Hippie Headband Revisited

Hello and good Sunday to you! Well, it's still my Saturday but I'm one of those people who keeps a peculiar schedule. As per usual, I came up with a couple of ideas today whilst at work, but I am still trying to streamline my posts. Remind me, though, that I now owe you a couple of Christmas ornaments and a new purse. Please remember the purse as I'm rather impressed with myself. See, I decided that my patterns and creations were lacking some whimsy so I sat down and purposely created a cutesy little bag. Excuse my immodesty: it's adorable. :)

I digress. I began my night with the intent of showing you how I work with buttons. I'm not sure my explanations will help, but if nothing else it'll remind me of what I did to make it work for me.

Supply List:
Collection of buttons
Peaches and Crème cotton yarn
"H" Bates hook
Thin tapestry needle (I say this because I have two sizes and one was too thick to go through my buttons)
Best collection of swear words and/or annoyed snippets - very important, this

Found these at Walmart in the craft aisle rather than the sewing aisle.

I decided to coordinate the purple and white. Threaded my needle and got ready.

Then I decided I wanted them stacked instead of separated.

(I should've made the headband two stranded and put the purple buttons on the white yarn and vice versa, but I didn't think of it until halfway done.)

Go through the purple button, then the white, and back through the purple. Slide it out of the way and proceed to the rest.

 



Step 1: Thread your needle. Arrange your buttons (or beads) in the proper order. Slide them on and slip them down the line. This is probably your most aggravating step. Some button holes make you work for it. I stabbed myself an embarrassing number of times. Remember that the first ones on will be the last ones off.

****As long as you get the buttons on the string, you've done it right. Don't stress it too much, especially if it's your first attempt.****

 

Make your slipknot and move your first-to-be-used button so that it's rightnexttoit, even to the point of touching your hook.

 

Step 2: Leaving a rather lengthy tail (see how mine is a little looped and still goes out of frame?), make your slipknot to begin your work. Slide your button all the way down. Catching the yarn as it exits the buttonhole, chain 1. If it's too loose, wiggle the button closer to that initial slipknot and pull your stitch tight.

* * * You want your buttons to be on there tightly. Otherwise you'll have a loose chain that looks a bit gap-py. There's no easy way to fix it later, so I recommend the hassle of futzing with it at this step. I have to pay attention to get mine tight, but make sure you aren't so tight that you're stressing the strength. Acrylic especially will tear if you really, really pressure it. * * *

After you chain a bit, slide your next set down, crochet it in tightly, chain a bit more.

 

Step 3: Chain 15, next set, chain 15, next set, chain 15, next set, chain 91.

Step 4 (commencing headband): Skip first chain. hdc in back ridge of second chain from hook. hdc in next 75 chains. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made.

*If changing colors, do so here.*

It's really just like any other connected round except that the "hangy down part" is a chain instead of the first tail. You'll go back later and use your end tail to stitch that gap together.

 

Step 5: Chain 2, dc in same stitch. dc in each stitch around. Connect with slip stitch to first dc made.

*If changing colors, do so here*

*If changing colors, you may cut color here. It will not be used again.*

Step 6: Chain 1, hdc in same stitch. hdc in each stitch around. Leave a long tail. Using a tapestry needle, weave tail from top to bottom. Use tail to close gap. Weave the rest in.

Step 7: Go back to that long tail you started with. Work yarn back through button to make sure it's secure. Weave tail through back ridge of chain up to second button set. Secure second set, hide end, cut yarn. - Yes, this bit is a little fussy, but you can do it. It's also not strictly necessary, but I'm paranoid.

After securing the button and working on weaving through the back ridge.

This is simply another styling option. All I did was take the bottom button and slip it through a stitch.

 

My coworker gave this her vote of confidence, which made me quite happy. This did come out a bit long. That works for me, but if you have shorter hair you might want to either remove a button set or do fewer chains between them.

 

Again, as before, you have some style options with this.

- Wear it as a necklace.

- Wear it to one side or the other.

- Loop the button back up or leave it loose.

- How about looping that button further down the side and letting the chain drape across your hair?

- Whip up some loopy flowers (or your favorite open-middle flowers) and pop them on.

- Make some basic open-middle circles if you're not into floral.

- Leave off one of the button sets and toss a flower in there.

- Make a purple chain to accompany the white.

- * - As I'm typing this up, I'm thinking a purple chain with some buttons would be cute. Then slide both end buttons through a stitch to let the buttons and chains rest across your hair.

- * - If you wanted to go really hippie with it, add flowers to all of those buttons and it'll have that vague look of braided stems flowing through your hair, especially if you used shades of green.

- Make the headband a real headband pattern instead of straight bland stitches.

 

And so on and so forth. I hope I was clear enough to help.

 

As always, I'm ever so glad you stopped by my little hidey-hole. :)



For Beginning Beginners

A friend recently told me she was thinking about taking up crochet. My kids came in today and two of them mentioned a desire to learn. I freely and regretfully admit there was a time I would have become defensive at the idea. "No, you can't. This is my thing. I'm good at it. I don't want you to come in and be like me." I was quite relieved to note that my reaction was one of welcoming. "Sure! That's supercool," I told my friend. "I can try," I told my kids. I don't know if I could teach them, but I could give it a shot. I mean, just this week I came up with a pattern that uses chains, flowers, and headbands all with minimal counting.

I thought about it a bit and came up with some tips and such for true beginners:

•      The first thing I would recommend is starting with at least two different brands of hooks. Boye is probably most common since it's found at Walmart, but I'm rather fond of Bates. If your first hook just doesn't feel right in your hand, know that you have other options.
•      As much as I love Red Heart Super Saver, I would start with Red Heart Love. It's the same kind of bulkiness but markedly softer. I would not start with a thinner yarn simply because of the finger fatigue.
•      It's okay to feel frustrated. You're trying to get your brain wrapped around a new way of moving your fingers and holding your hands. I would go so far as to say you're literally learning a new language as well. Putting that all together will take a bit of practice and will annoy the hell out of you. Set it aside for a minute if you need to.
•      While the basics are the same, nearly everyone has a different style of working. How you hold your yarn, how you hold your hook, how you keep count, how you arrange your arms. All of that has a bit of flexibility to it. Find what's comfortable and workable for you.
•      If you just can't follow or grasp the idea from your source, look for a different source. Find another site or video or book or friend or tutorial to work from. It could easily be that your learning style and their teaching style just don't mesh.
•      Start with the idea of Making Something. If my mother had started me out with just chains, I would've wondered what the point was and quit. Personally, I would recommend starting with at least a headband. Do a swatch, but make it with intent. That way, when you're done, you have something tangible and practical to show for it.

     REALIZE NEARLY EVERYONE'S FIRST ATTEMPTS LOOKED HIDEOUS. No, seriously. Uneven lines. Completely wrong stitch counts. This is the time when you will create stitches no one has ever heard of and you'll never remember. Recognize and own that you will mess up. You will do at least one step incorrectly. It will look a mess. Was your handwriting perfect when you first started to write? Nope. It was all over the place. How'd you do the first time you drove? How about the first time you used a cell phone? Did you know what all those buttons were for? You learned. Your brain adapted. You can do this!

     One last thing. If you truly get stuck and feel lost, take a stroll through the blogs. There are literally thousands. Many (not all, I grant you that) will gladly take a minute to help you through whatever is most fiddly to you. Yes, there are countless tutorials and guides and videos and troubleshoots and helpful hint lists, but sometimes you just need to ask a specific question and get a real person to answer.

Follow me into my gallery of errors

 

This hat's bow is not even. The bow itself should probably have been sewn on a row higher.

This mess of a project with the obvious color changes, the sloppy ends, and the general sense of chaos that comes from having to completely alter a plan when the first one falls through.

That left side is truly a mess. Color changes are not supposed to be that crazy.

Again, I don't even think this hat is wearable. It's cute, but probably worthless.

Oh, and remember the oddly bloody necklace?

 

Then we have the flowers that overlap instead of laying (lying?) flush against the neck.

That's not me cutting off part of the blanket. The sides really are uneven. The top ended up being four rows shorter. I didn't run out of yarn - I just stupidly finished off and weaved in my ends.

It looks okay until you realize it's probably big enough to fit a guinea pig's head. It's plenty wide but nowhere near deep enough.

 

 

You might be looking at some of those and thinking they don't look all that bad. You might even think that you'd never have known there was anything wrong with them if I hadn't told you. That, my lovelies, is my point. Just because you think you RUINED THE WHOLE THING AND NOW IT'S JUST WORTHLESS doesn't mean you did. While a great many pattern came about because of true intent, a great many others came about from pure accident. Many came from "messing up" another actual pattern.

 

 - - - - In crochet, as in life, different doesn't necessarily mean wrong. - - - -

 

 

-Thank you for being here!





Road Trip Bag, Sooner Edition

I know I've told you how much I love this bag. Part of it is the yarn, I think. Part of it is the design and practicality.

I'd like to touch on something for a moment. Most of what I make tends to be sparse or bare. While I look at it as being a "clean" or streamlined look, I know many people prefer adornments, appliques, and general personality and attitude on their items. Can you imagine, though, how dressed up these bags could be? Make a whole field of flowers and sew them on. Play with the colors. Use a fun or sparkly yarn for the top few rows. Weave a length of ribbon through a couple of rows. Weave a ribbon through the handle. Add some bows. Add some buttons.

The point here is that you have a clean slate to start with. You don't have to reimagine something I've given you - you can simply jump in from where I end and add your personality to it. I'm probably TOO practical sometimes. I think of the things flowers would catch on or the hassle of messing with a ribbon or the fact that buttons would constantly snag my hair. I do recognize, though, that you have to occasionally toss PRACTICAL to the side and have some FUN. Add some flair.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-
 Road Trip Bag Formula:
Start with a multiple of 6
Work out until desired width
Work up until desired height
For handles - divide number of stitches by 3 to get Handle. divide that number by 2 to get Opening.
Bag will look like this: Handle, Opening, Handle, Opening.
Work one handle for half of desired length of strap.
Work other handle exactly the same.
Connect with preferred joining style.
Single crochet or crab stitch around arm holes for added stability and appearance.

Maroon and Cream Version. The Second Attempt.

-used Caron One Pounders and an "H" Bates hook

- stitch count of 12, evenly increased

- to adjust, add or subtract in sets of 6 to have handles work properly

The plain speak:
(This is for people like me who need both a pattern and a "plain" version. I noticed when my friend tried to teach me a pattern, she'd tell me in "pattern" speak, but I'd have to repeat it in "plain" speak to truly understand it. I just add this in case someone out there is like me and needs to have some simple words in addition to the complicated gibberish.)
*Magic Circle with 12dc
*7 rows of increase (84 stitches)
*19 rows dc up
*1 row sc

Handle. Turn at end of each row.
84/3 = 28
28/2 = 14
28 handle, 14 opening, 28 handle, 14 opening

**I'm very sorry, but I've looked at this time and again and canNOT for the life of me figure out what I did. Humble brag about my decreasing skills? Nope. Just an idiot who didn't write it out as she went and now can't figure it out. In lieu, I honestly truly for real no hype just now at 3:11am grabbed some graph paper and made one up. Seriously.
***Another note? I turn the same way I begin a round. I chain 1, sc in first stitch. This is NOT the standard, but I like how it keeps my rows neat. If you insist on using chain 1 as your first stitch, you need to adjust for that on each row.

Row 1-2: 28sc
Row 3: 2sc, 2sctog, 20sc, 2sctog, 2sc (26)
Row 4: sc across (26)
Row 5: 9sc, 2sctog, 4sc, 2sctog, 9sc (24)
Row 6: sc across (24)
Row 7: 2sc, 2sctog, 16sc, 2sctog, 2sc (22)
Row 8: sc across (22)
Row 9: 7sc, 2sctog, 4sc, 2sctog, 7sc (20)
Row 10: sc across (20)
Row 11: 2sc, 2sctog, 12sc, 2sctog, 2sc (18)
Row 12: sc across (18)
Row 13: 5sc, 2sctog, 4sc, 2sctog, 5sc (16)
Row 14 - however many needed: sc across
2nd handle: Go back to top row of bag. Skip 14 stitches. Repeat rows.
Finishing
sc around armholes.


The pattern speak:
*I started my rounds in the connecting stitch, as per my usual.*
Round 1: Magic Circle - ch2, 12dc, connect with slip stitch to first dc made. (12)
Round 2: ch2, 2dc in each stitch around (24)
Round 3: ch2. (2dc, dc) around (36)
Round 4: ch2. (2dc, dc, dc) around (48)
Round 5: ch2. (2dc, dc, dc, dc) around (60)
Round 6: ch2. (2dc, dc, dc, dc, dc) around (72)
Round 7: ch2. (2dc, dc, dc, dc, dc, dc) around (84)
Round 8 - 26: ch2. dc in each stitch around (84)
Round 27: ch1. sc in each stitch around (84)

Handle.
***Another note? I turn the same way I begin a round. I chain 1, sc in first stitch. This is NOT the standard, but I like how it keeps my rows neat. If you insist on using chain 1 as your first stitch, you need to adjust for that on each row.

Row 1-2: 28sc
Row 3: 2sc, 2sctog, 20sc, 2sctog, 2sc (26)
Row 4: sc across (26)
Row 5: 9sc, 2sctog, 4sc, 2sctog, 9sc (24)
Row 6: sc across (24)
Row 7: 2sc, 2sctog, 16sc, 2sctog, 2sc (22)
Row 8: sc across (22)
Row 9: 7sc, 2sctog, 4sc, 2sctog, 7sc (20)
Row 10: sc across (20)
Row 11: 2sc, 2sctog, 12sc, 2sctog, 2sc (18)
Row 12: sc across (18)
Row 13: 5sc, 2sctog, 4sc, 2sctog, 5sc (16)
Row 14 - however many needed: sc across Turn at end of each row.
2nd Handle: Go back to top of bag. Skip 14 stitches. Connect with slip stitch, ch1, sc in same stitch. Repeat rows.
My bag has a total of 64 handle/strap rows from top of bag to top of bag.

Finishing.
sc around armholes.

I can't guarantee you this is the same pattern I used on my bag. In fact, it probably isn't since this actually makes sense and I rarely do that straight out of the gate. I am quite confident in this pattern, though. If it gives you fits or doesn't make sense to you, just let me know and I'll work it out for you.

Color Scheme:
Body
4 Cream
2 Maroon
4 C
2 M
8 C
2 M
4 C
1 sc M
Handle
2 M
12 C
4 M
12 C
4 M
12 C
4 M
12 C
2 M
Edging - Maroon

I do hope you give one of these bags a try. They are quite useful, fairly easy, and a great blank canvas for anything you wish to do to them. Also, I just wrote out a handle pattern. That alone should guilt you into at least trying this! Haha! Yes.

* * * I was doing some searching the other day and found similar-looking bags on pretty much all the major sites (Red Heart, Lion Brand, Bernat, etc) labeled as Market Bags. Look, I'm fairly sure there's  nothing revolutionary about working a flat circle, working the sides up, and slapping on some handles. I'm just giving you the formula and structure for what I managed to come up with and that works for me.

Remember, you don't have to stich with straight double crochet. Throw some cross stitches in there. Add some puffs. Make the top ruffle. Alternate your stitches. Try some linked stitches or front posts or back posts. Please, please, please use this as a starting position and not a Definite Article.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This post is definitely lacking some flair, some pretty. Let me see what I can do to fix that. How about a Kenny Chesney story?

The crowd outside the make-up show. It was carnival seating that go round, but Mom doesn't do lines. She'd rather wait and take her chances, thanks anyway.

We even got our own shirts! How many shows get that?!

Especially a shirt from the show you saw the first time AT the make up show for it? Trippy.

btw, that picture isn't altered. That's the rainfall we all sat through.

Again, what an exceptional artist. He's got many a fan for life in the Dallas area, I'm fairly certain.

 

       Have you seen his video for "I'm Alive," the song with Dave Matthews? There's a three second shot or so of Kenny Chesney standing in the pouring rain. I mean, buckets, sheets, downpours. Drenching rain. That was in Frisco, TX.
       This was a Mom and me show and we debated even going. See, I have this weird luck in that it almost always rains or snows on concert days. It might just be a drizzle in the morning, but it nearly always happens. Take the Wisconsin trip, for example. Well, Texas had a 30% chance of rain, so we decided to risk it. We should've known better.
       The openers were Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert. Thirty percent chance? Not even a little. Everyone was drenched. To their credit, even the openers got out in the rain, saying that if the audience was sticking around, so would they.
       Just as Kenny Chesney took to the stage, the rain stopped. We all thought it was perfect. Oh, ha ha ha, the power of music. No. He was maybe three songs in and the heavens opened and it was raining. I'm trying to think how to describe this rain. Really, it's taking me a minute. I know you're sitting there reading, like, "that thought process didn't take long at all" but it really is. Okay. Ever stand next to a flume/log ride at an amusement park? That arc of water that falls over you? That's what this rain was like.
       Instead of calling the show right then and there, the biggest draw in country music (don't lie - he's pretty much The Act of the Summer) strolled out into the middle of this rainstorm and looked at all of us like we were crazy. I swear to you, hardly anyone left. I mean, part of that was probably ticket prices and the reluctancy to drive in that weather, but still. You'd think some people would head for their cars just to get out of the rain. This crowd of probably 15,000 had stayed through the previous rain and still stuck it out. He could've stayed on the stage. He could've ended the show. He could've halted it for awhile. Instead, he came out to the end of the runway and performed.
       About 3/4 of the way through his show, the lightning started. As anyone who attends anything outside knows, lightning means doom. He apologized, wished everyone well, and called it right then. Before we even got to our car, his team had sent texts giving everyone in attendance (who had texted the number on the big screen) $5 off in the online store. The parking lots were a mess, but I have to tell you I don't think I've ever been so touched by a concert crowd. All those guys with 4x4s and mud tires and tricked out trucks were systematically assisting the little cars and trucks out of the flooded field. Strangers were helping hook chains. Others were turning on their headlights to help. Truly one of the kindest moments I've ever witnessed.
       Well. Not two weeks later, a make up show was scheduled. THAT'S UNHEARD OF. Every single ticket to every single event always and forever says that if something happens to cancel or abruptly end a show, you are screwed. Thanks for paying, hope you enjoyed what you got, don't ask for anything more. The biggest moneymaking tour in country music CAME BACK to redo a show that he'd ALREADY done in the freaking rain.
       Without an opener, he came on around 7pm and played until nearly 11pm. He came onstage, asked "Now where were we?" and went right back into the song that had been interrupted by lightning. He and his band played his entire set over again and then went on to do covers of everyone from AC/DC to Alabama to Tom Petty and so much else. He even took his boots off at one point. It was a truly amazing night and a very cool gesture.

       On some of the retrospectives he does, he'll talk about a crazy Dallas crowd who refused to go home even during the pouring rain. He gets this soft look in his eye and a slightly bewildered expression. It was definitely an intense experience, but it's kind of cool to know that he remembers a show I was at, you know? Anyway, that's one of my Kenny Chesney stories. By the way, Mom wasn't nearly as impressed with the rain as I was. I can play in the rain all day. She'll huddle under a garbage bag and glare. :)

Thank you for coming by! I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Soul Vacation

Ever need a vacation just because you need a break? Even if it's just a weekend away somewhere, you just need to escape. Do you have a favorite place to go? Mine is Nashville, Tennessee. When my soul needs a vacation, I research my favorite musicians, find a show that works with my schedule, and make plans to get away. Research shows that the simple act of having something to look forward to can relieve stress and I believe it.

------********------

My byline mentions music, but I haven't really touched on it. To be fair, I tried in my very first post and was completely defeated by technology. I want to take a minute to NOT talk about hooks, stitches, posts, ridges, patterns, and yarn.

My favorite view, except for maybe the view when actually downtown.

All it took was one trip. One trip to Nashville changed my perspective on so many things. I'd always thought of Nashville, TN as being too far away, too big of a deal. It was something I would read about or hear about, almost a mythical mystical place. My mother, brother, and I went for his birthday one year. I now go at least once a year, twice if I can swing it. No matter where I go or how badly I want to be there, I get homesick in a couple of days. I've never felt that way in Tennessee. My coworkers joke they get nervous every time I leave for Nashville. They're convinced each time it's the last time they'll see me.

I have a trip on my calendar as we speak, actually. I've already been this year for All for the Hall. The trip is three months away and I still feel better on a day-to-day basis knowing that I have a Nashville Trip on the horizon. Absolutely my second favorite city to visit. Tulsa is my first, if you care to know. My hometown is my favorite place. Yeah, I'm that girl. Love to travel. Love to come home. I don't know though... I might be able to be okay with calling Tennessee home... :)

I swear. Even the drive is pretty.

Oh, the open roads...

I've always been a music kid. I would take this little recorder/cassette player around with me everywhere. I only had maybe three tapes, all of them children's music. I don't know how my parents survived it. When I was young, it was something that just sounded cool. As I got older, it became so much more.

I grew up with a lot of different styles. Gospel, classic rock, then-modern country, classic country, some Elvis, some Bread. My first real concert was with my dad when I was sixteen. I remember because I had a job and I didn't get a job until after I was sixteen. We went to Tulsa to see Def Leppard and some dude. The dude was awful. Just awful. But then Def Leppard came on. Though it wasn't my style, per se, it was definitely A Moment.

That was the first time I saw the power of live music. I'd been to gospel shows and even a few county fair style set-ups, but this was different. All of these people from all walks of life were focused on one stage, listening to the same chords and notes, and every single one of us had the same purpose: to enjoy this show. When we were there, we saw notices for a show the next month for ZZ Top. Again, not really my scene, but Dad was excited about it so we went.

If I had to pinpoint a specific time that really changed my life about music, it would be the weekend of the ZZ Top show. We got there sort of late but just in time to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band play "Blue on Black." That convinced me to never dismiss an opening act. ZZ Top was fine, but it was the next morning that really launched my addiction. My family and I went to breakfast with a family friend. They had those city magazines in the front foyer, so I grabbed one for the ride home. Inside was an ad for 3 Doors Down. In Tulsa. A few days before my birthday.

This is from this year. It was my Christmas gift and it was perfect.

Still one of my favorite bands. This ticket is from 2010, but I took my brother to his first Shinedown show earlier this year.

Oh... That day... Teenagers have few memories they'd label "perfect" but that day was. At least, that's how I choose to remember it. I was able to see my band, the band I'd been listening to on endless repeat for years, up close. They were real people! It was my first outdoor show, the first show I actually wanted to really see, and the first time I went anywhere with my friends. No family. I also found two new bands to love and that I love dearly even today: Seether and Shinedown.

The only other specific day that had true impact on the rest of my life was the day I wanted to see Tim McGraw. I wanted to see him so badly! He was one of the voices of the soundtrack of my growing up, you know? I already had a few shows under my belt at that point, but this time I was well and truly (forgive me) pissed off at my friends. I didn't want to go anywhere with them. Like any logical person would do, I demanded my mother go with me. I was eighteen, I think. I showed up in her office, told her she needed to take a day off, and we needed to see Tim McGraw. She hemmed and hawed and edged and excused and sighed and eventually caved.

We've been going ever since. It's usually my mom and me at this point though we've taken friends and even on occasion been known to bring my dad and brother. Of course, I have tons more stories to tell. I could even go into detail on these stories, but that'd be overkill for today. I swore off that just this week. Anyway, there you have it. That's what makes me tick. Enjoy a few closing shots of musical randomness from my phone.
((When my kids go through my phone, this is what I hear: "Concer, concer, concer,  me! Me! Concer, concer. Jill, you go to too many concers." They never pronounce the t. Don't know why.))

Kid Rock at All for the Hall 2013

Dad and I thought it was hilarious that Mom went to a Kid Rock show. She's, shall we say, not a fan.

:)

Will Hoge at some tiny place in Fort Worth, TX. August 2012.

((He wrote the song I captured my blog title from.))

Do you see how tiny this room is? The stage is maybe two feet behind him. Directly to the left of that bar in back is the exit door. Tiny, tiny room.

Confession: I go to so many concerts that I've started to keep seating charts in my phone for various venues. So when we go to the box office and they say "I have seats in this section" I can zoom in and make a decision.

My first and only Sandbar Experience for a Kenny Chesney show. I believe this was 2010. Cowboys Stadium.

Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown. This is a no-zoom shot from my previous camera phone.

I think this is from the same show as the seating chart up there. Behind the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK.

Great musician. Brilliant guitarist. Band has an amazing vocalist and no two shows are the same.

The Ryman Auditorium. Not the best picture, but it still makes me happy.

Because sometimes when you're on the journey of life, you have to find a rest stop.

Gavin Rossdale, in the crowd in Tulsa, OK.

 Okay, the picture sucks but YOU try to take a decent picture when you're that close to the lead singer of Bush.

The barebones of the Nickelback stage from the same show as the pic above.

Okay, I couldn't completely keep this free of yarn. This is Miss A and Jr. Do I get partial credit since Jr has on a music related shirt? BTW, neither of them have any idea where these hats are today. I don't think Jr's made it out of the movie (where we were headed this day).

I hope you don't feel I'm bragging or boasting. I'm not. I don't "know people" or anything like that. Truly, I just get lucky more often than you would think. I call it concert karma. It may not be real, but it works for me.

Thank you for going down memory lane with me!

Hippie Headband

One of my very best friends had a birthday this week. I've known her for as long as I can remember. No, seriously. I vaguely remember meeting her in kindergarten, so our friendship literally goes back about as far as my memory does. We've had our fights, even some fairly major ones, but one or both of us always tries to mend it.
She's not quite a hippie, yet I can never think of "hippie" without thinking of her. It's probably the long blonde hair or the "if it happens, it happens" attitude. She's one of the most honest people I know. One of my favorite things about her is that I can never be too weird for her.
I could show up on her doorstep (already weird enough since she lives at least eight hours away), tell her I just got married (and I'm notoriously anti-paperwork) to a stockbroker (I don't even know where to find one of those) and needed a place to stay until the police search was canceled (I've never been involved with anything illegal beyond a couple of tickets in my teens). I guarantee you she wouldn't ask why the police were after me or how I found her address. She'd probably question the brand-new husband before anything else.
She has a way of knowing when people need a pick-me-up. I am regularly treated to random texts or facebook posts from her concerning some of my favorite things.

Doctor Who and Matt Smith have been our recent fascinations.

 

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It was on her birthday that this idea came into my head. I've tested it a few times and came up with a couple of variations. It's like a connected round and a necklace smushed together. It sounds bizarre, but it works. I'm quite in love with these as they came out almost exactly as I'd envisioned them. I'm hoping I can muss a bit and get some smaller flowers at some point.

You can wear them as I modeled them. You can wear them to the side. Oooh, over a small braid, as if to highlight it would be nice. You could do a straight chain, even, and then braid that INTO your hair, I suppose. Anyway, they just scream "music festival" to me.

Hippie Headband Pattern 1

-used Caron One Pounder Baby and an "H" Bates hook

-exact stitch count does not matter; there is no "multiple of" to worry about

Step 1: Chain 75. Skip first chain. hdc in second chain from hook and across. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made, ignoring the first chain.
**as per usual, I used the back ridge of the chain to get that finished look I prefer**
Step 2: Chain 1, sc in same stitch and around. Connect with slip stitch to first sc made.
Step 3: Chain 1, hdc in same stitch and around. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made.
Step 4: Chain 20. Pull up a loose loop. Chain 1. 10sc around loose loop.
Step 5: (Chain 5, skip a stitch, sc) x 5. (6sc around loop, sc OVER sc) x 5 - flower complete
Step 6: Chain 15. Pull up a loose loop. Chain 1. 15sc around loose loop.
Step 7: Chain 10. Pull up a loose loop. Chain 1. 10 sc around loose loop.

Notes:
- to keep circles tight, slide work away from you
- likewise, if you need some slack, pull toward you
- you'll need to "skip" over the line when making circles (that'll make sense to you when you work it, promise). To keep circles and flowers centered, try to do this at the halfway point

Modifications:
- Add more rows to headband
- Make headband more detailed, with an actual pattern. You can add the flower part to nearly anything.
- Wear the whole thing as a necklace if you'd like. If you had a pin or even a cute bobby pin, you could cinch it together to wear choker-style.
- Make all the circles into flowers.
- Try a different flower pattern.
- Don't make any flowers. Leave them all as circles.
- Add as many flowers as you like.

I have the purple one flipped over the top by accident. Thanks to my awesome brother for being indulging enough to "take my picture with this on my head real quick" earlier tonight.

 

Hippie Headband Pattern 2

-used Peaches and Crème Grape and White and an "H" Bates hook

-exact stitch count does not matter

 

** I changed colors on last hdc. Whatever method works for you, go for it.**

** I used back ridge of chain.**

** Do not cut yarn until very end. **

Step 1: Chain 73. Skip first chain. hdc in second chain from hook and across. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made.
*color change*
Step 2: Chain 1, sc in same stitch and across. Connect with slip stitch to first sc made.
*color change*
Step 3: Chain 1, hdc in same stitch and across. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made.
Step 4: Chain 25. Pull up a loose chain. Chain 1. 12hdc around loose chain. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc. Chain 1, sc in same stitch. [(dc, tr, dc), sc] x 4. (dc, tr, dc) in last stitch. Connect with slip stitch to first sc made. First flower complete.
Step 5: Chain 10. Pull up a loose chain. 10sc around loose chain. (Chain 7, skip a stitch, sc) x 5. (8sc around loop, sc OVER sc) x 5. Second flower complete. Leave a tail and cut white.
*color change*
Step 6: Slide hook under any white ridge, pull up a loop.
(what you're doing here is creating a place to start a chain from. I promise, it's the fiddliest part of this pattern and is really quite easy.)
Chain 15. Pull up a loose loop. Chain 1. 10sc around loose chain. (Chain 9, skip a stitch, sc) x 5. (10sc, sc OVER sc) x 5. Purple flower complete. Leave a tail and cut purple.

 Notes:
- I think in the purple flower, I actually sc in the same stitch as the first one. Again, sounds insane, but I didn't crochet into the sc but into the BASE of it, where it was crocheted into the initial round. Know what? Do whatever works for you - it's just a flower.

Modifications:
- pretty much the same as above

Not a great picture. Not sure if that was wind or buttons-in-hair syndrome.

 

Hippie Headband Pattern 3

-used Peaches and Crème white and an "H" Bates hook

-used 5 buttons: Large blue, medium white. Medium blue, small white. Small blue. (My tapestry needle wouldn't thread through the tiny white.)

- stitch count is still unimportant

 

Have you ever used buttons or beads? I wish I'd thought to take as-I-went pictures. That'll be my task on Saturday. It went like this. I threaded a tapestry needle. Slide through blue buttonhole, slide through white buttonhole, through other side of white, through other side of blue. Push them down the line. Be careful not to let it get too tight. If it does, slip needle under the yarn and wiggle it loose. Repeat for other buttons.

Step 1: Slide small blue button to end. Chain 1, catching button in work. Chain 10.
Step 2: Slide med/small button combo toward work. Chain 1, catching buttons in work. Chain 15.
Step 3: Slide last combo toward work. Chain 1, catching buttons in work. Chain 85.
Step 4: Skip first chain. hdc in back ridge of 75 chains. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made.
Step 5: Chain 1, hdc in same stitch and in each stitch around.

Notes:
- Leave a long tail at beginning of work. Then you can double secure the end button and even the second if you weave tail through back ridge of chain.
- This could possibly be the easiest way to try adding buttons or beads into your work. It's at the very beginning, so you don't have much pushing or stitch counting to worry about since the stitch count doesn't matter.

Modifications:
- Use beads.
- Use more/fewer buttons.
- Make chains longer.
- All previous modifications still apply.
- Oh! A Thought. Add some of those open-middle flowers over the buttons when you're done.
- Throw a flower pattern in there if you want.

 

Hippie Headband Pattern 4

Same as above, but using flowers/circles instead of buttons. Basically, making your adornments first and then the headband. Full disclosure? I'm pretty sure that's what I did on the first one up there. But... I'd already typed it up before I remembered. That particular pattern would go like this.

Step 1: Magic Circle. Chain 1, 10sc, close circle.
And then work in reverse.

If you have any questions, just let me know.
Thank you for spending some time with me today!

The Road Trip Bag, a free pattern

I've noticed that my posts are, shall we say, loaded. If we were being less kind we could say manic, frenetic, overwhelming, chaotic, scattered... and so on. I will be making a concentrated effort to reign that in a bit. Some of it is just my personality, but a BIG part of it is being a little kid with a new toy. "Look, I can do this and that and this and say whatever I want and and and and..." It needs to stop.

The problem is this. I do crochet quite a bit. Just tonight, I came up with a new style of headband, a ruffledy hat, and wrote out my first draft bag pattern. I made three of the headbands and would've made more hats if I'd had my tapestry needle with me. I loathe weaving in ends, but I loathe even more the idea of having to do it later. Anyway, the point is that I often wind up with a backlog of patterns. Even now, posting WAY more often than anyone should, I still owe y'all (myself, really) a couple of bow patterns and the other two bag patterns. I need to get those shirt patterns on here and am so anxious to start more. I've also made business card holders, super-simple boot cuffs, and some flowers. I need to type up a Basic Beanie pattern so it can be referred to when I say things like, "it's just a basic beanie with a flower border."

I'm not quite sure how I'll handle that overload. I might have to start doing a "Free Pattern Friday" or something similar just to get them out of my head or off of my notebook paper before it all gets lost to the ether but without overloading every single post. Poor little Miss M in the halter shirts got a bit trampled in the mess of the rest of the post yesterday, which made me feel quite guilty. Each item needs its own spotlight. Otherwise, what's the point? If I wanted things to get lost and muddled, I would've kept to the 3 ring binder system.

Moving on.

Looking back.
This was my summer vacation. My mom and I went to Country Thunder Wisconsin 2013.

A crowd shot at sunset the second day. We were at the fence (the front of the general admission area) that day.

 

Little Big Town

Keith Urban

Keith Urban bringing LBT back onstage

Day Three. Chris Young

Brad Paisley

Day Four. Brett Eldredge

Joe Nichols in the rain. So much fun!

Joe Nichols on the back barricade, in the rain

And Joe just a few feet away

Hunter Hayes, performing in the rain

See the rain? See him being awesome and playing in it, too?

Jake Owen. One of the only clear shots. I almost killed my camera by using it in the rain, so Jake is a little blurry in most of my shots.

 

And Keith again. See that sheen he has going? This night (day 2) was crazy hot. The next night was literally twenty degrees cooler.

 These are the memories woven into the stitches of this bag. That might be part of why I love the design so much. Then again, it is quite functional and fun. I finished the bag on the trip up to Wisconsin and then used it during the day for the camera and such.

Road Trip Bag Formula:
Start with a multiple of 6
Work out until desired width
Work up until desired height
For handles - divide number of stitches by 3 to get Handle. divide that number by 2 to get Opening.
Bag will look like this: Handle, Opening, Handle, Opening.
Work one handle for half of desired length of strap.
Work other handle exactly the same.
Connect with preferred joining style.
Single crochet or crab stitch around arm holes for added stability and appearance.

Sorry. I thought I had better pictures of this. Maybe I'll edit to add later.

 

The First Draft Version
**This is exactly as it was done so you know exactly what's going on in the picture.**

**Please note
- I do a short chain (ch1 for hdc; ch2 for dc) at the beginning of every round.
- I do NOT count that chain as a stitch.
- I begin the round in the connecting stitch (the same one I chained from).
- I connect each round to the first STITCH, ignoring the chain.

**2sctog and 3sctog are "2 single crochet together" and "3 single crochet together" respectively. These are also abbreviated as 2dec or dec2sc. I like this abbreviation because it sounds like what it is. It's 2am right now, so I humbly suggest a quick look-up if you don't know this stitch.


The plain speak:
Magic Circle. 12 hdc.
5 rows of increase, 6 rows total. 72 stitch count.
3 rows of hdc up.
11 rows of dc up.
1 row sc.

Begin handles.
72/3= 24
24/2= 12
Thus: 24, 12, 24, 12
Handle:
2 rows sc 24 (24)
9sc, 3 2sctog, 9sc (21)
sc across
9sc, 3sctog, 9sc (19)
sc across
2sc, 2 2sctog, 2sc, 3sctog, 2sc, 2 2sctog, 2sc (13)
sc across x 70
Handle Two:
Repeat process. "sc across" until strap is desired length.
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The pattern speak:
Round 1: Magic Circle. Chain 1, 12hdc. Slip stitch to first hdc. Pull circle closed. (12)
Round 2: (see beginning notes about starting and connecting rounds) 2hdc in each stitch around. (24)
Round 3: [2hdc in first stitch, hdc in each of next stitch] around (36)
Round 4: [2hdc in first stitch, hdc in each of next two stitches] around (48)
Round 5: [2hdc in first stitch, hdc in each of next three stitches] around (60)
Round 6: [2hdc in first stitch, hdc in each of next four stitches] around (72)
Round 7 - 9: hdc in each stitch around (72)
Round 10 - 21: dc in each stitch around (72)
Round 22: sc in each stitch around

Begin Handle One. Turn after last stitch of each row.
Row 1: sc across 24 stitches (24)
Row 2: sc across (24)
Row 3: 9sc, three 2sctog, 9sc (21)
Row 4: sc across (21)
Row 5: 9sc, 3sctog, 9sc (19)
Row 6: sc across (19)
Row 7: 2sc, two 2sctog, 2sc, 3sctog, 2sc, two 2sctog, 2sc (13)
Row 8: sc across (13)
Repeat Row 8 until handles are desired length.
For Handle Two.
Count 12 stitches from handle. Connect with slip stitch, ch1, sc all in same stitch. Commence handle/strap pattern.

To connect handles/straps to each other:
I thread a tapestry needle, line them up, and stitch together from the inside. That sounds insane. Um. I'll have to take and post pictures.
>
^sew away from you
 |
v sew toward you
<
That's the best I can do for now. When you have your two ends and line them up, you'll see two sets of <<<<<<<  >>>>>>>>>. Always work from the inside. So, sew through the top row going away from you. Sew through the bottom row working toward you. Pull tightly with every stitch. If you do it right (as in "look for real directions elsewhere" more than likely), your seam will be absolutely invisible.

Finishing: Go around armholes with sc
**If using contrasting color, connect yarn on that color.
For example, I used green to finish, so I connected with a slip stitch in a green panel

Color Scheme:
6 light gray
1 pink
6 dark gray
1 lime
6 light gray
1 pink
Handle
2 pink
16 dark gray
3 lime
70 light gray
3 lime
16 dark gray
2 pink

I apologize that some of fiddly bits are a little hazy on the details. I do okay with typing up patterns but individual stitches with the "yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over" makes my brain protest. I must say, though, I do quite like the more streamlined look of this post. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of these patterns I have sitting here, ready to go.

Thank you for your patience and attention!