90 Minutes to Princess Leia buns

Commentary at the end.

Supplies
6mm/J hook
brown yarn, worsted weight
fiber fill
needle

Headband as base--30 min
Make foundation chain of 10 (or a multiple of 3 ch plus an extra 1 ch)

FOUNDATION ROW: 4 ch (counts as 1 dc and 1 ch), *skip 2 ch, (1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc) all into next ch; repeat from * to end

ROW 1: 4 ch (counts as 1 dc and 1 ch), 1 dc into ch sp between first 2 dc, *(1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc) into ch sp between next 2 dc; rep from * to end.

Repeat until length is ~1.5" or ~4cm less than circumference of the head.

sc ends together to form a band. Tie off and leave a 10"/25cm tail.

Bun--30 min each
Each bun is formed by making a tube, which is filled with fiber fill to make a snake, which is then wound to make a bun.

Start with 4 foundation single crochet, 1ch

sc in a circle down one side of the foundation single crochet, 1 sc in the end, sc down the other side of the foundation single crochets (should be 9 stitches).

Continue in a spiral with sc into every stitch which will form a tube. Every 2"/5cm add some fiber fill loosely. Continue until snake forms bun of desired size.  My snakes were 10"/25cm long.

Snake tails are formed by adding a decreases: 2 sc together, every 4 sts until the point comes together. Tie off and leave 10"/25cm tail.

Putting it together
Roll snake into a bun with the tail on the outside. Using a yarn needle and the extra yarn at the end of each tail, sew the tail down. Pass the needle and yarn through the fiber fill to the inside of the roll. Run the needle in and out anchoring the inner rolls of the snake to one another. Tie off and trim excess. Repeat with other snake.  

Lay the band seam out (not against the head), and place one bun over seam. Using the left over yarn from tying off the band, anchor the bun to the band in 3-4 places that are not all in a straightline.

Repeat with other bun using a 12-14"/30-35cm piece of yarn. Done.

COMMENTARY--generalization and optimizations
So this project needed buns and something to attach the buns to it. The buns get kind of big and heavy. So any kind of headband would work, ie a simple band made of sc or dc rows. But I recommend a width of 4"/10cm. I also recommend that it be fairly snug which is why I recommend measuring the head and subtracting length to account for the stretch in the yarn. Even more stable would be a beanie and there are many patterns available for that.

Because I was aiming for speed I used a large hook. The tradeoff is that the fiber fill peaks through the holes in the buns. A smaller hook would produce a tighter weave that would keep the fiber fill in better.

All in all a fun simple project for a last minute Halloween addition.

Crochet: learning something new

So I don't have any deep spiritual insights at the moment, I'm sort of in a "Jesus I'm desperate for you" funk.

But I've been having a lot of fun teaching myself to crochet. I started in November after spending many months thinking about getting my daughter slippers to keep her feet warm on the tile. But I didn't really want to spend money on that, and I saw a youtube video for crocheting maryjane slippers. I thought, "I can do that." So I bought a hook and took out some craft yarn I got on sale and voila! Slippers. However, Lil L being 2 means she often not only won't wear the slippers, she'll even pull off her socks. Oh, well.

I've gone on to making hats, baby booties, moccasins, a baby vest, and so on. It's been really fun to learn something new, but what I really like about it is having something to do with my hands while the kids play.

They have a mom-dar that beeps whenever I move out of range, like to the bathroom or the kitchen or the laundry room. Sometimes, I have to be in those spaces, but what they really like is for me to be in the living room while they play. I don't even have to play with them. I just need to be near. Crocheting is wonderfully portable. I have everything in a plastic shopping bag and can move from place to place.

It's also wonderful because it's pretty easy to stop and start. A couple times I've varnished or painted some furniture. These require multiple steps that are preferably done within a certain amount of time and away from small kids. That's really tough to do these days. With crochet, I can stop on a dime, drop everything back in the bag and do potty time or kiss a boo boo. Easy.

Another huge thing is that I'm making something. I have a bunch of yarn my aunt gave me when she heard I took up crocheting. I'm using it to make stuff for a baby in a family my small group is helping out this Christmas. Everything'll be yellow, but at least the baby will have something warm to wear. I'm already getting to the point where I can make my own designs and that's fun to think about. It's feels like magic going from a wad of yarn to a Thing. Love it.

If you'd like a hacked-together, crochetted something, leave a request in the comments.