Knitty Fish Hat

Another Pinspiration...made by me...but inspired (obviously) by Pinterest. I did not follow the free pattern, and chose instead to wing it. I also simplified it a bit, choosing not to do the shaping around the mouth. This hat is actually SUPER simple. If you can knit in the round, you can make this hat. The only strange thing I did was at the tail, and it was just because I didn't want to stop and look it up.

So here's my non-pattern...

Figure out the size of hat you need to make based on your yarn and needle size. Once you've done that cast on the lip color and knit until you get enough to roll up nicely (see how it looks like lips?) Then switch to the next yarn (keep them both attached) and alternate the colors any way you like.

Somewhere about halfway down the fish start reducing every once in a while. I knit-2-together every 8 stitches for a full round, then I just knit a few more rounds and decreased the same way again. It doesn't have to be exact, the point is to reduce slowly so that it looks even.

Once you've made it as long as you want, and decreased it enough, split the stitches evenly onto two smaller needles (or stitch holders); the front half of the hat on one needle, and the back half of the hat on the back needle. Then alternating one stitch from the front and one from the back place them on needle the same size as the circular. Once this is done you knit a couple of rounds and you'll see the increase for the tail (it sort of self increases since you "doubled" the number of stitches by going from circular to linear) Strange I know...I was just sort of winging it...but it worked.

After a few more rows you'll want to take half the stitches and put them on a holder. With half the stitches still on the working needle you can increase and decrease to your hearts content...every fish in the sea is different...so have some fun. But if it helps I increased 1 stitch on the right and the left on every knit row, 3 times, then I began to decrease 2 on the inner side of the fin while keeping the outer the same. Then towards the end I decreased 2 on the inside fin and 1 on the outside fin until I had just one stitch left, voila. Fin finis. (ha ha)

Tie on the yarn to the other half of the fin and repeat (or forget what you did and wing it like I did)...zoiks...what kind of knitter AM I?!?!

For the fins, this part was easy, I picked up 15 stitches for the top fin, then knit the front and back of every stitch so that the 2nd row has double the stitches. Then do a k1p1 rib until you like the length of the fin and bind it off. Easy Peasy. For the side fins I picked up 10 stitches, and the rest was the same. Now...once I did this I did not like the way the fin waved around, so I took the loose yarn ends and weaved the edges of the fin to the hat. Since there was an increase it naturally fans out to a rainbow shape, and holds it's shape better.



I liked the dead fish eyes from the original pattern, but Luke wanted a LIVE fish and requested button eyes (what can I say we LOVE Coraline). So button eyes it is. He loves this hat.

This pattern is super changeable so that your fish can be any color, length, size, etc etc. There is more than one fish in the sea you know! This is a fun knit, a quick knit and one that will delight the recipient (even if it's yourself). You can also use up your old scrappy yarn stash and make a rainbow fish. See how much fun this is...and you haven't even started yet!

Here is the original hat, click on the picture and it will take you to the original pattern.

The Deconstruction of Jeans

It's the little things that make you realize you're much more like your mother than you realize. When my mom was the absolute busiest is when she decided she had to stop and make a pot roast. I'm not sure if it's avoidance of the things you have to do, or a personal challenge to do more than you must. Either way, I do the same with sewing projects.

 I needed to use today to make a birthday present...instead I decided to make this skirt. It has begun.

And since I'm confessing things here. I'll admit that the idea for this skirt was inspired by an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I saw many years ago. This was at the beginning of the internet phenomenon...so rather then google how to do it (how did we ever get along without the internet?) I just tried it myself with a beautiful silk fabric I had. It came out very cute, but not practical. It was floor length, and I didn't understand what to do with the crotch, so it kind of stuck out in the back.

 But I definitely felt like a hippy princess when I wore it.

I later tried again, and made the resulting skirt-flop into a bag. (my husband remembers that bag well because I had it on our very first date)

Somewhere along the way I realized what needed to be done to the crotch seam to make the skirt lay right, but I never revisited the idea. All of the sudden my daughter has been having growth spurts such that her legs are 4" longer and her waist is the same. What do I do with all those cute jeans? Most I've put in storage for a possible future baby girl...but really, why waste them all in hiding? So today I decided to deconstruct a pair of Laurel's old jeans in between other work. The trick is to remove the inside seam first so that you have a front and a back. Then go to front seam and remove the middle seam until just above the curve (you'll see).



You'll know you've pulled enough when the front piece flaps over the other and lays flat. Do the same in the back, though you will notice the flap in the back is larger then the one in the front.



I think it's best to pin and sew these flaps before moving on. Lay them flat now...you can see the beginning of the skirt. Figure out what length you want the skirt and cut the bottom off to size. I like it to fall just at or below the knee. (Any longer makes playing hard)




With the skirt still laying flat, place your fabric under the opening and cut it a little larger then the triangle opening. You can do this with one panel, a quilted panel, an appliqued panel...this is where you get to be terribly creative. You could even put a panel in and then applique something that stretches from the panel to the denim...it really pulls the design together (ok I'm biased...since that's what I did here).




Now pin and sew the front and back panels. I just place the panel underneath the opening and sewed over the already pressed denim. (when you deconstruct the legs the previous fold from the hem remains) At this point you can leave the bottom raw (not my favorite), or hem it under. 

It's as simple as that.

What do you think? Pretty easy, no? Terribly cute, yes?