Oruaka Slouchy Hat and Cowl PATTERN!!!

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SKILL LEVEL: Beginner
MATERIALS:

Size J hook

3 - 1” (or larger) buttons
FOR GORGEOUS AND UNIQUE WOODEN TREE BRANCH BUTTONS, VISIT MY HUSBAND'S ETSY SHOP AT http://www.oruaka.etsy.com/)

2 skeins “I Love This Yarn” in Antique Teal or approximately 500 yards any worsted weight yarn.

Tapestry Needle


ORUAKA COWL PATTERN

Foundation Chain 142
Row 1 1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each stitch across.

Row 2 Ch 3 and turn, 1 hdc in back loop of next stitch and each stitch across to end of row.

Rows 3-4 Repeat row 2.

Row 5 (buttonhole) Ch 3 and turn, 1 hdc in back loop of next 6 stitches, ch 3 and skip next 3 stitches, 1 hdc in back loop of each stitch across to end of row. (For a larger buttonhole, skip 5 stitches and ch 5)

Row 6 Ch 3 and turn, 1 hdc in back loop of each stitch across (including 1 hdc in each stitch of ch 3 from buttonhole made in previous row).

Rows 7-17 Repeat row 2

Row 18 Repeat row 5

Row 19 Repeat row 6

Rows 20-31 Repeat row 2

Row 32 Repeat row 5

Row 33 Repeat row 6

Row 34-37 Repeat row 2.


ORUAKA SLOUCHY HAT PATTERN

Foundation Chain 52
Row 1 1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each stitch across.
Row 2-50 Ch 3 and turn, 1 hdc in back loop of next stitch and each stitch across to end of row.

• Turn garment wrong side facing you and fold.
• Join using a slip stitch through both edges.
• Fasten Off
• Using a tapestry needle, thread a long length of yarn through and tie at the end (as if you will be sewing with two strands).
• At top of hat, weave tapestry needle and yarn through ch 3 rows and pull tight to close.
• Tie off and weave in the ends.

This pattern brought to you courtesy of Knots and Loops and Oruaka.

Shakara Shrug

This is the latest design, inspired by a knit shrug that I saw. This project only took a few hours to complete and I love the way it turned out. Searched for a crochet version of this shrug and couldn't find anything so I took a break from the giant granny square blanket I'm working on as a Christmas gift (a photo of the blanket...and Baloo below).



On another note...I talked William into opening his own Etsy shop a few weeks ago. It's been about a month now and he's off to a promising start, evan branching off into jewelry and cufflinks now, with more to come. His shop can be found . He is even offering free shipping right now, so check out his shop here.

I am so impressed with William. I ordered some wood branch buttons a little over a year ago and ended up putting them away and sorta forgot about them until recently. So I started working on a new pattern and asked him if he thought he could make some buttons for me since the ones I had were a little more unusually shaped and I wanted just basic branch buttons. He seemed very interested in the challenge and went totally gung ho into it, even learning more about trees in general and identifying the different types of trees I didn't even know existed in my own backyard.

Antonio's Sacred Hat/Cowl

I had a special request from Antonio who had recently lost one of his favorite hats which was given to him by a friend. Antonio referred to this hat as “The Sacred Hat”. He and his friend searched and could not find a replacement anywhere. Somehow, he stumbled across my Etsy shop and saw my Tugharia drawstring hat/cowl and asked if I could create one similar but to look more like his “Sacred” hat. He had one sole photo of himself wearing the hat which he sent me. I just loved the photo…I could tell how much the he loved the hat and got a good idea of how to make one very similar, so I eagerly took on the challenge and created the Nso (which means “Sacred” in Igbo).

This is Antonio's Sacred Hat/Cowl (above)
The Nso Hat/Cowl is (below)

Tugharia Drawstring Hat/Cowl Combo

A new year...a new design. I'm hoping to keep creating a few more designs this year. More than I did last year. Could a crochet book be in the future? Possibly. That's the ultimate goal with the patterns at this point. I created this to enter it in a crochet contest. I'm realizing more, it's not really about the pattern, it's more about the finished product and how creative you interpretation is on really ANY pattern, it doesn't even have to be your own.

Anyways, back to the Tugharia (Too-har-ee-a) which is Igbo for "Change position". Which is exactly what this garment does. It can be worn as a hat or a cowl...very comfortable and snuggly either way. The stitch pattern creates almost chunky knit quality...like a warm thich sweater. I don't know whether I like it cinched at the top neatly or with a "sack" closure. I'm working on the fingerless gloves to match. Actually, last night I finished a mitten with the convertible thumb so that you can still navigate on your touch screen devices without taking the mitten off. I liked it alright, but I think I like the fingerless gloves better.

Bottletree Craft Bazaar

Okay, so I may not be the most dedicated blogger…but I’m going to work on it this decade. I will say that I have been very busy stitching lately. The Kelechi hat seems to be my best seller at the moment along with the Ziela cowl. I sold quite a few at the Bottletree Craft Bazaar on December 5th. This was a great event, and I liked it better than the Butterbean Festival which was my first time setting up a booth. I think this decision weighs greatly on the fact that this event was indoors. It was also freezing that day…it had actually snowed the night before. I was only able to set up one table, but it was worth the $10 to do so. I’m already looking at doing a few more next fall/winter since I have had a little bit of experience with it now and I’m pretty much ready to set up.



I’m planning on entering the Vanna White crochet contest as well. The deadline is next month and I have no idea what I’m going to enter. The rules say that I can enter a pattern that has already been written, so I’m considering that as a last resort. I’d like to come up with something new though…although filling order right now eats up most of my crocheting time. I’m setting aside the spring/summer months to try to develop a few new patterns since I’m sure the demand will decrease at that time.

An actual update...I'm really going to try to do this more often, but we'll see how that goes. The festival that I was preparing for was okay...it rained ALL DAY with the exception of a few hours. I was miserable, jeans soaked and the booths all seems to be right on top of a river of water. Although I did sell enough to make my booth rental fees back, so it wasn't a complete waste, and I handed out a lot of cards. I ended up throwing my tent away after the event, I will NEVER deal with another one of those "put the poles together" types again!

Anyway...I've been crocheting like mad lately. Sales are starting to pick up a little on Etsy as the cooler weather approaches. Last Saturday it rained all day, so I sat out on the deck, listening to an audiobook (Twilight) and working on my latest project, the Ejitu Slouchy Cape Shrug. This design is inspired by the Dinky Cape created by Keep and Share (SHOP: www.keepandshare.etsy.com). This was a knit pattern, so I created a crochet version and still working on the pattern which is about 97% done now, just having trouble with the PDF conversion, something weird is going on with my diagrams.