Just in Time . . .

Ends and bits trimmed off the hats

Dear friend, I have not crafted in a long, long time.  Hard to blog when there's no crafting to report.  Yeah, school got in the way (and work, and family life . . .  well you get the point, right?).  Thankfully I have finished all my courses for the semester.  So I finally have some free time.  And what did I do with this mythical free time?  I was industrious!  LOL!  I managed to finish the first of my Christmas gifts.

Check out my nephew's hats:

Angry Bird Hats

I really like how everything came together.  If you will remember from previous posts the hats initially didn't look like much without the face details.  Don't the finished hats look great, though? Just love them (If you're interested in the mods, check out my Ravelry notes for Angry Bird #2).

And I really like my niece's hat.  I decided against threading any ribbon through the eyelets 'cuz I was worried it might interfere with the fabric's stretchiness.  Besides, the pom pom adds a nice "pop" of colour (Too bad the yarn sheds a little).

Finished Zeebad Hat

I was nervous about making a pom pom 'cuz it's been a long time since I made one--and honestly I was never really good at it.  But I found this great tutorial on You-Tube from Repeat Crafter Me (I follow her Facebook page).

It really works!!  And yes, I did the thing using only my fingers!  Check out the finished pom pom before it was sewn to the top of the hat:

Pom pom detail

Now I'm off to wrap these hats so they can get mailed to my niece and nephews--just in time for Christmas!! :)
 
 

While on Vacation . . .

Vacations are for sleeping in, relaxing and taking it slow.  And knitting.  On the downside, sometimes blogs fall by the wayside . . . 

One hat and a second almost done . . .

But there is progress!  I've got one Zeebad hat finished and the second one is almost done.  I should be further along, but there was ripping--followed by cursing (or maybe it was the other way around?  Expletives were shouted and there might even have been some growling).  In a fit of exasperation over size, missed yarn overs and dropped stitches I ripped it all out and started again.  Twice.  Once for each hat.

First hat awaiting ribbon and pompom

The hats have to be perfect 'cuz they're gifts.  So when I was done cursin', I knocked some sense into those stitches.  And I promised myself to only work on the hats when I am well-rested and have time to concentrate.  (Don't rest and time go hand-in-hand with vacations?).   

Second hat in progress

In any case, my goal: finish the second hat within the week and then look for ribbons.  These will get threaded through the eyelets.  There are pompoms to be made too!  Haven't made those in a long time.  I might have to peruse some how-to videos.  I'll keep you posted.