Crochet and Spool knitted Princess Leia Hat!

Oh my gosh - I finally finished this hat! Squee; I am so happy! This is actually a really simple hat, but the spool knitting simply took ages >_< I really love it though, it's really comfortable and because the wool I used is 100% Baby Alpaca it is so soft ^_^

I used the thickest brown wool I could find (Vera Moda Husky), which helpfully didn't have a ply on the label. I crocheted the hat with a 6mm hook though, so based on that, I'm estimating around 12 ply. The base hat is made up of trebles; if you're looking for a simple pattern, try this Pokeball Hat - obviously just ignore the colour changes ^_^ Then I made a big spool knitter using a wrapping paper tube and four skewers; I cut the tube down to about six inches and then taped the skewers evenly around the tube, leaving them sticking up about an inch above the top of the tube.

And then I spool knitted. A lot. I spool knitting 202 inches for each bun, which used up just under 100 grams per bun.

Then I coiled the spool knitting tubes into the buns; they have a diameter of about 5 inches and are about 2 inches high. Sewing them together was a bit tricky! Possibly using hot glue would have been better, but I was concerned it might be seen and hot glue also does make things a little less soft.

Anyway, once they were sewn into a bun-shaped, I sewed them onto the sides of the hat.

 

And now it's done! Yay! ^_^ I am so happy that I finally finished it!

See you later - with all the backed up pictures for the drawing challenge!

- Lisa x

Spool knitted beehive

Hello! Do you ever get an idea to make something and then you just *have* to make it, and *right now* if at all possible?

That's what happened to me with this tiny beehive.

I was a bit like "ooh, but I should be doing things on my list!" but I figure it's a bit like chocolate. If you *really, really, really* want a bit of chocolate, but keep saying no, no, no, eventually you will want chocolate so much that you might just explode. Or eat two really large blocks instead of the couple of squares that could have sufficed in the first place. Hmm, I'm not sure how this worked as a metaphor for crafting. Anyway, moving on, I made a beehive!

I think it is quite cute, even if it does have a touch of the primary school fete around it. Hey, what am I saying? I *love* school fetes! ~_^ 

It was very easy to make; I made a long tube with my spool-knitter, used hot glue to position it in a kinda hive-like shape (you could probably sew as well, but I wanted this to be NINJA QUICK), and then got out the hot glue again to add the little felt door and, of course, some bees.

I made the bees buy cutting out an oval shaped piece of mustard coloured felt, then adding stripes with black felt, and wings with white.

This beehive is about seven cm tall and it is hollow in the inside. I think it would make a perfect cover for a hard-boiled egg, only Scott and I don't eat hard-boiled eggs and don't even own an egg-cup so I couldn't even fake a photo!

Maybe it can be a couture hat for one of my Blythe dolls (though, due to the large size of their heads, it would probably look more like a fascinater)?

What do you think it could/ should be?

I hope you have a great day!

- Lisa x