Stash Hats

#1

The past few weeks (well, months, really) I’ve been on a crocheting kick. It started mid-December with a long overdue project a student in my choir has been bugging me about for the last 2 years. She has told me over and over again that she would like a hat…. A pointy one. It’s her senior year and her last year in the group, so I figured I would give in to her pleas.

This is what I made her: 

A very pointy hat.

It took only a few hours to do because it’s a relatively simple idea. I chose the purple Caron Eco-Friendly yarn I had in my stash to go with her coat and I think that purple is a good color to describe her; happy, funky, and original. The hat is my own design and is about 2 feet in length. I think she looks adorable in it. Don’t you?! She’s such a tiny little thing; so it looks all the cuter on her 🙂

Just chillin’ with my gnomies

#2

Then my friend Travis came back to Athens for his Christmas Break and told me “You still owe me a hat”. I completely didn’t know what he was talking about and he informed me that it was mentioned a long time ago that he wanted me to make him this hat:

Jayne Cobb, from the TV Series: Firefly

That hat is knitted of course; and alas, I cannot knit at the moment. So I compromised and made a hat kinda similar to a knit look with the help of a pattern on the internet that I cannot re-find for the life of me.

Cunning? Very.

It was all done the very evening he “reminded” me of it; with scrounged up yarn I had in my stash. I made it while watching the BBC Version of North and South,a GREAT miniseries, and gave it to him the next day with his Christmas present. I think someone had an awesome Christmas… wouldn’t you say? 😉

 #3
 Last week I was inspired by a lone piece of ribbon and decided to whip up a hat for myself! Yay! The ribbon has some really wonderful blue and green hues and couldn’t get idea out of my head. So, I looked through my stash and found some yarns that would go beautifully with that very lovely ribbon.

🙂 Smile, Amber! C’mon, we know you can do it!

Altogether it’s 4 different colors and 3 different types/weights of yarn; bamboo fibers (the blue, and ohhhh so soft), Caron ‘simply soft’ (the dark green, very soft as well), Red Heart Super Saver yarn (the 2 lighter greens, itchy and scratchy and stiff) and the Ribbon of Inspiration (which can be seen in the 3rd photo)

This is how I normally wear it

I was a little nervous at first working with yarns that I’ve never put together before but I think it worked! I started with the middlemost spiral then switched yarns and stitches when needed. It consists of alternating single crochets, double crochets and puff stitches in different rows to get most of the effects.

The back… a “hipster snail” as one of my friends called it

In 6 hours I had a fabulous new hat!!! Now that the basic bit is done I kinda feel like I should add some more things to it. Hmmm… Maybe some more ribbon? Beads? Embroidery? I don’t know. It needs a little something to give it some”pizazz“…..Or maybe I’ll just wear it like this?

…like a Crown!

Guess what I’m playing?

I am ever so sorry that I have not been blogging regularly. My reason: piano. The Ohio University School of Music holds a concerto competition every year. Those who enter get out of their jury for winter quarter and the winner of the competition gets to play with the orchestra at a concert; which is a HUGE and cool opportunity for pianist… if they’re good enough.

I’m hoping to enter the concerto competition with a piece that I’ve been playing for 5 weeks. 5 weeks? You ask. My gosh. That’ll be easy peasy, right? You say. I say wrong. My track record with learning pieces has been ridiculous. I have been known to spend 6 months on a song that’s only 8 pages long. If you didn’t know, that’s a long time! So this is a brand new breakthrough in Amber’s music abilities; to be able to learn, memorize and perform a piece in less than 2 months…a 17 page piece to be exact. Needless to say I’m a little proud of myself at the moment, but hold on folks. We’re not done yet!

I plan to enter none other than J.S. Bach’s Piano concerto no1 in D minor. The competition is a little over a week away. I’ve been practicing the darned song every day so it can be sparkling clean by January 25th (the competition).

For those of you who are not familiar with the piece, or you just like to hear the genius that is Johann Sebastian Bach played by none other than the genius that is Glenn Gould. Please, if you are not accustomed to the awesome that is this video, do not press play.

Enjoy!!! (and wish me luck) ;D

Bodiced Petticoat: Finished.

Finally, I’m getting around to posting this! I finished my hand-stitched petticoat right before Christmas and took pictures on Christmas day. I’m set with the undergarments and am ready for the real dressmaking now!

side view

me being goofy

ick, I look very ticked off. but here is the front.

Back view

The entire garment is stitched by hand and made of a white cotton bedsheet from a hospital which was bought from a thrift shop.