Photos, videos and docs of Penny Richards, with the keywords: "crochet"

Pandemic chalk: Crochet afghan, larger

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:01:44 +0000

The colorful chalk afghan on our front walk grew larger in June. You can see the first few rows are a little faded, from more sun than the rest.

Pandemic chalk: Crocheted afghan

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Tue, 26 May 2026 03:04:00 +0000

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The chalk on our walk right now is a crocheted afghan, with 25 colorful granny squares, no two identical. :)

Crochet banner for #nokings

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:21:43 +0000

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I added the words "History has its eyes on us" to this panel of crocheted faces that I made in February, and carried it at the local No Kings rally yesterday.

Pandemic crochet: Sam Reich amigurumi

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 23:11:24 +0000

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I crocheted a Sam Reich amigurumi for my kid. Complete with his Game Changer podium. It's for my kid. She is a big fan. US quarter for scale.

Fun-a-Day LA 2026

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 02:01:52 +0000

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I had two crocheted pieces in the Fun-a-Day LA show yesterday, in Long Beach. "Book Blanket 2025" was displayed on an inflated mattress, with a photo guide showing the book covers each square is based upon. On the wall above, "Facing the New Year" is a panel of 12 crocheted faces.

2025 Book Blanket

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:45:34 +0000

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In 2025 I made a crocheted square for each book I read, usually inspired by the cover art. This is the finished blanket. Cider can for scale.
The list of books is at my blog:
pennamite.wordpress.com/2026/01/01/what-i-read-in-2025
Square by square posts were made at Ravelry all year; if you're a Raveler, here's the project link:
www.ravelry.com/projects/pennamite/book-blanket-2025

Pandemic crochet: Hexagon Rainbow 2021

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:42:26 +0000

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I'm just realizing I never posted this one at ipernity; I made this in 2021, from a lot of scraps of acrylic yarn, especially variegated brights. It was my first hexagon blanket. Three years later, it still makes me happy just to see it.

Pandemic crochet: More hexagons

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 22:09:51 +0000

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I made another hexagon blanket from acrylic yarns in various shades of purple, teal, and green. With pink shapes along the center, like flowers floating in a stream.

Amigurumi Thirteenth Doctor

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 19:13:50 +0000

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I crocheted a little Thirteenth Doctor doll at Gallifrey One this year.

Amigurumi Thirteenth Doctor

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 19:13:48 +0000

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I crocheted a little Thirteenth Doctor doll at Gallifrey One this year.

Warfield Island Hat #4: The Dyetest Coif

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:56 +0000

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Fig. 4. The Dyetest Coif
Materials: Cotton, jersey scrap fabrics, thread, vintage button, lace, beads
  Construction method: Sewn, appliqued, embroidered, red and purple dyes

Description: A Warfield dyetest coif is a simple two-layer tied cloth cap; its interest comes from its finishing process. Island crafters use scraps of natural woven fabrics and fibers to make the caps, then dye them, and wear the results, both to record their dye experiments for future reference, and to display their adventurous spirits (because dyeing is always an adventure). The coif displayed here is purple and dark pink, but the original fabrics were yellow, blue, red, brown, gold, and white.

In Warfield lore, a dyetest coif is a common metaphor for community strength, because the diverse components bear evidence of an intense shared history together.

Warfield Island Hat #2: The Potato Cloche (in progress)

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:53 +0000

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Fig. 2: The Potato Cloche
Materials: Four felted sweaters (wool, cashmere, angora), an elastic band, a button, thread   Construction method: hand sewn; pattern may be loosely based from the basic cloche in Eugenia Kim’s Saturday Night Hat (2006), a copy of which is in the island’s archives

Description: This is another oversized piece, which is intended to protect the wearer’s eyes and ears from too much light or noise (“like a potato in the earth”, according to one hat maker). It is reversible, with one side somewhat softer than the other; this allows the wearer to choose which texture will be more suitable in a given mood. The brown ovals on the black panels may literally reference potatoes, a staple food of the Warfield cuisine.

Warfield Island Hats, complete set

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:59 +0000

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These are hats I made in January 2023, as part of Fun-a-Day Los Angeles, and also inspired by #FashionFictions on Instagram. Along with making the hats, I made a faux ethnographic report about them, as if they were artifacts of an island culture under quarantine. I'll add the text of that to individual photo descriptions, but here's the introduction:

Ethnographic Reports on Warfield Island

Appendix 3:
Hat traditions on Warfield in the Quarantine Years

Introduction: “Warfield Island” (not its real name) is a small island which has declared itself to be under quarantine, not because of any illness in the inhabitants, but to protect themselves from a pandemic in the outside world. The resulting isolation, including limited access to outside goods, has resulted in some specific adaptations in the island’s culture. In this appendix, several examples of this in the island’s material culture are discussed, specifically, the unusual hats worn by the inhabitants.

Note: Warfield hats are prized by some collectors, and have become somewhat known beyond the island. However, our team proposes that some of the reported “ancient folklore” surrounding these objects, as collected in oral histories and reproduced here, is probably intentionally fictional, created to entertain the teller while mocking the interviewer. Readers of this report should proceed with caution, understanding that the Warfield hat makers enjoy a prank-based storytelling practice.

Warfield Island Hat #5: The List Bucket

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:58 +0000

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Fig. 5: The List Bucket
Materials: Scrap fabrics including denim and bridal crepe; lace; printable sheets; thread, vintage buttons, elastic, wood, pin back, modpodge, paint, paper collage  

Construction method: sewn, printed, appliqued; based on a pattern by @chikuchikutianqingre in ソーイングブック (Souingu Bukku, or Sewing Book), a Japanese magazine

Description: This hat’s existence may be based on a mishearing or mistranslation of the phrase “bucket list”. A simple lined denim bucket hat is embellished with two lists, on the band and as a pinned embellishment. The band lists the names of women; the pinned list seems to be ordinary social activities. These lists may recall past or lost events and people. The quarantine culture of Warfield Island has turned many daily objects into sites of memory and mourning.

Warfield Island Hat #3: The Magpie's Helmet

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:55 +0000

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Materials: Wool from Rowan, Chunky Print, and Fleischer’s Spice in “Salt and Pepper” (vintage, 1970s); cotton crochet thread; a strip of black jersey; a length of gold embroidered fabric ribbon; many found metal objects, including charms, earrings, beads, and machine parts  Construction method: crochet, applique

Description: Warfielders prize small but worthless tokens such as beads, keys, and broken jewelry. Traditionally, women wear the tokens of their foremothers on woolen helmet-shaped caps; they believe these tokens invite ancestral protection and power. An old woman will often distribute her tokens to loved ones with stories and songs; it is considered a great compliment to say that someone “died with her cap bare”, because it indicates the person has dispensed all their wisdom, shared all their lore, and faced the unknown bravely.

Warfield Island Hat #1: The Weighty Fez (in progress)

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:52 +0000

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Fig. 1: The Weighty Fez

Materials: Black jersey strips (“t-yarn”), green bulky wool (KnitPicks, “oregano” colorway); madras shirt samples, small beads, a barrette  Construction method: crochet, handsewn embellishment

Description: This is a startlingly heavy object, which must be worn with some care as it is oversized and will crush the wearer’s ears if it is not placed and balanced correctly. It is worn to convey the solemn authority of the island’s leadership, and requires the wearer to move with an attitude of grave thoughtfulness; this visual impression is sometimes enhanced with a long black cloak, somewhat reminiscent of priestly or judicial garments. This fez may also be used as a container, though this function has not yet been studied in detail.

Warfield Island Hat #2: The Potato Cloche

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:16:44 +0000

Penny Richards has posted:

Materials: Four felted sweaters (wool, cashmere, angora), an elastic band, a button, thread   Construction method: hand sewn; pattern may be loosely based from the basic cloche in Eugenia Kim’s Saturday Night Hat (2006), a copy of which is in the island’s archives

Description: This is another oversized piece, which is intended to protect the wearer’s eyes and ears from too much light or noise (“like a potato in the earth”, according to one hat maker). It is reversible, with one side somewhat softer than the other; this allows the wearer to choose which texture will be more suitable in a given mood. The brown ovals on the black panels may literally reference potatoes, a staple food of the Warfield cuisine.

Warfield Island Hat #3: The Magpie's Helmet

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:16:51 +0000

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Warfield Island Hat #4: The Dyetest Coif

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:17:12 +0000

Penny Richards has posted:

Fig. 4. The Dyetest Coif
Materials: Cotton, jersey scrap fabrics, thread, vintage button, lace, beads  Construction method: Sewn, appliqued, embroidered, red and purple dyes

Description: A Warfield dyetest coif is a simple two-layer tied cloth cap; its interest comes from its finishing process. Island crafters use scraps of natural woven fabrics and fibers to make the caps, then dye them, and wear the results, both to record their dye experiments for future reference, and to display their adventurous spirits (because dyeing is always an adventure). The coif displayed here is purple and dark pink, but the original fabrics were yellow, blue, red, brown, gold, and white.

In Warfield lore, a dyetest coif is a common metaphor for community strength, because the diverse components bear evidence of an intense shared history together.

Warfield Island Hat #5: The List Bucket

nobody@ipernity.com (Penny Richards) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:17:23 +0000

Penny Richards has posted: