Monthly Archives: August 2009

Tuesday Five – Cats in the News

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Have you noticed that most of the cat stories are carried by British press? Clearly, they have a greater appreciation for felines than the press in the USA.

Felted Crochet Amigurumi Ghost

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Amigurumi GhostI love Halloween, and I’ve long wanted a haunted tree to decorate with Halloween ornaments. Being resourceful, I created my own haunted tree with a Halloween bucket, black spray paint, a dead branch found in my back yard, a cube of green florist Styrofoam, and black glitter. After creating the tree, I wanted something to hang on it; therefore, I’ve begun creating my own little spooky decorations, beginning with an amigurumi ghost.

This first ornament (I’ll show you others as I create them.) is made from crocheting and then felting Patons Classic Wool. He’s one of a kind. I had a mental image of what I wanted to create and single-crocheted my way there. If I were to do this project again, I’d aim for a different shape so that each ghost would be unique. The thing I love about crochet is that it allows one to sculpt fiber.

I noticed when I turned him upside down he looked like the top of a Dairy Queen soft serve ice cream. All that’s needed for another amigurumi is a felted waffle cone.

Next, I think I’ll crochet a witch hat or two.

Halloween Tree with Amigurumi Ghost

Knitting Pattern for Tween Beanie

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Child's Pine BeanieThis beanie was made with less than one skein of Debbie Mumm Pine Needle Traditions yarn (each skein is 148.73 yards). It’s very soft (75% acrylic, 23% wool, and 2% other); you should not hear complaints about itching. This yarn can be purchased at Jo-Ann stores.

I made this pattern up as I knitted. It’s pretty basic.

Needles:
Size 8 circular needles (16-inches long) and size 8 double-pointed needles

Pattern (modified on March 6, 2010):

Cast on 88 stitches, join in circle. Do not twist stitches. Place a marker at start of round.

Top of tween's pine beanieRow 1: knit across

Row 2: pearl across

Row 3: knit across

Row 4: pearl across

Row 5 : knit across

Rows (middle): Create K2 P2 ribbing. Use this pattern for 6-7 inches.

Try on the hat (securing the needles with a rubber band will keep the stitches from falling off of the needles.) If you feel you need more length continue the ribbing, or you can add an extra knit row between every decrease row. Your choice. You do want your hat to be long enough to cover the ears.

Before you begin decreasing, while working your last row of ribbing, place a marker after every 11th stitch.

Rows (decreasing for top of hat) :

You’ll be k2tog before the markers. Remember, you can add an optional knit row between each of these decrease rows if you need additional length.

  • knit 9 stitches, then k2tog, repeat across row.
  • knit 8 stitches, then k2tog, repeat across row.
  • knit 7 stitches, then k2tog, repeat across row.
  • knit 6 stitches, then k2tog, repeat across row.
  • knit 5 stitches, then k2tog, repeat across row. (It may be around now that you’ll need to switch to double-pointed needles.)
  • Continue in this way… until you are knitting 2 stitches together all the way across the row.
  • Gather up the remaining stitches on a tapestry needle and draw the yarn through the remaining stitches. Pull the yarn gently to close up the top of the hat. Run the yarn to the inside of the hat and run it through the seams and knot if necessary.

Note: Your stitches will decrease across the rows as follows:

• Rows before decrease = 88 stitches
• Row after 1st decrease = 80 stitches
• Row after 2nd decrease = 72 stitches
• Row after 3rd decrease = 64 stitches…and on…all divisible by 8.

Please let me know if you run into any issues. I want to make sure the pattern is working.