Two-Tone Bulky Hat

So here's my first written pattern!!! It's an ear flap hat in baby and toddler sizes. . So here we go:
Yarns: 1 ball of bulky yarn (such as Bernat Roving), 1 ball of sport weight yarn (I used Bernat Satin Ombres). The yarns should be in contrasting colours, preferably with one of the yarns being variegated in colour.
Hook: size 9mm
Gauge: 10 rows x 11 stitches within 4 square inches.
Notes: Pattern is done with two yarns held throughout, unless otherwise mentioned. A pom pom maker is helpful but not necessary. Pattern is worked in front loops only and then flipped inside-out for finishing.

Close-up of stitches:
Infant Size:
Row 1: Holding bulky and sport yarn together, ch3. sl st into 3rd chain from hook.
Row 2: 6sc in 3ch sp, join with sl st to first sc. (6sc)
Row 3: 2sc in each sc around, join with sl st. (12sc)
Row 4: (2sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc) 6 times, join with sl st. (18sc)
Row 5: (2sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc) 6 times, join with sl st. (24sc)
Row 6: (2sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 3 sc) 6 times, join with sl st. (30sc)
Row 7: (2sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 4 sc) 6 times, join with sl st. (36sc)
Row 8 - 12: sc in each st around. join with sl st at end of each row. (36 sc per row)
Row 13: sc in first 4 sts. *sl st in next st, ch 3, 1tr in each of next 3 sts, ch 3, slst in next st.* 1 sc in next 14 sts. repeat from * to *. sc in last 4 sts. join with sl st. (22sc, 6tr, 4slst-ch3). Fasten off sport yarn.
Row 14: With bulky yarn ch1, turn, sc in both loops around, sc2tog where ear flaps meet hat body. Join with slst and fasten off bulky yarn. (4 sc2tog, 45 sc) Flip inside-out.
For Braids: Cut 6 16" lengths of bulky yarn and 2 16" lengths of sport yarn. *Thread 3 lengths of bulky and one length of sport through bottom centre of each ear flap and fold in half. Divide (2 strands bulky, 2 strands bulky, 2 strands bulky with 2 strands sport) and braid. Knot yarn about 1.5" from the end and trim so ends are even*. Repeat from **for other ear flap.
For Pom Pom: make one 3" pom pom (or size desired) using pom pom maker or instructions below. Use either bulky or sport yarn or a combination. Sew pom pom to hat at top (row 1).
Finishing: Weave in ends.

Toddler Hat:
Work Rows 1 - 7 as Infant Hat.
Row 8:(2sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 5 sc) 6 times, join with sl st. (42sc)
Rows 9 - 13: 1sc in each sc around. (42sc)
Row 14: sc in first 4 sts. *sl st in next st, ch 3, 1tr in each of next 4 sts, ch 3, slst in next st.* 1 sc in next 16 sts. repeat from * to *. sc in last 4 sts. join with sl st. (24sc, 8tr, 4slst-ch3). Fasten off sport yarn.
Row 15:With bulky yarn ch1, turn, sc in both loops around, sc2tog where ear flaps meet hat body. Join with slst and fasten off bulky yarn. (4 sc2tog, 49 sc) Flip inside-out.
Continue with braid and pom pom instructions for Infant Hat using 20" lengths for braids instead of 16".

Variation: Pom pom made with just bulky yarn.Variation: Pom pom and braids made with just sport yarn, last row made with 2 strands of sport yarn held together.


Pom Pom: find a stiff piece of card about 2.5" by 4" (I usually just use the short side of my ipod, the plastic makes it easier to slide the pom pom off). Cut a minimum 12" piece of sport yarn and fold around long side of card, tape each end in place.Start wrapping your yarn around the short side of the card. Its hard to say how many times, but practice a few times and you'll get the hang of it. I wrapped the bulky and sport weight together about 45 times for this pom pom.
Next, untape the ends of the cut piece and tie them in a single knot at the strand's fold, pulling it over the wrapped yarn.Slide the wrapped yarn off the card, tightening the knot as you go. When you get the pom pom off the card, pull the cut length tight and double knot. For extra strength, wrap cut yarn around bundle again and double knot.Now the fun part: without losing the two strands of sport yarn, cut all the loops on your bundle. At this point you may choose to trim the pom pom to make it a little more round. Use the two strands of sport length to attach to hat.
*You may make these for personal use, but please don't sell these. Please credit me for this hat and direct others here for the pattern* As I don't have a little person around the house for sizing purposes, I'm just guessing if this will fit. Your comments would be appreciated about this and any other troubleshooting! Thanks!

Reconnection!

Long story short, i have been without a computer (and ergot internet) for the past couple months. My new charger finally arrived in the mail yesterday (from Hong Kong, was that neccessary?) so i am now reconnected! After only 6 attempts at my password, i have logged into blogger!

What has changed? What. Has. Changed? i have quit my job, which was very much needed. Fortunately it appears as though i might already have a new employer. I now have three newly married friends, which i believe is quite a lot... I happen to have made the wedding cake for one of them, which will appear (hopefully) in another post. For another newlywed, my friend and i have been working on a crocheted blanket. It's not done yet so it may become an anniversary blanket. And for the third we, will be throwing an afterthought shower next month sometime.

Which brings me to my first predicament. The groom (the half of the couple we know) has celiac disease and is allergic to eggs. So gluten/egg free only. kinda makes it hard to make a cake.... we have found that flax seed makes for a good egg substitute however it may not work for a cake that is already crumbly due to its lack of wheat gluten (gluten is what keeps baked goods from crumbling apart). problem #2 is that icing sugar has gluten in it. i have found gluten-free icing sugar in the health food store! so this means that our crumbly cake can now have icing, however the cake we were planning to do has little gum paste flowers on it (see below). so gluten-free gum paste will be a challenge. suggestions?

my second amazing topic is my vehicle. due to my dads vehicle troubles in the last few months, my jeep has been putting on a lot of kms. last week we rolled to 350, 000kms. although i love my jeep i have acknowledged that it may be time to start looking for a new daily driver. i would love to get a newer version of that same vehicle so i know how to work on it and mostly because jeeps are fun. problem is that without a regular job i am "sans pesos". naturally this means that i am seeing jeeps left and right that are ripe for the buying. it makes for a very sad face. perhaps i can hope for a new vehicle by the time winter is done.

the third exceptional topic is my trip to rock point provincial park. errrrrg. near the end of august two friends and myself took a tent to a park near Niagara Falls, ON. on the evening of our second night we caught wind of a tornado warning. figuring it would pass we decided to try our chances in the tent, but it wasnt before long that we heard the wind pick up so we made a mad dash to the minivan with all our flashlights and blankets. it poured so much we couldn't see out the windshield but we heard the branches falling around us. we took the opportunity to drive (blind) to the only tree-less location in the park: the bathrooms. we were greeted with whole families bunkered down in a single shower stall and couples sleeping on the laundry room floor with fido. we were not the only ones concerned. after spending the night uncomfortably in the van we drove back to our sight, surveying the damage as we did. half the camp ground had apparently packed up mid-storm and left. scary experience but at least we have a story to tell. anywho, here's what the pre-storm beach looked like, serene isnt it?

My (smallish) Love of Television

i tend to not have the patience to watch a whole ton of tv at once, and i don't really like having to stay up late to catch shows, so its a good thing i discovered the internet! *cue choir of weeping angels*. So these would be my top 5 shows at the moment and my history with them.....


#1: Doctor Who

The first time i saw Doctor Who was partway through the first season of the new series (9 or Christopher Ecclestone's doctor), i believe the episode was "Daleks in Manhatten". i wasn't particularly hooked by that episode (i still don't really like it), so that was the last episode i saw until "Amy's Choice" showed up last year with the lovely Matt Smith (11). since then i've caught up on the new series and am proud to say that David Tennant (10) is MY doctor. I have a favourite episode per season but i don't really have an all-time favourite. In chronological order:

Season 1) The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (kinda one episode)
Season 2) The Girl in the Fireplace
Season 3)Gridlock
I LOVE episodes 7-10 of season 4 but i'd have to pick Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
Season 5) Vincent and the Doctor
Season 6) so far....The Doctor's Wife

#2) Bones

i've been watching Bones since about season 2 but not seriously until this season. The story goes something like this: being particularly lazy at a friends house one day, we found ourselves without anything to watch on tv. i see a Bones re-run on the guide and tell her to flip to it. "He has great guy hair" my friend announces five minutes in. at this point we decide we MUST buy the seasons and watch from episode 1. One day another of my lady friends hears us talking about an episode we just watched and wants to know what its all about. she invites us over for dinner and we devour half of season 1. She didn't seem all that interested but i lent her season 1 to finish. a couple days later she returns it and i offer her season 2. she refuses. her rebuttel? "oh, i liked it so i went out and bought the first 5 seasons". anywho, i get a few more people interested as does friend #2 and before i know it we have a season 6 finale viewing party consisting of a small crowd. SPOILER: they killed my favourite Squintern; friend #1 told me to suck it up and didn't i realize that B and B hooked up? pffffftt

#3) Mythbusters

not much to say here. C4 goes BOOM, me like C4! and jamie is a walrus....

#4)Criminal Minds

i probably shouldn't watch this one due to the high concentration of stuff that gives me nightmares (i admit to checking the shower curtain when going into the bathroom). But i quite like the brains behind it all. and Reid. and Hotch. and Morgan. i wish i knew Garcia as a real person. i'm slowly catching up through re-runs. We named our bunny Spencer.

#5) The Listener

this is a quirky little canadian show filmed in my hometown Toronto. its about a paramedic that can read minds, so right up my alley. i saw one episode of this on the SPACE channel and i saw the rest online. it was cancelled until a small mob of fans (myself included) tried to get it back for season 2. we succeeded! however the storyline is going in a different direction now than what we ended with in season 1....i'm a little ticked about that small fact. by the way Ennis Esmer is a supporting actor, ya that guy from Wipeout Canada (outrageously funny). The lead actor can also be fairly funny. i may want to marry him.

List is subject to change at any time....

Thunderstorms and Such

I am terribly migraine-y so i may not have the oomph to post pictures....sorry, let me explain.
The southern ontario bunch (myself included) have had a huge-mongous thunderstorm every night since monday. It always starts after dark and by morning the only signs of the storm are fallen trees, loss of power and sleep-deprived people. Wish i had pictures to share but my sleep deprived brain failed to see the Kodiak moment (Alladin pun...). And besides all that, i somehow got served the day shift at work instead of my usual night shift, meaning that i couldn't sleep in til my usual 8-ish. Therefore my head is protesting. ~:(
I am however pleased to annouonce the purchase of my first Teefury shirt!!!!! (cue inspirational music). Here's my pick.
Now i promise you all (if there are any of you) that next time i want to do a TV show themed post. i've seen other bloggers do a tribute to their favourite characters and now it is my turn!!!!! except i'm too migraine-y today......

I Finally Scrapped!

my scrapbooking comes in waves.....everytime i clean off my desk i'm inclined to scrap, but than i make a mess again and can't be bothered to clean it for weeks. So i'm like a mad ninja scrapper for a couple days as i put out pages and cards by the dozen....until next month.

I started just by covering up an old cardboard jewellery box. its a cheap, easy and cute way to make little gift boxes. also helps me use up my patterned paper.

i found this really great stamp at Michaels the other day. i can't find any specific use for it but $1.50 i enjoy just seeing it on my desk! I used it for a card for my fellow scrapping buddy; we send cards back and forth just for the heck of it (i highly recommend doing things for the heck of it).

And finally i made a couple layouts. the first one is about how a bunch of us covered my scrapper friend's room in tin foil when she went to Ireland. i tried covering the larger letters in this stuff thats almost like fake gold leaf (didn't work).

The second layout is about my favourite pair of high tops (also a good use for patterned paper).

I'm On a Roll!

wow two posts in one week, its some kinda record (checking records book.....)

so i find myself at the Spinrite yarn outlet in Listowel, ON every now and then and i'll tell you why: 35cents-an-ounce mill ends! mill ends happen to be my most favourite thing in the world at the moment. mill ends mean i can make a pair of socks for under a dollar. mill ends mean a baby shower gift won't blow the bank. mill ends add a little suspense and mystery to my life!

FYI: mill ends are the leftover bits of yarn from a yarn factory, the skiens between dye lots or when there isn't enough to complete a whole sell-able ball. its all unlabeled and tossed into a big bin. one big scavenger hunt!

anywho, i tend to get a little impulsive so i bought two balls of roving and two balls of (what i think is) Bernat Baby Blanket...and i dont know what to do with either. any ideas? feel free to comment!

im also looking for a good ankle sock pattern...yes i've looked on Ravelry.com (im neeky5 there too)

so yesterday i found a pattern for a bookmark on http://crochetroo.blogspot.com/ and it turned out pretty amazing, can see me making more!

also i did a medallion type-thing based on this pattern that i'm thinking of using as a flower on a card or something

other than that all is well, the weather's getting nice and gas is coming down (125.9 today as opposed to 137.9 this time last week...and thats per litre)

Hello Again!

So i had completely forgotten i had created this blog-type-thing until my handy dandy aunt made one as well (http://stampinintoronto.blogspot.com/). And now since i have been checkin hers everyday (as well as a few others) i thought i may have another go at my own.


reasoning? it appears i have drifted away from facebook and more towards the twitter way of being (@neeky5) (i'm apparently really into brackets today). however twitter has a way of limiting you: to 140 characters. i've never been one for writing so we'll see how this goes.


hopefully i'll get to share some of my craftier outpourings with you, mostly in the form of cards, scrapbook pages and crochet.


As The Doctor says "Allons-y!"