Bird in flight

The Lacey the not so Lacey Headband turned out to be a much wider headband than I thought.  I used Red Heart in Ranch Red and a size H hook and my headband measures about 4″ wide.  

I’ve been hiking around Moran State Park a lot lately and this headband with a low ponytail is perfect.  I like having my hair out of my face when I’m on a long walk.  I haven’t taken my camera with me on the trails yet, but I really need to.  Late spring and early summer is so beautiful in the park!

Apart from a hiking headband, the reason I wanted to make the Lacey Headband was to sample the bruges lace technique.  From what I understand, you crochet a long strip with chain loops hanging off the side.  When you make the second strip the parallel chain loops are slip stitched together.  This makes an interlocking, lacy fabric.  The center strip looks like the X-stitch to me. 

 

The pattern is a really nice introduction to bruges lace. The written directions are very clear and there’s a chart included.  I’m not a full fledged chart reader, but if you’re a visual person, it can really make the process clearer. 

I’ll leave you with an evening photograph.  The hummingbirds around the house stop by the feeders all day, but at sunset they come out in swarms!

You can see a slide show of the other hummingbird pictures I took on Slide.com. 

*That’s cool* a random fact

Hummingbirds have the fastest wing beats and the largest brains proportionate to body weight, of any other bird.

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Just slip stitch

 

I have more than enough WIPs and computer upkeep to keep me busy, but I just couldn’t resist a few little projects.  They are entertaining until all those little ends catch up with you! 

Hopefully people are managing with the error in color scheme for the Through Any Window Baby Blanket Tutorial.  The corrected tutorial is slowly coming together. 

This tan Crochet Headband, below, consists of a few easily crocheted flowers.  The pattern calls for four motifs, but I threw in one more as a tiny bit of procrastination.  Since each motif was made individually, all those loose ends were no fun. 

The pattern directs you to leave a ten inch tail when you finish off, which is then used to connect the motifs.  Next time I crochet this headband I would just slip stitch across a ch-5 loop for a quicker, join-as-you-go assembly. 

 

Just like the Elizabeth headband I made last Christmas, the wrong side almost makes this headband reversible.  Each flower petal is a cluster of double crochet stitches which bulge on the bottom side. 

Mandi of On Hooks and Needles made a pretty green cotton version back in May 2007.  Mine is made of some scrap Red Heart Super Saver in Cashmere. 

Andrea’s “Woven” Dishcloth gives the stitch multiple so you can easily customize the dishcloth size.  I used a starting chain of twenty-six with a size F hook.  The actual dishcloth measures 6″x 6″.  I also replaced the double crochet stitches in Row 1 for half double crochet stitches. 

This dishcloth packs a lot of cotton in a little square.  Back and front post stitches are alternated in each row with a tight gauge.  This results in a tough, durable structure and a nice, bumpy texture. 

Andrea has a blog contest running until 2pm CT, March 23rd.  To enter the contest, make up the mystery pattern and e-mail her a description and/or picture.  Even if you can’t participate, check out her blog after the deadline to vote for the best entry! 

Also, check out her review of A Whole Load of Craft along with a short interview about my crafty beginnings.

*That’s cool* a random fact

The Pink and White Lady Slipper (cypriedium reginae), illegal to pick in Minnesota, takes over a decade to produce it’s first flower.

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Even buttonless

 

Ever try the Jacob’s ladder stitch?  I just learned how with the St Maurus Headwarmer by Christina.  Basically you make a bunch of chains across the piece as you crochet in rows.  Then you come back and pull through the loops consecutively.  Christina has a great tutorial along with the free pattern on her site. 

I remember seeing a rainbow blanket in Candi Jensen’s Candy Blankies: Cuddly Crochet for Babies & Toddlers that used the Jacob’s ladder stitch.  I think it was called Rainbow Bright.  There were multiple colors and coupled with the stitch it was really pretty.  I took that idea and tried different colors on my second attempt.  I’m not sure I like the color combo but it was interesting to see how the “V” of the ladder stitch looked next to another color. 

The Jacob’s ladder stitch is slanted on this multi-colored one.  This is probably because I didn’t turn the rows and just added the new color at the beginning of the row.  Also, I pulled the loops from the top to bottom instead of bottom to top.  See the upside-down single crochet stitches? 

I haven’t sewed the buttons on yet; I have a phobia of non-crochet assembly.  I swear I will dig out a needle and thread soon and plaster a button on these headwarmers!  In the meantime I have to say that even buttonless these headwarmers are great.  I tried the pink one outside last night when the wind was really strong.  I’m happy to report that my head was far from cold and my ears felt nice and cozy. 

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The wrong side

I made a bunch of these headbands for quick Christmas presents.  The purple one is the Elizabeth headband from Nadia’s Crochet free elegant crochet headbands web page.  I used stash yarn for this but I’m pretty sure it is Red Heart Super Saver.  The headband was really quick project with worsted weight yarn.  Weaving in the ends probably took as much time as the actual project.  Plus, the wrong side has a bobble look to it that I like. 

The pink headband was from Family Circle Easy Crochet Spring 2007.  I used left over yarn from my Through Any Window Baby Blanket.  This one took about three times as much crocheting since it calls for a size F crochet hook and DK weight yarn.  However, the shells were a repeating pattern and it was pretty easy to memorize.

Now I’m off to frantically crochet more Christmas gifts.  I am seriously behind!

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