Crochet to Go

The Guardian announced today that Google and the US book industry have finally reached an agreement about publishing and archiving books online (article here).

The agreement between Google and the US book industry means that internet users will soon be able to choose from and buy millions of titles, many out of print, or read them on a page-by-page basis.

…"What is so positive is that it recognises that authors and publishers must be involved when works in copyright are digitised and made available to the public, and usage must be paid for, while at the same time it promises to make the practicalities easily manageable for users."…

This is a big deal for all of us crafters - a world where all patterns are available, at any time.

My Christmas project list is starting to come together. It's daunting - I actually had to make a spreadsheet to keep track of everything - but it's starting to come together. The first two hats are done (grey and green, using Berocco's Pure Merino and the pattern mentioned previously). The pink hat I'm keeping for myself. I wasn't loving it during the creation process (too pink!), but I really like it on. It's somehow rosy enough to not be obnoxious, and I love the feel of the yarn. It's from a pattern I bookedmarked back in January: I Like Lemon's Button-Tab Hat. The original is a knitting pattern; I made a crocheted version using one of my basic hat patterns and a single crochet border (worked perpendicularly to the hat and in the back loops only). Very cute on - it's subtle, but nicely decorative. I'll take some more photos of the yarn this weekend in better light. (I've hit that unfortunate part of the year where I'm at work during the daylight hours, and leave and come home in the dark.)

Hat completed successfully! It's very, very cute. I used a 4.00mm hook and sport weight yarn (Patons Grace) and worked the 3-6 month size, and blocked and stretched it as recommended. It's quite small, but I'm hoping it will work with a newborn.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry, Vintage Bonnet by Sidsel Sangild.

I organized my yarns this morning and ran across this hat - an early attempt to make a brimmed adult-sized hat. As you can see, it's not quite the size I intended. But I like the brim and the fairly stiff structure.

Graham modeling his sweater (the original from the Crochet to Go Deck).

The best way to describe this project is as a successful failure. It was supposed to be a hat (you can find the pattern on Ravelry, Vintage Bonnet by Sidsel Sangild) and I somehow managed to get it horribly wrong. A combination of too small hook and thin yarn, is my guess. It's not a bad vase, though. I have it around a ceramic cup for now, and plan to starch it to stand alone as a bowl.

Here's the adult version of the Sejia Set hat from The Happy Hooker. I added two more increase rows, used thick yarn (Berroco's Pure Merino, color #8573), and a 6.5mm hook. I think it's this year's Christmas hat - it's super soft, worked up in under three hours, and looks good on everyone I've tried in on.