Bavarian Stripes Scarf and Wintry Cloche

My family's plans for Christmas are for us to get together at my ex-husband's place, since my daughter and grandson are currently living there. Then recently, Sophia said that she invited a friend, Darcy, that didn't have a place to go. I'm fine with that as we always have more food than any of us can eat and I can't see anyone not having a place to go for Christmas dinner. I also can't see anyone attending our gathering not having at least one Christmas present as well. So I said to my daughter that maybe I could make her a hot pot holder and a dishcloth, something that I could whip up relatively quickly and have it done in time for Christmas. No, Sophia said, she didn't think Darcy was much into kitchen stuff - a scarf and mitts would be better. I didn't think I'd try the mittens as they're a little more involved and I didn't know if I could get them done on time. Maybe a scarf and hat. Then I remembered the Bavarian crochet scarf that was a UFO somewhere in my stash.
Some time ago, I had wanted to learn Bavarian crochet, so I enrolled in Annie's Learn to Bavarian Crochet online course. I had made the headband, unfortunately out of yarn that didn't have the stretch required so it wasn't a very good headband. Then I started the scarf. The yarn I was using was Luv Baby yarn, which I found in Walmart. It's a very soft yarn, with a little bit of lustre, but there's no weight category on the label, nor how many metres/yards there are in the skein, only that the skein was 120 g. I "guestimated" that this was a 3. The selection for 3 weight in town is quite limited, so this was one of my few options. Unfortunately, the strands of the yarn separate quite easily, and since it has a bit of a nap, it's challenging to rip out. I was finding working with this yarn rather frustrating. That's why it was languishing as a UFO. However, it was more than half-way finished, so I decided this was the project. Not only would I have a gift for Darcy, but I would be finishing a UFO as well. And there was enough yarn to do a hat, too.
The next pattern in the course was a cloche and neck warmer. As I wanted the hat to be Bavarian crochet as well, I decided to use this pattern, even though it called for a 4-weight yarn. Googling, I found that 2 strands of 3-weight is approximately equal to 1 strand of 4-weight. I found this yarn on Ravelry, which stated that a skein has 350 metres of yarn. I'm not sure how they found that out, unless there's a newer label that states this. Or someone unravelled a whole ball and measured it. 😊 Using my formula for comparing weight of yarn in metres per gram, if I used two strands, I would still have 350 metres, but 240 g. That's 1.458 m/g. Red Heart Super Saver is 1.68 m/g. That means that two strands of Luv Baby yarn is heavier than one strand of RHSS. To allow for this, especially since I tend to crochet on the loose side, I decided to use a smaller hook than the 6.0 mm called for in the pattern. Since I was already using the 3.75 mm for the scarf, I decided to try that for the hat. It was definitely too small. Very much too small. Lots of fun trying to rip it out, too, though I did find it easier working with two strands of this yarn than just one. I decided to make the leap up to the 6.0 mm hook and I still found it too small. Rather than rip it out again, I decided to continue to enlarge the circle. In the pattern, once you reach 60 stitches, then you stop increasing and just continue in straight crochet for another 8 rounds or so, totally 28 rounds. I actually increased it to 84, then was worried that that was too big, so decreased it to 72 stitches. I think I should have left it at 84 as the 72 is pretty tight. Hopefully, Darcy's head isn't as big as mine. Had to make some adjustments to the band as well to ensure the stitch number came out even for the pattern. Not sure why my crocheting was so tight for this project
Meanwhile, I have developed a raging cold, so left work early on Wednesday, December 21, and haven't been back since. There's always lots to be done at home, but, unfortunately, I barely have the energy to crochet. I actually took a shower this morning, but that pretty much depleted my energy supply for the day. However, I have been able to finish the hat and scarf for Darcy.

Because of the colours, it does look like a set for a baby, but it is definitely an adult size.
I may be too sick to make it to Christmas dinner at the ex's, but my daughter is stopping off to pick up some stuff which I have hung in a bag on the outside door knob. That way she doesn't have to come in and be exposed to my germs. I wrapped this hat and scarf and put it in the bag as well, so that Darcy can have it whether I make it to Christmas dinner or not.
And in the making of this hat and scarf, I used some of my new toys.

The measuring tape and Sqissors came from the Stuff Your Stocking event at Sew Sisters. The Dritz Crafters Comfort Gloves, I bought on Amazon.

Because they are a compression glove, I found the seams pressing into my flesh, so I now wear them inside out. I'm happy with this purchase as it helps alleviate some of the ache I get when crafting.
And I'm also happy to have finished another UFO.