Jayne Cobb Hat

Well this is almost a year late in the posting.  I found this pattern on Ravelry last year and aimed to make one for my hubby who is a huge fan of Firefly and Serenity.  I asked for my sister's help and also got quite a bit of instruction from a few YouTube channels.  There really is nothing to stop someone from learning a new skill with all the information out there.

Anyway I was miserable with it for the first while as I thought I remembered what a single crochet was like but somehow fumbled it and was using more of a slip stitch to do this hat.  I was more than half-way through with the pattern and the hat wouldn't have even fit a newborn.  Something had to be wrong.  Yep of course.  This is when YouTube came to my rescue and I relearned some basic skills.  On second attempt (or was it third? or fourth?) I was able to make this hat with no issues and much more quickly.  I think the last "real" attempt only took me a few hours and considering it was my first hat ever attempted I didn't think that was too shabby.

End result (my project link here so you can find the pattern by Dryope).  My stitch/tension is probably a little more snug than most so I think the hat ended up being a little snug.  I may make another someday but we'll see.  It did fit my 2 year old daughters at the time.  Seren was willing to model it for me.  Can you guess where her name came from?? Seren...Serenity.  Yep my husband came up with the idea and I actually loved it.  We later discovered it's a popular name in the UK so it worked out pretty well I think.

Seren Cobb...she was so excited to model it for me

Hubs showing off his new hat and shirt from Christmas 2013

Updated Garland On The Cheap (...Okay Free)

I know it's not really original but I thought I would share how I fancied up my $2 garland from Walmart for free.  First off the garland was 9 feet long.  I though it was long enough but when I got it home discovered the ledge in our front room is more like 10 or 11 feet long.  Luckily I already had filler I planned to use around the garland (the bells).  Out came my wire cutters and I snipped the garland into 3 separate pieces so I could spread it out.  I wanted to add some embellishment to it.  Conveniently, I had leftover pine cones from our bird feeder activity so I added these on.

Wash and bake your pine cones on aluminum foiled cookie sheet prior to using for decoration.  I washed mine in hot water and then baked them at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes.  They didn't have sap on them to worry about thank goodness. 

Next using fishing line or possibly jewelry string (I used fishing line), tie it around your pine cone first wiggling it into the center to get a tight hold.  Secure this with a square knot leaving a few inches on both sides of the knot.

Then attach the secured pine cone to your garland with the excess line.  I wrapped mine around the metal center but you would place them on stems of the pine also.  Make sure to tie a couple square knots so it doesn't come lose.  Trim off excess line. 

Somewhat close up of the pine cone attached.  The larger pine cones were also found (last year)...these required more washing and baking than the smaller ones.  Also, I promise my wall isn't so distastefully green as it looks, although I've been dying to paint it since we moved in a year ago. 

Last of all, love yourself for saving money this season...Merry Christmas!