Rebel Alliance Hat

This design is free for your use. I don't own the rebel alliance logo, obviously, so I’m not going to try to make money off of it. I just think we should all be rebels and we should all have rebel hats! Plus, Long Live General Leia.

Please use the hashtag #KatrinaDesigns if you post your work on social networking so I can see what you create.

This hat fits most adults.

I used 16 inch circular needles in size 13, 9.0mm. I switched to double-pointed needles in the same size for the crown.

I used Patons Classic Wool Roving Yarn for my hats.

Color A – Dark Grey

Color B – Plum

Any chunky yarn would work. Adjust your pattern for your head size and your yarn if need be. For instance, I've also made a baby hat with this pattern, using a smaller yarn and casting on 56 to start. With the baby hat I repeated the chart 4 times. It just required some math. (Yuck. Math.) (Seriously, though, email me. I’ll help you adjust the pattern.)  

CO 44 st in Color A – Join in the round

(K1, P1) for rows 1-5 (I’ve done a few hats with different ribbing in this design, but the one with this ribbing I felt looked the nicest.) 

Row 6 – K11, M1, K11, M1, K11, M1, K11, M1,

Rows 7 - 9 Knit 

Rows 10-22 Knit 3 in Color A, Knit Chart, repeat three times

Note: Make sure to keep a close eye on the tension while knitting this part of this hat. Because the sections of Color B are so wide, it's easy to end up with either super long ladders, or stitches too tight to fit around the head afterward. Test it as you go, if need be.

After knitting the full chart cut and tie off Color B. The crown is in Color A.

Knit in Color A for five rows.

Hat should measure about 7 inches at this point. If it doesn't yet, knit a few more rows until it does.

This is my method for the crown:

I put 4 stitch markers evenly distributed around the hat. The first one is usually in a different color so I can still keep track of my rounds. Then, as I knit around, I knit 2 together before each stitch marker until there are 12 stitches left. Somewhere in there the hat will become too small for your circular needles, and you’ll need to switch to double-pointed needles. Then bind off and tie. Weave ends in.

Reviewing a Bunch of Knitting Books

This post combines my two favorite things! Knitting and books. Some good ones, some bad ones, but first, my favorite:


Knits for Nerds: 30 Projects: Science Fiction, Comic Books, Fantasy by Toni Carr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I want to make EVERYTHING in it. It covers a wide range of geekdom and is the PERFECT knitting book for a geek like me. This book also has patterns that can be worn in general company without looking like cosplay, not that I don't love a good cosplay. The Aim to Misbehave Jacket would look great when hanging out with people who think Firefly is just a bug. And the Book Wizard bag could be appreciated by any muggle. The patterns range from super easy to incredibly-complicated-I-will-never-be-that-good-at-this. But either way, it's amazing! Highly suggest this collection of lovely patterns.

View all my reviews Knitted Sock Sensations: Over 40 Fabulous Looks for Feelgood Feet by Louise Butt


PERFECT. This collection has great directions, a huge variety of styles and takes the fear out of knitting socks! I had never made a pair of socks before and can now say I HAVE! And they’re beautiful! I highly suggest this book for any knitter, as some of the patterns are for more experienced knitters and quite a few are great for beginners. Lovely images, clear and concise patterns. An overall GREAT book.

View all my reviews One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant


This book has some cute, easy starter projects, but there isn’t really anything unique here. Everything in this book can be found on Pinterest or Ravelry. It was worth checking out of the library for ideas, and would make a great gift for a beginner knitter who is tired of making scarves or a teenage knitter who has a short attention span for projects, but I wouldn’t purchase this book for myself at this point.

View all my reviews Geek Knits: Over 30 Projects for Fantasy Fanatics, Science Fiction Fiends, and Knitting Nerds by Joan of Dark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Half of these patterns are lovely fun I can't wait to play with. Half of them I will likely never make in a million years, but if you're into that fandom they're probably perfect. Unlike "Knits for Nerds," this book doesn't have as many practical patterns, but more fun patterns. Which is great, if you're looking for that. The 20-sided die pattern is going to look great on my living room couch! Also, that Baker Street Hat, is amazing, and modeled by Neil Gaiman? Seriously, I want this knitter's connections! In fact, this book is worth reading just for the models. George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss? Great fun!

View all my reviews Cable Left, Cable Right: 94 Knitted Cables by Judith Durant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm currently learning to cable knit so I was really excited to get into this book. The patterns are great, but I'm not yet good at reading graphs, and some of the patterns only appear to have graphs to describe them. I am much better with abbreviations. Hopefully, though, I can still pick up a few of the tips in this book and use them in my crafts. I tried a few stitches out last night and they were great. Also, the pictures are really good. I've read a lot of knitting books that the pictures didn't show enough of the steps and I had to look the stitches up on YouTube. The images in this book were VERY helpful and well-done.

View all my reviews Cast On, Bind Off: 54 Step-by-Step Methods by Leslie Ann Bestor


I wish that this book had been better, because I really need some great cast on ideas (particularly stretchy ones) and this seemed like just the thing. The directions confused me and I couldn’t follow how to do the steps. The photos could have benefited from some arrow indicators or something, because it was incredibly hard to follow. If anyone knows of a better collection of cast ons and bind offs, please send it my way! I appear to be alone in this as this book has a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews, but I just couldn’t follow the directions in this book well.

View all my reviews

My Holiday Wish List

As I was working through some rather difficult plot points for my novel today I was browsing Etsy for fairy items and inadvertently created something of a holiday wish list.

My novel is sitting beside me, a stack of chapters, each bound with its own paper clip, but how adorable are these tiny paperclip earrings?

laplumeblanche

I love any time a metalsmith turns metal into leaves or branches, and it actually happens within the novel I’m working on, so this necklace is perfect to go along with my edits!

Leaf Necklace

Speaking of necklaces... Tiny books! 

SewRosieDSP

I drink approximately three cups of herbal tea a day. I was given geek teas as a gift recently at work, but how cool is this Poe tea?

OwensAcres

Or I can just Grow my own Green Tea!

PlantsFromSeed

For the first time in my entire life I have enough hair for this lovely leather hair cup. Look through their shop! They have some amazing stuff!

Mythical Designs

Some adorable fairy stationary. I just love writing letters.

Fairy Stationary

Incredible fairy wings! I don’t know what these are made of, or how she does the magic needed for the creation, but I love these wings and would just have to find a reason to wear them!

CourtoftheFey

Finally, a stocking stuffer for my aching feet, because I stand at a desk all day... looking at Etsy Shops...

JoansGarden

Create.

I write. I paint. I take photos. I collage. I bead. I knit. I bake. I draw. I Create. 

In the last few days I’ve had some pretty emotional conversations with a very close friend who is going through some stuff. This friend and I have known each other a long time and we have often used art in a sort of group therapy way, trading poetry prompts, endless bottles of Elmer’s glue and piles of magazine clippings. We both feel better when we Create. And, at least for me, if I don’t Create I feel trapped. I feel this itch inside my skin that makes me want to Create.

Creating is therapy. Creating has always been what keeps me sane. It is the way I process the world. 

I fought through social anxiety for years by carrying a camera with me. I healed from abuse by writing binders full of angst-filled poetry. I processed some of the strongest anger I’ve ever felt by throwing paint on a canvas, and it was an “Aha! Moment” for me when I realized how much that helped. 

I recently received one of the biggest compliments of my life when someone I barely know who follows my Facebook feed told me I “inspire people” and I make him “want to art.” (I love that he used “art” as a verb, by the way. Because truly, it is.) I realized immediately that this is what I’ve always wanted. I have no interest in judging artwork or grading artwork. I don’t want to subscribe strictly to what is called “good art” by the people who believe themselves able to make that call. I want to connect to art. Connect to other people through their art. I want to share it and I want to inspire and be inspired.

Most of all I want to inspire others to Create. To Create in ways they don't think they can. To draw even though they think they are horrible at it, or to sing even if they're off tune. 

The ability to Create is powerful. It is important. It is everything. And I think the world is a better place when those in it are using their energy to Create.

T-shirt Rugs & a Bit of the Apocalypse

I tried to think of a way to tie these two topics together but all I could come up with is that in the event of an apocalypse, I now know how to make sure we always have throw rugs.

That's a stretch. Okay, first the writing stuff. Big Pulp Magazine has just released the latest issue titled M. Among some wonderful stories of macabre and murder you will find my story "Concealed." A woman alone in a cave finds herself plunged into a pitch black post-apocalyptic world. You can pick up a copy here for $6.


Now, T-shirt knitting. Our apartment has this tiny step when you first come in the door. Though our landlord carpeted it before we moved in, two summers of beach sand and two winters of snow and ice have taken their toll. I was surfing Pinterest in search of a creative way to hide the damage when I found T-shirt yarn.

I used this tutorial.

(You can follow me on Pinterest here.)

So when I reorganized my closet last week to turn my old dresser into an entertainment center (let's just call this the summer of Pinterest, shall we?) I pulled out four T-shirts I don't wear anymore.

The final product on the icky step

I stripped them into half inch strips, attached them at the ends and began to knit.

I didn't have a pattern for the rug, I just experimented but now I have some ideas going and after I get all of my teenage nieces and nephews to give me their old shirts I'll be in rug-making business on my Etsy Shop.








The leftover T-shirt yarn? New toys for everyone! A quick knot and a few snips of the scissors and the dog and cats each have a new toy.

Aine loves rope toys.

Mi'walatl loves it if you shake it up in a jar of catnip first.

Craft On!

Our house has been a mass of holiday crafts for the last four days. Yarn, leather, beads and buttons. Glue guns and thread and paint. This, to me, is Christmas.

I grew up in a home where we didn't have money. We didn't always have the supplies I needed for school or the extra money for souvenirs on a field trip. In fact, we didn't always have electricity or heat. We spent some time when I was a teen living in my grandparent's camp, complete with outhouse and oil lamps. 

But we always had art supplies. For Easter I got a sketchbook and for Christmas I got crayons. My grandmother's taught me to sew and make latch hook rugs and my grandfather showed me to tap trees for maple syrup. My father turned the tops of tin cans into Christmas ornaments and used dried apples to make angels for tree toppers. Everything we owned or could find in the woods was a potential craft item.

We also, of course had the library where I could check out ten books at a time. Many things were variables and the ground didn't always feel steady, but I always had books and crafts to turn to.

So the other day when a particularly obnoxious commercial played during Big Bang Theory my wife and I began talking about how much we dislike shopping. (Speaking of which, a message to all advertisers: If you could stop badly rewriting the lyrics to Christmas songs and making people sing them in a round that'd be great.) She said, "ya know what? I'm Native American. I have been taught to make clothes and make drums. So really, why buy it when you can make it?"

That's been running through my head ever since. I really wanted a green winter hat to go with my green scarf so I made one… Unfortunately it was my first time knitting in the round and it's a bit too small for me. But I have a nephew it will fit and I have more green yarn!

I read this article in the Boston Globe last week and found it really encouraging. I hope it is a sign that there is a growing interest in crafting. Just last week a ten year old girl walked through my lobby carrying a skein of yarn and two knitting needles. Craft on, little ones! Why buy it when you can make it?

On Knitting and Writing

I am taking a jewelry/metalworking class this semester. After spending three hours sanding, shaping, soldering, soldering again because the first one didn't stick, and sawing I realized how good it is for me. How healthy it is. It's completely focused time that calms me and I get some really fun final products. It feels good.

Obviously I can't afford to set up a metalworking studio in my tiny apartment, and there are only three weeks left to the semester so I started thinking about something else I could do that would give me the same feeling.

Enter my friend Glo and a set of knitting needles. For the last two weeks I've been knitting.

At first it went really slowly. My stitches were too tight, my rows kept coming out uneven, but I decided to just live with those errors and make a messy first project.

I had about forty rows done when Trisha pointed out that I had dropped a stitch. I had a huge hole in the middle of my piece. I groaned, I complained and then I undid about half of what I had created at that point and redid it.

Then I realized there was another mistake. Two stitches were tangled together.
In the very first row.

I undid the whole thing. I started completely over.

But then something happened that for some dumb reason I didn't expect. It went faster. All those rows I had done, even the ones I had screwed up, had given my hands time to learn the motions. The act of knitting was becoming therapeutic and comfortable.

Now I have about half of a cowl knit and I'm really proud of it.

Now, how does this apply to writing?

I hear a lot about the "pressure of the blank page" and the "stress of being a writer." I hear how hard it is and how unrewarding it can be. But I realized that just like when I'm knitting I have to find the reward in the writing itself. It isn't about "will this get published?" or "am I writing something worthwhile?" It's about simply writing. Being with the words, with the characters in that place in my mind.

Something changed in the way I write when I took a poetry class with poet Jenn Monroe. She asked us to free write everyday. I've always had a free writing journal, but this time it was an assignment. And instead of being one more assignment on my list it became something that set me free. I filled a composition book with pages of the most trivial, dramatic, silly sentences I have ever written. There was no pressure to be good, just the pleasure of words on a page. Without that change to my writing I probably would have gotten fed up with knitting already and moved on to something else.

I have stopped looking at writing as a means to an end and returned to enjoying the process like I did as a child. I have become more patient with myself. I allow myself more time to mess up, to write things that are useless, and from all that seemingly useless writing has come some fun pieces I'm really proud of.

And I'm doing the same through my knitting. It's not about making the piece I'm working on, it's about enjoying the process. Training my hands to do something different, to learn something new. And to be okay with making mistakes. Because if I have to start over it just means I get to spend even more time with my characters and pencils, my yarn and needles.