Sunday, September 16, 2018

Doilies and hats...

I missed my YOP buddies last weekend, but we were enjoying a bit of traveling.  First on the docket was taking our middle son some furniture.  It was so good to see him (and a little kitten he had recently adopted 😊).  When we considered that once we got to his place, we were nearly half-way to friends in Michigan, we made plans to visit them, too.  It was a fun, if rainy, weekend and we caught up with each other, laughed 'till we couldn't catch our breath, and went to bed a lot earlier than we used to.  Somehow we'd all gotten older in the years since we last saw each other...

Because our friends had recently moved into a new house, it occurred to me that some doilies might make a nice little housewarming gift for my girlfriend.  I decided to give her the autumn colored Summer Splendor I made a few weeks ago, and I got busy making two more. 

I made another Winter's Breath Doily, this time in a gray color of Artiste thread called Coin:
I know it pretty much looks white in a photograph, but it's actually a nice shade of gray.

And I had been admiring this small doily called Octoberfest, but I knew I wanted to make it in a red color because I think it looks kind of Christmas-y:
The outer edge looks darker than the center, but it's all the same color (called Jam) of Artiste thread.

The doilies were a hit, and I can't believe I haven't tired of making them.  So stay tuned!

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Doilies may have to get in line, though because wanting to make some hats for a hat/scarf drive coming up in early October, I'm finally getting a little more focused on that.  This year, I'm adding knitted hats to my crocheted ones.

First, a crocheted one - called Stepping Texture:

This is an easy pattern that can be made to fit any size head and with any size yarn as long as one starts the body with a stitch count that is a multiple of 5.  I made several of these last year and I'm happy to say it's a pretty enjoyable pattern. 


As far as knitting goes...  while I'm eyeing some colorwork patterns, at the moment I'm still practicing knitting in the round by making simple stockinette-stitched hats, but playing around with different yarns:
I love the Premier Sweet Roll yarn these are knitted in (colorway is Black Pepper Swirl).  I find it very easy to work with.



While I love the Sweet Roll yarn, I did begin to get tired of gray, so I went digging for something brighter.  This lone skein of Willow Wash  yarn in the colorway, Cherry Heather fit the bill:


Pom poms will be added to some of my hats later.  Or not.  I'll figure that out after I've made more and if I decide to crown any with poms, I will do it assembly line style.

And that's all from me this week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.







25 comments:

  1. The doilies are so beautful, and I love the stepping hat pattern - I will queue that one.

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    1. I think you'll like it. It's pretty easy. My favorite kind of crochet project. :)

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  2. Hi Becki how lovely you got to visit with your son and also your friends,sounds like a wonderful trip. Wow and what beautiful gifts for your friends,love those doilies and also your knitted hats,well done my friend xx

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  3. The winter’s breath doily is absolutely wonderful. Now I want to make doilies!!

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    1. Thank you, Lynn. I'd love to have company making doilies. :)

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  4. You're really doing well with the hats! I'm sure your friend was delighted to have some doilies to brighten her new home. I really like the red one!

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    1. Thank you, Mary Anne. My friend isn't a doily person, per se, but she seemed to really love these. She immediately wanted to find places in her home to place them. Pretty gratifying...

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  5. Hi Becki :) Oh your hats are gorgeous, I really love those gray ones! And the doilies too, what a nice housewarming gift. :)

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  6. Whoa Nellie! You are really going to town and knitting too! I love those hats and printed off the Benefaction and went to find needles...I have no idea where all my cables have gone...I have a size 6 Hiya Hiya but no 16 inch cable. I have GOT to get organized! I couldn't find the yarn I wanted to use either. Evidently God wanted me to work on cleaning and organizing instead! LOL! I love your hats and the color combinations you chose. You are really speedy with those doilies...they look like they would take a long time. After all it's thread isn't it? Where do you get Artiste? I've never heard of it. Love the colors. Everything you do, you do so well. Great post and glad you had a fun weekend with friends.

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    1. I look forward to seeing any hats you make for your grands. I'm getting better the more hats I knit, but I'm also finding they each turn out a little differently. These hats will be going to a charity, so hopefully each one will find a head that it fits. Hoping for that takes off the pressure that any of them are the "right size".

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    2. I didn't answer your question about the Artiste thread, Sandra. It's found at Hobby Lobby. It's size 10, 100% Egyptian Cotton thread. They also have size 5 and 3 (I think) size cotton threads, but fewer colors. And they have an acrylic size 10 thread, too. All under the same Artiste label.

      I'm not experienced enough yet with different cotton threads to speak to its quality, but they sure have some pretty colors and I haven't run into any quality control issues like variances in thread thickness, or knots. As of this writing, it retails for 2.89 for 350 yards.

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  7. Oh Becki, those doilies are so beautiful! I find it really calming to crochet around and around. I think I might have to throw in a doily myself as well. Oh, and I really like the greyish-red yarn.

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    1. I find crocheting doilies very soothing, too. As long as there aren't mistakes in the pattern. ;^)

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  8. Beautiful work! Thanks for popping by my blog today, Becki!

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    1. Thank you, Debra. :) Your blog was a fun find.

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  9. Sounds like you had a marvelous time with your friends. So glad you got to do that even if we missed your blogging last week LOL.

    Your doilies are always so pretty. I saw the first one was gray right away. The red one does look a bit Christmasy.

    Your hats are so nice and what a great way to spread warmth. The red on the last hat really makes it pop.

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    1. Thank you, Marsha. The red hat is my favorite - in color, and the feel of the yarn.

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  10. Glad you had such a great time. The doilies are beautiful as always and the hats are gorgeous.

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  11. Love that crocheted hat! You didn't take any photos of the kitten?

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    1. Thanks, Martha. :) Re: kitty... I tried, but the pictures were just too poor.

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  12. Octoberfest is dramatic and fun. I like that spiral hat too.

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