So this summer has been all about crocheting. Seriously, I’ve made an insane amount of stuff and I’m not really sure why. The stuff that isn’t going to be in this post is:
- a zafu and zabuton out of randomly-colored old t-shirts cut into strips
- a two-tone tan afghan in acrylic yarn that I had around the house
- a pink pussy hat from a hand-dyed mohair blend
- a scarf from the same yarn
- four handbags/totes from undyed cotton twine
But I also got the notion to make all the summer-type accessories that I would normally buy, like a hat, bag, and sandals. Not every attempt was a winner right out of the gate – there was LOTS of ripping and re-starting. Let me show you what I mean.
Hat
This was a very basic hat made with dollar store cotton twine, starting with a magic circle and then just single crochets in rounds. I increased enough to fit my head comfortably, then decreased a little in one row to make it snug before increasing again to make the brim. I also added two rounds of double crochet stitches just to make it sun-dapple. The last two rounds were worked around picture-hanging wire rope, which turned out not to be strong enough to hold up to the thickness of the twine. Too floppy, as a result:

I got some heavier-gauge wire and worked another round on top of the old ones, and that worked a treat:

Sandals
The shoes required much more experimentation. I’d found a pattern online that I tried to follow, but I didn’t have the right thickness of yarn (using the cotton twine again), so I basically followed it as best I could for one whole shoe, to learn what I could about shaping. I learned how to single crochet together in order to move sideways, and how to use slip stitches to shape:



Attempt 2 was much more comfortable – I’d tried it on multiple times while working it, and was able to shape it to my foot. I’d also decided to abandon the pattern. I liked it so much better, I ripped out attempt 1 and re-made it (attempt 3). This not only fit great, but because of the strategic use of slip stitches, it also looked good. So I ripped attempt 2 and re-made it as well:

Comfy as heck, and I’ve already gotten compliments.
Bag
Finally, I wanted to have a drawstring bag for stowing stuff when I go to the beach. It had to be mesh because sand can be a pain! For this, again I didn’t follow any particular pattern. I just made a big rectangle using a single stitch at the top and bottom for strength, folded it over, and stitched up the sides leaving a small chain loop at the corners on the bottom. At the top, I had left holes in the last row of double stitches to run the cords, which I braided out of the same cotton yarn. These were run through the holes and the bottom loops and then tied off. And voila!

Cat Bed
The last project was a cat bed for Her Majesty. I was at a thrift store and they had a bunch of super chunky yarn in colors that kind of match my living room, so I grabbed them and whipped this up. Starting with a magic circle, I increased until I reached a size I thought she’d be happy with, and then made a rim that she can curl into. Her majesty was pleased:
