Making "Designer" Hats

So I've been seeing a lot of "designer" hand knits and crocheted winter items lately. They look really nice and professional with their little faux leather tags on the brims and their little faux fur pom-poms on top. So I decided to make something that I would be proud to give away too.

Ta-da! You don't really need a pattern to make these. I used my head (literally - I measured it) to figure out the right length and width using regular 4 ply worsted weight yarn because that's what I have a lot of and I didn't want to have to go buy a bunch of yarn. Basic pattern instructions included below. Adjust to fit your head. 

I've been wanting to make some hats. First I tried making beanie type hats on my Innovations circular knitting machine and honestly, they all look pretty plain and way too small. I think I need a better machine with a few more needles. I'm saving up for a Sentro. It has 48 needles and mine only has 44. The hats made on them all have the same gauge, stripes etc... so they all look basically alike and there's not much you can do to fancy them up. And if you double them up for a reversible hat, they take an incredible amount of yarn. It doesn't take that much more time to just crochet one. And you have so many more pattern options with crochet and a big hook. You can get a hat done with one skein of yarn and just a few hours.

But I really like making them on the machine but - my machine makes them too small to easily stretch over an adult head and I would not be very proud to give them away as a gift. They just don't fit a normal head. It's not going to go to waste though. I'm going to make more of them and turn them into slippers and/or fingerless gloves.

But I really like the chunky and knitted look you get when you crochet in the back loop of stitches for hats. The slate blue one is made with 40 stitches and 40 rows for a large and/or male head. You can adjust it to 42 stitches for a longer hat. The pastel hat is 40 stitches and 38 rows for a small/med size adult head. You have about 1-3 inches of stretch to play with to make the hat fit just right. It's not an exact science but a hat should be snug but not tight. You just have to try it on to see if it's right. To make a child's hat just shorten the rows and maybe some of the length. 

I was pretty sneaky this year. I made a few hats in different sizes and then as I showed them to my potential recipients to help me test out my pattern, I had them try them on and tell me which size fit better... 

And I can make my own pom-poms although you can buy them online too if you don't want to make them. I have lots of faux fur from previous projects. 

I cut a 3-1/2" X 7" piece of fur and do a running stitch around the inside 1/4" in from the edges and gather it up. Use a strong thread like a double strand of quilting thread or a light cord so it doesn't break when you pull it up tight. Then I lightly stuff it with poly-fil. I sew the gather closed and attach the middle of a 12" chain of yarn for sewing onto the bottom center of the pom-pom.

Then push the ends through two different holes in the work and tie a bow on the inside. That way it can be removed if you want to wash the hat in the machine. I always hand wash my hand made knitted and crocheted items and line dry.

I got the little faux leather labels from Hobby Lobby but you can special order them online if you have a brand you want to imprint. You might be able to make some by hand or on a Cricut.

I will probably make a few more and maybe work out some fingerless gloves and a few scarves to match before Christmas. I don't feel rushed and quick projects give you plenty of time.

Designing Bears and Bunnies

I just wanted a way to make a bunch of little 9" stuffies really quick. That's how it all started. I love knitting and crocheting but crochet hurts my hands and knitting is beautiful but it takes up way too much of my time for each little animal. When you're my age, three days on one little project is just too long. 

You can't knit quicker than on a knitting machine so that's what I used. I've had these machines for a few years but haven't used them in a little while. I actually made a bear in less than two hours on the small machine and I was hooked on making them from there on.  It's instant gratification and I don't want to knit with two needles anymore... or for at least a while longer.

So I made a bunch of bears and named them the "Ice Cream Colors" set. Than I used another sparkle cake yarn and named them "Crayon Colors" set. Then Christmas started bearing down on me (no pun intended) so I made a set of "Christmas" bears too. I didn't want to get burnt out on bears so a bunny popped into my head and that's where we are now.

I'm designing bunnies on the Addi. I also utilize a small amount of crochet pieces on them too because you can do most all of it except for the smallish pieces - all on the Addi. I found a way. I also do a little bit of hand stitching on them too, but you have to do that regardless.

Do I consider circular machine knitting "hand knitting"? Yes I do and I'll tell you why. Regardless of whether you knit with two straight needles, round needles, a loom, or you crank a set of plastic needles in the round... you are hand knitting with another instrument, regardless of what form that takes. You move the yarn in and out of the needles by hand. 

Otherwise to be truly a "hand knitter" in the purist sense of the word - you have to only use your fingers to knit. But I enjoy it all. All the yarns, all the tools and all the machines. There really is no limit to what you can make. 

 

Working on Christmas Bears

I'm still going on these cute little bears although I am getting other things done at the same time. I finished a LCR cable knit Christmas sweater that I started several days ago.  I only have six more blocks to go to finish up my granny square lapghan and I'm going to be making some ear warmers, hats and scarves on my Innovations machine soon. I'm running out of brown fleck yarn so I need to get some more of that.

The Christmas bears I'm working on now look a little different from the original pastel bears because I'm always trying to improve and make changes to them. I have used knitted sweater pieces for some of the neck scarves. They are beautiful fibers that come from pre-made sweaters.

What? Yes, and if I can't unravel them to re-use the yarn then I cut them up in scarf pieces for my bears. Some of these knits are made with beautiful yarn that I can't find in the stores any more. I like sparkly, sequined and fuzzy textured yarn. 

I have also come up with some instructions for adding pants to the bears although I like them just fine without pants. To add pants to a bear - on the body section knit 12 rounds in pants color, 46 rounds in bear color and the last 12 rounds in pants color instead of 70 rounds in one color. Mark the 35th round for the middle. And on the legs knit 9 rounds in pants color and 4 rounds in bear color for each leg.

Bears and More Bears

So I've been making a few more bears and timing how long it takes me to get each piece done. I am really loving these little bears. I can get two or three of these done a day from start to finish if I really work at it. It takes me three to four days to make one Little Cotton Rabbit knitted bear and clothes depending on how detailed I make the clothing.

I have a couple of Mandala sparkle cake yarns that are a 3 weight and these are perfect for using that yarn on the clothes. It makes up really soft and loose and snuggly wuggly. I'm loving the way the sweaters look.

 

I use some techniques to get the bears shaped the way I want them that are not normally knitting techniques. I haven't seen anything like my bears made the way I make them on any site. I think they are unique. I haven't decided what to do with them yet. 

For right now I'm enjoying making them and the whole design process - different sizes, colors, etc. I haven't written the instructions out yet because I'm still working on tweaking the rows, stitches and looks of everything until I'm happy with all of it. I don't have a timeline for getting them done.

It's Not Cheating to Use a Machine

I was moving right along finally making good progress with my afghan and soft knit toys when I ran across a beautiful hand knitted Christmas wreath online and wanted one... bad enough to make my own. So I dragged out my Addi express machine and got busy. 

Then the thought popped into my head that maybe little bears and other animals could be made on the small Addi... hmmm... I couldn't find a pattern with arms and legs. I found all kinds of patterns for the Addi for animal heads but it seemed like nobody wanted to make the bodies and limbs to finish them up. So I got busy and figured out how it could be done - and still look cute. Cuteness was the big factor. I knew it would be such a time saver. How many of these could you crank out in a day? I know, right! It took me two to three days to make a knitted LCR bear and I just didn't have that kind of time with Christmas coming. I love making them but they do take a while.

And a lot of trial and error and several hours later, I came up with a bear that I absolutely love. There are some special techniques that I used to make him look right. The arms and legs are rolled up and then sewn so there is no batting or stuffing in them. They don't need it. The head and body is made in one piece and doubled so no stuffing shows through since the needle gauge on the Addi is much larger than the small needles I usually use by hand. You double it up just like you would make a beanie hat. I only crocheted the muzzle and tail on this little guy.

The pieces went quick on the machine but it did take a while to sew him together and finish him off. I embroidered the nose and mouth. I used plastic safety eyes but you could embroider them. I scribbled row counts and instructions as I went so I'll have to sort them and write them out at some point and make a hand knit version for those who don't have an Addi but seriously - why not use a machine instead of taking hours to make these by hand? And I love to hand knit too but it's not cheating to use a machine. You use a sewing machine to sew don't you? It's a time saving device. 

Many people use these machines to crank out dozens of animals, socks, hats and scarves to donate to hospitals, the homeless, underprivileged kids, firemen and the police for kids in distress. 

We don't have to cook over open fires any more either... and I'm glad about that too.  

Colorwork Dress

I ran across these little colorful dress pattern modifications on Ravelry by suzymarie. They are for LCR knitted animals. I just had to make a few. This one reminded me of stained glass windows. I did modify the pattern a bit for my colors.

This is my very first LCR animal that I knitted so I used her for a model. 

These colorwork dresses take a little time to make because of all the different colors and intricate patterns. You really have to pay attention on these. 

So cute! This is a well dressed bunny girl.