Jenn Likes Yarn - The Knit and Crochet Blog

custom creation: red crochet slouch hat

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:29:00 +0000

Hi, everyone! I'm back after a brief and stressful hiatus. Something tells me there will be quite a few of those this semester. Silly classes are going to kill me.

Anyway, I've just completed a small batch of custom orders, and here's one of my favorites: a really cute and simple slouch hat in one of my favorite colors - bright red!

The yarn I used was Red Heart Soft Touch, and it lives up to its name. It's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I definitely want to make a bunch more of these slouch hats for my shop. They're simple and quick to make, but look so awesome when they're done. It's just something I improvise each time, but I'm loving the band I make on the bottom, as well. Go me.

Let me know if you're interested in a written pattern for this hat and I'll try to type one up this weekend.

Hope you're all having a great week!

another custom order mailed out!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Yay. It's Wednesday. Which means it's not Friday.

Innyhoo, I finished up this slouchy hat last night for a custom order:

The photo's a wee bit grainy because I took it a night, but my tripod avoided completely destroying it. I was dropped it in the mail this morning, so it should be on the way to its final destination shortly!

I have to say, I love the final result. It's based on the Ballpark Hats I've been making (pattern courtesy of Lion brand), but it didn't have a pom-pom. It's made in Vanna's Choice black, which was surprisingly soft after my experience with the much rougher grey.

Speaking of yarn, I just discovered that there's a Hobby Lobby not too far from us. Paint me green and call me Gumby, because I am SO EXCITED to get me some sparkly "I Love This Yarn". I'll let you know if I can get there this weekend. My guess is my bank account will say "No".

Wavy Zig-Zag Striped Crochet Beanie Pattern Now Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Hi, all! If you haven't already heard, my Wavy Zig-Zag Crochet Beanie pattern is now available for purchase and download on Ravelry. You can also purchase the pattern through my etsy shop, but Ravelry is best for instant gratification :)

The pattern includes instructions for both a normal beanie and a slouchier version. More information on what's includes and what you need to know are available on the download pages.

Enjoy!

a post from my sick bed

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Hi, everyone! I'm just making this quick entry to let you know I've been busy dealing with my face falling off of my face. Okay, not really, but I have the worst-ever case of Man Cold and can't stop complaining about it long enough to pick up any yarn.

I had already been hit with the ultimate Crap Trifecta - it was Monday, I had worked for 9 hours and spent 4 hours in classes for my graduate program, and I had driven home in sleet and freezing rain. That's when the sore throat hit. Today, Sneezing came late to the party, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever feel human again.

Suffice it to say, I've been really bad at responding to any comments you've all been leaving me on any of the sites I'm on, and I'm trying to catch up as best I can. Please don't think I'm being mean :)

I'll leave you with photos of my slouchy zig-zag hat. If/when I return to you from my grave this weekend, I'm putting the accompanying pattern in InDesign and listing it for sale in my etsy shop and on Ravelry.

With any luck, I'll be able to let you know on Monday that it's available!

Hopefully you're all martyring your way through Cold & Flu season better than I. See you next week!

pink & black crochet zig-zag hat prototype

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:53:00 +0000

I've been trying to perfect this pattern for a couple weeks now (which has been hard with the holidays and everything), so I have a few of these prototypes floating around the house. Hubby is really happy about this, of course.

Here is one of my favorite zig-zag hats I finished over the weekend:

I have at least one more to show you, and I might make one more before finalizing the pattern.

I've been really lucky in this whole experience by having some talented and fast pattern testers giving me feedback. I appreciate all your help: Beth, Kimberly, Erin, and Bobbie!

super cute slouchy hat from lion brand

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Last week, I finished this cute little number I had seen floating around in my Internet travels:

It's called the Ballpark Hat, and the pattern is from Lion Brand. I used Vanna's Choice yarn, which is actually the yarn called for, and I'm loving it. I wore it the other night and it was sooooo super warm - so warm that I started sweating, so I'm not sure it'll be a wardrobe staple, haha.

One thing about this yarn I hadn't realized before is that it makes me itch a little - almost like wool. Not sure what that's about, and I've never worn Vanna's Choice myself before (I usually opt for Caron Simply Soft). I think it'll be better after I wash it. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

five days of ziggy hats - day five

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:20:00 +0000

Good morning, everyone! The slow march to Friday has come to an end, and so has my daily Ziggy hat updates. I hope to make more of these hats in the future, so maybe there will be another short series - unless you're totally sick of them :)

This last hat is also the very last hat I made. I knew I wantd to make another one, but wasn't sure which colors I wanted. Originally, I was thinking neutrals: black, grey, and white. But then I decided it needed some extra pizzazz, so I added the bright pink.

Yarn used is once again Caron Simply Soft.

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

I hope everyone enjoyed these posts as much as I enjoyed making the hats featured. Have a great weekend, and maybe you'll make some Ziggy hats of your own :D

five days of ziggy hats - day four

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:52:00 +0000

Welcome back to my super short "5 Days of Ziggy Hats" series! I'm really excited to talk about this next hat because it's one of my favorite color combos - bright pink, bright green, and sparkly all over.

I used the always fabulous Caron Simply Soft Party, which I can't get enough of. Literally. No stores in my area carry it. I even checked our Joann's, which is where I picked it up in the first place when I visited a friend in West Chester. It's a shame because I would use this yarn in almost every project if I could.

One more day left of Ziggy hats! I'm hoping to make a ton more in the future, but we'll see what happens with classes (they start up again next week... fun).

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

five days of ziggy hats - day three

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:38:00 +0000

The next Ziggy hat I made during my crocheting marathon last week resembles an ocean sky. I totally didn't do that on purpose. In fact, all I knew was that I wanted to use a bright purple. So I put a bunch of skeins together and picked a combination that really stood out to me.

Here's the pretty result:

The turquoise and purple yarns are both Caron Simply Soft Brites, and the light teal is a random unknown ball of yarn I found wedged in the back of my cubby.

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

See you tomorrow for Day Four!

five days of ziggy hats - day two

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:31:00 +0000

For the second day of Ziggy Hats Mania, I'm going to show you this fun Christmas hat that I made. After Christmas. So maybe next year, I'll get to wear it and enjoy it.

I got the yarn years ago in a Herrschners Holiday Yarn Pack that came with 10 balls of sparkly deliciousness. It's a pretty good price for the amount and quality of yarn. The particular pack used was the Victorian Christmas pack, and I just love the colors - but they have quite a selection, so make sure to check it out for your next holiday project!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Ziggy hat - which one will I choose? :P

If you'd like to make your own hat, you can purchase the Ziggy pattern by clicking here.

five days of ziggy hats - day one

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:48:00 +0000

Happy Monday/New Year, everyone! Time to get back to some level of normalcy now that the holidays are over. I'm not too excited about that, but at least I have this new crochet pattern to keep my entertained.

If you haven't already checked out the Ziggy Hat, make sure you do. I bought it right before Christmas to reward myself for all the stress I put myself through knitting all my presents - and I wouldn't allow myself to make one until after Christmas was over.

So as you can see, I went a little nuts and made five over the past week, taking breaks in between to work on other things:

Since there are five, I'm going to feature one each day this week because I think they're all beautiful enough to get their own posts!

This first one is what I'm calling "French Country". I love this color combination and thought the Ziggy Hat pattern lended itself well to it:

The designer, Liz McQueen, graciously allows sales of hats made from this pattern with proper attribution (details in the pattern itself), so I will probably be putting these in my shop sometime soon.

Make sure to check out the pattern and make your own! It's not expensive and it's sized for adults, children, and babies. How cute would a matching set of these be for the whole family?

new year 2012 knit & crochet resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Image copyright Jennifer Renson.

Is it really this time of year again? Time for everyone to pretend we'll be better people and lose a couple pounds in the new year?

Well, I'm going to stop pretending. Yes, I'd love to work out more and improve myself as a human being, but I'm tired of making that same resolution every year (I really should just do it).

Instead, I've set some crafty goals for myself to accomplish in 2012 that will continue feeding my addiction(s), but in more productive ways:

Continue shopping in my own stash: I've done so well with shopping in my own stash this year that I can sadly say it's dwindling. My huge supply of pink yarn is slowly melting, which makes me a little teary-eyed. But I'm also proud of myself for not going out into the world and just buying any yarn that I like. I had a few buying jags this year, but overall controlled myself. And when your hobby/business needs to happen on a budget, that's a good thing!

Buy more "fancy" yarns: Now, this might sound as if it totally contradicts #1 above, and... it totally does in many ways. But most of the yarns I buy are for custom orders. To keep costs down, I opt for yarns like Vanna's Choice, Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Soft, Bernat Satin, and I absolutely love buying Stitch Nation if the color(s) I need are in stock. But I'm talking about yarns like Debbie Bliss, Noro Silk Garden, Rowan anything, etc. I don't often get to buy many of these yarns for myself, and I want to indulge.

Because the price for such yarns is kinda "up there", I don't think adding more will make my stash explode. I want to get more experienced with yarns and textures, and limiting myself to whatever my local chain craft stores carry that week isn't going to help me. So that said...

Shop local: There are at least two LYS that I want to visit, plus another near my parents' house. I always harp on and on about supporting local businesses, and then I procrastinate and never get a chance to visit because I'm shopping at 9PM and the only thing open is Target.

Well, procrastinate no more! This year, I pledge to not only visit my LYS more, but visit it at least once. I still haven't gone to Knitter's Edge, which is barely a couple miles from our house and opened more than two years ago. I suck.

Learn to sew: Okay, not technically knit or crochet related, but I mostly want to learn how to sew because I need linings in the bags I make. I don't make bags often because I don't see a use for them without a nice lining, and I don't even know where to begin. I found a really great tutorial and have it bookmarked, but my sewing machine is still in a box and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. Plus, quilting looks like another hobby I need to eat up more time in my life.

Oh, and did I mention how my super thoughtful and supportive Hubby bought me a basic sewing book for Christmas? When do I tell him he can't get mad at scraps I leave behind if he continued to indulge my craft obsessions? :P

Learn tatting: This one is a relatively new goal of mine because I got an awesome tatting tutorial book and supplies from my oma for Christmas. I've wanted to learn tatting for awhile, but didn't really have the chance. I also thought a lot of the tutorials I found were limited. Luckily, I now have a great book with companion DVD, all the needles and shuttles I'll ever need (until the couch eats them), and a great pattern book for making snowflakes. I think I know what everyone's getting for presents next Christmas :)

I could come up with even more crafty resolutions, but I'm trying to be realistic. If everything works out, the next year of my MBA program will be my last... only five classes left until I'm overqualified for almost every job in America! Basically, I need to work Craft Time around Homework. Not fun, I know, but it'll be almost worth it in the end.

What are your Crafty New Year 2012 Resolutions? I challenge you to come up with some and let me know :D Have a safe and fantabulous New Year's weekend!

finally sharing some christmas crafts!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:49:00 +0000

Now that Christmas is over, I can finally show off some of the gifts I made! Here's a super cute pig hat I crocheted for my cousin using all kinds of pink baby yarns:

I didn't work from a pattern - just sort of improvised it. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably make the nose 3-dimensional, but I'm still kinda happy with it :)

Hope you all had a great weekend and are super excited to get back to the daily grind. I know I am! Just kidding. I wish I'd have taken this whole week off from work to enjoy some of our new goodies, but alas.

I'll be back later this week and next to share some of the fun crafty things I got for Christmas (I'm gonna learn tatting and sewing!), plus I have some other projects to share. In addition to getting fun things, we also got to spend a lot of time with our families and even squeezed in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," which was a really great movie. If you're interested, I'd recommend reading the book first only because the movie moves quickly and doesn't explain a lot - some people in the audience were lost and the one lady behind us spent the whole movie explaining to someone else what was going on. Kind of annoying!

Hurray for the holidays, though, and I wish that they didn't go by faster and faster every year!

merry christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:54:00 +0000

Charlie and the rest of us (me) here at JennLikesYarn wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas weekend!

Hope everyone has safe travels and lots of tasty treats to fill yourselves up with. I've already started packing on the holiday pounds - or at least it feels like it! I bless you with Christmas wishes of lots of yarn this holiday season :)

a crochet hat for hubby!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:49:00 +0000

Only six days left! And only half of those are good for crafting because the rest are spent wrapping the presents you should have had done months ago. Oh, well :)

Anyway, I can't show you most of what I've been working on because of the fact they're Christmas gifts. But I CAN show you this quick project that I whipped up over the weekend because Hubby has been complaining about a cold head for at least the past month. Well, I did promise to make him a hat for our anniversary and never did... so that's probably why. But here it is:

The light grey yarn is some leftover Plymouth Encore Tweed I had from a shopping trip Hubby and I took while vacationing at my parents' lake house. The dark yarn is some leftover Vanna's Choice I had from knitting the gloves I posted last week.

I only combined the two colors because I was running out of the Tweed, but I think the result looks great. It's actually a little too big on Hubby because he complained that his last hat didn't cover his ears - and it doesn't. Even though I had added an extra inch to the pattern. So I just threw this new hat together and he wore it all weekend. Because he wubs me.

I finished up two other gifts this weekend and will probably finish the last one over the next couple days. I guess I have no choice, though :)

altered knit "bella" fingerless mittens = done!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:57:00 +0000

TGIF! I've never been more excited to see a weekend. Well, that's not true, but it's still pretty fantastic that I get to sleep in until 8AM tomorrow. It's the little things in life, isn't it?

I'm just popping in to show you this pair of altered "Bella Mittens" for a custom order:

As you can see, I modified the original pattern (located here) a little bit. The mittens no longer have a horseshoe cable because I separated them and added a 1x1 rib between them. I also nixed the top of the mitten and changed it to half-fingers - something I'd never done before, so I'm kinda proud :)

I really love how these turned out, and I hope the person they're going to enjoys them as much as I do! It was definitely a learning experience, and a fun one at that. Every time I fudge a pattern and happen to do something correctly, I feel like I can conquer the world :P

Have a great weekend, everyone!

completed crochet zig-zag hat prototypes

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:06:00 +0000

Here are the prototype hats I finished crocheting on Monday night! The pictures are terrible, since they were obviously taken in the evening, but hopefully you get the idea :)

The blue and black hat is the first one I made, and I wasn't too happy with the way the top or bottom came out, so I made the second one with all the super fun colors :P I really enjoy them and want to alter the pattern a couple ways to a) make it slouchy and b) add ear flaps. I think these would look super cute as ski caps!

In other news, I keep getting sick, and this is not the time of year to get sick! I had a stomach bug at the end of the last week, and I think I feel another one coming on. I just can't win and all I want to do is sleep - but of course, you can't sleep during the last week leading up to Christmas!

my weekend project(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:44:00 +0000

Happy Monday! As happy as a Monday gets, anyway. The closer it gets to Christmas, the more I dread the weeks flying by so quickly. Totally the opposite of when we were kids, right?

Anyway, I thought I'd pop in and show you part of a new crochet hat pattern I'm working on:

It'll be a zig-zag hat, but the bottom part will be flat. I haven't seen too many of these hats floating around, so hopefully everyone will be able to get some use out of it!

I actually started making a second one last night and already modified a few things in my pattern, so we'll see how long it takes until "total perfection" - but I'd love to get it up before Christmas. It's going to be a paid pattern, probably somewhere in the $3-$4 range, and I might add some ear flaps. We'll see where this whacky world takes me!

So here's a fun story that'll induce nightmares to all knitters... I finished the second in a pair of gloves yesterday, only to discover I must have dropped a couple stitches somewhere in the pinky. Needless to say, as I was trying to fix it, the entire pinky became unraveled... then eventually the left side of the glove became unraveled... I started to get really frustrated and Hubby wanted to kill me.

Eventually I just wove a piece of yarn through one of the rows just above the thumb gusset and ripped everything back. We're in good shape again, but now I'm behind. I really thought I'd be able to get those done and shipped out by this morning. Crap. So you can see why I needed to crochet a few hats. I needed to feel productive.

Have a super-dee-dooper fun week, everyone!

sneak peek: knitted christmas presents

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:31:00 +0000

Here's a sneak peek at the Christmas presents I've been knitting since Thanksgiving. Some of you know what I've been up to, but can the rest of you guess what they are?

I have at least five more to go, so wish me luck! It's been consuming my life the past few weeks and will continue to do so until Christmas Day. Guess you all know what I'll be doing this weekend :)

I hope everyone has a great Friday! And that your Christmas gift progress is coming along much better than mine, lol.

gift ideas for knitters and crocheters

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:18:00 +0000

Okay, crafters - it's officially "well into" the holiday season, which means one of two things:

You're going insane trying to find gifts for everyone on your list who already has everything (or knitting/crocheting furiously to customized gifts in the nick of time), or
You're fielding questions about what you (as a crafter) want for the holiday season.

And maybe you're even a little bit like me, where you're doing everything mentioned above and barely have time to breathe. I've taken to bringing my knitting with me to work so I can get something accomplished during my lunch breaks.

I thought I'd make things a little easier on us all by compiling this short list of fun gifts for the crocheters and knitters in our lives. Some are Christmas-themed, and some are not-so-Christmas-themed - but all of them are things I'd personally love to receive in my stocking this year:

Rockin' Around ... LadyDanio $10.00	Art Yarn, Red Hands... WoolWench $28.00	Keep Calm and finis... tillyflopdesig... $2.15	Christmas Ornament ... TwoGirlsLaughi... $8.00
Knit your own amigu... ButterflyLove1 $6.00	Pattern Wallet Knit... slippedstitchs... $35.00	Hand Knit Stamp - H... myrubberstamp $17.00	Needles, Crochets a... KnitterBag $32.99
Knitting or crochet... CaractacusPots $18.99	Knitting Kit Sheep ... ButtermilkCott... $10.00	Any Five Patterns Mamachee $22.00	Drop spindle kit, w... pamsfiber $22.00
Handmade Wood Croch... rparishwoodwor... $19.99	Droplets...removabl... ChatonDesigns $8.00	Thick and Thin Meri... thefinelime $17.50	Wreath, 14" Ch... whimsysworksho... $40.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

And who says you have to buy all these goodies for everyone else on your list? After all that shopping, and those long nights spent pouring over your knitting needles or crochet hooks, I think we all deserve a little something :)

You could even just leave this screen open so your friends and family "accidentally" see these fun little gift ideas. I mean... I'm not sneaky.

I hope you enjoy the photos! It certainly put me in the holiday spirit. Make sure to keep supporting your fellow independent artists :D

monday comes onces again...

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:11:00 +0000

Sadly, Monday has made yet another appearance in our lives and I wish I had more to show for it! I've been working on Christmas gifts and finishing up the last of my custom etsy shop orders - and since almost all of those are knitted, it's going a bit slower than usual for me! And I'm a quick knitter!

Anyway, I thought I'd show you some of the new hat designs I've been selling in my shop. People have taken a lot of interest in them, so I'll be making more in the near future. Two of these have already sold!

How is everyone else's Christmas knitting coming? I'm on gift #4 of 16 total, haha. I'm worried I won't make it, but now that the shop is closed to custom orders, I can just sit down and focus on getting these things done. Maybe I'll come back with a sneak peek later in the week :)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Hubby and I went to Christmas at Hershey Park. And be surprised - I got a pink Santa hat to make the experience that much more festive:

Have a great Monday!

taking advantage of some cyber monday deals at shutterfly!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:49:00 +0000

I'm never one to pass up a good deal, and this was too good to miss.

For the past couple years, I've sent customized Shutterfly holiday cards to our friends and families. I almost didn't this year just because the cost of everything has gone up... so I was okay (but not happy) with sending generic cards. But then I got my awesome Shutterfly Cyber Monday deal and created these beauties:

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

I got 50 custom cards for less than $35 - including shipping and handling. The deal I got lasts until November 30th, so get your tushies over there today!

happy thanksgiving - enjoy these custom baby knits/crochets :D

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Whelp, I finally finished all those super adorable baby items! Before I ship them out in the next couple days, I thought I'd post some photos!

The items are for a (hopefully) new friend of mine who will be using these as photo props - I can't wait to see what those look like! They include a football hat and diaper cover set, a baseball hat and diaper cover set, some munchkin hats, and some adorable toddler hats.

I hope you all have a fantabulous Thanksgiving! Hubby and I will be enjoying the holiday with both our families, gorging ourselves on two delicious meals. I plan to get a lot of knitting in for Christmas gifts while I'm staying with my parents, then it's time to come home and have another tasty turkey dinner with our friends in the area.

I'll tell you what, though - as hectic as this long weekend will be for me, I'm still really looking forward to four days off and some "me" time!

Be safe, everyone!

my traveling scarf is home!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:01:00 +0000

I received my traveling scarf last week, and I'm so happy to have it home! It is beauteous:

I wasn't sure if I was going to add fringe to the bottom, but I think I will. I might use white and keep it all the same color, just to bring everything together.

It's so bright and sparkly - I love it! Thanks to all the ladies who have worked so hard on this. It's been a few months since we started and it's nice to have it back in my hands :D

knitted headbands everywhere!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:52:00 +0000

Before I get started on my day, I just wanted to show off some custom headbands I made over the weekend for my shop!

Grey and cream are probably the most popular colors chosen for these headbands, so needless to say I always have enough yarn to make them :)

If you'd like to make your own, then check out the pattern page! They make for quick and easy Christmas gifts that everyone loves. Or, if you can't knit, visit my etsy shop and I'd be more than glad to make you some for the holidays.