Brioche Bun Scarf Finished

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is having a good summer and is staying cool! We've been having pleasant temperatures at my house, but have continued to have unusual amounts of rain. The storms Monday and Tuesday evenings were severe and we lost internet at my house Monday evening through Tuesday noon, then lost power for about 5 hours on Tuesday evening, with the internet having a bit of trouble recovering after that. We had some trouble with slow internet yesterday, but everything seems to be recovered today. I'm crossing my fingers that everything continues to stay up!

I've been doing a lot of crochet this week. First, I finished my Brioche Bun Scarf designed by High Desert Yarn:

Brioche Bun Scarf

Brioche Bun Scarf detail

I can't tell you how much I love this scarf! It's squishy and warm and the full fringe looks wonderful! This one is for my niece, but I'm sure I'll be making more of these!

I also made a Faith Over Fear Beanie designed by Kristen Caldwell:

Faith Over Fear Beanie

I think this hat looks good, but I'm not sure about the practicality of the brim. The brim has a pretty look, but it feels like it will just stretch out and not hold the hat on your head well. I'm soaking the hat in wool wash right now so I can block it to see how it feels after the yarn softens up a bit. This will be a good lesson in the best construction for crocheted hats. There are some other stitches that designers use for hats, so I'll have to try some of those to see what I think. And another thought would be to knit them brim then crochet the rest of the hat.

Another project I made this week is a Granny Square Scrap Bag designed by Selena Baca:

Granny Square Scrap Bag

Granny Square Scrap Bag

I really love how this bag turned out! I followed the pattern except for a few small changes. The way they had you do the corners sounded to me like they would be a little baggy so I changed those a little. This change added four extra clusters to the rounds of the body, so when I got to the top I added some decreases to a round to make the opening a little smaller and get back to the original stitch count. Finally, I added an extra round to the body to get my colors to work out. This will probably be a gift for one of my sisters, depending on what other stuff I get completed before Christmas. (Christmas seems like a long way away, but time is short if you make the gifts that you give!)

I also started making a Hannah's Starlight Cowl designed by Joy Clements:

Hannah's Starlight Cowl

This yarn is a little harder to work with because it's a wool/silk blend. The silk gives the wool strength so that the yarn doesn't stretch at all. This can make it a little difficult to get the hook through the holes. The beginning of this cowl was really slow going between the difficult yarn and trying a new-to-me technique where you create the foundation chain and the first row at the same time. But it seems to be going faster now that I've got a bit of the body done. I think this will end up being a soft, luxurious cowl when it's finished. 

Finally, I finished my Quintessential Slouch designed by Jane Veitenheimer:

Quintessential Slouch

I like this hat better now that it's done, but I don't know if I'll make another garter stitch hat. It just looks a bit sloppier to me than a stockinette hat does.

That's all for this week....

Nancy