Super Christmas

   I know this is a bit late, but between the snow and the flu.... I couldn't help it. 

  This year, I decided to save some money by crocheting as many gifts as possible, mostly hats. Now adults may appreciate it, but kids (specifically in the 2-9 group like my nieces and nephews) you have to work to get excited over it. Enter Ravelry pattern search! (One of my favorite sites, check them out here: http://www.ravelry.com/ ) 

  It all started when I stumbled on a pattern for a Batman logo. My 9 yr old nephew LOVES Batman. Then I found a neat pattern for a Superman symbol (favorite of his dad) and thus, the superhero Christmas was born. A few weeks later, I had a plan, and the best part was, I already had most of the materials needed in my stash! Here is what I came up with:

  Spiderman was by far the hardest. I searched and searched for a pattern, but the few I found didn't appeal to me. I couldn't disappoint the 8 yr old Spidey fan in my life, so I got creative.  In the end, I crocheted a red earflap hat with a blue border and hand stitched the webbing on (not a fun task). Finished it off with a set of eyes I designed myself, and viola!

Pattern for the eyes can be found on my blog:  http://stitchingupsarah.blogspot.com/2013/12/spidey-eyes.html

  Next it was on to the one that inspired it all... Batman. Found an awesome logo pattern and sewed it onto a black earflap.

Pattern for the logo here: http://www.louiesloops.com/2012/07/holy-free-pattern-batman.html

  Now the two year old isn't really old enough to know the superheros and have a favorite yet. He calls Superman "Man man" but that's about it. So for this one, I got to play around and pick one that I wanted to do. A red earflap hat and yet another awesome logo later... The Flash hat was born.

Pattern for the logo here: http://crafterchick.com/the-flash-superhero-beanie-hat-crochet-pattern/

  And finally it was time for the father of the little clan. My sister's fiance is a huge Superman fan, so the choice was easy. Luckily I stumbled upon a pretty easy pattern for the logo too. One blue earflap later, I had another hero down.

Pattern for the logo here: http://angie8686.blogspot.com/2013/08/superman-emblem-applique.html

  In the end, the boys loved them! Even the two year old, who usually hates hats, put his on right away and danced around in it. I saved money by not buying tons of noisy toys to drive mommy crazy, but they still got their favorite heroes. Bonus: they have hats that they will wear voluntarily! No more morning wars over keeping warm. Everybody wins. 

Spidey eyes

For Christmas, I decided to make hats for all of my sister's children. The older boys are really into superheroes, specifically Batman and Spiderman. Batman was simple, a logo pattern found online sewed onto a black hat.... Spiderman would be a challenge though. I fretted for a few days over the best way to do the webbing before finally deciding to just stitch it on. 

Thinking the worst was over, I whipped up the hat only to realize I had forgotten something.... eyes! A Spiderman hat just wouldn't be the same without those big, white triangular things. I searched and searched, but could not find a free pattern anywhere... so I had to wing it. This is what I came up with.


Spidey eyes:

Ch 9
sc in 2nd ch from hook and remaining chains, ch 1 and turn (8)
sc in first 7 stitches, ch 1 and turn (7)
sk 1st stitch, sc in next 5, ch 1 and turn (5)
sc 4, ch 1 and turn (4)
sk 1st st, sc next 2, ch 1 and turn (2)
sc evenly around entire piece, placing 2 sc in the corners of the 1st row. sl st to join with 1st sc.

The piece you have now will look like a triangle with one corner on the long side sticking out further than the others.
Attach the black yarn to this corner and crochet evenly around the piece, starting with the long side. When you reach the last stitch,
hdc then dc in the same stitch before joining with a sl st to the first sc.
Fasten off, leaving a tail long enough to sew the piece on.

Here's what they look like sewn on:

That's it! This is my first time writing a pattern, so excuse any errors. Feel free to ask questions or make suggestions! I hope you enjoy it!

This pattern is my own creation. Feel free to use it as you wish, even selling items made with it. But do not claim it as your own. Please link back to this page.