that will add a bit of fun to your day.

I'm calling it Kinderspiel because that means "child's game," but the real name given to the pattern by its designer, Valerie Johnson, is Seamless Kitty Cat Hat.

Not only could this be a wonderfully warm hat/hood to keep you or your little one's head and ears warm on a blustery winter day, but the built-in ears would make this a great addition to a homemade cat costume. 😻

I wanted to make this large enough to fit a bigger child or adult so I deviated from the pattern by starting with a cast-on of 96 stitches.

Chic Aran Headband free pattern

I made this Chic Aran Headband to keep my ears warm. The pattern by Kinga Erdem is free on her blog at My Hobby Is Crochet! (Big cat ears not included. Bah-ha-ha.)

I would say this is an intermediate-level pattern because of a couple of techniques it utilizes: crossed stitches and yarn-over slip stitches. But once you get a feel for these techniques, the pattern itself is quite easy and intuitive.

Zebra Slouchy Messy Bun Hat free pattern

This is just a design for an oversized, slouchy messy-bun hat made with alternating rows of two Red Heart colorways: zebra and soft white. (Having a plain white row between each zebra row helps prevent the zebra colors from pooling too much.) This is bean stitch worked in the round.

I started by FSC 40 and joining to work in the round, then continued working in bean stitch in increasing rows to 80 stitches. Worked straight in bean stitch until hat was about the length I wanted, then worked three rows in HDC in third loop (for the triple band above the ribbing). Finished with three rows of front/back post DC for the ribbing.

I like the fit because it’s long enough to comfortably cover my ears (with a bit of fashionable slouch in the back) and loose enough to skim my head without being too constricting.

Orbit the Magical, Mystical Dragon CAL free pattern

I haven't attempted much amigurumi, but when I saw the free crochet-a-long for Orbit the Dragon  that started in June, I knew I had to try to make him.

I had to do some sleuthing to figure out the color name of the variegated yarn I’m using for the main body of my dragon because the skein was gifted to me without a label on it. I figured it was probably something by Red Heart, so I clicked around on the Red Heart site until I found a match. This one works well as the main body color for this pattern because the color changes are very short - about every 2 inches - which contributes to the mystical body “scales” appearance.

I kept up with the CAL until the end when it was time to assemble the pieces. That was the part that scared me so I procrastinated doing the assembly for months. But I wanted to give Orbit to my daughter for Christmas, so when Dec. 20th rolled around I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. Aughhh! But I took my time and followed the instructions carefully and Orbit turned out just as cute as expected. Yay!

Week 1:

Week 2: 

Week 3:

Starting assembly:

Orbit assembled!

Color breakdown:

Head, body, nostrils: Red Heart in Monet Print
Eyes: Red Heart in Soft White and Black
Cheeks: Red Heart With Love in Bubble Gum
Horns: Red Heart in Soft White and Monet Print
Belly: Red Heart in Perfect Pink
Fins: Red Heart in Honeydew
Paws: Red Heart in Perfect Pik
Legs: Red Heart in Monet Print
Tail: Red Heart in Monet Print
Ears: Red Heart in Monet