laughing purple goldfish designs » hat

oh happy day…

Sharon Maher — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:00:43 +0000

So, yesterday morning I was sitting at a local cafe… minding my own business…

when I saw a woman walk past the window…

WEARING THIS VERY HAT!!!!

I almost jumped out of my skin with excitement!

I mean, I know that my stuff has been selling… but this is that FIRST time that I have seen a stranger wearing an accessory that I MADE…

I know… I’m easily impressed… but it was a big WOW moment for me

still smiling about it now!

crazy urban appeal

Sharon Maher — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:00:22 +0000

Loving this hat…

I’ve been wearing it almost every day for the last week!

The pattern is called URBAN APPEAL, and it’s from the Lisa Gentry booklet which I blogged about here.

Just looking back at that blog post, I find it amusing that I wrote about the two hats I thought I might make first… well, I’ve made two already, but neither of the ones that I talked about!

I probably don’t need to tell you that I made it using crazy yarn…

You probably recognise it by now!

skull beanie #2

Sharon Maher — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:00:04 +0000

Master Eight loves his skull beanie, too…

but he’s equally as uncooperative as his brother when it comes to having a photo taken!

Here’s an idea of how it looks:

It’s actually black, with a light green contrast for the skulls… but you can’t really tell that from the photos. They look almost white!

Still love the pattern. It’s available as a free Ravelry download here.

This time I have modified the decrease shaping, more in line with a regular beanie (the original shaping is here if you want to refresh your memory) I’ve just decreased by one, at eight different points around the hat. It’s a shocking photo, but it’ll give you an idea of what I mean.

skull beanie #1

Sharon Maher — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:00:41 +0000

Master Ten loves his skull beanie…

but he doesn’t love standing still while I take photos!

Actually…
I think that maybe he doesn’t actually KNOW how to stand still…

Never mind, I should be used to it by now!

Here’s an idea of how it looks:

Love the pattern. It’s available as a free Ravelry download here.

One thing I don’t love is the shaping at the top. It’s all boxy like this:

That’s BOXY… not POXY… or maybe both!

I could see from the pattern that the decreases were going to work up like this. I haven’t ever made a hat with this type of shaping before, so I figured I would give it a go as written.

Ugh.

Don’t… like… the… shaping…

At all.

So I’ve made the other ones differently. Will try and get photos of them over the next few days for you

textured stripes

Sharon Maher — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:00:26 +0000

Already finished a beanie from Lisa’s new crochet booklet…

Supposed to be worked on a 5.0mm hook – but I couldn’t find one, so I just got stuck into it with a 4.0mm… my tension tends to be loose anyway, so it’s turned out just fine.

This one is for my brother… so the colours are fairly subdued – I had to choose something that I thought he would actually wear!

Really loving the textured stripes in this piece… they’re way more striking in real life than you expect from the pattern booklet.

I blogged about the booklet here, if you’re looking for pattern details

And here’s the obligatory celebrity shot…

what I’m reading this week

Sharon Maher — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 03:59:30 +0000

Look what arrived in the mail for me this week…

Two new booklets from my friend, designer Lisa Gentry!

Both are titled Celebrity Slouchy Beanies, and feature a variety of popular beanie patterns for the whole family.

One booklet contains knit beanies, and the other one is crochet.

I’ve been flipping through both of them, and trying to decide where to start…

I think I might crochet the Granny Square one, or maybe knit the Cabled Classic instead. Decisions, decisions…

Either way, I know that Lisa is a fabulous designer, and I’m sure to wind up making more than one of each anyway!

There’s more information about the boklets here, they’re incredibly cheap and if you live in the US there is free shipping until 30/6/2010

Now to choose my yarns…

skull cap

Sharon Maher — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:00:58 +0000

This started out as a project to prove to myself that I CAN work with circular needles.

Plus I was feeling a bit bad about the fact that I so rarely make anything for my boys to wear.

So I’m working on this skull beanie. The photos are a bit average, but I have the base of the beanie done, and am now working on the head shaping.

This one, with red-on-black is for Master Ten…

Master Eight has requested orange-on-black for his version…

and Master Fifty-Two (that would be Mr Goldfish) has put his hand in the air for his very own skull cap – the first time that he has EVER asked me to make him anything!!!

shabby hat – free pattern

Sharon Maher — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:19:47 +0000

Pattern is available as promised!

As it is a free pattern, it has not yet been tested or proofed.

If you happen to find any errors, please let me know… and as always, feel free to ask if you have any concerns about the pattern.

There are four sizes included: toddler, child, teen and adult.

US terminology used throughout.

click here to download free pattern now

new hats

Sharon Maher — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:30:41 +0000

I so wish that I had taken some photos of these hats ON an actual head… but they were sold before I had the chance.

Super easy pattern.

Require very little yarn.

Fabulous use of scraps or crazy yarn

But where is the pattern???

Relax…

Check back here tomorrow…

There will be a free pattern here on this blog, including simple hints (and step-by-step photos) showing how to make your own embellishments.

project #23 – buddy bandit bandana

Sharon Maher — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:00:00 +0000

pattern used -

Buddy Bandit Bandana by Lisa Gentry
found in Hooked For 30 Days e-book

hook used -

either a 3.0mm or a 4.0mm… I can’t remember which

yarn used -

recycled 8ply/DK wool

comments -

so this pattern actually makes a beaded bandana for a dog’s neck…
no dog living here! so I decide to modify it a little for my daughter
I left out the beading
instead of the ties, I worked a row of sc around the entire triangle, and added a button to secure it
the added benefit of the button, is that you can button down the point of the bandana, if you are wearing it over the top of the hair
I also wove two strands of a contrast colour along the front edge of the bandana