Wrist warmers

My baby sister's birthday was at the beginning of December, when I was in the throes of panicked gift crocheting.  She was super understanding when I asked if I could move her gift to the end of my queue and finish it up after the holidays.  (Isn't she great?!)  Aside from not liking giving a gift that late, I hated to put it off because I was so excited about it!  I saw a picture on pinterest that really got my crochet juices flowing: wrist warmers (or gauntlets or long cuffs or fingerless gloves).  No matter what you call them, I had this picture in my head of how awesome they would be and my sister is definitely cool enough to pull them off.  After much debating, I settled on a peacock blue/green.  I used Caron's Simply Soft--I love this yarn!  After searching through free patterns online I realized that nothing was quite what I wanted and the only issue was making sure they weren't too small and having the right number of stitches for the shells.  Easy!  

I absolutely love how these turned out!  My eldest daughter was immediately smitten and has requested a pair of her own, in blue.  I think I may need a pair too...

The Owls Have It

By far my most requested design is the owl earflap.   I've made them for babies up to adults, with heavy yarn, glittered yarn and everything in between, with open eyes and sleepy eyes . . . and my pattern is still evolving!

At this point I decided I hated the stupid tab ear things that were from the first pattern I tried before making my own.  And I started adding a contrasting trim.

And I like the eyes closer together.

Then I started doing a little widow's peak at the bottom.

I like the peak, but think it looks better if it starts in the bottom row and not in the trim.

But my favorite so far is made with the shell-stitch to resemble feathers!

Shell-stitch cloche (style) hats

I love cloche hats!  That flapper style gets me every time!  I think every girl in my life needs one!  A traditional cloche comes in a bit before flaring out at the bottom.  These hats are more of a cloche-style hat since my girls requested some (in the blue and grey) but didn't want the longer flared bottoms.

I think the shell stitch really enhances this very feminine style.

I especially like adding an eyelet row, crocheted ribbon and flower embellishment.

Perhaps the only thing that can make it better is having one to match your favorite friend!

with matching American Girl doll-sized hat