Crocheted Hats & Purses, October 2011

I've been crocheting small hats for my granddaughter's Pullip dolls (Asian, ball-jointed dolls, beautiful creatures!) Our church is having a Christmas bazaar in early December so I've been crocheting adult, child, toddler and baby hats non-stop for two months and still going. Here, our lovely granddaughter, Emma, is modeling what I call my 'cotton candy' hat with a rose. She looks good in pink!!

I found a good source for styrofoam heads to display my hats during the sale, this is a ladies head hugger

Another granddaughter, Alyssa, requested this slouchy, three colored, hat. I liked it so well I also made one for the sale. Thanks Alyssa!

This lavender and grey head hugger is so soft and comfortable

My 'Apple hat', being displayed on my newly arrived styrofoam head, this one is faceless, lol. Funny how they have all kinds of styrofoam heads for adults, mostly women. Men styrofoam heads are few and expensive and I could find none for children, toddlers or babies. I check the thrift stores for other things I can use instead, like teddy bears etc.

Here's Emma modeling a turquoise slouchy hat

The slouchy hat can also be positioned as a beret

Emma in a multi-colored rolled brim hat, it can be position several different ways

A basic black head hugger with a shell brim, rolled up

Grey, lavender and pink head hugger with brim rolled up

Pink head hugger with the shell brim

Grey and pink slouchy hat

A harvest gold and brown net hat with a pom pom

I was experimenting with this mixed yarn combination of off white and sport weight brown, decided to make a side flap too and finish it with an engraved medallion

The combo, side flap hat from the front

One of my Panda hats. These cost more, they're so labor intensive, ten separate pieces to crochet and sew together aside from the hat itself.

I love the frog hats. I make them a little longer so the brim can be rolled up, then a child can wear them longer

I love shopping in thrift stores. Stopped in at our local Goodwill looking for props to display my hats, was in the housewares section where I found a beautiful glass circle on a pedestal, turned out to be a candle holder from Party Lite (perfect for holding a styrofoam head). I bent down to inspect something on the second shelf and came eye to eye with the bear in the picture, I just couldn't resist, he came to live with us. I have also wanted to crochet hats for dolls and found the little guy in the picture, bare naked, sitting amongst the children's toys. He was absolutely perfect and what a cute little baby body he has. So I named them Will (bear) and Wyman (husbands middle name) They make a great pair and have been sharing a blanket and company on the end of the love seat ever since, until I can find some clothes for Wyman. They're wearing hats for the sale and will model them when the time comes.

A front view of the harvest gold and brown hat

Beautiful, burgundy, head hugger with a shell brim

A combinations of off white and beige with a gold fleck, looked very 'Holidayish' so I added two gold stars to the front

(the stars can be removed for washing)

A pretty Teal blue head hugger, one of my favorite colors

A very soft, oatmeal shade, slouchy hat that can be positioned in numerous ways

A pretty soft grey yarn with a slight shine here and there, slouchy hat

Same grey slouchy positioned in back

Same grey slouchy as a beret, you could pin a favorite brooch to the front also

Another combo of off white and blue green in a head hugger style

Off white and gold combination, rolled brim

An orangey red with gold flecks, done in a chunky yarn, very soft and warm. The brim can be worn up or down

Hope you can see this, it's camouflage, lol A newsboy hat, with a slouch top and reinforced brim in front, this is a child size

The camouflage from the side

I added 'purses' to the title of this post, and yes, I did make a couple, have more to come. These are a woman's clutch with a shell flap and crocheted button for closure. I really like the design. I plan on making more in other colors and also black and white. I'll be making some small purses for little girls too.

It doesn't take a lot of room to crochet hats, I sit on the love seat in the living room, Mylo keeps me company as you can see. But I wouldn't be able to crochet, especially at night on dark colors, without my Ott light, pictured on the table. It's a high density light, you can buy them at fabric stores....wow, what a great thing it is!! More to come!!

Mount Rainier, Washington State October 2011

We were able to fit in two trips to our beautiful Mount Rainier this year. We were there mid September and again in late October. Driving through the beautiful evergreen forests to the mountain is fun and relaxing.

Sun shining through the branches creates beautiful patterns and textures. Moss on branches reminds me of the velvet on deer antlers

Even a fractured tree stump takes on beauty as the moss and lichens begin to coat it

We get glimpses of the mountain as we travel up the winding roads. It was a crisp, beautiful day.

We pulled off on one of the turns to get this view of the Nisqually glacier, the beginning of the Nisqually River that flows close to where we live. Notice the stand of yellow trees among the evergreens in the middle of the rocky bed.

There are several pull outs where you can get good pictures, we don't miss many. There is so much beauty around us, we are both photographers. I took 111 pictures during the trip.

Paradise side of Mount Rainer, the lodge in the distance, light green. There is also a visitor center, rest rooms and a building that houses the guide service. We saw a helicopter on the way up. They sometimes fly people to or from Camp Muir. The snow poles are in place.

What a gorgeous sight the mountain is on a sunny, clear day, especially in the fall with the beautiful colors around it. God has blessed us with such a beautiful world. This is part of a circular walkway and the stone wall where there are steps leading to the trail up the mountain.

Breathtaking beauty! I have a poem posted on this blog in an earlier post that describes how I feel about this mountain.

The colors are thrilling and I'm a huge lover of evergreen trees. Here on Rainier some of them stand so straight and tall, like Centurions on guard.

Coat time up here, that's ice by my feet! Those are part of the Goat Mountains behind me (opposite Mt. Rainier) Mountain goats live there. If you ever visit, bring your binoculars.

After walking part way up the trail to the mountain, I turned around and took this panoramic view of the Goat mountains, they also are spectacular. They already had a skiff of snow on them. In the summer the flowers bloom all over the fields and the aroma is wonderful. In the fall there is a more distinct herbal aroma.

A section of the Goat Mountains

Those beautiful trees I talked about

I really liked how this picture turned out, framed by evergreens, with the Goat Mountains, trees, colorful foliage and even a few of the buildings peeking through. You get great pictures the higher you hike!

To an artists eye, even rocks are interesting; textures, shade, highlights. It would be fun to paint.

Don on the picture taking trail with the Goat Mountains behind him

Typical in a mountain forest

Getting closer, better pictures of the mountain. The clouds were blown away at this point for a great view.

You can see some of the trail meandering between the trees

We're getting high enough now to see snow on some of the tree boughs

There's a little snow on the trail here and there as we get closer, you can see the rocks strewn across the landscape. We passed several gentlemen who had hiked up to the mountain and had been skiing and/or snowboarding, they said the snow was incredible!

A few puffy clouds swirling around the crown

The beauty of being so close and experiencing the fresh air, colors and joy of God's creation is exhilarating!

Anvil Rock from the Paradise trail. Camp Muir lays somewhere below this massive outcrop on the edge of Mt. Rainier. Guides will take climbers there, they usually spend the night and begin the ascent up Mt. Rainier early in the morning the next day. Click on this picture to enlarge it and you can see two people on the left, two thirds of the way down from the top of the slope.

More snow, just adds to the beauty of the area

Coming back down the trail I spotted something moving behind a tree at the side of the trail. We quietly walked on the furthest side of the trail to the other side of the tree and here's what we saw. A Ptarmigan. It didn't seem the least disturbed that we were there.

The Ptarmigan walked out onto the trail, pecking for food all the time. We just stood and took it all in, this was the first time we had ever seen a Ptarmigan up close and personal. What a beautiful and big bird.

We stood there watching it for at least ten minutes, how beautiful it was. I want to paint a picture of it.

Ptarmigans are a grouse like bird that live in the high tundra areas. They don't fly much and start growing white feathers, as you can see in the picture, around this time of the year. When the snow falls their new white feathers helps them hide from predators

As the evening approaches you see the fog begin to move in and create different layers of landscape beauty

Tree limbs make great frames

A small stream running down a rocky bed through the evergreens. At one point, further up the trail, there was a small stream running down a long valley, the sun was shining on it and it looked like molten gold. I wasn't able to catch the effect without a special filter for the camera.

On our way home, end of the day. The last portrait of the beautiful lady....until next year!!