Daisy's Cloche Conquers My Mountain

Greetings Friends!

Today I've got something really cool to tell you about.  If you ever visit me on any of the social networks you may have already seen this hat, and have heard me talking about My Mountain.  So what is My Mountain? It’s a little hard to explain, but I’ll give it a try… The concept started as a promotion in Europe where the Schachenmayr Yarn Company asked people what gives you that exhilarating feeling of accomplishment, or the adrenaline rush like you’ve just slalomed down a black diamond trail or summited a world class peak.  Now they're reaching out to North America to see how we challenge ourselves and what makes us feel like we're on top of the world. Well, I’m not much for mountain sports,  but there are a few things that make me want to throw my arms in the air and let out a big whoop of joy!

Right now my greatest mountain moments come from creating original crochet designs. It's something that I'm just getting into, and the process of going from idea to sketch then watching as it comes to life with the yarn and hook is just awesome.  The final thrill comes from putting the whole thing together on paper so I can share it with you.  How cool is it then, that as part of the promotion the folks at Schachenmayr Yarns and Westminster Fiber are having a My Mountain hat design contest. By submitting a design using their yarns you can be eligible to win some really awesome prizes.  As if that weren't enough, by emailing [email protected]  they'll even send you the yarn for free! I don't know when the cut off for the yarn request is, but your finished hat pictures need to be submitted (also by emailing Linda) by August 30.

Using the yarn that they sent me I came up with this 1920's / Gatsby inspired design.  If you know the book then you know that Daisy was bold and sassy.  I think she would have rocked this hat, so in her honor it's called Daisy's Cloche.  In addition to this beautiful violet colorway, they also sent me their new specialty Lumio yarn that has threads that reflect when you take a flash picture.  I've made a hat similar to Daisy's that I'm just about finished with.  I figure it they were kind enough to send the yarn then I'm going to use it to make some cool hats for their contest!

I'm not sure how the winners are going to be picked, and while winning is always nice, the truth is that participating in the promotion has been a great experience.  The yarn that they sent is squishy, soft and so pretty.  Plus it's really given me the confidence to come up with my own designs.  Lately I've been doing a lot of work with thread, and I don't usually use super bulky yarn so it was a real challenge to move outside my comfort zone and try something new.  My initial thought was what on earth am I going to do?! I started brainstorming and incorporating some of my favorite thread elements (like the flowers!) and before too long the cloche was born.  Along with the designing, it's also given me a reason to work on my pattern writing skills.  I think the presentation of the pattern is really important.  One of my biggest pet peeves is bloggers who share their designs, but don't have downloadable PDFs.  I never work from patterns on my laptop, and I don't have a tablet.  That means in order to print I have to copy and paste into a Word document.  It's not hard, but the formatting is always off and honestly unless the item is really special I usually don't bother.  With that in mind, I'm working on a layout that I can use for all of the patterns I share here.  My goal is to  design something that I want to use - with a little background, clear pictures and of course accurate instructions! 

If you're interested in making Daisy's Cloche for yourself or for a gift (the holidays are coming!) just click on the link below and you're in business.  Because you're using such thick yarn the whole project comes together really quickly making this a great pattern to keep on hand for when you're looking for a fast project that looks harder than it is!  Since I did edit the pattern myself you may come across something that doesn't make sense.  First, accept my apologies and then let me know about it so I can fix it!

Good luck to my fellow entrants - I hope you have as much fun as I did creating your designs.  Thanks to the folks at Westminster Fibers for reaching out, sending the yarn and encouraging us to embrace life, conquer our mountains and live each moment to the fullest! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me. 
Until next time friends,
Be Blessed and Stitch & Read with Love!

Daisy's Cloche PDF