Preemie Hats!

Preemie Hats!

As y'all know, I've been working up some tiny little 'warmers' for charity...Hats For Preemies.  

I just keep a basket near my couch, where I sit by the window, and work up a few at a time. It's such an easy way to do something nice while keeping my hands happy. 

I use a really simple pattern by  Teresa Bowman. 

These are recommended by Beverly Qualheim of Bev's Country Cottage.  Bev has a lot of experience working with and for charities and she is a mentor and a friend.  

I will probably branch out and make a variety of designs at some point, but for now, I'm happy with these.  

I have a lot more ready now ..some spring yellows and baby blues. I took this pic last week though, and I wanted to share.

Check out my Crochet for Preemies Pinterest Board for some happy inspiration. And, please..check out Bev's Country Cottage. She is an enormous wealth of 

charity information and patterns.

Like Bev says...

There are people everywhere, even in our own neighborhoods, who need the warmth of the items we make.

Easter Mohawk Hat!

Mommy has it covered for St. Patricks Day...but

Easter is around the corner and Owen must have a hat. 

I hit my Pinterest Boards for lots of Bunny inspiration and, of course, come up with LOTS of hoppy options.


Follow Tracy's Crochet Bliss's board Crochet for Easter on Pinterest.

I pick this one by Girl in Air.

And here we go! With a renewed excitement for making Owen's New Easter Hat...big smaile!!! I can easily imagine Littme


The pattern says to use your favorite hat pattern. Michelle gives her pattern..but my I decide to go with my favorite from Micah Makes...and 

holy bunny ears batman..look what I found!

Now that's about right for Grandma's Little Guy!..minus the pink of course. wink

I hit my Stash and pick a nice white and blue ...

I make the crown and as I start hooking the mind-numbing hdc rounds that make the 'body' of the hat, I start contemplating the bunny ears and imagining how cute my awesome little guy will look in them.

...and then
comes the idea that will forever color Owen's First Easter forever.

Bunny Ears my butt! Can you say MOHAWK?!

Owen LOVED his Uncle Zachary's Mohawk Hat when he was here for Christmas!

New Colors!

And Here We Go!

I have a renewed excitement for making Owen's new Easter Hat spured on by the image in my mind of him totally Rockin the Mohawk!

I've made Mohawk hats before..lots of them. They were VERY popular! Brought lots of smiles all around. :)
Making the 'hawk part of them though does a number on my hands so after making a dozen or so of them, me and my aching hands decided that I had got the Mohawk fever out of my system. LOL

This was worth dusting off the ole 'Hawk skills!

I've got Owen's little Mohawk hat all packaged and ready for the mail...hope to share a pic of the Little Man Rockin his first Mohawk real soon!

If you want to make your own Mohawk Hat

I've have put together a Tutorial with Tips and Trimming Information for you.
and  Crochet Geek has a really terrific video to show you how it's done. 

Crochet Geek uses one strand at a time..I use 3 at a time but the method is the same.

Good luck and have fun crafting your own 'hawk!

Crafting The Mohawk Hat

Crafting The Mohawk Hat

Are you a fan of the Mohawk hats? 

Yes, they were a trend that came and went as so many awesome things do...however, they are also a style that continues to be fun and popular with just about any young person.

And, I'm speaking from experience folks...I've made more than a few of these awesome toppers.
Cute as kittens on the little ones and a touch a rebellion and individuality for those just a bit older...then a touch of fun again for younger adults. They all love 'The Hawk' and actually wear the crap out of them! LOL

Crochet Geek has a really terrific video on You Tube to show you how to make the Crochet Mohawk Hat. My method and hers are essentially the same but I work 3 strands at a time and she uses one.
I really recommend watching her video then checking my Tips for Trimming below.

Yarn Lengths:

I work with strands of yarn the length of my crochet hook..this allows enough length for trimming.
I use three strands at a time for each 'stitch'.

Creating the Front and Back:

Fold the hat in half and loosely whipstitch / sew a 'guide' at the fold.
This also creates a 'ridge' which I believe helps with the shaping of the hat.

There is a definite 'Front' and 'Back' to a Mohawk. Begin creating the 'hawk 3 rows up from the edge of the hat in Front and continue the 'hawk all the way down the back to the last row to create the Back.

Creating the Mohawk Stitch:

This illustrates the method for creating the 'Mohawk Stitch' up the ridge of the hat. Check out the video by Crochet Geek to see this in action.

Work your way up the ridge, using the stitched guide to keep your 'hawk line straight. You don't have to use the 'guide' but mine get crooked when I don't. Plus, I really do believe the ridge it creates helps with the shaping of the Mohawk.

As you move up the ridge, you will notice gaps between your stitches. You will need to go through and place stitches between these spaces to fill in the Mohawk.

Also, your Mohawk will get a bit sparse at the crown without much space to place fill-in stitches. This is where using Crochet Geeks method will come in very handy for you. You don't want your Mohawk to be flat or thinning on top.

For Toddler and Baby sizes, I only make one row down the center...
but for Adult sizes, I make a band of 3 rows going down the center from Front to Back.

Trimming the Mohawk:

Add caption

Ultimately, your Mohawk will require a good trimming to finish it off.
I like to trim a bit as I go..Starting after the first 3-5 stitches are placed.

Look at the first photo above...You don't want this yarn hanging into your face, so you will need to trim it.

• Start by holding it like in the photo and trimming the yarn straight across and level with the edge of the hat. 
• Next pull the ends together and even them up. 
• Then I put a bit of an angle to the front. 

Yours should now look like the last photo above.

Continue trimming about every 5 stitches just to even up the edges. You can wait till last and do this all at once if you like.

Important Note 
Experiment with the length of your yarn strands to obtain different looks for your Mohawk.

The shorter you trim the yarn, the more it will 'stand up'.
The longer the yarn, the more it will 'lay over'.

The advantage of starting with a length of yarn the size of a crochet hook.

Really short strands are hard to work with when creating the stitches for the Mohawk. Anything longer is really just wasteful and unnecessary. 

For this little one, I only found it necessary to make one row down the center...
but I do want to let you know that for my Adult Mohawk hats, I make a band of 3 rows down the center.

HATS DRIVE ME CRAZY!

HATS MAKE ME CRAZY!

I'm always conflicted about my hats. I can't get my sizing right. They are too big, too small, too round, too slouchy, too 'beanie'. You name it, whatever the problem, I'm convinced that my hats have it.

I almost always frog a hat at least 3 times before deciding to forge onward and just let it be whatever it turns out to be. When it's finished, I'm still convinced that there is something wrong with it..mostly that it won't fit whoever it's intended for.

Often-times I don't even bother taking a photo of the hat.  I'm so bothered about the whole deal, I am not even motivated in the teeniest bit to photograph it and share it with the world or even my Ravelry projects page.

But I can't stop making them. I am obsessed with overcoming my hat anxiety. Someday I will find the perfect formula to make all my hats turn out well.

You might be thinking "why is she all worked up about her hats, they look fine!" Yeah, they actually do...and yet, I'm always genuinely surprised and shocked when someone grabs up the hat and pushes it onto their head...and it not only fits, but looks AWESOME. 

That is the first moment that it becomes ok for me. Right up to that point I am convinced that it is awful and I have failed. You would think that over time I would learn that it's all in my head and become more confident with my hat-making skills. NOPE.

Why am I so insecure about my hats? I dunno! I don't experience that kind of anxiety about any other type of project..not even when working totally brand new to me techniques or extremely important heritage projects.

I am working on it though. I think I've found the perfect solution for me. I'm sure that there is a perfect head for every one of my hats and  Halos of Hope can find them for me. 

Instead of making one hat for one specific person with a particular head size and shape to conform to...and driving me crazy with anxiety trying to fit it...I'll make LOTS of them them for LOTS of people!

I mean think about it..everybody's got a different head size and there are so many heads out there that need warmed and styled. 'Halos' can find them for me and I can hook happily knowing that someone, somewhere is wearing and loving what I do.

Perfect!