Crochet a perfect fit every time while avoiding gauge swatches, mistakes and headaches!
Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs
0:00 Intro:
0:35 Stitch Count:
1:51 Understanding the Join
2:40 Varying Yarn Weight
3:24 Gauge and Work-Arounds
5:35 Top-Down Construction Explained
10:31 The Hat Sizing Chart
13:03 Bulky Weight Exception
14:18 Wavy or Cupped Flat Circles
18:13 Uniquely Constructed Hats Caveat
19:03 Learn to Fudge
Here’s a fun “recipe” to knock out some of those wonderful worsted weight scraps we always seem to have on hand. No fancy decreases to worry about. They’re fast and fun! The hats pictured here are a 6 month size but adjust the number of cast on stitches and it works for any size!
Download the free guide here: Saturn Hat Scrapbuster
If you like these, then you may also like: Knit Baby Hats Scrapbuster!
Questions? See the “Recipe Walk-Thru” here:
Long requested crochet tutorial is finally up!
If you want a printed pattern, I’d suggest Sarah Arnold’s Divine Hat however, there are no instructions for the 2-color version. Be aware that there are MANY versions of this design out there under various names like “crochet spiral beanie” or “easy seashell hat” and more. I have no idea who to give original credit to so I’m recommending Sarah’s pattern because that’s the one I used.
In the video, I reference 2 files that can be found here: my usual Hat Sizing Charts and one where I made Candy Swirl Hat Notes suggesting yarn and hook sizes. (Please remember these are only suggestions to help you find a starting point for sizing this difficult-to-size hat!)
While Christmas shopping online, I ran across this Ted Baker “Tizzy” Pom Pom scarf for $125 at Bloomingdales. It’s no longer available but you can purchase it from the designer’s site for the same price if that floats your boat.
Naturally, this prompted the “I Can Make That”
mindset so, knowing I couldn’t get the nice materials Ted used, I went with a more silly option with endless theme or color choices. Since it’s close to Christmas, I was thinking about Santa and thus, we have this version!
This was a simple, fun and fast project and I can see it being a great indoor project for kids to tackle. It took about 2+ skeins of Herrschener’s Worsted 8 yarn. (It was hard to tell because I used scraps along with one brand new skein.)
Here ‘s the tutorial:
One of my “go-to” hats for donations AND it’s great for using up left-over yarn! I got permission from the designer, Kathy North, to do a video tutorial and here it is!
RIGHT HAND version:
In a recent Sheepishly Sharing video, I mentioned that the Kitchener stitch was challenging for me. But, true-to-form, my subscribers are the most helpful bunch and shared some of their favorite tricks and videos that helped them master this beast! Here’s all that good info right here on one page!
pipersmom shared:
Hi Margaret, this is a link to a youtube video for the kitchener stitch that gave me that light bulb moment. Since I’ve watched it I’ve not had a problem remembering how to do it, I never have to look up the steps. The only change I’ve made is that for the toe of socks I fond it unnecessary to do the set up stitches. Memorize the Kitchener Stitch
Victoria Murphy shared:
I discovered a video by Susan B. Anderson, YouTube. She has a way of helping you focus on the kitchener stitch. I repeat her mantra while doing it and it helps. Kitchener Stitch to Finish a Sock
Christina Schuricht shared:
…i wanted to share a link to a Kitchener stitch video that helped me a great deal.. maybe it could help someone else like it did me… it’s from knittinghelp.com Kitchener Stitch Seaming on Stockinette
Connie Alman shared:
Thought I would share this for you on the kitchener stitch- I buy yarn from www.lolodidit.com and on the back of her yarn labels she has a short step by step of the kitchener stitch it is now so easy for me.
SET UP:
1. Front purl, on
2. Back knit, on
Kitchener:
1. Front knit, off
2. Front purl, on
3. Back purl, off
4. Back knit, on
I find this just amazing, so easy to understand. Hope you like it.
Erin (GimmeYarn418) demonstrates her method and agrees with pipersmom above re: the set up… not necessary on socks.
Maren R shared:
I wanted to share my favored way of making the Kitchener stitch. This link shows you how to knit the Kitchener stitch instead of sewing 🙂 How to knit (not sew!) Kitchener stitch aka grafting
Instamat1c shared…
Hi Margaret. I found this video that I thought was helpful for those of us that struggle with/dislike doing the Kitchener stitch and figured I would share it: Russian Grafting – How to join live stitches with a crochet hook.
I love natural scents in my home so it made scents sense to make some of these!
Supplies:
Here’s how:
Caron yarns had no idea their temporary-anniversary-celebration product was going to be such a hit and people are going crazy over it! We’ve recently heard that they WILL be making it a permanent product and now other companies have jumped on the bandwagon.
I’ve tried my hand at making my own. After all, Caron Cakes are simply self-striping yarn (no gradient color changes) that’s caked on a ball winder. The end. I’ve included the method I used below but I question the whether it’s worth the effort. Here’s my take on the matter and be sure to let me know what YOU think about using your own stash to create a cake!
Of course, you can get this effect with any yarn but if you’re trying to closely recreate this cakey craze, here are some details that can help you in your pursuit!
Weight: Medium Worsted (4)
Contents: 80% Acrylic, 20% Wool
Skein Weight: 7.1 oz./ 200g
Yardage: 383 yd. / 350 m
Most of the cakes are equal amounts of color although some are not. Let’s use Blueberry Cheesecake for this example. I snapped a quick pic of this pattern on the label:
383 yards ÷ 4 colors = 96 yards of each color
Since you need to have 2 color repeats…
96 yards of each color ÷ 2 color repeats = 48 yards of each color repeat
(If you prefer other units of measurement, that would be 44 m/.89 oz/25 g)
Now all you need is color inspiration. My favorite place for that is Design Seeds!
Have fun!
A great way to get a quick overview of your upcoming months is an extra large dry-erase calendar! I use 2 so I can see the month ahead as well (although I wish I had 4 so I could see the whole quarter). I was determined to use only what I already had on hand so this project cost me NOTHING!
Supplies:
For a complete tutorial, see the video below!
Since I’m mostly a Charity Crafter and acrylic is preferred, I talk a lot about washing before donating to soften the inexpensive acrylics. Basically, I just treat it like laundry but I get questions all the time about the specifics of my method. So here’s a video to address those questions!
Sheepishly Sharing 