Finishing the Never Ending Shawl

It feels like I've been knitting on this shawl forever, as in eternity forever. It's not because I don't like the pattern. It's my pattern and I'm very happy with it. It's the yarn, so I won't mention the manufacturer or the line. But this yarn sucks, and I don't say that very often! It's rough and bumpy, which would be fine if that were what it was advertised as, but it's advertised as soft and smooth. And OK, it's very cheap yarn, donated to our prayer shawl ministry, so really, complaining about it isn't very nice of me. But it is oh so human of me.

Since it is a prayer shawl, destined for a gentleman who is either very ill or who has just lost a very close loved one, I pray while I'm knitting for this unknown gentleman's intentions.

My travails with this yarn are finally over. I put the last stitch in the shawl and wove in the last yarn end. Now I need to block it, photograph it, polish the pattern instructions and share it with you. I'll put the link to the free pattern on Ravelry.

I'd love to hear from others who've had this same problem. I can't be the only one, can I?

January and February Hats For Charity

It's March 1 and time for me to post pictures of the hats I crocheted for the local soup kitchen in February. And as I forgot to post pictures of January's hats earlier, I'm adding them here as well.

All 4 hats are crocheted using Homespun yarn by Lion Brand Yarn Company for all 4 hats. It's a nice bulky yarn in gorgeous colors. I used the Windsor shade for January and Lagoon for February.

January Hats

February Hats

January's hats are both medium adult size. I made a large adult hat and a small adult hat for February. Most of the hats I've made in the past for the soup kitchen are medium adult sized hats, which fit most adults, and that's what my pattern makes. I add or subtract an increase row to change the size. Thankfully, these hats work up fairly quickly, so my goal of making two hats per month for the soup kitchen is good for me.

I also finished a prayer shawl in late January. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm through polishing the pattern instructions. I'm knitting away on the next prayer shawl, and this time I'm documenting the pattern as I go. So far, I have designed the shawl patterns as I knit. I can follow a pattern, but I prefer to design on the fly!

Happy crafting!
Susan

Grandmother's Crocheted Hat

An old family crocheted hat pattern handed down from my grandmother.

I use this pattern to crochet hats for my family and to donate to my prayer shawl ministry's hats for the local soup kitchen campaign. My prayer shawl ministry group donated over 160 hats, knitted and crocheted, to the soup kitchen in December.

Yarn: Bulky yarn (1 skein) or use two strands of worsted weight yarn (2 skeins)

Crochet Hook: Size J or size needed for gauge

Gauge: 6 rows x 10 sts (double crochet) = 4" x 4"

Rd 1: Ch 4. Join.

Rd 2: Ch 3. 5 dc in loop. Join. (16 sts)

Rd 3: Ch 3. DC in join stitch

. 2 dc each remaining dc. Join. (32 sts)

Rd 4: Ch 3. * 2 dc in next dc. 1 dc in next dc. Rep from * to end.

Join. (48 sts)

Rds 5 - 14: Ch 3. 1 dc in each st to end. Join.

(Optional rolled brim)

Rds 15 - 17: Ch 3. 1 dc in each st to end. Join. Weave in yarn ends.

Add pompom or decorative edging such as shell or picots, if desired.

I used Lion Brand's Homespun in Windsor for the sample hat, which I'll give to the prayer shawl ministry. I can usually get two hats from one skein of the homespun using this pattern.

If you're using worsted weight yarn, use two strands together to form a bulkier yarn.