It's a hipster's world...

Perfect hipster goodness can be found at Wool and the Gang every day of the week.  Start with their patterns, ready to knit kits and move on to handy tutorials and blog.  You can even request a lesson - how cool is that?  The young,and young at heart hipsters alike, will enjoy every minute of this website.  It's a great place to get your young hipster just the right kit, info, and inspiration to keep them knitting for a lifetime. Not a knitter, no problem!  They have knitwear for sale made by the talented knitters of Puno. User friendly, unique and fun - I like it!

Wednesday is hipster appreciation day around here!

Marg (enjoying a huge hipster heart)

It Takes a Village of Etsians!

Packages wrapped with vintage, recycled and reusable paper, fabric and crafty pendants, buttons and other items that can be reused.

Presents are gettnig wrapped today to send in the mail. Everything was wrapped in vintage, recycled, upcycled, reused items from Etsy or crafty things that I had on hand. Most of the presents were purchased on Etsy or handmade from patterns in my own Etsy shop, margknittinaround making this one of the most handmade, eco-friendly holidays so far. I chose non-traditional colors rather than the usual green and red and incorparated the handmade theme with owls and butterflies for a more hipster.

Here's a list of Etsy artists who contributed to my wrapping party and wonderful holiday gifts for my two lovely stepdaughters.

Tinker & Crab

Margknittinaround

snowy652

smockpaper

thecraftpantry

fongstudio

Have a happy hipster, indie and earth friendly holiday!

Marg (living in the fast craft zone today)

Hipster Holiday Ornaments Go Vegas!

Three Hipster Holiday Ornaments made with Vegas Yarn.

Vegas Color Swingers, Pink Champagne, Flying Elvis and Black Jack.I added whipped stitched a felt back to this ornament and a small amount of poly-fill.

A pendant was added to this ornament. The Vegas colors used: FlyingElvis for the trim and Pink Champagne for the crochet circle.

I secured beads to the center with super glue after lightly felting with warm water. The yarn colors used...GhostBar for the crochet circle and trim and Flying Elvis for the star.

Here they are on the tree!

I was lucky enough to see Seussical a couple of weeks ago at The Academy Theatre which is one of the oldest community theatres in the US and is located in Hagerstown, MD . Subconsciously I was inspired by the color and fantasy of this musical, which by the way, adults can also enjoy. My thoughts went from bizarre color combos from the musical to retro 60's attitudes, hippie, yippie and all the rest to hipster holiday. Now that you see how this all came together, I hope you'll enjoy this quick crochet project made with Vegas yarn and a few simple ideas to embellish. I chose Vegas because I like the way it feels, it's varied in texture, has some sparkle and there are enough fun colors to chose from. It also felts quite easily in warm water in your sink or baking dish.

Felt using warm water, enough to cover ornament and swish around gently in a dish until you have the desired look. Remove excess water with a towel and let dry overnight. Embellish and hang on your tree, use it as a package ornament, or a holiday gift.

I used the basics...making a crochet circle, slip stitch, single and double crochet and a size H crochet hook.

My basic stitch is double crochet, but you can also use single crochet if you prefer. I added a trim, a five pointed star, beads, and a pendant that I had. Feel free to use a favorite crochet trim or any embellishments you like. You can also try making them different sizes.

The trim I used for the red (BlackJack) and the blue (GhostBar) crochet circle goes like this...

Once you've completed your last round of the circle, slip stitch into the first double crochet (or sc if you choose) and chain 5, single crochet in third chain from your hook. Chain 2, skip one stitch and join with a slip stitch to next stitch. Continue around in this manner for the whole circle and slip stitch into first chain.

Make a small 5 pointed star:

Chain 4, slip stitch into first chain to form a circle and crochet a round of trim 5 times (you will not be skipping any stitches, however) Arrange the points and attach securely to your crochet circle with yarn or glue.

There are many ways to make a star. I chose this way because it was a more relaxed style and went with my trim. Use the method you feel comfortable with or choose another shape if you like.

For the pink (Pink Champagne crochet circle) I added an additonal trim around by chaining 5 and slip stitch around the point of the first trim.

I'm including some helpful links for your crochet questions. This is a free form, happy go lucky project to get you thinking and creating so have fun with it. Consider using non-traditional holiday colors, recycled embellishments and whatever you have handy. Use fabric stiffner if you like - I liked the softer look and didn't use it.

Dr. Seuss Quote...
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.
Dr. Seuss

Resources for you...I found these links that are excellent for this project.

How to make a double crochet
The basics of making a crochet circle any size you need.

How to make a crochet circle.

This is your free form crochet project for December. If the project isn't my usual structured pattern it's because this is your chance for experimentation. Use recycled and/or reuse items in the home and take a chance on trying new embellishments. Enjoy, play and wonder, what would little Cindy Lou Who do?

Marg (dreaming in color)

You might also like to check out November's free pattern Autumn Wowza Scarf.

Visit knit1fortheroad.com for knit and crochet resources and more!