Silly stuff..

I'm definitely on the mend now hence the lifted mood. For a moment I thought it was turning into a chest infection but I seem to have turned a corner. My voice has returned but I still can't smell or taste much, despite being on my billionth box of tissues.

So, a very rare picture of myself. I think there is only one other on this blog. I've lomo'd this one to hide the flaky nose close up. Not pleasant. The big smile is because this hat feels ridiculously silly. M and I have been taking the odd silly picture of ourselves and sending them to E as a joke about the word 'selfie'.

It's a tad tight which is daft because I did it with the old 'try it on as you go' method. It's snug though. I started with the ribbed band.

This was done using aran weight wool, 6 stitches wide, and just half trebles until the required length. It's tricky to know how much 'give' to allow. I think this one will give a bit if worn regularly.

After joining the band with slip stitches I then did a row of double crochet stitches as a foundation for the puff stitch rounds. I liken this to picking up stitches for knitting collars and so on. I always hated that and it's hard to know if you're getting the number of dc's right this way too. It shouldn't pucker and it's probably best to be generous with them.

I referred to my Erika Knight Crochet Workshop book as a reminder for the puff stitch fabric. I made several of the puff stitch snoods for Christmas presents (2012 I think) and love the way it looks so substantial and yet is fairly quick and easy.

I did a mammoth pom pom using a clover pom pom maker. The next size down would have been sensible. On a smaller head I don't think the gaps between puff stitches would have been so noticeable but I guess this design would benefit from a fleece lining.

Feeling slightly more confident I can create hats without patterns now. Though I have to confess the second slouchy beanie got unravelled by a few rows here and there, mostly because I was watching a good western and not concentrating.