Crocheting Madness, et al

I like to make things with my hands. That's pretty much it. On top of my livejournal (http://alphabetsocks.livejournal.com - friends only, sorry) I'd also like to have a place to chronical my frequent craft/baking/etc projects.

This last weekend was Thanksgiving. Every year I go to the Thanksgiving dinner at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis. Since my dad's the one who runs it, I have many duties acquired over the years: I help set up and decorate, I do the little relish trays that are put at every table, I sit around in the kitchen and eat turkey skin while the turkeys get carved, I provide my dad with endless support and mocking while he runs around in a girl's apron trying to tell dozens of newcomers where to put their potluck dishes and how to scrape their plates, and most importantly, I decorate the tofurkey.


While I was home I also got myself into a bit of a crocheting kick. I bought maybe $35 worth of yarn, string, a book, and my first ever steel hook. First I made a test hat with some old yarn, since I was trying to muddle my way through making a beanie (or toque, if you're from the North) with a bill and couldn't find a free pattern anywhere. Finally I found a nice single crochet pattern that I could work with. I worked the hat with single crochet and then made the bill by going around doing single crochet until I got to where I wanted the bill, where I did about 5 inches of double crochet with two crochets in every other stitch, then ending with single crochets back to my starting destination.

I started the hat, then made the doily (which I just did directly from pattern #22 in the Big Book of Little Doilies from Leisure Arts), and then just finished the hat. I'm very pleased with how both came out. I was surprised at how quickly the doily went, since it looks so complex, but it's actually only 11 rounds. I think it's a little lopsided, but I doubt anyone will notice.