This was completely free-handed. The stitch I used throughout is half-double crochet, chain one, half-double crochet. I always worked into the chain space, not into the actual stitches. Basically, I crocheted a rectangle, which I then folded in half and sewed into sleeves (just like the Lovers Knot Shrug.) This stitch and yarn combo wasn’t as stretchy as the Lovers Knot was, so it wouldn’t meet in the middle of my chest like I wanted. To make it do so, I extended it out across the front. Then, I made the extended out part wider on the top and bottom as I felt necessary. I tied the whole thing with a ribbon to keep it closed. I intended to sew buttons to hold it, but the ribbon came out so well that I decided to keep it.

The yarn I used here is something made by Bernat. I didn’t save the label, so I don’t know the name. It came in a HUGE skein that I bought on sale a few weeks before Christmas. It’s light blue with some sort of shiny thread in it that sparkles. Like I said above, it doesn’t stretch much. If I made this shrug again, crocheting a little more loosely and with a stretchier yarn, it would probably come out more like the Lover’s Knot shrug and I could hold it together with a pin. I may try that out in the future. I really like the way this stitch looks.

This is the front of the shrug (that’s my sister, not me.) It’s held closed with a flower shaped pin right now, but I think sometimes she wears it without any closure. It looks fine either way.

This is the back of the shrug. It goes down to about the middle of her back and has short sleeves. It’s a pretty clever pattern – the whole thing is worked up as a rectangle, so there’s really no shaping involved.

The pattern is here, on the second page, second post down.

Unfortunately, my cat Perry has absolutely no interest in it. I’m going to leave it around for a little longer, but if he doesn’t decide he really loves it, I’ll pass it along to a kitty owning friend. Perry would much rather sleep on my pillow.

Here’s the cat bed before I felted it. (The dog whose head is barely visible in the corner is my sister’s dog, Rex. He wouldn’t get out of the picture.) You can see the stitch definition and also the really floppy sides.

Here’s the bed after felting. It’s much fuzzier now and the sides actually stand up. I’m hoping to get a picture with Perry actually in the bed. If he decides sleeping/sitting in it isn’t completely beneath him.

I was kind of excited about this because, besides hats which don’t really count, it was my first real “wearable.” I’m *pretty* sure I made the small size, but this was completed awhile ago so I don’t quite remember. Still, its too large for me. The top came out well, but it’s just too wide to fit me at all. I think if I made this again, I would work fewer stitches per row and measure it against myself as I went to make sure it’s the right fit. Also, this top is short – it has to be paired with something high waisted (unless you like that really cropped, 90′s baby doll look.) If I made it again, I would also add more rows so that it would come down longer.

Ugh, I know - not the best picture, but it's the best I could get today.

Charcoal, my favorite cow, is in the front.

My family keeps hereford cows. We have around 18 right now including cows, calves, bulls, and steers. They have a lot of room for running around (more like wandering around slowly) and generally seem to be pretty happy.  Charcoal, the black cow, is crossed with another breed, which is why she looks different. She’s one of our oldest cows and is my favorite. She’s totally in charge of the others and is always shoving them out of her way. Also, she loves to eat and thinks everyone coming near the fence is probably doing so because they have food. (Sounds like a certain dog I know.)  Because of this, she lets people pet her. Sometimes, she’ll even drool on you.

Here’s another picture. I don’t come home much, so most of our younger cows are pretty suspicious of me.

And here are some of our calves, hiding in some bushes. They were so cute. It reminds me of Bambi where Bambi’s mom tells him to hide in a thicket.

So there you go. I don’t just make up the cow stories to sound cool. Maybe next time, I’ll get some decent pictures of our pig.

The pattern uses yarn and thread held together. This one was made with black yarn held together with some shiny black and gold thread. Overall, I thought this pattern was easy to understand and fairly accurate. I suggest that anyone making this snood NOT follow the length listed in the pattern. Instead, you should hold the snood up to your own head occasionally to sort of try it on and see if it’ll fit. The pattern length headband was incredibly long and I don’t know anyone with a head big enough for a snood that size to fit. I had to frog some and redo it so that it would work out. Also, the little bun holding portion could be made smaller if you have less hair – just do the increases up to 7 or 8 instead of to 9 and decrease as the pattern says.

These pictures are of me wearing the snood. I look kind of weird in them, but the snood looks pretty good. It’s REALLY cute in person!

This is the front/top of the snood. I almost left off the scallops, but that made it look more 1987 than Renfest.

A sort of 3/4 view of the back. You can see the little rings. The pattern calls for a rose to be crocheted and attached there, but my sister wanted that left off.

The back of the snood, straight on.

The pattern can be found here.