Category: free stuff

free, free stuff, knitting, pattern

Free Hat Pattern

Olof

just for you.jpgSpent some time recovering from a procedure that left me sitting more than usual and after spending some time on Instagram I was inspired to pick up the needles again. I had some yarn that had been sitting for a few years gathering dust that I started using first but realized that the yarn that the people on Instagram was on sale at Micheal’s  so I made a trip and got a few skeins. After spending years being a yarn snob I was quite surprised with the feeling of Thick and Quick by Lion Brand Yarn. It is soft but doesn’t feel like the cheap stuff I had found in craft stores in the past. It has a blend of wool and synthetic fibers but it feels warm and comforting to the touch. I linked to Amazon where you can get it but I got it at Michael’s for only $6 a skein plus Oklahoma tax.

I made quite a few hats. Often getting 3 done in a day. I have 3 sizes, adult, kid and little kid.

This is a loose quick pattern that I just made up as I went along. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments so that others can see the answer when I answer you.

Here is what I used to make the hats:

Size 10 (8mm) double pointed needle

Thick and Quick by Lion Brand yarns in whatever color combos you wish. You will only need part of a skein even if you don’t do any color work.

Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Cardboard to make a pompom maker but you can purchase them on amazon too.

Small scissors to cut the yarn

Stitch markers

The Pattern

Cast on 10(12,14) stitches on each of 4 needles 40(48,52 stitches total) with your contrasting color if you plan on doing color work

k1,p1 for 6 (8,8) rows

Knit with main color for a full row

knit 1 with main color, knit one with contrasting color,* knit 3 with main color and knit one with contrasting color* repeat last 4 stitches until you reach the stitch marker.

Knit with the main color for a full row

Knit 3 with main color then one stitch of contrasting color and repeat that until you hit the stitch marker.

Repeat the last 4 rows for 4 (5,6) times or it measures the height of the persons crown that you are making it for.

Next row, with the main color, you knit 2 together and then knit one and repeat that  until the end of the row

Then knit a row

Repeat the last 2 rows until there are fewer than 10 stitches left, end with a decrease row, cut a 6 inch tail, put it on a tapestry needle and pull the yarn through the remaining stitches and then weave in the ends

Next make a pom pom in whatever color you chose OR you can purchase the fake animal fur ones on amazon here. I just use cardboard. Here is a link to a video on how to make pom poms. 

Attach the pom poms how ever you see fit. Some people like to put 2 like bear ears or like me I just add one to the very top. 

Hope 2019 treats you well! Happy New Year!

Fiber, free stuff, giveaway, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

The Wacky Windmill Giveaway

Olof
Hello everybody! Long time no post again! Well this time I come baring gifts. The amazing Kim or KimLyn as she is known on ravelry has blessed me with her talent. She has sent me some of her hand dyed roving for me to play with and I am ecstatic. She is the owner and artist behind The Wacky Windmill product, blog and Etsy store.

Kim was nice enough to send me the October roving from the Big Bang Theory fiber club and it was the killer robot instability themed. It amazingly came with the roving, a robot charmed stitch marker and 2 crayons shaped like robots from a place that re-purposes crayons on Etsy.com which my kids LOVE.

Kim sent this all the way from Canada and when she said that it was on its way then I got so excited that I couldn’t wait to play with it. Little did I know what life had in store for me and my family but my kids got ill and I got ill and before I knew it November had arrived. I feel so ashamed that this review took so long to manifest itself.

The fiber is just so amazing and so soft. It is a 100% Super Fine Merino Wool Top and the colors in it are just, I don’t even know if I have the words. The light purplish grey, dark purple and the red and pink just come together like a well rehearsed dance with passion. I can’t wait to make yarn with this and then make something beautiful for myself. Might even be a shawl. I’ve started spinning with it but the photos that I have of the yarn does not do the in real life look justice. I will post photos of that later so that I can get this post up and running.

Here is a bit of Kim´s amazing story as she tells it.

“I picked up crochet about 15 years ago when I found out I was going to be an aunt for the first time and decided to make a blanket for my future niece or nephew. Turned out it was a niece whom I love dearly. I kept up with crochet casually, but then really got into it when I was diagnosed about 6 1/2 years ago with Stage III Hodgkins Disease which is a cancer of the lymph nodes. I have been cancer free now for a little over 5 years, but crochet and other crafts helped to get me through treatments and made me feel I had something useful to do. From there the obsession has only increased. I taught myself to knit a couple years ago, and then I also started spinning and weaving earlier this year. I loved it so much that I started dyeing my own yarns and fibres. My friends liked them, and so I figured if they liked them, then others might like them too. I started up my shop to share my yarns and fibres with others and hopefully they get as much enjoyment from them as I do.
My full time job is working as an Addictions Counsellor at a residential treatment centre. It can be pretty high stress sometimes, so knitting and spinning especially are helpful in keeping me stress free and balanced.´’

The treat that I have to offer is……… You get the December club roving OR YARN which is going to be called Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty with the treats that come with it if you follow the rules of the giveaway you can enter up to 4 times.
Here are the rules:
1. You need to go to Kim’s Etsy store and look at her products. There is yarn and spinning fiber.
2. Pick out what of her products you enjoy the best.
3. Come back to my blog and state what you liked the best in the comments to this blog post and make sure to leave a way to contact you. It can be an email, your ravelry name, or an address where the fiber can be sent.
4 you get an extra entry if you start following my blog and leave a second entry stating how you are following my blog.
5. You get another entry if you go to The Wacky Windmill site and follow it and then come back and tell me that you are following it in the comments of this blog entry.
6. Last but not least if you blog or tweet about this giveaway and then come back and leave in the comments a link to your blog or tweet then you will get another entry.
7. Each entry has to have it’s own comment and contact information so we can tell you if you have won.

I will draw from the comments using random.org to find the winner on Sunday the 13th of Nov 2011 at 10pm.

free stuff

It pays to call.

Olof

I’m going to share with you something that every mother should know. IT PAYS TO CALL. When you are unhappy with a service CALL. If you didn’t get what you ordered or got poor quality when you went through the drive through, CALL. They will let you come back later and get a free meal on them. If you ordered something and it was not up to par. CALL they might even give you a free gift to make up for their mistake.

Today I got my package from diapers.com. I had ordered my son’s natural, expensive disposables plus nursing pads and method cleaning products. Well the method detergent opened in the shipping process and some of it was all over the box. I called and they are sending me a replacement for all of it. I can salvage all the packaged stuff and only half of the detergent. I did have to toss 4 of the diapers but otherwise I will be getting $70 of free stuff just because I called to let them know.

From Calling I have gotten free gifts, free meals and full refunds while keeping the product just because I wasn´t 100% happy with it. Those numbers on the food boxes are worth calling if one of the packages is open or you found a bug in your food (this has happened to me) they will send you coupons that cover at least 2 of a new product. For free.

The worst thing that could happen is they say you are poo out of luck but most of the time they will do something for your trouble.