Latest crocheting

Recently I had fun crocheting a hat and mitt set to go with my new jacket.

I started seeing Cotopaxi coats pop up around Fairbanks a few years ago and had really wanted one, because I love stripes and colorblocks and the coats seemed so smart and stylish. The price tag was too high for me, though, around $300. However, last October, when I got my PFD and had a little spending money, I discovered that Cotopaxi has a secondhand shop on their website called Mas Vida. I found this black and ivory jacket for less than 1/3 of the new price. It was in beautiful condition and I was thrilled with it. Plus I loved the idea of reducing waste by reselling gear. So I am thankful God made a way for my little dream to come true of having a Cotopaxi coat!

For the hat I used some ivory/beige yarn I had gotten for my birthday. I wanted to use a shell stitch, so I looked up a free hat pattern that used a shell stitch, then added on an extra row of increase to the crown, and the border of single crochets at the end.

The hat turned out a little too big. I think it would have been perfect if I had reduced while stitching the border. But I don't mind. It ended up looking a bit like a cloche and as I enjoy listening to Maisie Dobbs books on Audible, this pleased my fancy. Maisie Dobbs' signature piece to her elegant wardrobe is a cloche hat.

The mitts were a very easy pattern, also free. Here is the link:

Lace mitts

The only change I made was that I didn't want the extra-long cuffs, so I made my starting chain 14 instead of 21. And... okay, I admit it, I forgot to change hook sizes. I think they would have looked a little more polished if I had remembered.

I appreciate all these blog writers who post free patterns! They are great. My pattern shopping budge is $0 for most of the year, except maybe around PFD time.

These fingerless mitts are perfect for 18 degrees or more. I am glad to have something light to help keep my hands warm and still allow me the use of my fingers to buckle Julian and Eric into their car seats when we go places.

The yarn for the mitts is a twinkly black yarn by Red Heart. I love those sparkly yarns. I would like to make myself a black sparkly hat, too, eventually. First, though, I am working on making hats for my two nieces who had birthdays this month. For my oldest niece, I am using a cute and fun yarn called Funfetti. She told me yesterday that she picks Funfetti cake every year on her birthday.

Though writing this is making me want to settle down comfortably on the couch with my crocheting again, for now I am off to help Silas make casein plastic out of milk and vinegar from a recipe he found in a Kids Answers magazine.