Erica's Hook & Yarn

Knitty Gal??

2011-05-16T08:55:00.007-04:00

I went to Atlanta a few weeks ago to visit family and friends over our Spring Break. While I was there, we went to Stitches South, an annual knitting (but also everything yarn-related) expo that goes on in various regions across the United States.

While there, my best friend and I decided (on an impulse) to sign up for a free Learn to Knit course. My husband (who DID want to come with us, no one forced him) very kindly took my daughter around to look at everything while we sat there in the class, fiddling about with two sticks.

Here are my very first knit stitches, ever. I dropped that one knitting needle so many times. Lost loops off the needle. Couldn't figure out how to hold my hands...

...and yet, the bug took hold of me. I bought some pretty yarn (Wisdom "Poems," bought from the Stitches booth manned by my local Charlotte yarn store - buying local even while traveling! How cool is that?) and just kept trying.

Here is me, working in basic stockinette stitch. This little project kept my attention on the long drive back home from Atlanta.

By the way, the best thing I did for myself was to purchase some circular knitting needles. These are so much easier to work with (for me) than straights.

Of course, when I got back home, I immediately went to Ravelry to find some interesting new-knitter patterns. The Noro Striped Scarf was an obvious choice for me, since it involved learning a new stitch (knit 1 - purl 1 to create ribbing that doesn't curl up at the edges), AND learning how to change yarns in a project. Actually, this works pretty much just like crochet.

Here is the scarf in its early stages...

...and here it is as of last Friday, though I keep working on it. I have become fairly quick at it. It turns out I am a continental knitter, which means I keep the yarn flowing through the fingers of my left hand. We learned to knit English style, but that never felt natural to me. As I have kept up with my knitting practice, the yarn sort of found its way over to the left hand (as with crochet) and my knitting dexterity has increased commensurately.

If you mainly come here for crochet, don't worry. I'm still crocheting like crazy, and can't wait to show you what I've been working on during my lunch hours. But there may be a good bit of knitting talk as well, while I continue to advance in this new skill! You CAN teach an old dog new tricks, I tell you.

Tea

2011-05-03T10:30:00.011-04:00

Well, we did have our English Tea this weekend.

I found a recipe for cucumber sandwiches; those are more involved than I had expected, but they were delicious. Also made little lemon curd tarts using phyllo dough. It turns out that I am not a fan of working with phyllo. Not at all. Too fiddly.

I had a mishap while making the tarts. I made the whipped cream from scratch and folded in a small jar of lemon curd. I was putting the bowl in the refrigerator to set, when I jarred the bowl of cucumber slices (soaking in a faint vinegar solution), splashing water everywhere. In my hurry to mop up all that water, I failed to notice that I had set the bowl of lemon curd filling on the floor... until I heard the sound of sneaky, fuzzy black lips sampling it.

These lips.

Fortunately, Olive only got the tiniest taste before I snatched the bowl away. Upon examination, I saw no dog hair nor any other indication that she had her tongue in the filling... so I put it back in the fridge to set. If that makes me disgusting, so be it, but we all ate the tarts and no one became ill. :-) Just remember this about me, if you're ever invited for tea.

Also, as neither I nor my daughter care for hot tea, we just brewed some strong iced tea. So I suppose we didn't have a "proper" tea, but it was fancy enough for us. It was her choice to watch Father Ted while we supped. I pointed out that this is technically an Irish comedy, but she countered with the fact that the redoubtable Mrs. Doyle is a Tea Maven, so Father Ted it was.

On a yarnier note, I wanted to show you this neat little linen cabinet that I recently got from IKEA. Our bedroom furniture was "vintage" (not the durable 1960s vintage, but the cheap particle-board 1990s vintage), and it was time for an update. I loved this for being the only red article of furniture in the store that was not made of plastic.

It's got two glass-paned doors that open out. You can see one row of my British Telly collection (with still more tucked away behind that). The other end of that shelf is home to my husband's DVDs.

The main thing to show you about it is the top shelf inside, loaded (not quite to the gills) with wool. This is mostly Wool of the Andes, but the little balls along the front are my hand-dyed wool. I will eventually turn all of this yarn into a lovely Realta afghan, as designed by The Gingerbread Lady.

Here are my first few motifs. This is a super pattern - not too difficult for a newer crocheter, and not tedious for a more experienced crocheter. I love the possibilities of this pattern. My goal is "no two alike" and with 50 different colors in my arsenal, that won't be a problem.

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T07:33:00.005-04:00

(I LOVE today's Google front page!)

Okay, okay, it has been over a month since I wrote. Life has been a tornado of activity, but today I was inspired to write again! Hello, and thanks for still being out there, if you are. :-)

This morning, I awoke at my customary 5:00am (which is 10am in the UK) and promptly turned on the TV to catch the Royal Wedding hoopla. After about 10 seconds of cringing at the U.S. commentators, I switched over to the BBC and from there, enjoyed a more sedate and dry perspective. One of my favorite moments was when Simon Schama (a brilliant historian and writer) commented that the Queen's cousins riding along in the little coaches (luxurious mini-buses) could be a team of footballers heading off to a match, to all appearances.

I got my daughter up at about 6am so she could see Kate coming down the aisle. We ooohed and aahed at some of the ENORMOUS hats (and others that resembled a jellyfish coming gently to rest atop one's immaculate coiffure)

We watched until William and Kate went back to sign the register, and then we had to go to work and school, respectively.

Almost 30 years ago, three days before my 10th birthday, my grandfather let me stay home from summer camp and watch the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. That was the start of my abiding and unseemly interest in the Windsors, which over the years developed into a more appropriate and deeper interest in English history and culture, in general.

This morning, for my daughter, I described the way Diana rode to St. Paul's Cathedral in a horse-drawn coach, the big poofy dress, the unbelievably long train... how they left the wedding in an open carriage, went off to breakfast, and kissed on the palace balcony. Leaving out the sad details of the rest of that marriage, I told her that almost a year later, she had a baby boy, and that's who was getting married today.

So today was fun. William and Kate seem to be a genuine loving partnership, and I wish them all the best! We intend to have a mini high tea this weekend, with cucumber sandwiches and perhaps a lemon curd tart. (Any Monty Python fans want to bite on this one? "Damn your lemon curd tart!") Or at least Lionel Hardcastle's favorite, a standard custard tart.

And for a bit of crochet, I did finish my Union Jack pillow (pattern from the Royal Sisters) last weekend, so it was right there on the sofa with us as we watched.

There's a LOT to catch you all up on, so I'll be back very soon!!!

Irish Crochet

2011-02-21T08:25:00.002-05:00

Once again, I have allowed many days to elaspe since my last blog posting. Thank you to anyone still coming around to see me, such an unreliable reporter. :-) And thanks always for the comments. I receive them via email, and often respond, but am never sure if anyone gets my reply... so may start responding in the comments, themselves.

Now then. I have been crocheting like mad, all the time, turning out a number of smaller, instant-gratification-type projects, but also putting dents in larger ones. I even took some pictures this weekend, since the weather was beautiful and the light was perfect for photography... and I left the photo card at home.

Still, I have something to share today. On Ravelry, there was a thread about "Gorgeous Crochet," and this little number turned up for consideration...

Wow. I mean, WOW. That entire creation is crocheted. The technique is called Irish Crochet, and after looking on YouTube to see how it's done, I'm verrry interested in giving this a try someday. And also have a body that would look good in such a dress, but I digress. One step at a time.

Link to the Ravelry page of this amazing designer / crocheter. She has other things upon which to feast your eyes.

Link to some YouTube videos on the Irish Crochet technique. Obviously, largely a freeform method, which looks like it requires some courageous thinking.

Ravelry link to Irish Crochet pattern library.

Generally accessible link to Irish Crochet patterns.

Friday Reveal

2011-02-04T07:55:00.013-05:00

Do you remember my lovely, large order of yarn from earlier this year? The one that nearly covered my kitchen table?

This one?

I'm deep in thought about how best to use that rainbow of wool in the foreground, there. But in the meantime, I have been very much enjoying the Chroma Worsted yarn (in the red box).

I tried to get a good picture of its colors this weekend. I've already used a ball of the "Galapagos" colorway (blues and greens) for a scarf for my sister-in-law, and now a hat for someone else. Here is the lone remaining ball. You can't really appreciate the colors in this picture...

But I think you can get a good idea of them in THIS picture.

Such a soft, lovely yarn to use, with long color runs, so that it looks as though you used many different colors, instead of one ball of yarn. Truly magical. I've read comments on Ravelry that people worry this yarn will pill a bit once it's in use... that may turn out to be true, but it may also depend on how you're using it.

Here is the other colorway, called "Lollipop." Perfect colors for a six year-old girl, don't you think?

And here is her finished hat.

Again, it looks like I used a bunch of different yarns, but that is all just one uninterrupted ball of Chroma.

What I like most about Chroma (and Noro varieties) is the long color runs that blend smoothly into the next, as compared with the shorter, abruptly ending colors in other variegated yarns. Here's an example (not mine) using Red Heart variegated - the hat is cute, it's just a very different result.

Anyway, the two hats I made are super-easy! The free pattern is here. I've actually made THREE of them so far. I'd say you could make one in under three hours, easily. It does require FPDC (front post double crochet) stitches, and a few BPDC (back post double crochet) around the edge, but those are easy once you get the hang of them. You can find plenty tutorials on Youtube.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Groundhog Day Already?

2011-02-02T09:22:00.006-05:00

Ugh. Only THREE posts in January?? I've really been a slipshod blogger! Thanks, as always, for visiting and for taking the time to say hello in the comments.

I AM busily crocheting over here. The problem is that I'm often behind on taking pictures, so though I might have plenty to tell you, I have nothing to show you.

January has been a big organizational month around our house. For the past few years, I've been working to simplify, reduce, pare down, scale back, etc. I shall be talking more about that in the very near future - possibly even in a second blog post this week!

In the meantime, here was a nasty little corner of my bedroom last weekend. Look at all that laundry. Look at those unwanted books that have been culled and need a new home (NOT the Michael Palin book atop the dirty laundry, that is very much wanted). Look at that Granny Stripe, languishing in its sadly incomplete state. Look at that other random box of yarn - what IS that, anyway?

I spent a good bit of time last weekend, taming that corner. The laundry is pretty much done, the books are gone, the Granny Stripe is... still looking just like that, but I'll get to it!

I also cleaned out my closet a good bit. Inside that closet was a big Rubbermaid tub of yarn. Two years ago, it contained pretty much my entire stash...

...which has since grown to fill a large corner of one room. The picture below is the newly repurposed dining room from last spring...

I need to take a current picture to share. Everything is still organized, and I'm not brimming over with yarn... but I have reached the point where I can safely say, "I Have Enough." And I think that's the key to any sane household or life - recognizing when one has Enough, be it yarn, dish soap, money, books or just general good health. It's vital to recognize and appreciate these things.

Off my (dish) soapbox for now. Anyway, I cleaned out that tub of yarn in my closet, making serious decisions about which yarn I'm never, ever going to use - don't know why I bought that ugly yarn, didn't like it when someone gave it to me, whatever - and I put it aside to donate.

Then I put all my pretty shiny acrylic yarn (specifically Caron Simply Soft and Bernat Satin) into a Space Bag. For those unfamiliar with these, it's basically a big Ziploc plastic bag with a valve on the front. Attach your vacuum hose, suck all the air out, and your big bag of smooshy blankets, towels, sweaters, or yarn becomes significantly flatter, allowing more storage space.

Before..

After!

Tucked two bags of yarn away and had room to put more in the box, freeing up space in my closet.

Freshly inspired, I went on to tackle the hall linen closet. With four people and three different-sized beds in one house, there are many bed linens to deal with. I finally parted with the bedspread we bought right after we got married (15 years ago), since we haven't used it in years and it has just been sitting there. Said goodbye to Spongebob sheets that my seventh-grader no longer wants. Shoved other blankets and sheets into Space Bags - suuuuuuuuuuck with the vacuum - and voila - tidy, organized linen closet whose door will actually CLOSE with a resounding click!

Goodwill is tired of seeing us, and we are tired of seeing it, but I think we're nearly finished with the overall clear-out. More to come - possibly this week!! (But don't hold your breath.)

Woot! Completed WIP

2011-01-18T15:55:00.007-05:00

Finally! At last! I have finished a pillow that I started A YEAR AGO. Pillows are pretty easy, you know? I started it and got about halfway done, then got sidetracked, and then sidetracked some more, and then blown way off-course... and before I knew it, a year had gone by.

Finally, I was looking over my Ravelry projects page, and I realized I was quite tired of looking at the same old projects, all in various stages of "progress." I was ruthlessly honest with myself, deleting / frogging projects I just know I'm never going to finish, or in which I have lost interest.

However, I resolved to FINISH one of them, dammit.

So I selected this pillow. And yes, I finished it over the weekend.

It all began with this box full of lovely, soft, shiny Naturally Caron Country yarn, a blend of acrylic and merino wool.

As usual with my projects, I was just playing around with color, and making Attic 24's little garden grannies, and decided to make a pillow for myself.

Things were going pretty well, until I ran out of the ivory color. That alone sidetracked me for a week or so, even though you can easily get this yarn at the big box stores!

And then school started, and Christmas appeared suddenly and any number of other excuses not to finish it... but this weekend, I persevered. The pillow has a split personality - cool sea colors on one side...

Colorful florals on the other!

I think I prefer the floral side, but I'm sure my husband likes the other side. So we both win. And I get to transfer yet another Unfinished Project to my Finished list. Yay!

What about you? Anything lingering endlessly on your to-do list that you could maybe knock out in a couple of days?

Tunisian Entrelac

2011-01-13T14:19:00.007-05:00

By way of a Christmas bonus, my boss indirectly provided me with an enormous box of yarn from Knitpicks. Fourteen pounds of it! Okay, there was a book in there, and some practically weightless blocking mats. The rest of it was all colorful wool, baby!

Here's the box, newly opened...

And here it is, all laid out on my kitchen table. SIXTY-ONE balls of yarn, a book, and blocking mats.

It's like having almost the 64-count box of crayons, in a way. The yarn you see in the foreground, Wool of the Andes, is a basic worsted weight yarn. I am enjoying perusing Ravelry to gain inspiration for whatever I decide to make with it.

I reeeally like the blanket you see below, though this is knitting with two strands. I could crochet with two strands of worsted-weight yarn, but that makes a very dense, heavy blanket.

(Click the picture to link to the pattern site)

However, by using two strands of Palette yarn (fingering weight yarn available in 100 colors!!) and crocheting in Tunisian entrelac... the result is rather interesting.

That's just ten shades of Palette with the colors intersecting all over the grid. Tunisian crochet is a distant cousin of knitting (in my opinion), in that you gather loops on the hook and then work them off, stitch by stitch. There is no seaming of squares above, by the way - the squares are all interlocked ("entrelac", in other words) as you go.

However, there ARE a lot of ends to weave in when using so many colors and changing them so often... so my creation may ultimately become a pillow cover so I can just - disregard the ends!

In the meantime, I really enjoyed doing this project, and since I have perhaps 50 colors of Palette (not all shown below)...

...I'm now making a larger-scale entrelac project using thirty-four colors. Here's my chart!

I will be busy on this for quite some time, I think...

Granny Striping

2011-01-06T14:38:00.004-05:00

I know, who isn't doing a Granny Stripe these days? There are dozens of you talented women out there who have already completed yours.

Me, I'm still poking along. It's not that I'm a slow crocheter, it's that I'm a constantly divided crocheter. I was a very busy lady during November and December, and managed to give almost all handmade gifts (however small they might have been).

Now that the deadlines are gone, I'm sort of at a loose end. WHAT to work on next? I have been drawn back to the lovely Granny Stripe I'm making for my friend, Holly.

As I mentioned last summer, I'm going with Cath Kidston-esque colors. Here are my original selections, all nice and tidy in a basket, ready for striping.

And here is that same basket now, a bit jumbled-looking, like colorful spaghetti.

Aaah, but here is the lovely Stripe in progress... I'd say it's about one-third finished. I'm falling in love with this thing, and though Holly may have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers if she actually wants this on her couch... well, I'll probably relinquish it before we get to that point.

Granny striping is just so easy, and fun. I don't have my colors mapped out or anything, I'm just trying not to repeat two stripe sequences in a row, and keeping the darker stripes fairly evenly spaced between the rest of all these scrumptious colors.

More to come. I hope to be a more frequent poster this year. It's not for lack of anything to say, or to show you - I'm just short on time!!

Christmas Catch-Up

2010-12-28T10:47:00.013-05:00

Christmas has come and gone, and I can breathe again. Not that it was that busy for us, actually - it just seems like life leads up to the event that IS Christmas for months... and once it's over, you can breathe again. I look forward to the New Year, in fact.

We had a white Christmas this year, the first one in my lifetime. Growing up in the Southern U.S., we seldom get snow, and when we do, it's usually just a dusting that doesn't stick around long.

This year we got a respectable snow AT Christmas, one that is still out there on the ground, but not the roads. This was the view from my front yard.

(Ignore the "Dec 80" date stamp on the picture. I used an iPhone app called Hipstamatic to take the picture, which automatically applies an old 70s look to my pictures. Love this app!)

Here's Olive, her beard and paws just FULL of snow. She loved this weather, though!

I did a whole lot of crocheting throughout the month of December. Not really any more than I usually do all year, but I was trying to finish things up for other people!

I mentioned earlier this month that I was doing something different with the Royal Sisters' Granny Stars.

I crocheted two stars in the same color, then crocheted them together just using single-crochet (5 sc in each point of the star, one sc in each sc along the sides). I was going to put them into a garland, but never got to that point. I will try to get that finished before we pack away the rest of the Christmas stuff, so it can be ready to go when we open it all up next year.

I finished another one of Attic24's Christmas ornaments. I mailed this green one off to one of my best friends, and the blue one (from earlier) to her sister, another dear friend.

Best of all, I finally sat down and used white crochet thread to make these Elegant Ornament Covers. And let me tell you, they were SO EASY to do. The trick is just using that tiny hook and very fine thread - once you get used to that, it couldn't be easier. And everyone was so impressed with the end result - it looks so fancy and marvelous. Only WE crocheters know how easy it is!

I made a bunch of these for friends, covering all different colored chrome ornaments. These pastel peachy ones (below) are for my in-laws.

Now then. Christmas is all about giving, yes, and that is the best part, yes, but I also received a number of lovely gifts, myself!

My clever friend Holly sewed me TWO project bags. Each one is reversible and I love each fabric choice! She made me a small one (seen below) and a larger one. I absolutely adore these bags.

My dear aunt visited my Knitpicks wish list and sent me some Jacquard dyes. I haven't done ANY yarn dyeing in weeks, and I look forward to firing the stove back up and getting started with these!

And my fabulous husband made sure there was yarn under the Christmas tree this year. Here is my lap full of Knitpicks Palette balls.

So that was our Christmas, summarized in brief. I haven't been online to visit any of your blogs lately, and I look forward to seeing what you've all been up to!

Finished Object Friday

2010-12-17T08:06:00.006-05:00

What in the world are these??

Some species of space cabbage, perhaps?

Why, no - they are just blossoming scarves made of Noro Silk Garden! I've mentioned quite often how much I love the way the color changes in this yarn. I made these scarves for assorted friends and family. There are actually more of them, but I had to mail a few off recently, so I took pictures of the ones I had already completed.

Here they are, all laid out end-to-end, row by row. There are only four scarves here, but just feast your eyes on all that color!

The pattern (called Queen Anne's Lace) is SUPER-easy, and you can go by memory after about 10 minutes of doing it. This pattern would obviously work with any decent yarn, but seems to be perfect for the color changes in Silk Garden. Each flower works up to be a different color / tone.

It's the last weekend before Christmas, and I have a gigantic checklist staring me down between now and Monday. But I'm all merry about it, so it's okay!

Cookies and Books

2010-12-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Look at this lovely Christmas wreath my husband put together for us. Our old one was literally old, having been assembled over ten years ago when we first moved to this house. It had seen its fair share of winter days upon our door, and its little plastic apples were all faded and washed out, and it just looked tired.

So we retired it - well done, faithful servant. (We actually just threw it in the trash - not really as ceremonious as I was making it sound.)

My husband got a new plain wreath, added some lights and ornaments, and voila - we're all set for another ten years.

Our office had it annual cookie exchange yesterday. Everyone brings three cookies for each other person attending. So at the end, you walk out with a big bag of assorted homemade cookies.

As with the Thanksgiving luncheon, I often get lazy at the last minute and bring in grocery store baked goods. (Never anything as obvious as Oreos in a baggie, of course. I have my standards.)

This year, I found a recipe for Brownie Covered Oreos on Picky Palate. I just love this website - every recipe I've ever made turned out wonderfully. And most of them are pretty easy, on top of that.

Here are our cookies, right out of the oven... I took a bite out of one only so that y'all out there in Blogland could see the inside. The things I do for you...

They were to-die-for when warm from the oven on Sunday night... but by the time of the cookie exchange on Tuesday afternoon, they had become rather hard. So I just recommended that everyone pop them in the microwave for a couple of seconds before consuming.

Here is my haul from the exchange - so many talented bakers in this office. My kids' lunchboxes are set for the next week or so (at least).

Do you have any favorite Christmas books or stories? Here are some of mine:

Of course Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is in there - a surprisingly funny story in places, with a meaningful message about doing our best with the time we've been given.

And one from my 70s upbringing - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a story about the awful Herdman kids... Loved it as a kid, and now my kids like it. My mom was kind enough to give this one to me, autographed by the author!

Jean Shepherd's book, "A Christmas Story," upon which that beloved movie was based. The author himself was the narrator of the movie, and actually makes a cameo appearance as a grumpy customer in the line to see Santa. ("Hey kid! The line ENDS here...") You can almost hear his voice as you read this book.

"The Lump of Coal" by Lemony Snicket, author of "A Series of Unfortunate Events." I was attracted to the cover - the coal lump bears an obvious resemblance to Sir Winston Churchill. This book, like the Series books, was illustrated by Brett Helquist, and I love his work. This quirky little book is about finding meaning in one's life.

The Everyman's Library "Christmas Stories." This was one of those books I saw in the store, was just drawn to, and had to have. Sometimes a book just calls to me and I must take it home. A beautiful, compact hardcover loaded with tons of different Christmas stories by authors across the centuries, most of which I'd never read before. Though I haven't read them all yet, my hands-down favorite in this volume is Anthony Trollope's "Christmas at Thompson Hall," a story about mistaken identity and misappropriated mustard.

And finally, "Holidays on Ice" by the fabulous David Sedaris. It has about ten short stories, but if nothing else, get this book for "The Santaland Diaries," the grittily hilarious story of working as an Elf at Macy's Santa Land in New York City. As much as I love this book, I highly recommend listening to it, if possible - read by Sedaris himself. His voice just MAKES the story. Here's a link to NPR with an 8-minute sample - do yourself a favor and listen to it.

Christmassy

2010-12-13T12:03:00.007-05:00

We are definitely fully immersing into the Christmas mood around our house. There has been a good bit of present-making, present-wrapping, baking, cooking, not much cleaning, and Christmas movie-watching.

I managed to make ONE Lucy (Attic24) ornament this weekend. Though easy enough, it's also a bit time- and labor-intensive. It took ALL this hubbub (below) to create one ornament. But it turned out very well!

As you see, I made mine a five-point star (not six, as in the pattern). This was accomplished by altering round 5 (the "pointy triangle bits"). Instead of four slip stitches between points, I did five. This resulted in five evenly spaced points on the star.

I also didn't stuff my star - I thought it was pleasantly plump enough as it is. Also, there were plenty of unwoven-in ends on the insides to give it a bit of padding.

I like the way this turned out, and will (probably) make more for my tree before next Christmas. In the meantime, here it is, dwarfing the other ornaments on my small office tree.

It's cold enough here in North Carolina that we may get some snow later this week. In all my years (so many of them, haha), I've never experienced a "white" Christmas. In the South, it seldom snows at all! Not that I'm complaining, believe me. But it would be nice, just once.

Here is Olive, our family's youngest member, in line to receive a sweatshirt that was first owned by my son, then my daughter... now just the right size for a Scottie dog. Naturally, she has been masterfully engineered (head to toe) for cold weather, but being a spoiled couch dog, she sports this sweatshirt with finesse and a bit of pleasure, I'd say.

What's Happening

2010-12-07T11:09:00.011-05:00

We had a busy weekend!

Did a bit of this...

...and that...

My mom came to visit, bearing Christmas gifts. We aren't traveling anywhere this year, so she brought Christmas to us. She resides at the beach, and made very clever and beautiful use of her surroundings to decorate our packages.

Inside this package, among MANY wonderful things, was some hand-dyed wool. The label indicates is was spun by The Green Mountain Spinnery, but I don't see this brand (Shepherd's Lamb) listed as one of their products. Not sure of the connection between the two, but it's a soft, strong yarn that I can't wait to use.

These skeins were dyed with natural colors. The one on the right was dyed using onion skins; the center skein was colored with cochineal dye. That sounds like a plant-based color, but it's actually an insect that lives on prickly pear cactus plants. I can't imagine how many of them it took to dye just one skein of yarn! Thanks, bugs!

I'm thinking of dyeing the bare skein - not sure what color, yet.

I gave my mom this "potato" rock - we call it that for its shape - it's a variety of smooth, flat rock. I crocheted a cover for it, almost like a little shower cap. It's a bit fanciful, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know anyone else who can claim to have one.

The pattern was one of three different rock covers, and was in Crochet Today (Sept/Oct 2009). It's made with crochet thread, and took about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, I've been playing around with the Royal Sisters' Grandma Twinkle pattern, working on something a bit different. Can't wait to show you later this week...

Advent Begins

2010-12-01T07:47:00.018-05:00

Technically, the Important Advent began this past Sunday, but since it's December 1 (woo-hoo!), that signals the start of Santa Claus Advent in our house.

I usually give my kids a Playmobil advent calendar, the kind that has a teeny little toy in each day's box, all eventually growing into a little play set. For the past couple of years, Santa has been leaving each day's box on the kids' pillows at night. This probably perplexes my 6 y.o. daughter, since Santa must be turning up each night to deliver these wee parcels, and shouldn't he be working his jolly fat butt off up at the North Pole right now?

Anyway, my 12 y.o. son has been a good sport about going along with this for my daughter's benefit over the past few years.

This year, the Playmobil sets weren't very interesting ,and I wasn't sure what to do for an advent calendar. Then I saw something in a magazine, and knew it was for me.

I started with a bucket of favor tins (2" across), some Christmassy card stock, magnets, a glue gun (yes, I have a glue gun - what of it?) and some delicious chocolate.

I printed numbers 1 through 24 on the card stock in what I felt was a Santa-like font.

I glued the numbers onto the tins and started filling them up with candy.

Then, I hot-glued magnets onto the back of each tin...

Here they are, all nicely arrayed and cheerful.

And inside, the lovely treats. As you can see, I tried to fill each tin with a fairly identical offering, since both kids have to share the tin for the day. The last thing I want, as I desperately attempt to imbue our chaotic household with some Christmas cheer, is bickering over "I want the green one!" "No, I do!" Yes, this from a 6 y.o. AND a 12 y.o.

My husband commended me for my attempt at heading off any bickering, but pointed out that there was still plenty of room for dissent. "Who gets to open the tin first? What if one kid wants both green ones, but the other wants a green one AND a red one?" He was right, of course, but I can't prevent children who are determined to disagree, from disagreeing.

Anyway, I arranged all the tins on the front of my refrigerator, like so:

A Christmas tree formation! And here, you can see my lovely refrigerator in full. I actually tidied it up a bit for this picture, if that tells you anything about its normal appearance.

So that is the start of our Santa Advent. I'm happy to report that there was no arguing this morning over who got to open the tin first - in fact, my daughter refrained from opening it and waited for my son to come downstairs so that HE could open it first. And they agreed to each take one silver and one red Kiss, without arguing. I was shocked but pleased.

However, there are 23 more days to go, and it can't all be bliss, I just know that.

Crochet in My Car

2010-11-30T09:11:00.003-05:00

Just a brief post today - I was struck this morning by the sight of my daughter's booster seat. On a recent long car trip, she plopped her granny square cushion onto it. It has remained there ever since, keeping her little cheeks warm and comfortable on these chilly morning rides to school.

Mosaic Monday - Evolution

2010-11-29T13:23:00.004-05:00

Today's mosaic showcases the evolution of colors in a ball of Noro Silk Garden. I started winding the ball, and each time the colors shifted, I took another picture. This is a delightfully schizophrenic yarn.

WIP (and Wildlife) Wednesday

2010-11-24T09:06:00.006-05:00

Welcome to Wednesday! Hoping for a half-day here at work, but not holding my breath...

Here's what I've been working on lately - for ME.

It's just draped over another pillow at the moment; I'm going to keep it kind of small so that I actually FINISH it. I still have to make the back, and am currently trying to decide whether to repeat the Union Jack on the other side, or make a solid blue panel. Or something else, entirely.

The pattern is available from The Royal Sisters. Surprisingly, it is NOT difficult! In fact, it's pretty easy to figure the later rounds out as you go, without consulting the pattern. Clear instructions, and a fabulous result! The tricky bit is that you carry three strands of yarn throughout the square, never cutting. This makes for easy finishing, but the yarn does get a bit twisted from time to time, and you have to set it straight.

This morning, we had five deer in our back yard - two does and three fawns. I captured a good shot of two of them.

And finally, I stopped by Barnes & Noble earlier this week and picked up these two treats. Can't wait to dive into both of them!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, even if you're not somewhere this holiday is celebrated!

Weekend Update

2010-11-22T09:04:00.014-05:00

We had a marvelous weekend, which felt slightly longer than an average weekend - always a good thing, as long as the weekend IS good! My dear friend Tomie traveled with her son to visit us. We hadn't seen each other since April, so it was very nice to be together again.

On Friday night, we went in a group to see the new Harry Potter movie. I think we all enjoyed it, even though it was quite bleak and scary. It was mostly true to the books, and it ended on that down note, just like "The Empire Strikes Back" - one of the darkest points in the entire story. I am SO looking forward to the final movie, and am pleased with the decision to split this complicated tale into two parts, so that very little story is sacrificed in the on-screen telling.

But you came here for crochet. So here it is.

On Saturday, we did a good bit of yarn-dyeing. It was almost like Potions class in my kitchen, with measuring out ingredients, bubbling cauldrons full of colorful but stinky concoctions, with often magical results!

Below you can see a more aromatic potion consisting of Kool-aid in lime and berry blue.

...and cooling in the pan, absorbing the last bits of color. MAN, that's bright.

Tomie tends to more natural tones and hues, and we did a few of those as well. In fact, since I am still new to dyeing, I have had my share of experiments that didn't quite turn out to my own liking - the colors being more muted than vibrant... but those are right up Tomie's alley, so I sent her home with a bag full of yarn!

Here is Tomie's palette of new yarn, all hand-dyed - some done this weekend, some I had done before. The striking blue ball, she did all on her own. The padawan has become the Master. :-) We used Kool-Aid and Wilton food coloring, and she really loved the dyeing process, start to finish.

On Sunday, Tomie decided to return the favor, and teach ME something new. She broke out her enormous tool box of painting supplies and a few blank canvases. I used to paint, way back in college, but never did anything of consequence.

How intimidating is this? Two white canvases and endless color possibilities. And what in the world will I possibly paint? I don't do living objects; they never turn out right. I have no sense of scale or perspective... my work always leans toward the cartoonish...

Having labeled me a "color hound" (and you know I am), Tomie whipped out a color wheel - IN PAINT - for my current and future use. Some of this I knew, but most of it I did not, especially as it relates to mixing paint for new colors.

While our boys huddled together with their video games, we sat down (me, Tomie and my daughter) and spent the entire morning and afternoon, painting away. Look at this glorious creative chaos. Can you tell what I'm working on (there at the bottom)?

I started off with red, yellow, blue and white. Tomie taught me to mix the colors, starting with light and gradually darkening to the desired new color. I learned how hard it is to do it the other way around! And I learned about adding a dash of complementary color to tone down the brightness.

I also learned how to block color, then add lighter shades for detail... and how to make little flowers... and so many things. And lookie what I made! A Babette blanket laid out in the grass.

Yep. If I'm not actually crocheting, I'll just PAINT crochet instead. :-) This was the easiest Babette I ever did, and finished in record time! Just a few hours, instead of a few months.

My daughter is a free spirit, fearless in her color mixing and application of brush to canvas. She was a prolific painter and finished four pieces that day.

Meanwhile, Tomie began by uncapping a tube of paint, tapping the brush thoughtfully against her lips and saying, "I feel like doing a landscape today."

So she did. Just like that.

And she also painted a Babette square, for me. Look at all those lovely, detailed stitches! You can't see it in this picture, but the stitches all wrap around the edges of the canvas, too.

Tomie decided to stay on Sunday night, instead of going home. We spent the afternoon painting and dyeing, crocheting a little bit, looking through photo albums at pictures of our boys when they were just toddlers together... back then, the kitchen table would be strewn with Play-doh in a hundred colors, and the boys would curl up together in a single comfy chair to watch "Blue's Clues" together. Now they're both in middle school and just rocketing toward adulthood - but they are both good boys, and still sweet to their doting moms.

My husband grilled out for us each night, and was a good sport about the rampant creativity and giggling going on all around him.

It was truly a golden weekend. We always part from each other feeling rejuvenated. There is nothing like being with someone else creative, when you yourself are creative. Tomie and I agreed - as we always do, at the end of our time together - that we should do this more often. And hopefully we will! :-)

Finished Object Friday - Yarnucopia

2010-11-19T09:39:00.009-05:00

Though it's not all Swine and Roses every day, I do work in a pretty great office. I have my own office with a door and big windows, and I pretty much love the folks with whom I work directly. (Especially Holly. Hello, Holly!)

Our group is part of a larger "umbrella" company, and we all love good food, and the eating of it. A few years ago, someone had the ingenious idea of having a Thanksgiving luncheon the week before the actual holiday, one where we all bring a dish and just pig out. (This, just one month before our annual Christmas Cookie Exchange... yumm...)

Being a decent cook and a better-than-average baker, I usually sign up to bring a dessert. However, I usually often become lazy at the last minute and stop by the grocery store for some bakery cookies.

So this year, I opted to bring a centerpiece. A crocheted centerpiece, to be precise.

It all started when I came across a Lion Brand pattern for Thanksgiving gourds. How adorable! I knew I needed to make at least one of them. So I did, back in early October.

I showed this to Holly here at work, and she said off-handedly, "You should make a whole cornucopia. A Horn of Plenty, if you will. For the Thanksgiving luncheon."

Well. I thought, How ironic that would be. Just the idea of an entire crocheted cornucopia. Then again, I've already made an entire pantry of crochet food for my daughter... but she's six. (She also referred to this project as a cornyopia throughout its construction. Love that.)

How would a Yarnucopia go over with an office full of suit-wearing adults?

What the hell. I did it.

Here are all the pieces, laid out for individual viewing. I used Caron Country bamboo-blend yarn for most of them, which has a lovely sheen to it. My favorite pieces are the pumpkin and the brown mushroom (made with a natural-tone Noro yarn with a perfectly fungal palette).

Here is the yarnucopia, in place.

The feast was delicious, by the way. Honey-baked ham and turkey, plenty of traditional side dishes such as green beans, mashed potatoes, a fabulous cheese-topped corn casserole, multiple stuffings, deviled eggs, soup, macaroni and cheese, cranberry-apple crumble...

...and the dessert table was rawther sinful - a Guinness chocolate cake, a deep-dish pecan pie, several pumpkin pies, brownies, cookies, banana pudding, chocolate-dipped strawberries...

We really didn't accomplish much around the office that afternoon, so stuffed were we. It was a nice lunch with plenty of friendly fellowship.

Anyway, if you are interested, the individual crochet pieces were made from the following patterns:

Apples, Carrot, Mushrooms and Pear are all from the fabulous book, Tasty Crochet.

The corn and gourds are from Lion Brand (free).

Pumpkin by Itsy Bitsy Spider Amigurumi.

Eggplant by Sugar’n Cream (free). Actually, that link takes you to a pattern for a veggie basket, loaded with carrots, tomatoes, corn, eggplant and radishes.

Hope you have a marvelous weekend!!

I Love Etsy

2010-11-16T16:26:00.010-05:00

Just had to share some Etsy love. As you know, I have a Scottish Terrier named Olive, who is simply the most relaxed and sweetest dog it has ever been my pleasure to know.

Last year, I bought a small painting from Todd Young (Etsy shop link here).

Todd does the most wonderful paintings and prints of all manner of dogs and cats. His original paintings are very reasonably priced, as are his prints. I just love his work. Earlier this week, I bought this print (below) for my husband for Christmas.

(He never reads my blog, so no worries about giving the secret away!)

If you are a pet lover, or know someone who adores their pet, I recommend visiting Todd's shop for a handmade, heartfelt Christmas gift!

And since this is ostensibly a crochet blog, let me show you these beautiful crochet hooks I recently bought, also on Etsy, from this shop.

These are my preferred Susan Bates hooks, sizes F through J. The handles are covered with polymer clay, and they are just as smooth and flawless as polished wood. I love the way she has covered each one with a color scheme that complements the hook color.

Here's a close-up of the handles. (Please try not to see the bit of Scotch tape I had to use to keep one hook pointed in the right direction. That G hook always has a mind of its own.)

Why not treat yourself to these lovelies??? The Etsy shop also offers Boye hooks, if you prefer them.

One more week til Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to show you tomorrow's Finished Object.

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-11-16T09:38:00.004-05:00

Well, thank you to Terrie, who sent me a Beautiful Blogger Award yesterday!

Here are 10 Things You Don't Know About Me:

1) I am an only child.

2) I work with dentists all day, but I do not work in a dental office.

3) I am secretly falling in love with woolen yarn. But I still enjoy using acrylics, and vow never to look down upon anyone who loves and uses acrylic yarn.

4) I am growing ever more tempted to learn to knit. But only to broaden my palette of available crafting options.

5) Now that the weather is growing cooler, I find myself reading more often. (I'm a cold-weather reader.) Currently reading "The Book of Lost Things" and re-reading "The Fellowship of the Ring."

6) Until very recently, I was the only person in my family - for three generations - who could crochet (and no one knits). Now I have taught my mother, my son and my daughter to crochet.

7) I met my husband when we both worked at a record store - I was his boss. Not much has changed in 18 years. :-)

8) A few of my "guilty pleasure" movies (the ones we shouldn't like, but can't help watching when they come on) are "Dumb and Dumber", "Staying Alive," "Mommie Dearest," "FM" and "Road House."

9) I am going to see the new Harry Potter movie this Friday with some dear friends and a few boys thrown in for good measure.

10) I am fascinated with history, and am particularly knowledgeable about British / English history. This goes hand-in-hand with my rabid Anglophilia, for which there seems to be no cure. By the way, today it was announced that Prince William finally got engaged. Guess I can finally retire that dream... (le sigh)

Not Dead, Just Busy

2010-11-15T11:15:00.005-05:00

Hello, my friends!

(Note to self: Sometimes pressing the Enter key will result in instant publishing of the unfinished post!)

My husband was out of town all last week, so it was just me in charge of two kids and two animals. It was pretty busy, but we all managed well, and only got take-out one night!

I didn't do a lot of crocheting, and no dyeing at all, but we had our creative moments.

My daughter has recently discovered the joy of painting - adding this to her long list of artistic delights - and the weather was perfect for sitting outside. So she sat down, sketched a bit, and then started to use her acrylic paints. Olive sniffed the autumn air and watched geese flying South.

I snuck in a bit of crocheting and late-afternoon Chardonnay. The weather has been just gorgeous the past couple of weeks. Winter won't kick in hard for another week or two. (I hope.)

As you can see from the finished work below, we are getting geared up for the holidays around here!

More posts to come in the near future. Have a wonderful week!

Friday Finished Object - Moorish Mosaic

2010-11-04T12:14:00.026-04:00

Look, the deal is, I keep thinking it's Friday. Unfortunately, it is not. (Yet.) But since I'm already in that frame of mind, I'm prematurely posting my Friday Finished Object!

As background... I'm sure you have a very good friend, or a best friend, or a BFF (Best Friend Forever)... I have a BFF. Though I am blessed with a good handful of close and wonderful friends, she is The One. The kids on Facebook these days indicate a "married" status when they have a best friend. Had Facebook been around back then, we would surely have tied that social media knot.

Her name is Tomara (or Tomie - "toe-mee", not "tommy") and we have been friends since 1985. FOREVER ago, in other words. Here we are in 9th grade.

(Tomie on the right, me on the left)

Tomie is, and ever has been, the most gifted artist I've known. This woman can paint, draw, sculpt, crochet, quilt, sew, write, rescue video game princesses, dance, cook, and even carry a tune. On top of that, she is in a loving marriage and is the coolest mom on the planet.

Over the years, she has gifted me with some of her many amazing creations. Here is a drawing of my daughter, morphed into fairy mode.

Here is an oil painting called "Luck of the Geisha."
(This was not for me, I just had to show it to you.)

By the way, you can see more of her marvelous drawings and paintings in her Etsy shop.

Here are some roses, sculpted from polymer clay. I love these because I can faintly discern Tomie's fingerprints on the petals.

Here's a jar with a handmade polymer clay lid. I keep my collection of Atlantic Calico Scallops (my favorite seashells) in there.

Close-up on the detail. I would not be surprised to find this jar sitting on a table in Bag End, though I might be surprised to find myself there.

The piece de resistance, however, is this polymer clay sculpture of Harry Potter. I could not believe she was giving this to me. We are both big nerds for Harry Potter (and Lord of the Rings, as discreetly noted above)... and to think that she made ONE of these and entrusted it to my care... is amazing. Every bit of him, including the flowing cape, is made of clay.

Look at this magnificent detail.

And there are many more little treasures around my house; I'm just showcasing the ones I could get my hands on this morning.

I know I'm gushing, but Tomie is something else. We have both grown from imaginative girls to creative women with a wide range of interests and abilities. We seem to bloom in each other's company, inspiring one another. Sadly, we live about 250 miles apart. Not that far, actually, but it's hard to make the time for a visit of significant length.

About ten years ago, when our boys were babies, Tomie arrived for a visit bearing yarn and hook. She had decided that I was going to learn to crochet, and she would be the one to teach me. I was skeptical, certain that I would never get the hang of it, much less accomplish anything from that point on.

We started with a granny square. She was a patient, efficient teacher, and I made my first square. I was addicted, and kept making squares, eventually joining them together into an afghan. As often happens with new crocheters, I loaded up on Red Heart yarn, and before too long, I had about ten grocery bags around the house, each containing projects in various stages. I stuck with afghans for a long time, and made them for my grandparents, my husband, my son...

A couple of years later, my daughter was born, and having two children in the house (one infant, one six year-old boy) made me forget all about crochet for a few years.

Then, in late 2008, a friend was having a baby, and I decided to break out the yarn again. About this time, I discovered Flickr and Ravelry, and before I knew it, I was overloaded with inspiration. So many things to crochet, and not nearly enough time to do it.

Finally, this fall, I got around to crocheting something for Tomie. She's a naturalist at heart, generally in tune with the rhythm of the earth around her... I look at a tree and see a tree; Tomie looks at a tree and says, "Oh, that's a rowan tree. The berries can be steeped into a laxative tea."

Anyway. Though I've sent her little yarny bits and bobs over the years, I decided it was time to give her something really special. I had the pattern in mind, just needed the right colors. I was inspired by a fellow Raveler's blanket, and adopted several of the colors because the woodsy palette was perfect for my best friend.

Here it is below, in the works, in quite a contrast to my own cacophonically colorful blanket off to the side.

Here it is, all boxed up (with multiple layers of wrapping tissue, bubble wrap, kraft paper and more), ready to ship off to her....

And here it is, gloriously arrayed on the autumn leaves in my front yard.

The pattern is from Lisa Naskrent, called "Moorish Mosaic." It's available in the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Crochet, or can also be downloaded here. I used six colors of Vanna's Choice yarn. I will admit, this thing was a PAIN, but only for sewing it together. I loved making the octagons, and it was fun to work outside my usual color range.

So - that's the story of me and Tomie, so far. I'm thankful I was able to repay her (on a very small scale) for all her special gifts, but most of all, for the gift of teaching me to crochet! That has unexpectedly become my passion in the past couple of years, and I don't think it will be fizzling out any time soon.

Hey, I'd love to hear any best friend stories YOU have - how you met, a funny / sweet memory, anything. Do share in the comments, won't you?

Happy Premature Friday!!

Saturday Surprise

2010-10-30T12:43:00.003-04:00

After a few trips here and there, I found a grocery store that carries blue Kool-Aid, so I stocked UP. Guess I'll be busy today!

Yarn to Dye For

2010-10-29T12:29:00.010-04:00

I know, what a terribly predictable title for a post about dyeing yarn. But WOW, this is my new favorite way to spend a day at home!

If you've never dyed yarn before, don't be afraid to try. There are PLENTY of helpful, detailed tutorials out there. I recommend reading up thoroughly before trying anything. Dyeing does not work on acrylic or plant fibers (such as cotton or bamboo); it has to be done with wool, other animal fibers, silk or nylon (the only synthetic that takes dye).

If you are a Ravelry member, visit this page. Otherwise, here are a few links outside Ravelry:

http://www.inoriz.com/2007/12/04/the-one-about-dyeing-yarn-2/

http://fiber-mama.blogspot.com/2007/12/kool-aid-dyeing-part-2.html

http://racsun.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-electric.html

All of the preceding links use Kool-Aid on the stovetop. There are other methods, involving Wilton food coloring (used in icing), Easter Egg dye, natural ingredients, and more. What makes Kool-Aid pretty easy is that it already contains citric acid, which causes the color to bond into the yarn. Using other coloring methods, you have to add vinegar or lemon juice. Not difficult, just not AS easy.

For the record, I used Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool ("Natural" color - basically undyed), wound into 1 ounce twisted skeins. Here is an excellent video that illustrates how to measure out your yarn, wind it, and twist it into skeins.

http://www.youtube.com/user/theartofmegan#p/u/26/-4v4lM0oozc

I didn't have ladder-back chairs, as shown in the video, so I used the bottom of my staircase (newell post and hand rail) to measure out my skeins.

On my second dyeing experiment, I used Wilton colors and vinegar on the stovetop. Here are two batches, simmering away.

And here they are, cooling on the counter, still in the dye water. Blue dye seems to take longer to absorb. By the time the water had totally cooled down, the blue was totally gone. (Note: I found a use for old baby bottles - mixing and storing dye!)

I enjoyed playing with colors, using both methods. I wound up buying a full package of Wilton dyes - love those Michaels coupons for 40% off!

Here are the skeins of yarn I made with Kool-Aid. (I'm still getting the hang of twisting yarn into a proper hank.)

Here are the ones made with Wilton dyes.

And here they are, all lined up together!

I haven't yet decided what to crochet with any of these. Still too busy making more! When I got back into crocheting a couple of years ago, I was puzzled by people who simply held yarn and petted it, keeping it safely stored away on the shelf, never intending to actually USE it... and now I fear I have become One of Those People. I am enchanted by my own creations, and just love seeing them there on the shelf!!!

Brief Update

2010-10-27T11:13:00.003-04:00

Wow! So MANY very nice comments on my last post with the hexagon baby blanket. Thank you all for the kind words!

Today I am at home, dyeing yarn. I tried this for the first time over the weekend, and am loving it. I did Kool-Aid dyeing then; today I am working with Wilton dyes (for cakes and icing). I will be posting about my attempts and results very soon. In the meantime, I leave you with this starting photograph full of colorful possibility!

Friday - Finished Object!

2010-10-22T11:47:00.006-04:00

I know, I seem to be all about finished objects lately. However, for every one that is completed, there are 15 others sitting around in bags, awaiting my pleasure.

Here's a baby blanket I finished last week, in time for a co-worker's baby shower on Friday. I followed Attic24's fabulous hexagon pattern, and used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton. And I really do love that cotton - so soft (but not fuzzy) to the touch, and of a pleasantly heavy weight when all crocheted up. I keep waiting for it to go on sale, but for MONTHS now, no luck. I keep watching, though.

Happily, the recipients of this blanket seemed to truly love it - I had chosen the colors for their particular taste, and as I said, it does feel rather luxurious to the touch. This was the first Lucy-Hexagon blanket I have finished, and I loved making it. The best part, of course, is crocheting all the circles (yarn cookies) and then playing around with the color layout. The second best part is crocheting the hexies together as one goes, rather than sewing them together. The least best part is weaving in all the ends!!! But that is the price we pay for loving so many colors in one place.

Noro-Phenia

2010-10-20T07:58:00.019-04:00

Say hello to my Noro scarf! I call it "Noro-Phenia" because I was listening to "Quadrophenia" by the Who as I worked on it... and as this scarf appears to have multiple color personalities, it seemed to fit with the theme of that album, too.
After posting the Noro mosaic on Monday, many folks commented on how expensive Noro is, especially depending on where you live and how easy (or difficult) it is to procure. And it is pricey (for me as well, used to my acrylic yarn budget)... however, I ordered these two skeins on Ebay and got them for $6.00 each.

The package arrived quite promptly from The Yarn Cupboard, an Ebay seller with lots of lovely yarn.

I chose a colorway that had a basic rainbow of hues - I love my colors, after all, and am not big on neutrals / naturals.

As you can see, it's hard to know the colors in your Noro skein without turning it to the side and looking into its "heart." Above, you see the mesmerizing swirl of colors inside.

Among the complaints about Noro Kureyon (wool) are its coarseness, its uneven texture, the presence of knots that make for an abrupt color change, and the occasional presence of "vegetable matter," which is basically a small splinter or twig-like prickly thing. What redeems Noro is the colors, the lovely colors... have I gone on long enough about the colors?

Availing myself of the wealth of yarn-lore out there, I read that to have a successful Noro experience, it was a good idea to unwind my skeins, seeking out knots in advance to cut them out. Then I would splice in another yarn-end of the same color, to maintain the continuous color flow.

So I unwound both skeins and rolled them up, expecting great gobs of peat moss and hay to dump into my lap (the vegetable matter)... but I only found one knot, and just a few spiky things here and there. Nothing nearly as horrible as I had imagined. (I realize these are only two skeins out of millions, so I may encounter worse someday.)

Here is the yarn, all rolled out and looking psychedelic.

It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, nice and breezy, but abudant with autumn sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. So I sat in the back yard with a glass of wine (remember, Ninjas!) and my iPod, and got to work.

I used a K hook (6.5mm) and made a foundation chain of 25-30 stitches (allowing 3 to be the first double crochet on the next row), and then just worked dc - ch 1 - dc into each chain and row from there on, creating a mesh texture. Before too long, I had a rainbow in my lap. The subtle color changes of this yarn, with long patches of a single shade, held my attention throughout the tedious repetitions of this easy pattern.

You can see that the yarn IS uneven - thinner in some places, thicker in others. However, since I was expecting this, and because I was working in a loose gauge, that didn't bother me. I enjoyed the very organic nature of this yarn, both in color and texture variations. Though it was a bit scratchy, the texture was not unpleasant for my hands; it was nicer than working with Red Heart Super Saver! (I'm NOT hating on RHSS, just saying.)

After I finished, it was time to soften it up. Based on internet suggestions, I soaked it in shampooey water, rinsed it out, allowed it to dry, then soaked it in water with hair conditioner, and let it dry out again. This did soften it up considerably.

Here are my supplies for the first soak:

My daughter was only too happy to help out.

Love this picture! A close up of all the colors inside a wreath of shampoo foam.

I also like that this scarf, when rolled up, is similar to the appearance of the yarn's "heart" when still in the original skein - see below:

And here is one final rolled-up picture, looking perfectly at home on the grass. And that is the story of my Noro-Phenia scarf. And yes, I will use Noro again!

Lunchtime Crochet

2010-10-19T12:02:00.002-04:00

In the middle of daily bedlam, I look forward to one solid hour to myself - having a bite of lunch, working on a cheerful Granny Stripe, and watching episodes of "Doc Martin" on Youtube. It's all that keeps me sane sometimes.

(I do enjoy my British telly on Youtube. This year, I have gone through Lark Rise to Candleford, Cranford and Pride and Prejudice, as well as other little oddments.)

Mosaic Monday - Noro

2010-10-18T08:57:00.001-04:00

I have just fallen in love with Noro yarn, after steadfastly turning my nose up at it. "I'm no yarn snob!" I would cry.

And I'm not a yarn snob. I DO "Love This Cotton" and "Love This Yarn"... but I also loooooove me some Noro now. Made something with it this weekend (pics to come soon) and am addicted to the colors. Here are some lovely creations from others, showcasing what this yarn can do:

1. babette's granny: ready to be blocked, 2. Bazillion Bullion Bag, 3. PPS Noro shawl, 4. noro kureyon socks 2, 5. Diamond head hat, 6. Noro Sock Yarn Afghan Fini, 7. Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl - Close-up, 8. Noro Taiyo Scarf, 9. Feather and Fan scarf, Noro sock yarn

Knitpicks

2010-10-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

Well, I did place an order with Knitpicks after salivating over all their Palette yarns. Their prices are always quite reasonable, and though others have mentioned a long wait for their orders (especially those living in Canada), mine arrived quite promptly. (And within three weeks of this first order, I'm already awaiting another!)

I got a few jewel tones of the Palette yarn (fingering weight wool)...

(tucked into a handy $2.50 tub from Target)

...three skeins of Swish Worsted...

(Here's one skein of the "Bok Choy" shade next to a standard Vanna skein in a similar shade, to give you an idea of size)

...and I also ordered a book I have long desired, "Basic Crochet Stitches" (a Harmony Guide book) that I cannot recommend highly enough for any crocheter who has the basics down and wants to learn more advanced stitches (OR stitches that look fancy but are actually simple to do). Knitpicks is having a fairly large sale until November 1, and all books are 40% off!

I am in love with the Palette yarn. It's a very fine (to me) weight, best worked with a D or E hook. PERFECT for amigurumi and small-scale items. I'm actually making a wee Granny Stripe blanket for my daughter's Barbie dolls! And here is an eggplant, part of my fall cornucopia construction:

And a little wine cork ninja for my son (a bit blurry). I'm in the process of creating an army of these for him, which - sadly - means I have to drink lots of chilled white wine in order to have a decent supply of corks. The sacrifices I make for these kids.

Have a marvelous, cool weekend!

Distracted

2010-10-12T09:21:00.003-04:00

Fall is here. Christmas is coming. So many irons in the fire... or should I say, so many hooks in the yarn. My Yarn Cave is littered with bags of WIPs, yarn balls scattered hither and thither throughout the house, my office, even in the car... despite having several of my most often-used hook sizes, I am sometimes unable to find a H or J because all three of each size are buried in some other project that is upstairs... and I just came from upstairs! GRRR....

I need to focus. I have been doing fairly well about Using What I Have (mostly not buying more yarn), but can't seem to master Finishing What I Start. I'm not even bored with the projects I'm currently working on; I just keep starting new ones. Mostly small, manageable ones, but still! I believe I am perilously close to having more WIPs than FOs.

Anyway. Last night, while watching a very depressing episode of "Hoarders" (they're all depressing, but balm for my disorganized soul - "I'm not THAT bad. Yet."), I managed to whip out a little jar jacket, following this easy pattern from Attic24.

And now it's on my desk, storing my paper clips, and generally cheering me up whenever I look at it. So I can at last say, "Ta-da! I finished something!"

Autumn Amigurumi On the Go!

2010-10-05T10:47:00.007-04:00

I enjoyed all the responses to yesterday's post about Fugly crochet. I especially enjoyed everyone's common courtesy for one another. There were some folks who said they liked the Leg Fancies, and no one attacked them for their opinion. We're friendly around here and I like that. :-) I mention this because I was recently on another blog whose central point is the mockery of crochet fugg, and anytime someone dares to comment positively about the items in question, they are slammed by the blog owner and other commenters. No thanks!

Anyway, say hello to a favorite crochet project bag - worked in crochet! I did not make this one; I found it in a department store, but knew I had to have it. I keep my hook, scissors and stitch markers in the side zipper pocket.

During my lunch hours, I'm currently working on some fall-themed amigurumi pieces - gourds, etc - and this bag is perfect for taking several balls of yarn around so I can work on an eggplant, carrot, radish, or whatever strikes my fancy. (Never thought a radish would strike my fancy, but there we are.)

Here are my foodie yarns - rich reds, greens, purples, browns, golds... Did I mention that I love fall, and its attendant colors?

Working with amigurumi involves stuffing, lots of it. Not delicious cornbread stuffing, but I'm really looking forward to that, come late November. How does one best transport a gigantic wad of unwieldy stuffing?

STUFF it in a big ziploc bag and work all the air out of it, rolling it up as you go, until you have a slender loaf of stuffing!

And it tucks right into the bag. Look at that.

Back to it!

Mosaic Monday - FUGLY Crochet

2010-10-04T08:25:00.003-04:00

Today's mosaic comes to you from Lion Brand. I do enjoy receiving their catalog (published a couple of times a year), as it often contains many lovely patterns, both knit and crochet, and a good overview of the different yarns and notions they offer. Best of all, the patterns are all free on their website. Later this week, I'll be sharing what I loved about the latest catalog.

Regrettably, however, you will also find the worst of Crochet Fugg there, too. I realize taste is subjective, and you may not agree with my horrified recoil, but just look at these things. This is what gives crochet a bad name. I couldn't get over the existence of five different patterns for "LEG FANCIES". As is often said on one of my favorite blogs, "Sweet sainted mother of Blanket Jackson!"

The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat

2010-09-28T08:10:00.012-04:00

Over at Crochet With Raymond, you will find a wonderful pattern for a Granny Mandala. This is basically a big granny circle. I made one this weekend (woo-hoo! Used up one skein of Simply Soft in my stash - it's SO satisfying to actually consume yarn as opposed to continually acquiring it). I had just enough yarn to create a blanket suitable for a cat to curl up and snooze on. Viz:

This is Jezebel, my 18 year-old cat. She is white with pink accents (ears, nose, toepads and belly), one green eye and one blue eye. She is not deaf, as are some blue-eyed white cats... she is simply selectively deaf. "Why no, I didn't hear you imploring me not to climb into your lap full of yarn. And look how comfortable I am now. How could you bear to move me?"

She is fond of reclining on all manner of works-in-progress...

Of course, I often have snuggly company while crocheting.

And she's pretty tolerant when called upon for modeling. Here, we see Jezebel sporting the latest Mode de Paris, the Fried-Egg Bonnet. I predict you'll be seeing these on the red carpet at the next Oscar Awards. Wouldn't that be awesome? Beats the hell out of the dreaded Granny Caftan.

When we brought Olive (Scottish Terrier) into our home about a year ago, I was concerned that the presence of a rambunctious puppy would drive Jezebel upstairs to take up permanent residence beneath my bed. The happy surprises have been that (a) Olive has always been rather laid-back and (b) Jezebel has had no difficulty maintaining her post as Alpha Female in the house. After all, she has been with us since 1993! In fact, I got her the day after my first date with my husband. :-)

Yes, there are times when Jezebel puts a stop to all that canine "tennis ball" nonsense around the house, literally putting her foot down... you can just see the sigh in Olive's expression.

And there is the astonishing impudence of usurping Olive's bed and cushion for herself...

But I think now that we've come to an understanding about the cushion (i.e., It Is Mine, Says Jezebel), everything is just fine. Doesn't Olive look pleased about the arrangement?? :-)

Mosaic Monday - PINK

2010-09-27T08:51:00.002-04:00

1. Pink Crochet Cakes, 2. crochet pink fuschia corsage, 3. Almofada de crochet em tons de rosa, 4. Heart-Shaped Vanilla Cake with Pink Frosting (Crochet), 5. Rosa Häkelhund - pink crochet dog, 6. Pink Crochet Rose, 7. Crocheted Scarf in Pink & Brown, 8. Crochet Angel - Pink, 9. Easter crochet doll: Pink Lady, 10. Thread Crochet Potholder with Pink Rose, 11. 005, 12. Floral Fantasy Blanket~ explored!, 13. Bag granny square frambuesa

Amigurumi Friday

2010-09-24T08:58:00.003-04:00

Presenting - Patrick Starr!

Made for my best friend's birthday. "SpongeBob SquarePants" is one of the few kids' shows currently on that I can tolerate just about any time.

Free pattern here.

Up next for me: PLANKTON!

My favorite picayune villain.

Yarn Bags

2010-09-23T07:49:00.008-04:00

Someone on Ravelry recently mentioned they had "Start-itis." I assume, from her prolific WIP list, that her malady prevented her from NOT starting new projects, all the time. I suffer from this, as well. Over the past year, I have disciplined myself to finish many projects, which has been a stretch, in some cases. But for every project I finish, you can bet there are five more I have started!

I've got many irons in many fires (or many hooks stuffed into many yarn balls), and each of those projects needs a temporary home.

The life cycle of a yarn ball in my house is as follows: arrival in bag or mail-order box ---> transfer to shelves of Yarn Cave (or secret Rubbermaid tub in upstairs closet) ---> OR transfer to project bag, if intended for immediate use ---> ride around in project bag, yarn ball wasting away as it is snipped and raveled into something soft and lovable ---> last remains (label) tossed away ---> reborn as a blanket, scarf, toy or some other thing.

With so many new projects, I need many project bags. Luckily, my local Target is a good place to find them. I can and do get by with plastic grocery bags in a pinch, but I hate the rustle of them, and I always feel like a bag lady, wandering into work laden down with them. Besides, with such cute options as this, why not spend $3 (seriously, three dollars!) for some style?

Inside are nestled nine deliciously soft balls of cotton yarn (Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton, and let me say, I DO love this cotton) which are transforming into a sweet baby blanket made of Attic24's hexagons.

I stopped by Target last night, and found a bunch of recycled bags on clearance sale. This one was perfect for holding six 3.5oz (100g) balls of yarn, squeezed tightly together. Again, three dollars! Can't beat that with a stick.

Here is my husband, carrying it out to my car for me this morning. I didn't even have to ask. He also often brings me coffee in bed in the mornings. I am very spoiled. I'm also worth it - ha ha! We do take good care of each other.

On a last note, here are before and after pictures of Olive. She visited the groomer yesterday, and though she wasn't a fan of the little pink bandana he put on her afterward, she is much cooler in this ongoing heat!

Palette Yarn

2010-09-22T13:15:00.003-04:00

I'm addicted to colorful yarn. Most of my projects are bright, and my motto appears to be "the more colors, the better!"

So with that in mind, how can I resist the allure of this yarn?

Say hello to Knitpicks Palette yarn. 83 beautiful colors of 100% wool, only $1.99 per 50g ball (20 cents more if the color is heathered). The only trick is, it is fingering weight wool - very fine. I believe I'd be using an E hook (3.5mm) with it. And naturally, it would create things on a much smaller scale.

...and yet, that idea is very appealing to me. Though I have no purpose in doing so, it would be great fun to crochet a doll-sized afghan in intricate detail using this finer yarn, in so many colors!

I used Ravelry's feature of searching for crochet projects using this yarn, and saw many things to tempt me - amigurumi is an obvious choice. There were also many lovely shawls, wraps and scarves - many things to do crochet proud. Some folks had made their own Babette blankets using this yarn... it's an obvious consideration, since the pattern calls for so many different colors. You could conceivably crochet a Babette made of 17 different shades of blue, using this yarn! What to do, what to do...

I may order a handful of basic Crayon-box colors just to see what I think of it, maybe work up a pillow cover. And if I like this yarn, and enjoy crocheting on such a small scale... then I may have a new addiction. NOT THAT I NEED ONE.

There are lots of other things available from Knitpicks - please don't let the name fool you. I received a catalog in the mail from them yesterday, and there were a couple of pages devoted to crochet. So many lovely yarns... Lots of books and tools, spinning and dyeing equipment... I was really intrigued by the idea of dyeing my own yarn, and they have starter kits for those, where you can see the effect of colors on different fibers. Definitely gonna have to give that a try. It's number 3077 on my to-do list!

Mosaic Monday - Autumn Edition

2010-09-20T08:13:00.004-04:00

We haven't had a Mosaic Monday in a long time. I'm behind on my collage efforts. Fall doesn't officially arrive here until Thursday, but I've been ready for it since about mid-July, and I can't wait any longer. Here are some inspirational fall / autumn pretties.

It's not as though a switch flips here in the South, and cooler weather automatically arrives with the advent of fall... but it's no longer breathtakingly humid when I step outside in the morning, and we've had a few breezes. I am SO ready to start sleeping with the windows open... under a crocheted blanket, of course!

(Note the "Notebook" afghan in the bottom row - so clever! Thought that was appropriate for back-to-school / fall.)

1. Crochet Gourds, 2. Autumn Leaves Handbag, 3. Autumn Hat, 4. Yarn Bouquet Gift - Detail, 5. Fall Leaves -- Some Happier Than Others, 6. Autumn babette 2, 7. Acorns (crochet), 8. Autumn granny square, 9. Crochet Flowers in Autumn Colours, 10. Autumn Leaves - Thread Crochet Doilies Coasters, 11. 우리 Handmade Autumn Oak Leaves Crochet Acorn Necklace, 12. composition book throw, 13. Autumn mitered squares

Friday Update

2010-09-17T09:43:00.011-04:00

Good morning, All -

I have been silent on the blog front since last week... I took several days off from work - a much-needed break from the hum-drum. My husband and daughter went to an out-of-town wedding, so it was just me and my middle-school son. We enjoyed the down time together. We watched a bunch of movies; I introduced him to "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Blues Brothers," "Titanic" and "Airplane," among others.

We built a gigantic Lego Star Destroyer.

And I spent a great deal of time crocheting my butt off while watching two seasons of "Dexter." (NOT with my son in the room for those.)

Unfortunately, I cannot share photos of the work in progress yet, since it is a birthday gift for someone who may very occasionally read this blog. However, I did finish all 30 semi-complicated octagon motifs. Here's a picture of my color pattern chart, with only one left...

I still have to finish all the squares and triangles to fill in the edges and gaps, and I am in the process of seaming those together as I go, but the bulk of the work is finished. You'll be happy to know that THIS pattern's stitches are tight enough that I could crochet over the ends as I went, so there is very little of that foolishness and mayhem to be handled now.

Also last week, my husband and I celebrated our 15-year wedding anniversary... unfortunately, we celebrated it several hundred miles apart since he was away for that wedding. Here is a somewhat blurry (read: unintentionally stylized) photo of the roses he left for me.

And here is sweet Olive, faithfully watching for his return at the window. I have to admit, I spoiled her with affection while my husband was away, and she is no longer exclusively HIS dog. I am slowly winning her over - she is such a treat. I never knew a terrier could be so laid-back.

Finally, I thought I'd show you how the Yarn Cave has transformed over the past couple of months.

Below, all pristine and fairly tidy upon first assembly.

At right... today. I actually like it better now. I often sit on the couch and just gaze at my yarn, plotting ways to use it. One way I justify owning so much is that I DO have a plan for nearly every ball of yarn. I don't buy it just to "pet" it or whatever.

I love this room. Still the smallest room in the house, no television in it, and yet it is still the room that usually finds all four of us, plus our two animals, together. Yarn is truly uniting this family. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Mosaic - Octagon Obsession

2010-09-08T09:34:00.004-04:00

Wednesday it is, then.

1. Vintage Blanket, 2. Octagons and squares, 3. isobel..., 4. babukatorium2434, 5. Octagon, 6. Baby blanket with octagons

Obsessed with Octagons at the moment. I'm currently beavering away at an afghan made of octagons and squares, for a friend's birthday. Pics will be posted once the intended recipient has it in her hot little hands. I am facing several days off without the little one in the house, tugging at my sleeve, so I fully intend to finish this blanket over the long weekend!

International Yarn Swap

2010-09-02T11:44:00.004-04:00

I keep tooting Ravelry's horn, but there's so much good stuff going on over there.

I believe most people who read this blog are familiar with Attic24, Lucy's delightfully cheerful, colorful, yarnful blog. In addition to there being an Attic24-inspired Flickr group, there is also a group on Ravelry where we chat about Lucy-inspired projects, etc. (Link here.)

A few months ago, some members of this group had a swap, sending yarn, candy, and little goodies around the world to each other. I missed out on that one, but everyone posted lovely pictures of what they had received, and I was happy when a second swap was suggested. This time, I signed up!

We didn't swap with the same person. The kind lady who sent my goodies (details below) will in turn receive goodies from someone else. I have a box all ready to mail out to a different person. We were given the option to swap with someone within our own national borders, or beyond them. I opted to swap/receive with folks in the UK.

Here is what I received from my very generous UK counterpart:

Four balls of Sirdar Click (a marvelous-feeling, chunky, mostly wool/acrylic blend) in a deep, woodsy green... a fun skein of Patons Symphony in wild colors...

...and two twists of beautiful Araucania yarn. May I say, these are the first official twists of yarn I've ever owned! I always see these delicious fiber confections on Flickr or Ravelry, lovely hand-dyed braids of some alpaca/yak/unicorn hair amalgam, well beyond my price range... but this is the first time I've had such an item of my own. I can almost (but not fully) understand the compulsion of some people to own a twist of yarn that they will only ever pat, touch, smoosh gently between their hands, but never actually use. I have enjoyed touching this yarn, turning it about in my hands to see the different shades that appear in certain light... I will have to find a very special pattern to use this in. So THANK YOU, Diana!

In addition, she sent me a fabulous mug, which I will reserve for the drinking of properly-made tea, and a series of wonderfully touristy postcards from the UK, since I've always longed to go, and I'm not sure when I ever will... best of all, she included postcards of the Royal Family, one of my favorite guilty pleasures. I believe the Wills postcard is my fave. :-)

I highly recommend swaps. Such fun to shop for your partner, wrapping up the goodies, packing the box, waiting for them to receive it and imagining their ooohs and aaahs.... and also the anticipation of goodies arriving in your own mailbox. Such fun!

Wrapping up this post with a final nod in Ravelry's direction. I mentioned wanting to have a special project for the yarns I've received. Ravelry has an exhaustive pattern AND yarn database. If I have no idea what to make with that Patons Symphony yarn, I need only look the yarn up on Ravelry, find that colorway, and see what others have created with it, for inspiration. Same with just about any other yarn out there.

If you ARE on Ravelry, why not friend me? :-) I'm snippygal, naturally.

New Red Heart Yarn

2010-09-01T14:29:00.003-04:00

Just received an email from Red Heart (http://www.redheart.com/) announcing some new yarn lines. Here's a picture...

I checked the website (www.shopredheart.com) and here is what I found:

Curly Q - super bulky 94% acrylic / 5% polyester / 1% Spandex, 3oz (85g) skein - 8 variegated colors at $4.99 each. A stretchy yarn.

Mystic - medium weight 70% acrylic / 30% alpaca, 3oz (85g) skein - 7 shades at $3.99 each.

Smoothie - medium weight 100% acrylic, 3.5oz (100g) skein - 12 shades at $3.99 each. Most already out of stock now! Though of course I haven't yet had a chance to feel the yarn for myself, this might be a promising Vanna-esque line if they expanded the color offerings.

Spark-A-Doodle - super bulky novelty yarn made up of subtly sparkled pom-poms along a carrier cord. 98% polyester / 2% metallic, 3.5oz (100g) skein - 7 shades at $6.29 each. Not a fan of novelty yarns, especially with "-a-doodle" in the name. Not sure why, but it bugs me.

Yarn Funk

2010-08-30T09:53:00.006-04:00

Another busy weekend of crocheting! Somehow I have managed to keep hook and yarn in my hands quite a lot while participating actively in my children's lives - for the past couple of days, anyway.

I have nearly finished a baby blanket for a co-worker (love those smaller projects), a pillow for my Yarn Cave, and assorted small goodies.

Of particular importance, my grandmother's 86th birthday is next weekend. Last year I made her a fabulous pillow...

...which I was able to give her in person (she lives 250 miles away), since we had a big party for her, complete with 85 balloons! Yes, I blew all these up with dedicated assistance from my daughter.

This year, I'm staying in town. I do not enjoy traveling on Labor Day weekend, in any case. So I decided to whip up a little birthday cake from "Yummi 'Gurumi." My sofa started off with just a few skeins of yarn on it (seen below), but by the end of Sunday evening - as often happens with detailed crochet food - the sofa was generously festooned with small balls of yarn in every color. My husband, ever tolerant of my yarn, merely sat upon it when I left it unattended for an hour or so, keeping it warm for me. :-)

While digging through the big IKEA box of Red Heart Designer Sport stash, I happened across a ziploc bag full of several colors I needed for the cake. I opened it up and WOOOF - somehow, the yarn had become a bit whiffy in that bag! I'm not sure what happened to it, but there was a definite sharp but indefinable tang to the yarn therein, and it had just been contained and festering in that bag. I've never experienced Yarn Funk before! Fortunately, I had read several threads on Ravelry about how to deodorize yarn. I spread it out in the sunshine, sprayed it liberally with Febreze, and an hour later, it was fresh and ready for use. Another reason to love acrylic yarn - easy peasy care!

And I made this: a variation on the "Orange Cake" pattern from Yummi 'Gurumi, with a strawberry on top of the orange-iced chocolate sponge cake, instead of small orange slices. I am mailing it today.

New Old Book!

2010-08-24T09:59:00.009-04:00

I recently read a very interesting article called "My Life in Afghans" (click to read). Crocheter Kathy North posted a chronology of just a few of the many afghans she had made, and wrote the story behind each one. This exercise inspired me, and I plan to do the same at some point. Just one more item on the endless to-do list!

One of her afghans (seen above) was particularly striking, and thanks to the author's notes, I tracked down the book from whence it came. :-) A hideous 1982 publication called "Woman's Day Crochet Showcase." Still available for a song on Amazon and other sites, by the way.

It's hideous because 1982 was not a good year for fashion. I know because I was there. Everyone wanted Princess Diana's hairstyle, and the book is chockablock with passable imitations of it, all crowning regrettable fashion decisions.

Here are some of the offerings... (sorry they're blurry, it was the best I could manage with an iPhone.)

This one is my favorite. Hilarious!

However, there are many lovely afghans, including the striking black-and-white graphic afghan from the original article I mentioned. Some of these are perfect as they are, and some could do with a bit of a color makeover. All in all, there is something for every skill level here.

Olive, my Scottish Terrier, was naughty yesterday evening, and made quite clear her feelings about my new purchase. Fortunately, the damage was superficial, affecting only the tacky dust jacket; the book beneath it is intact.

Needless to say, I have since kept a very close watch on her as she contemplates the tasty cake before her...

Weekend Update

2010-08-23T10:17:00.010-04:00

I was astonishingly productive this weekend! It was a weekend of finishing projects, rather than getting great loads done on one particular work.

I added a corkscrew fringe to finish a scarf for my daughter.

I finally assembled and stuffed a wedding cake for my daughter. (This is a cake from the book, Yummi 'Gurumi.)

From the side, it resembles a frosted Dalek (from "Dr. Who"):

Though I did also start and finish a couple of tiny projects.

I made two strawberries (from Tasty Crochet) for a crochet swap partner...

And I made two Mario Stars... I love these so much!

I mentioned last week that I had more Red Heart Designer Sport than is necessary for one human to have... still, I love it. Here it is, all tucked away in its IKEA drawer.

Finally, as I always like seeing blogs where the blankets are just piled up, in use in someone's home, I thought I'd share a picture of my three favorite blankets (in constant use by the folks in my house) all arrayed on my bed this weekend.

Happy Monday!

Organize and Re-Inspire

2010-08-17T08:59:00.007-04:00

I don't know what it's like where you are, but the heat and humidity here for the past few weeks (all summer, really) has been beating me down, in an overall sense. Mind you, I've lived in the South all my life, but the older I get, the worse it seems to me. And September is just ahead, often the most hellish month here in terms of temperature and humidity.

Naturally, with the weather sapping my energy at every turn, I neglect even my beloved yarn from time to time. It's hard to get excited about working on a blanket, when you'd peel your own skin off if you could, just to stay cool! :-)

So this weekend, instead of crocheting much, I spent some time organizing and tidying my bedroom, which is still home to a good bit of yarn and related paraphernalia. I discovered that once I had compiled ALL of my Red Heart Designer Sport yarn in one drawer, that I actually have more than I need, and I should stop adding random skeins of it to my online yarn orders in order to qualify for free shipping!

While digging through the drawer of RHDS, I found two little hexagon motifs I had made while trying out a written pattern. I knew I wasn't going to make the full blanket, but couldn't just toss these pretty little hexagons away. Fortunately, I have a young lady living in my home, and with only 15 minutes of crocheting, I had created a little pouch for her. I filled it with some fake jewels that I forgot to give her on her birthday, and voila - instant surprise present on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I also found the beginnings of an afghan I had started years ago (a lacy Terry Kimbrough pattern) but never made any progress on... I was tempted to let my daughter frog it - she is forever asking me if I have anything she can frog - but then I realized I could just end it where it was and have a lacy scarf of my own. So voila - instant fashion accent for whenever the weather finally cools off.

It was nice to be able to repurpose those two WIPs into official Finished Objects. The only trouble with reorganizing and sorting is that bringing certain other projects out into the light of day makes me reeeeally want to work on those again, when so many other things are awaiting completion.

Oh, and I ordered MORE yarn yesterday, for another afghan. It's sad - I'm using some of my income to acquire more yarn, when the means of procuring said income eats into my yarn-using time!!!

WIP Wednesday #10

2010-08-11T08:07:00.003-04:00

Nothing big to report today, too many projects going on at once. Here is my progress on the Granny Stripe afghan... I really love how this is turning out, and it would be difficult to let go of it if I weren't sure my friend would take good care of it and love it properly.

In other news, here is a link to a free download of 8 Granny Square patterns, as pictured below. Can't beat the price!

Mosaic Monday - Pillows

2010-08-09T08:38:00.002-04:00

...or cushions as you folks across the Pond call them. Potato, potato. :-)

1. Soft color's cushion cover, 2. cuscino crochet, 3. Blue crochet cover, 4. Coussin, 5. 220, 6. My Grannysquarepillow, 7. Hex Cushion, 8. Footstool Topview, 9. Rainbow Flower Crochet Bolster

WIP Wednesday #9

2010-08-04T08:47:00.002-04:00

On Ravelry's Attic24 message board, there is a thread titled "IT WILL BE DONE BY THE END OF AUGUST." One Raveler started it by committing to finishing one particular project before starting any others.

Other Ravelers jumped on-board, saying that was a great idea, and set deadlines for their own particular projects (sometimes several at a time).

I don't know what came over me, but I was inspired by everyone's determination, and I committed to finishing my son's long-overdue Wavy Ripple blanket. I started it last summer - I remember we were traveling to Charleston, South Carolina while I worked on it - and though I have made decent progress, I haven't touched it in months. Sometimes my son sees me working on other projects (the several blankets I have finished since beginning his blanket, a hundred little crochet foodlets for his sister, bags, scarves...) and says, "Are you going to finish my blanket? No pressure, just asking."

And he means no pressure, indeed. But I feel that unfinished blanket hanging over me. It is a tedious project, too, but with fresh resolve left over from that brightly colored bag, I WILL finish this blanket by the end of August. Or at least, by doing one looooong stripe of color per day, will be nearly finished by then.

And you? Do you need your own happy kick in the pants to finish something you've been putting off? Alice of the highly recommended Crochet with Raymond blog made a particularly pithy observation about that "Tedious Project" post, one that has resonated with me since. She said, "There's nothing better than FINISHING a tedious project is there!? It makes the next one so much more fun!"

And that is the truth! Finishing a laborious project feels like the last day of school. It's hard to decide what to pick up next - but what delicious indecision.

Traveling Crochet

2010-08-03T08:45:00.010-04:00

Good morning, all!

First of all, thank you for all the nice comments on my last post. I'm glad I could inspire anyone to finish up a project!

I have been away since last Thursday, and am now back at work. We went to my husband's family reunion (which took place in southern Indiana), which was more fun than I expected. The trip took almost ten hours each way, so I was able to get quite a lot of crocheting done.

First, I finished a slice of birthday cake for my mother-in-law (from Tasty Crochet):

I also did a bit of Granny Striping:

And I worked on a Wicked Witch hat (from the most recent issue of Crochet Today), though I don't have any pictures yet. It's nothing more than a black cone at this point, anyway.

Here's the back of the car, loaded down, featuring assorted crochet goodness:

Here is my daughter's Babette blanket in shared use along the journey:

And here is my own little Connievan blanket moment. (Note that this was a rented trailer in a campground, not my own caravan!)

We visited an abbey in Saint Meinrad, Indiana, where they sold items made by the monks. In addition to wood carvings, handmade rosaries, soaps and printed art, they also offered knitted items made by one monk, Fr. Prior Tobias Colgan. There were beautiful scarves, dish cloths, pot holders, and more. He used ordinary yarn - I recognized Homespun, Sugar & Cream and Red Heart - and his finished work was soft and perfectly drapey.

It is good to be back home again!

Tuesday - Finishing a Tedious Project

2010-07-27T11:16:00.002-04:00

I did finish the bag for my daughter, whose sixth birthday was yesterday.

Here it is, loaded with prezzies.

It was not my favorite thing to make. Several times, I came close to quitting, thinking, "I'll just give her something else instead." However, I bought the yarn specifically for this bag, I had made all the motifs and taken the trouble to block them out...

So I forced myself to finish it, and this was a valuable exercise in self-discipline for me. I focused on ONE step at a time. It's easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of work yet to be done on something. I reminded myself that every single stitch was progress. And before I knew it, I had finished enough of the work that it seemed silly NOT to finish it... yet still I was tempted to throw it down a few more times before I was done.

WHY was this project so hard to finish? I should have enjoyed making it, with my ever-appreciative recipient in mind. (Trust me, if you don't know SOME little girl out there who would love your crochet creations, get to know one! And then shower her with yarny gifts.)

The pattern wasn't that difficult. Perhaps it's because I don't prefer crocheting with cotton yarn, which is always a bit stiff. I was also distracted by other things I'd rather be working on...

But again, this was a good lesson for me. I was proud of myself for finishing it on time, and glad I didn't let it fall by the wayside (like so many other projects I could number). I proved to myself that I CAN power through the tedious projects that I've started, in order to get them done and checked off the list.

Interestingly, some projects can be awful to work on, but result in a beautiful finished product. Is it worth it, though? If you don't enjoy yourself while crocheting, is the end result really that beautiful, in your own eyes? If, when you look at it, all you can think of is how you'd never make another one, even for a million dollars - is it really that wonderful?

And I don't think the bag is beautiful - it's a bit clumsy and floppy, which is attributable partially to the pattern itself, and partially to my own hand in it. But my daughter does love it, and that was what I wanted all along.

Here you see, she has packed it with clothes for a trip we're taking at the end of this week.

Now back to those Granny Stripes! Woo-hoo!

Mosaic Monday - Hexagons

2010-07-26T09:30:00.001-04:00

1. 35 hexagons, 2. african flower bag nr 2, 3. Hexagons........., 4. Romantic African Flower Cushion, 5. Footstool Topview, 6. Yellow green blue hexagons, 7. Miles de hexágonos., 8. African Flower Cushion, 9. African Flowers close and personal

Official Granny Stripe Palette

2010-07-22T12:26:00.003-04:00

A large box of fresh, new yarn arrived yesterday. Today I enjoyed sorting through it, putting colors next to each other, and determining which colors would make the final cut for inclusion in the Granny Stripe afghan.

Since I'm making this for a friend who appreciates the Cath Kidston range of colors, I opted for those that came closest, plus a couple of other complementary shades.

Here's a sample of CK fabric:

And here are the colors I've chosen. Not exactly the same, but inspired nonetheless. I can't wait to get started - well, continue working - on this one.

For anyone interested, the yarn is all Vanna's Choice / Baby.

Top Row: Pink, Pink Poodle, Cheery Cherry, Scarlet
Middle Row: Fern, Little Boy Blue, Aqua, Colonial Blue, Magenta
Bottom Row: Sweet Pea, Duckie, Linen, Eggplant

I am in love with Cheery Cherry, for some reason. I love all the colors in that box, but that one is my favorite.

Also, here is a valuable color-play resource for anyone who uses Vanna's Choice. A detailed blog post from Lion Brand about how Vanna colors were created specifically for mix-and-match, what different palettes there are (muted, deep, bright, seasonal, etc). I spent a lot of time looking those over, daydreaming...

WIP Wednesday #8

2010-07-21T11:07:00.008-04:00

I have to tell you, I'm slogging along on this bag for my daughter. It has to be finished by Tuesday, but I'm finding it difficult to keep going. It has turned out to be more work than I had expected! Naturally, she is worth every bit of it, but still... you surely know what it's like to be working on something with a deadline, but your mind keeps straying over to other projects you'd rather be working on.

On a related note, there was a discussion on Ravelry today - the question was "How many WIP [works in progress] is too many?" The answers were varied. Many people felt that more than three was too many. Others took the time to list their particular WIPs (less than 10). Still others claimed the defect - which I share - of constantly starting projects, but seldom finishing them. There was one individual who said she refuses to start a new project until she has finished the one in line before it; that keeps her moving along quickly. I don't think I could do that.

Anyway. As I mentioned in my previous WIP post, the pattern results in floopy, ruffly edges on the squares, viz:

But with a bit of blocking (pinned out in shape and spritzed with warm water), they are a bit better.

You can clearly see a difference between blocked (left) and unblocked (right):

I am now seaming squares together and crocheting the sides and bottom, to be attached by single crochet. I just want to be DONE with this one.

Because, of course, there are many other projects in line. The one I daydream about most often is this lovely Granny Stripe blanket (again, courtesy of Lucy at Attic24 - pattern here). Super-easy and so enjoyable.

I have a big box of yarn coming to me - my birthday treat - full of lovely colors to tack onto this one. And I do have the pleasure of crocheting this blanket with a recipient in mind - someone outside my household! A rare treat, indeed.

This is the current basket of yarn that resides beneath my desk at work. It BECKONS to me throughout the day, believe me. It is very hard to resist it. But I must. Until lunchtime, anyway.

Friday Funny

2010-07-16T10:49:00.001-04:00

I received this photo and note in an email from my husband this morning:

Subject: YARN!!!!!!!!!

Nothing but YARN!!!!! In the mailbox!!!!

I had to reply: "At least there was no ACTUAL yarn in the mailbox... not today, anyway."

Amigurumi Friday - Yummi 'Gurumi

2010-07-16T08:47:00.004-04:00

Good morning!

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Yummi 'Gurumi, another selection of crochet food patterns. It arrived on my desk earlier this week, and since I was off yesterday, I dove into it.

There are a few items that somewhat mirror the patterns in Tasty Crochet, my go-to source for crochet food, such as a few of the fruits, and a sandwich. The designs aren't exactly the same, but how many apple patterns does one need? However, I do like the strawberry slices, and I love the fruit salad patterns - there are wedges of pineapple, peach and watermelon, orange slices and segments (which, of course, can be customized as lemons, limes or grapefruits), and slices of star fruit and persimmon.

I truly love the vegetable tray with dip (seen below). There is also a cheese board with crackers and a bottle of wine. And the dessert selections are decadent - see below, as well.

Yesterday I spent the morning working on the two-tiered wedding cake. My weakness lies in seaming some of these things together. You'd think it would be simple to stitch one component evenly to another, but I always struggle with getting the placement right. So that's an ongoing effort.

And I whipped up an orange slice out of kitchen cotton last night - makes a dandy coaster! You could make a citrus-themed set.

The bulk of the book is taken up by an elaborate sushi tray (seen on the cover) and dim sum platter. These are not to my personal taste, but they are beautifully detailed.

One interesting note is that all the patterns in this book were worked using cotton thread instead of yarn. If you had all those colors of thread, and the patience to work on such a small scale, you could create some truly amazing miniatures! As it is, I like working with sport weight yarn (overall) for my amigurumi creations, but that's because they'll be put to rigorous use by my child. If I planned to give them as gifts or display them, I'd be tempted to make them out of finer stuff.

Overall, I believe I prefer Tasty Crochet to Yummi 'Gurumi, but love them both!

WIP Wednesday # 7

2010-07-14T09:24:00.009-04:00

Last week I showed you my first doily. Crocheted in worsted-weight yarn, with erroneous picot stitches, it was a worthy experiment, but ultimately not a keeper.

So I frogged it.

More precisely, I gave my five year-old daughter the pleasure of frogging it on my behalf.

Now we have one giant yarn ball, waiting to be resurrected as something else. That likely will not be my last doily, though!

In the meantime, I've made progress on my daughter's birthday present. Using a combination of Lily Sugar & Cream and Bernat Handicrafter yarn (both kitchen cotton), I'm crocheting the Flower Power Beach Bag pattern.

Here is what it will look like:

And here are shots of some of my progress, so far. I've finished nine of the twelve squares needed for this bag.

I'm actually not thrilled with this pattern. There is one row in the square itself (outside the flowers) which requires a certain number of stitches. Instead of spreading them out throughout the round, the pattern calls for four 2-dc clusters to be jammed in right next to each other - which results in a ruffling effect! You can probably see it for yourself in the picture above. Fortunately, since this is cotton yarn, I hope to be able to block it out to a nice, flat square.

Other than that, I do like working with this yarn. The Bernat is noticeably softer than the Sugar & Cream.

What are you working on this week?

Mosaic Monday - Purple Inspiration

2010-07-12T06:05:00.000-04:00

1. BeBENL bag (tas) nr. 8, 2. Freeform Crochet Hat, 3. Crochet Purple African Gerbera Daisies Flowers Necklace, 4. super vivid purple yarn, 5. Purple circles to squares blanket, 6. Crochet Purple Flower Coasters, 7. hippo the cheerful, 8. Purple Crochet Shoulder Bag, 9. Blythe - Crocheted Hat - Purple Grapes

Friday - Vintage Crochet

2010-07-09T08:37:00.006-04:00

"Vintage" is such an odd word to me. It seems that on the internet, anything dating back to the 80s could be considered 'vintage' - whereas I would consider an item from the early 70s or before to be 'vintage.' Then again, I myself am a product of the early 70s, so perhaps that's just my own skewed perspective!

I recently found some photos of an old crochet afghan I had seen at a relative's house some years ago. I had only been crocheting for a year or two when I saw this gorgeous granny blanket, and snapped some photos for posterity.

To my memory, this was probably made with acrylic yarn, but it was nice and soft after years draped across a full-size four-poster bed (on top of a classic chenille bedspread, no less!).

Close-up on the squares - I like the joining method of each motif.

I have no idea who made this afghan but I love her eye for color placement. This afghan seems like it would have been very pleasurable to create. I assume it dates back to the 70s - possibly earlier. I wasn't very close to the relative whom I was visiting, so didn't feel I could quiz him closely on the blanket's origin. And I wasn't as obsessive with crochet back then, anyway. Today I would assault him with questions!

Close-up on the edging. These colors are almost Vanna-esque!

I loved seeing this blanket still in use in a home, possibly years after its creator had jumped off this mortal coil (or at least moved away to Texas - I'm just shooting in the dark, here). I love that the blankets I make get loving use in my house, too. It pleases me no end to see my kids on the sofa, tucked up under my colorful creations, or to see my cat and dog each nestled up to opposite ends of a blanket - as close to one another as they can tolerate...

Have a wonderful weekend!

WIP Wednesday #6

2010-07-07T08:11:00.004-04:00

Good morning, all -

I hope those of you in the U.S. had a nice long weekend, and those of you elsewhere enjoyed your weekend, too. :-)

My Knitpicks order arrived at home yesterday - amazingly fast! It surely would have been there Monday if not for the holiday and no postal service. The yarn is lovely and different, and I'll share pictures of it soon. Since it's 100% wool, I'm considering a colorful felting project - I have never felted anything before.

Over the weekend, I nearly completed my first doily. I opted to use worsted weight yarn just to get familiar with the pattern itself, rather than struggling with a tiny hook and floopy thread on top of a complicated pattern. It has turned out just "okay," which is to be expected since I don't think I'll be able to block it to a proper square.

This is the "Four Square Pineapple" from the small Leisure Arts booklet, Pineapple Doilies. Though the end result is not a wild success, I discovered that I really enjoyed making it! Yes, one has to pay very careful attention to the pattern, but these particular instructions were clear and accurate, and I loved seeing it take shape as it progressed. My only trouble was the picot stitches. I had not made them before, and it turns out I did them incorrectly throughout the doily - and the pattern is just rampant with picot stitches. Still, whatever stitch I did make, it looks interesting. I'm willing to try this pattern again with the proper materials, now.

My daughter's sixth birthday is near the end of this month, and I will be focusing all my attention on completing something appropriately summery for her, using this neon-colored kitchen cotton:

Will keep you posted, of course. Hope the rest of your week is marvelous - it's already Wednesday!

New Yarn... Again

2010-07-02T12:20:00.002-04:00

It being the Friday before a major U.S. holiday, I thought I might find some decent yarn sales. At the moment, I've found little online that interests me, though I recommend visiting the Joann site, where all the Bernat yarns are 25% off, Stitch Nation yarns are on sale, and a few others. Maybe our local big box stores will have sales this weekend - NOT that any of us needs more yarn, I'll wager.

Last night I had sort of resolved (which must mean I didn't really resolve at all) to crochet up most of the yarn I currently have, before acquiring more. This is only reasonable, after all. I'm not collecting yarn - I'm storing it for use. As I pointed out to my husband recently, I DO have a plan and purpose for 99% of the yarn in my cabinet. Eventually. I have a little notebook where I write down future projects and which yarn to use for them.

I'll just stand up before the assembled group and admit it - I have a problem! I just like shopping for new yarn, and HAVING the new yarn. I get so inspired looking at all the colors. I think I could make 100 colorful granny or ripple blankets and not get bored with them. It is very much the creation of the afghan that I love, as much as anything else.

I think about crochet and yarn quite a lot. I'm often daydreaming about what to make next, and what color combinations to use, and just how many skeins of yarn I could fit into my car if I had $100 to spend at the yarn store.

Now to folks with a more expensive yarn taste, that probably sounds ridiculously piddly, as dreams go. But I proudly wear my acrylic heart on my sleeve. I don't love working with Red Heart yarn, but it softens up with washing and you can't beat the range of colors, or the price. I do love working with Vanna's Choice - I only started using it this year - and it is similarly affordable and varied, though softer. My only complaint with Vanna's Choice is that I wish there were more shades of yellow (we are stuck with Duckie and Mustard), and perhaps a lavender shade.

Anyway. One of the yarn sales I stumbled across today was from Knitpicks. I've never ordered anything from them before, but am always hearing about them on Ravelry. I ordered 10 shades of their Wool of the Andes yarn; these are about 1.5 oz (50g) per skein. They were about $2 each, with very a very low shipping cost, so I just treated myself to a small box of colorful, unfamiliar yarn. Not sure what I will make with it yet, but for now I'll just nestle those yarn balls into a bowl and leave them out in plain sight for inspiration. Will naturally post pictures once it arrives! There is very little more exciting than a box of yarn arriving at your door. That IS sad, isn't it? :-)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tuesday - New Patterns!

2010-06-29T08:36:00.004-04:00

I received an email last night from crochet designer Carolyn Christmas, announcing the release of a new pattern book. Upon seeing it, I ordered it immediately! Not that I need another afghan project...

Check it out - an afghan inspired by IKEA's colorful fabrics and designs - "Birgitta Afghans."

The link to order is here.

Please note, as Carolyn explains in the front of each book, she only sends patterns out via US Mail, not email, because patterns are unfortunately so easily pirated. However, this is my fourth order from her, and the book always arrives before I expect it to! She's very prompt, and her patterns are well written, easy to understand, and all are fabulous!

Her crochet patterns include Tunisian crochet, clothing, toys, afghans, baby items, and more. You can find her on Ravelry, or on her own website.

And if you are a Crochet Today subscriber, you may recognize her artistry in this creation!

Happy Tuesday!

Mosaic Monday - Ripples

2010-06-28T08:55:00.004-04:00

Please enjoy these rippled beauties. I have begun working on a ripple afghan myself (following Lucy's pattern) and will post pictures on Wednesday.

1. Rainbow Ripple - April, 2. WIP more ripples, 3. ripple again, 4. Close-up of ripple, 5. Work in Progress - Ripple Blanket, 6. Baby Ripple Crochet , 7. Ripple crochet, 8. Ripple dreams... part 4, 9. Zig zag baby blanket, 10. crochet ripple blanket, 11. crochet ripples, African flower, leaf, 12. rippling along - WIP, 13. Full view of the crochet ripple blanket

WIP Wednesday #5 - The Big Reveal

2010-06-23T08:17:00.014-04:00

It all began with the completion of this wondrous (if I do say so myself) blanket. Following Lucy's wonderful Summer Garden Granny Square pattern, but going nuts with nearly 20 shades of Vanna's Choice yarn...

I found myself with a box full of lovely, leftover yarn balls. Naturally, there are many things one can create with such a stash... but I had long admired other crochet blankets featuring bright colors framed by a single neutral shade, be it white, black, dark brown, whatever.

So I started fiddling around with the yarn, whipping up a batch of scrumptious yarn cookies. And, as often happens, the "baking" got out of hand, and I wound up with 192 circles. I couldn't stop experimenting with the color layout, and it just grew and grew...

So there was nothing to do but buy a metric buttload of white yarn and get to work! The blanket occupied much space in my thoughts (and my home) as I worked on it.

Along the way, others were right there by my side, providing moral support and quality control testing.

A few of my favorite squares, below. Unfortunately, the photos don't capture the precise colors.

I hit a snag in progress when it came to the border. A particular shade ("Rose") was required for one round, and to my surprise, none of the local big-box yarn stores (none of them!) carried this shade. It could only be procured online. So I waited until there was a coupon for $5 flat-rate shipping from Joann.com, and ordered my one measly skein of yarn. (Along with additional yarn for future projects, maximizing the value of the coupon! Any excuse for more yarn...)

Seen below, a skein of "Magenta" ready to become the final round, dovetailing so beautifully with the elusive "Rose."

And seen below is the final product. A cozy blanket measuring about 77" x 58" (195x147 cm). Here it is laid out across my king-size bed. I had to stand on a step-stool and hold the camera above my head, doing my best to get the whole thing in the shot. (Mind your hands under the ceiling fan!)

I especially like the way the color layout turned out. Each half of the blanket has a distinct tone to it. Like the old McDLT sandwich (from McDonalds), it's warm on one side, cool on the other.

A close-up of the edging. The colors remind me of the "Old Country Roses" pattern of china.

And yes, as noted in one recent post, there are 1,152 yarn butts to weave in. I didn't crochet over the ends because of the gaps inherent in granny squares, and I didn't weave them in as I went, perhaps upon completion of each row. I may act different next time, and I may not. Oddly, I do sort of like weaving in ends. I just plug into my iPod and get absorbed in the music and the weaving. It will get done eventually.

So that's it. Ta-da! Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and kind comments along the way. And of course, I'm already hard at work on several other highly superfluous blankets. I guess it's better to be addicted to crochet than to something less savory... nothing immediately springs to mind. :-)

Mosaic Monday - Yarn Cookies

2010-06-21T08:33:00.002-04:00

We do love our yarn cookies, don't we? Whether we convert them to squares, hexagons, something else, or just arrange them prettily in a jar to invite admiration, there is something compelling about these guys.

1. 100 pices all done , 2. Second Round, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. WIP - Spotty Afghan, 6. rings in yellow, 7. Circles, 8. why I need to learn to crochet - Japanese crochet book I have been drooling over, 9. Ciranda, cachecol de crochê, 10. Circles, 11. circles done! (C365:234) [Sept 16, 08], 12. crochet circles, 13. Circles ready, 14. crochet circle motif, 15. circle crochet, 16. Playing with circles

I Heart Yarn Sales

2010-06-18T09:03:00.007-04:00

Usually I showcase a bit of amigurumi on Fridays, but I have nothing new to show this week!

Instead, I'll just tell you about my happy find yesterday. I had to stop by Michaels (our local big box craft store) to get a picture frame for my dad's cross-stitch piece. While I was there, naturally I had to visit the yarn section. I almost always order my yarn online now because I can get better prices for a full color selection, and free shipping... plus the attitude of the Michaels employees usually varies from indifferent (at best) to surly (at worst). Not all of them - there are a couple of exceptions. Mostly, I can't stand going there.

BUT! Yesterday I saw that they had all their Lily Sugar & Creme yarn on sale for $1 each, instead of $1.79. So I filled a cheerful little basket (which will go onto my new shelves, specifically for storing kitchen cotton) with new yarn. I certainly didn't need it, of course. But I was weak-willed and I wanted it. Looks like my family and friends will be receiving kitchen towels for Christmas this year!

Thursday Potpourri - Geek Craft!

2010-06-17T09:13:00.003-04:00

Father's Day is this weekend in the U.S. I have had to set hook and yarn aside (not entirely) for the past couple of weeks while I worked feverishly to finish this creation for my dad. I'll be sending it out to him today.

It nicely juxtaposes his love of old-school science fiction with old-school video gaming (Space Invaders, in this case).

The design is not my own; I found the pattern here.

The only other thing I have cross-stitched lately (within the past year or so) is also video game-themed; a Mario mushroom bookmark for myself!

Tools of the Trade - Yarn Storage

2010-06-15T09:55:00.009-04:00

I've built up a sizeable yarn stash over the past decade, though nothing like some folks I've seen out there. In fact, I invite all my fellow bloggers to write a post showcasing your stash, sharing any special notes or stories about how it got that way! And let me say from the start, I am no yarn snob - I adore acrylic yarn. I love all yarn, in fact. However, that is a subject for another post.

Back to my point. Let me show you what "a lot of yarn" looks like:

(I'm sorry, I don't remember whose stash this was; I saw it on Ravelry once in a "Flash Your Stash" message post, possibly from 2009.)

And then this one - I recommend visiting this link to get the whole story about it with lots of nice close-ups. I love the writer's descriptions of actually being in this room, especially this: "...[this room] reflects the way that Bonney actively uses her stash as a resource and inspiration, instead of an untouchable Museum of Yarn."

I myself have been storing my yarn in various plastic tubs throughout the house, mostly in my closet and under the bed. Okay, and at work. This is not me hiding my addiction at the office; it's just that I do a lot of crochet on my lunch breaks, and it's nice to keep the stash handy there!

For our most recent wedding anniversary, my husband and I agreed on two things: for his gift, he would get a dog (our lovely Olive, the Scottish Terrier), and I would get to convert our seldom-used dining room into an actual sitting room for the two of us.

Time went by, as it does. Olive is now nearly a year old... but at last, the sitting room is coming together. The biggest obstacle was finding a new home for the dining room furniture, a beautiful mid-century Ethan Allen set that my grandparents purchased for their first wedding anniversary. Lovely though it was, it is not my taste, and I preferred to use that space for something we'd all love, instead of showcasing someone else's past. I still have the memories of dinners on that table, without needing the ACTUAL table!

So here is the cluttered and awful "before" picture:
(and no, the rest of our house is not THIS cluttered - this room was just a catch-all for all the junk and disorder)

And here is the more peaceful "still-in-progress" picture:

Note that "Medium Blanket" is resting peacefully over the back of the sofa, just the perfect size for it - and I didn't even plan it that way. The walls will eventually be painted a more serene color, and I may cover the sofa... but for now, I love it.

The three cabinets are from IKEA. If you're interested, the center piece is a PAX wardrobe with Komplement baskets that pull out on tracks. The two flanking pieces are Expedit bookcases. The little table is a LACK (costing only $8 USD).

And now for a little close-up...

The yarn is mainly organized by brand or type. Of course, it's all acrylic or acrylic blends, with a bit of kitchen cotton. (And believe me, there's still plenty of yarn tucked away upstairs.)

My crochet magazines are hiding in those two white magazine boxes; I have a nice assortment of crochet hooks, scissors and even knitting needles in the jar. A fresh gardenia from the yard on top of the clock (placed there by my wonderful husband). On the shelf below, some of my favorite crochet books, my hook case, and a box containing sundry items like stitch markers, measuring tape, crochet thread and other bits and bobs.

My goal is to keep this room simple and neat, not to overload it with Things Going On - that only stifles my creativity, because if I see a bunch of unfinished work, I have a hard time deciding which one most needs my attention!

Interestingly, though I intended this room to be for me and my husband - an oasis away from the occasional chaos of the living room, where my children and their friends congregate - it has turned out to be THE new central location for the entire family. It is smaller than the living room, but on any given evening now, you will find all four of us humans (and our two pets) tucked away in this room - which has no TV, so it's good family time.

I am loving the change in my house as a result of this re-purposed room. I have been wanting to change it almost since we moved in (TEN YEARS AGO) and I'm so thrilled with it now.

Anyway, reiterating the call in my initial paragraph - would love to see your stashes, folks!!

Happy Tuesday...

Mosaic Monday

2010-06-14T14:38:00.002-04:00

Green inspiration today... greenspiration?

Busy weekend full of yarn cabinet construction! Can't wait to share pics very soon. Have a wonderful week...

1. Lime Green Scarf with Flowers, 2. Stack of Squares, 3. Juice Box, 4. tiny cotton nesting bowls set of 3 - mixed green and yellow, 5. Pineapple afghan, 6. Handmade blanket in green colors, 7. Virkad grön hjärtväska!, 8. Green Yarn, 9. John Deere Blanket

Thursday Potpourri

2010-06-10T12:51:00.003-04:00

I don't make many baby afghans, though I feel called to crochet them and give them away for charity. Selfishly, I have not made the time for this endeavor.

I'm not always a big fan of baby afghan books, especially since so many crochet books seem to be of the mid-80s to mid-90s vintage, with lots of dusty country colors - just not my style. (Picture the classic bonnet-wearing geese against a gingham background - ick.)

Anyway, I recently acquired this book of baby afghans, which is chock full of very decent patterns, indeed.

Out of the 30 or so different patterns in this book, I would be interested in making more than half of them, which is a VERY decent ratio for any published crochet pattern book. Especially since I managed to look beyond all the pastels and traditional baby shades, and thought in more brightly colorful terms. I did a sample motif using "Lucy-ish" colors and it definitely updates the square for something I could enjoy in my own home, or as a gift.

I'll post more motif samples as I get around to working them up. :-)

That's my short post for Thursday - a busy week at work, and not much time for posting! Also it's the last day of school for my kids - summer vacation is finally upon us.

Oh, the book is available here.

Mosaic Monday - Lovely, Lovely Yarn

2010-06-07T16:56:00.002-04:00

Just some color to inspire you at the start of the week. I absolutely LOVE looking at pictures of yarn. If, ten years ago, you had told me I'd ever say that, I'd have laughed. :-)

Happy Monday!

1. Colours, 2. Muskat in many colors, 3. B rainbow 4, 4. sherbert colored handwound yarn balls, 5. DSC01303, 6. ripple-icious, 7. Yarn for my Attic24 hexagon!, 8. cotton, 9. Yarn Balls

Thursday Potpourri

2010-06-03T09:59:00.005-04:00

Thank you for all the comments yesterday (here and on Flickr) on the nearly completed afghan. I will be edging it this weekend. In the meantime, I have received several helpful notes about crocheting over the ends as one goes, in order to avoid the endless weaving-in of yarn ends. I appreciate those suggestions!

I do know about crocheting over ends as one goes (here's a helpful link if you need it). I don't use this technique on granny squares, though, because of the gaps between the 3-dc clusters. When crocheting over the ends that way, you can see the yarn ends in the gaps between clusters, and the yarn end is more likely to come loose and stick out. With grannies, I prefer to use a tapestry needle to weave in behind clusters and completely hide and secure the yarn end before cutting it off.

With a more stitch-intensive square, such as in the Babette afghan (which is entire rows of dc down one side of a square), I do crochet over the ends as I go. One can't see them at all in such squares. See below:

But again, I definitely appreciate the suggestions, and I always welcome comments and advice! If there is a way to crochet over the ends while grannying, without the problem of the gaps, I'd love to know about it.

It's almost Friday... even closer to it for you folks in Europe and points farther east...

WIP Wednesday #4

2010-06-02T08:08:00.004-04:00

All squares of the Fruit Salad Afghan (or Box of Crayons Afghan, or Afghan of Many, Many Yarn Ends to Weave In) have been completed and grannied together. 192 lovely squares, all different, all arrayed to my satisfaction in terms of color placement.

But again, did I mention how many yarn ends (I call them yarn butts) there are to weave in? I have calculated that in the squares alone, there are 1,152 ends to manage. It's best not to think of these things, I know, but the mind does what it will. I certainly won't be keeping count as I go!

I had a tough time determining the colors for my edging. I wanted springy, cheerful colors. I opted for several shades of green, with a bit of yellow, pink and magenta for a garden feel. Unfortunately, the shade of pink yarn I really want is not ever stocked at my local big-box yarn retailers. Neither Michaels nor Hobby Lobby carried it; it will have to be ordered online if I really want it that badly.

I thought about caving in and going with a different shade of pink, but it really wasn't what I wanted. And I recently read a very entertaining post from Heather over at Little Tin Bird about her determination to find the particular shade of yarn she wanted for a project, and the many hurdles she leapt through in order to procure it... this inspired me to keep up the good fight and get the shade of pink I truly want.

...and yet, I also really want to finish this afghan. And I'm not dying to place another yarn order.

Hahahahaha, who am I kidding, I'd love to, actually, but I don't need to place another yarn order - not just for one measly skein! Another shade of pink would go well with the border colors, it's just not the one that initially called my name.

So for now, I've got my colors selected and will begin edging this afghan soon. If this shade of pink bothers me among the other desired colors, then I will get the 'correct' pink somehow. But I will give it a try - sometimes color combinations grow on me the more I work with them.

Tools of the Trade - Project Bag

2010-06-01T09:10:00.003-04:00

I always seem to have several (quite a few) crochet projects going on at once. Some are unwieldy (afghans) and remain in one place until complete. Others are smaller and portable, and may travel with me to the office or on road trips.

There are many options for toting a project around - obviously, a tote bag works well! You can buy a tote bag, sew your own from cheerful fabric, knit or crochet your own, or repurpose some other bag. For example, many grocery stores and other retailers are now offering "green" shopping bags, reusable tote bags you can bring back to the store, instead of using plastic bags. These are very roomy and handy, and Sarah London has a fabulous pattern to make yours lovely here (second one on the page).

I have found the ultimate yarn bag, though. My grocery store has a large wine section, and they have begun offering the aforementioned tote bags specifically for wine. This means a smaller tote bag with six divided compartments for holding wine bottles. In other words, it will also hold six full skeins (6 oz) of yarn, which (if they pull from the center) is perfect! Viz:

I haven't yet crocheted around this bag to perk it up since this one hasn't yet left the house - as you can see, I haven't even started it! (This will eventually be a Christmas ripple afghan.) But what a perfect little bag - because these skeins DO pull from the center, I won't have to take them out, and won't have to worry when they become depleted and "floopy" from lack of innards!

Thursday Potpourri - Free Pattern!

2010-05-27T10:52:00.003-04:00

There are benefits to being on the mailing list of yarn companies and/or crochet designers. They occasionally send you emails about special unadvertised sales, or helpful hints, etc. And sometimes they send you a link to a free pattern that makes you say, "I must make that immediately."

Yesterday I received an email from Patons Yarns with a pattern for this cute bag, very Attic24 in style! I liked that they included two suggestions - either bold colors (as I like) or more subtle shades - to demonstrate how easy it would be to customize this bag to your specific taste.

Pattern here. Apparently it's not a new Patons pattern; they're using it to showcase some bright new colors they have in Patons Grace yarn. The picture on the left is the bag using their more traditional colors, and the bag on the right is made with the new colors.

Of course, I don't know WHEN I will get around to making this bag, even though "immediately" is in my head. I mean, how many unfinished WIPs can a girl have?? Quite a few, really... quite a few.

WIP Wednesday #3

2010-05-26T07:59:00.004-04:00

Just a short update on the Fruit Salad Afghan. I'm 2-1/2 rows away from finishing the squares. I have two and a half remaining ziploc bags full of circles (yarn cookies, mmmm) just waiting for a round or two of white grannying and and joining to their fellow squares.

Above you can see my layout of squares and number chart to keep the colors all straight in my head. Though I enjoy working without such organization, letting the colors appear where they will, I took a lot of time to sort out the color placement on this one. I'm a bit obsessive in some afghans that not a single square be repeated, color-wise.

And here is my progress so far...

I'm about 95% positive I'll be keeping this for myself. I've fallen in love with it. As have other members of my household, freely snuggling up to it in its various stages of creation...

Seen above: one comfortable Scottish Terrier / burgeoning blanket hog.

Tools of the Trade: Hook Pouch

2010-05-25T08:23:00.003-04:00

So how do you carry your hooks when you're on the go? Or where do you store them at home? I started off with a handful of hooks ranging from size F to size K (purchased in one package). As my projects expanded and multiplied beyond all reason, hiding in closets, under the bed, even in the cabinet at my office (!), I often found myself somewhere, ready to crochet, but without the right hook.

What does one do in such cases? I've taken a dual-pronged approach. I have purchased several hooks in the sizes I use most often (typically G/4mm through J/6mm). Since many of my projects are small (amigurumi or afghan squares), I store them away in large ziploc bags when I'm not working on them. I'm able to fit in folded instructions, a ball or two of yarn, the work in progress, and the hook. Then, when I'm headed out to work or someplace I know I'll have an opportunity to crochet, I can just grab that bag and go.

But what happens when you have quite a few such projects, and all your hooks are tucked away in bags? Is it sensible to keep purchasing hooks?? I personally think not. Several multiples are handy, but let's not go overboard.

Once again, I'll toot Ravelry's horn. Even when I've put a project in "sleep mode" for weeks, even months, I can still get back on track with it thanks to my detailed Ravelry notebook, in which I'm able to note which crochet hook I've used for a particular project. The key, of course, is to add those details yourself from the start.

In addition to the hooks I have here and there, I also have a hook pouch.

The pattern is by Priscilla Hewitt, and can be found here. I altered the design to make room for the scissors; it was originally written to hold five hooks on each side. I also single crocheted a little loop across the scissors pocket for my stitch markers. The pouch closes with velcro, but you could sew on a pretty button and close it with a loop. This is a handy way to keep my hooks and notions in one place; my only complaint is that it is not ideal for carrying in a purse or bag because of its size (a bit bulky), and because the hooks sometimes slide out if jostled about or turned upside down. This is why I often keep spare hooks with the projects in progress - I find this pouch works best for home use.

Of course, there are plenty of other options. You could use a small zippered cosmetic bag, even just a small ziploc bag. Anything will do - just don't get caught without your hooks!

Mosaic Monday: Blue Inspiration

2010-05-24T08:11:00.003-04:00

1. starrynight-fo, 2. Set of 4 Hand Crocheted Country Slate Blue Glass Cozies, 3. Blue Stash Yarn, 4. Blue Christmas Tree, 5. Crochet Spiral - 3-yarn Blue - detail, 6. blue bird, 7. crochet blue afghan/blanket, 8. cblanket6-4, 9. Jellyfish Crocheted Rug

Today's Yarn Sales (U.S.):

Joann.com
Lion Brand Wool Ease $2.29/skein
Lion Brand Hometown $3.49/skein
Lion Brand Jiffy $2.29/skein
Caron One Pound $5.49/skein
25% off sock yarns
Lion Brand Microspun (Turquoise only) $1.39/skein
A handful of store brand items on sale

Herrschners.com
5th Avenue Superwash Merino (a few colors) $2.99/skein
5th Avenue Socksation $6.99/skein
Nob Hill Morris Twist $1.99/ball
Nob Hill Escapade $4.99/skein
Nob Hill Simply Divine $4.99/skein
A handful of store brand items on sale
Crochet pattern books 50% off

Store Sales (may vary by location)

Hobby Lobby
Vanna's Choice $2.67/skein

A.C. Moore
Pound of Love $5.99/skein
Lion Brand Homespun 2 for $8.00
Natural and Eco Yarns 30% off
(includes Stitch Nation, Red Heart Eco Ways, Patons Bamboo, Bernat Natural)

I saw no yarn listed on sale in the Michaels flyer!! (not surprising)

Amigurumi Friday: Cupcakes

2010-05-21T08:20:00.005-04:00

The first amigurumi piece I ever made was a cupcake. It did not turn out quite as well as I would have liked - crocheting "in the round" took a little bit of getting used to. But cupcakes are irresistible in so many ways, whether made of yarn or cake!

1. Cupcakes, 2. cupcake, 3. cupcakes 1, 4. Maria's Birthday Cupcake, 5. Cupcake, 6. Birthday Cupcakes, 7. cupcakes without calories, 8. pink cupcake, 9. Crocheted Cupcake - Amigurumi World, 10. Yay for red velvet :D, 11. Birthday Cupcakes, 12. lots of cupcakes, 13. Cupcake Amigurumi

Many of the little cakes seen above are made from this pattern by Ana Paula Rimoli, who has also published two books of similarly sweet patterns, ranging from animals to coffee cups, to my favorite, Little Snail and His Pear Home:

Happy Friday!

Mosaic Monday: The Glorious Babette

2010-05-17T07:55:00.005-04:00

In Spring 2006, Interweave Crochet published the Babette Blanket, designed by Kathy Merrick. This has proved to be a very popular pattern on Ravelry, with 1,167 finished or ongoing projects, and appearing in 1,783 "to-start" queues.

And no wonder - check out just a few of them!

(Mine is the center one - made for my daughter's fifth birthday.)

1. Completed Babette, 2. IMG_3278, 3. Clara's blanket, 4. babette with border, 5. babette, 6. babette blanket, 7. babette4938, 8. Babette blanket, 9. Completed Babette Blanket, 10. Finished Crochet Blanket / Fertige Häkeldecke, 11. Finished Babette, 12. Fin, 13. Another bright one

This is yet another versatile pattern - I love its geometric beauty and potential for color experimentation. The pattern uses 17 different colors, but I used nearly 30 for my daughter's blanket. :-) This is a great way to use up yarn oddments! My only suggestion would be to make certain the different yarns are at least the same approximate weight.

It's also a customizable pattern, in that you can follow the exact placement for the squares, or you can choose to make them all one uniform size, or just use a few different sizes... you can also make a larger blanket. One talented crocheter very generously posted a graph for laying out additional panels to make it larger than called for.

Not that I needed another project, but I've just begun a new Babette and I will be creating the additional panels to make it larger. Instead of the riot of colors I used for my daughter's blanket, I'll be using mostly blues and soft neutrals. Here's the basket I have under my desk at work - I'm doing this one on my lunch breaks!

Progress to be posted in the very near future.

The pattern is available for sale as a download here.

Happy Monday...

Amigurumi Friday - Tasty Crochet

2010-05-14T07:41:00.005-04:00

I have a five year-old daughter. Therefore, amigurumi is a perfect blending of my desire to crochet, and her desire for cute toys.

The toys I've had the most fun making are found in Rose Langlitz's "Tasty Crochet," a book containing 34 different foods to make. I have resolved to make them all! Here is my progress so far (in the order they appear in the book).

These patterns are well-written and easy to follow; so far the only one that has really challenged my patience is the ice cream sandwich. But that's simply because what is simple in real life (insert a rectangle of ice cream between two chocolate cookies) is not as easy to crochet and assemble. It wasn't frustrating, just not as easy as the rest of these wonderful little patterns.

This book (available here) is loaded with eye candy. The pages are full of colorful treats, and when I first saw it, I had a hard time deciding which foodlet I wanted to make first! As always for me, I love the portability of these projects, and most of them don't take more than an hour to complete; many work up very quickly indeed.

For these patterns, I use a G hook and a sport-weight acrylic yarn (Red Heart Designer Sport, which has a broad pallette of suitable food colors).

This book has made me a hero in my daughter's eyes. "What fabulous little thingie is Mom going to make next??" Any small child in your life would love something from this pantry; my particular favorites are the peanut butter & jelly sandwich and the apple wedges. You could work just those two items up, pop them in a brown lunch bag, and voila - the perfect handmade gift!

If you are on Ravelry and would like to see the full list of patterns, click here. As a bonus, Rose also has a free pattern on her blog for that succulent watermelon wedge you see above. I hope to see more from her in the future.

WIP Wednesday #2

2010-05-12T08:18:00.007-04:00

Visit Flickr's "Crochet Afghans" pool and you'll see thousands of examples of beautiful crochet work, from vibrantly colorful patchworks to soothing neutral ripples, and more.

I think ripple afghans are lovely, but I don't have much patience for making them, myself. It feels as though they take forever to complete - long row by long row. I prefer afghans made of motifs, because there is a continual sense of small accomplishments. "Tada! I finished that square; now only 99 to go."

Many of us love our granny squares in their endless variations, and quite a few of us love those fabulous hexagons. Now let me show you one of my WIPs, the Moorish Mosaic afghan, which will be made up of octagons and squares:

(I've made 21 complete octagon motifs out of an intended 36;
I haven't yet made any of the squares that go in between them.)

Here is a beautiful example of a completed Moorish Mosaic afghan:
(Important note: the next two pics are not my work! Just found these completed beauties on Ravelry.)

I found these intricate octagonal motifs to be difficult at first, requiring a great deal of my attention. However, once I had made two or three of them, I had the hang of it and only had to glance at the pattern notes from time to time.

I love the versatility of this pattern. The color variations are almost limitless. The pattern itself is written such that the color scheme does not repeat from motif to motif. But if you prefer, you can make yours all identical, or mix them up however you like. It's a great project for experimentation with colors.

And as you can see, working up each octagon results in a surprise - depending on your color placement, the stitches in certain rounds are accented to reveal a different feature within the motif.

In addition to being a good pattern for experimentation with colors, it's also deceptively easy - meaning, it's pretty easy once you get the rhythm of the pattern, but the finished project is amazing to behold. People will think you're a Crochet Goddess.

And, of course, you are.

Tuesday: Tools of the Trade - Hooks!

2010-05-11T08:25:00.001-04:00

Whenever I leave the house to go anywhere other than the office or the grocery store, I take a bit of crocheting with me. Few things are more frustrating than finding myself in a situation where I could be crocheting... and have nothing to crochet. Worse still is having a bag full of yarn, but I've left the crochet hook behind.

(There are some talented folks out there who can crochet using their fingers only - see video here- but I haven't yet been that intrepid - or desperate.)

So, obviously, aside from yarn, the most critical component of crochet is your hook! How well do you know your crochet hooks? I can pretty much close my eyes and correctly guess which hook is in my hand, just by its weight and size. But aside from nearly indecent familiarity with these hooks, I only recently learned that hooks have a specific anatomy! I shouldn't be surprised... but I was.

(Information from Crochet Guild of America website.)

What kind do you prefer? I almost exclusively use Susan Bates aluminum hooks. They appear similar to Boye hooks, but I prefer the head style of the Bates hooks.

Applying our new knowledge of hook anatomy, let me compare Susan Bates with Boye. I'll say this in advance: I simply prefer the way the Bates hooks work those loops for me. Everyone has their own preference, even beyond these two. There are many options!

As you can see below, the Bates head is shorter, and the thread guide is more sharply defined. When I use Boye hooks, I feel as though the head is getting in the way, poking into the yarn instead of slipping under the next loop. Stitches also slip off the hook too easily, as they are not secured in place as firmly as with the Bates hook. This is especially true when using a thicker fiber, such as worsted weight or bulky.

I haven't yet tried Clover hooks, though I've read that crocheters love them. And there are lovely hooks made of wood, ivory, even plastic. In my experience, plastic hooks have little bits sticking out that snag the yarn, though I've read that you can file those down with a nail file if you simply must use plastic. And truly, some are very cheerful and almost Attic24-worthy.

So what about you? What hooks do you prefer, and why?

Interesting link: Finger knitting! Could be fun to teach your kids on a rainy day. Ideally, they'd be occupied with this, leaving you to crochet your heart out, undisturbed.

Monday: Yarn Sales

2010-05-10T09:59:00.003-04:00

Probably most beneficial for those in the U.S...

Online Sales

Joann.com
25% off entire stock of yarn!

The website doesn't indicate when this offer expires. However, it is one that seems to come back up fairly regularly, if you can't make it this time. I've had positive experiences ordering from Joann.com. As a bonus, they always seem to have a free shipping coupon out there. Just Google "Joann coupons" and you'll find one.

Herrschners.com
A handful of yarns on sale.
Their house brand Ultrafleece yarn now $1.69/ball
Nob Hill Morris Twist yarn $1.99/ball
Universal Bella DK Tapestry yarn $1.99/ball

They don't ever have many good sales (in my experience) and hard to find shipping deals.

Mosaic Monday: Crochet in Red

2010-05-10T07:44:00.004-04:00

1. ten crochet stars, 2. RED Crochet Cotton Snowflakes Set of 6 FREE Shipping, 3. Crochet Apple Trio, 4. Bri, 5. PDF Crochet Pattern - Red Currants and Strawberries Pie, 6. red-crocheted-hat, 7. Crocheted Valentine's Day Heart, 8. Crochet Red Strawberries Coasters, 9. Pink-Red crochet

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Mine was relaxing yet productive. We are in the very early stages of converting our seldom-used dining room into an office / craft room. The biggest current obstacle is selling the dining room furniture. It belonged to my grandparents, and is a very nice mid-century Ethan Allen set, but we never use that room for its intended purpose; therefore the furniture is superfluous. Once it's gone, we'll be able to accomplish a lot!

My husband and son kindly made the trek to IKEA on Saturday to acquire the wardrobe I'm going to use for yarn storage. It's tall and narrow, with pull-out wire baskets, and a closing door to hide the potential disarray therein! I look forward to assembling it (once the furniture is gone).

I also treated myself to the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living. I'm not a big Martha fan, but the cover appealed to me:

I'm intrigued by her idea of using paint color cards as art! I wouldn't have them all across my wall that way, but I may choose varying shades of a beloved color and frame them, keeping them on the wall for inspiration.

Here's a link to the full article; good tips for selecting a good neutral shade to make your other colors pop.

Welcome back to the work-week!

Amigurumi Friday - Oddish

2010-05-07T07:51:00.011-04:00

Friday at last!

I talked a bit about amigurumi earlier this week. This craft is typically associated with little animals or anthropomorphic creatures (such as a smiling coffee cup), with tiny bodies and enormous heads. Think Hello Kitty. According to Wikipedia, "the pervading aesthetic of amigurumi is cuteness."

This is true, and there are plenty of amigurumi patterns out there, in books, on Etsy, on Ravelry, etc. One of the great things about being a crocheter today is that the internet connects us all via our common interests. Often, there are multiple criss-crossing interests. For example, though I'm a mother of two in her late 30s, I enjoy playing video games; the Nintendo DS is my preferred platform. I've been playing video games since I was a kid, and it doesn't look like I'll give them up anytime soon, though admittedly I haven't been playing as much since the crochet bug took a fiercer hold on me.

Playing these games has helped keep me connected with my son who, at age 12, is on the verge of some big changes in his life. We've always been close, but it has always been nice to be able to converse enthusiastically about games we both like, sometimes playing together. One such game is Pokemon - the game where your goal is to catch (or at least see and note in your encyclopedia) hundreds of little creatures called Pokemon. These creatures are practically made for amigurumi; not all of them could be described as "cute" or "adorable" - some are mighty and fearsome. But most of them are at least unusual and appealing in some way. My personal favorite is called Oddish - an odd little turnip-shaped creature on two legs.

And to my delight, a talented crocheter has designed an Oddish pattern, which I just finished yesterday.

Here's what an Oddish looks like...

<----------------------

And here is my completed amigurumi version.

-------------------------->

The designer is Linda, a fellow Raveler and blogger who has designed many incredible video game-themed crochet plushies, and very generously posts free patterns on her site. She also has an Etsy shop where she sells patterns and other items.

I crochet a good bit during my lunch hours at the office, and amigurumi projects are perfect for this small window of opportunity. They are very portable, and I am usually allowed at least 45 minutes of my lunch break without interruption, allowing me to focus on the work at hand.

If you'd like a break from whatever you ordinarily crochet and would like to try a simple amigurumi project (or a crocheted toy), here are some links:

Tic Tac Toe Game

Ladybug

Candy Corns

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday Potpourri

2010-05-06T09:17:00.004-04:00

Good morning, all -

In my sidebar -------> you'll notice a number of links, most of which are for crochet-related blogs, likely your own! :-) If you have a blog that is not on the list, and you'd like it linked, just let me know!

Beneath that is a list of resources that I use regularly in my crochet endeavors. The most essential of these is Ravelry. I imagine that many of you are already on that site, or are at least familiar with it... but if not, what are you waiting for?? If you crochet or knit (or spin or weave), the site is an invaluable resource for patterns, photos, useful tips, and general support and encouragement for your craft.

Ravelry also acts as an organizer for your projects, with varying classifications: you can keep track of current projects (including what yarn you used and how much, what hook size, photos, notes, etc), show off completed projects, and even "queue" projects you may eventually work on. And, as with Flickr, other Ravelers can view, comment on and "fave/heart" your work.

Even if you don't crochet (or knit, spin or weave) yourself, it's a great place for anyone who enjoys drooling over beautiful yarny projects.

More than this, it's a social networking site. It's a bit similar to Flickr, in that you can have contacts, and there are thousands of groups for people with a common interest. Chances are, if you like something, there's a group for it. If not, it's simple to create one and attract fellow enthusiasts! For example, my groups include Scottie Dog Lovers, British Comedy, Harry Potter, Victorian-Era Interests, and of course, We Love Lucy (for Attic24 fans), just to name a few.

I don't know about you, but 'in real life,' I am not surrounded by people who love to crochet, or even many people who know the difference between crochet and knitting. Therefore, I find Ravelry and Flickr to be havens, places where I can expound in detail on topics such as my method for creating a Babette square without wonky joins, and have an interested, willingly captive audience, often with useful feedback.

(Note - that's not my square in the link; it's just a marvelous example of tidy Babette-ing.)

Ravelry is free, and quite awesome. Highly recommended! If you'd like to link up there, just look for "snippygal," of course.

WIP Wednesday #1

2010-05-05T08:18:00.009-04:00

Mother's Day is this weekend. I am a mother, and I have a mother. My mother has no Erica-made afghan. Nor will she have one by this weekend, I'm afraid... I keep starting new projects (and finishing them, I'm pleased to say) at the expense of my mother's intended gift. Hopefully I'll finish it before one of us dies.

The project calls for Caron Country yarn, a blend of 75% acrylic and 25% merino. I'm a shameless acrylic user, so this is so far the fanciest, most expensive yarn I've ever used. :-)

As you can see, it has a beautiful sheen to it, and it works up lovely textured stitches. I also love the feel of it, but it is very splitty to work with. However, I became accustomed to it fairly quickly, and am able to crochet without that being much of a problem.

Each motif is a hexagon; there will be 37 of them, seamed together to form one big hexagonal afghan. I say "big," but it will probably be decently lap-sized. Each motif is a lot of work - the stitches are not difficult, but there are so many on each round, most of them treble crochet (double-treble UK/AU).

Here is how the motifs progress, start to finish:

And here are the motifs left to be completed (already finished ones pictured at above-right). Then comes the weaving-in of ends, and seaming together, and... (sigh) This thing may be done by Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath. Neither is my mother.

Rockland Throw by Doris Chan - pattern here.

The project occupying most of my time at the moment, in between all the portable things I work on during lunch hours, is what I've called a Fruit Salad Afghan. It is thusly titled because I still had a sizable stash of colorful yarn after finishing my Lucy-style "Big Blanket." When my husband saw how much was left, on top of the gallons of yarn already in my closet, he quasi-jokingly said I better use all that up before buying more, that I should just make a ‘fruit salad’ of an afghan, with all the existing yarn. Since the colors in this particular leftover stash fit that bill, I am crediting him with the title of the project. You're welcome, Kyle.

Lucy's Summer Garden Granny Square pattern here.

Evolution of the Fruit Salad Afghan...

And my progress as of yesterday, literally 50% complete.

But again - so many ends to weave in on this one... any suggestions for edging colors??

Tuesday: Tools of the Trade - Stitch Markers

2010-05-04T08:07:00.010-04:00

Good morning! (Or good afternoon to those of you several time zones away...) Thank you for the positive response to this blog! I'm looking forward to it, myself.

My primary crochet passion is afghans. This is a bit inconvenient, since the more progress one makes, the less portable the project becomes! Unless one is working in motifs, such as squares, hexagons, or some other intriguing form...

Bienzfive's Flower Garden

However, I also love working with smaller projects, such as amigurumi toys, which are quite portable! The only trouble with such projects is that they require a bit more careful attention and stitch counting. And since life is full of interruptions and distractions, I am seldom able to complete one of these little toys in one sitting. Which brings me to today's topic: stitch markers.

Left to right: split ring markers, locking stitch markers (two variations), custom stitch markers
(don't click that link unless you want to lose a few hours in handmade loveliness).

I don't typically use stitch markers during afghan creation, unless I'm crocheting a complicated motif and need to keep track of specific stitches. However, I do find stitch markers useful to hold my project in place if I have to put it down for a while. Knitters have a handy little device called a stitch holder:

Left to right: varying sizes of stitch holders; stitch holder in action.
Yikes! This is why I don't knit - I don't have the required courage.

These stitch holders are too large for the miniature demands of amigurumi. This is where a locking stitch holder is most useful! You insert one end of the loop into the last stitch made (the one still on the hook), and the other end into any adjacent stitch... click it together and voila! You'll know right where you left off, and you won't lose your loops in the meantime.

Have a wonderful day!

Mosaic Monday #1

2010-05-03T13:28:00.000-04:00

My best friend, Tomie, taught me to crochet back in 1999, when we both had little baby boys in our lives. She was a good teacher, very patient, and just about every time I show her a new creation (even to this day), I thank her once again for giving me this gift!

I crocheted happily for a couple of years, then let it go in 2004 when another little baby came into my life. I put my craft on indefinite hold until late 2008, when I learned that a co-worker was expecting a baby. I wanted to make a blanket, so turned to Flickr for the first time, seeking inspiration... and MAN, I found it. I typed in "Crochet" and "Square," seeking motifs or layouts... and when I turned around again, about half the day had zipped past without my realizing it.

Because of Flickr, I also discovered Ravelry, which was a whole 'nother can of worms.

Anyway, here is a mosaic of the blankets and other crochet-work that first inspired me on Flickr, and reginited my passion for this craft!

1. Baby Blanket, 2. Oreo Cookie Hat-1, 3. granny square baby afghan, 4. DSC00965, 5. Carl's sock monkey afghan, 6. Crochet pebble coral - side, 7. rainbow cot blanket, 8. 1 Up DS case, 9. IMG_3277

Introductory Remarks

2010-05-03T12:38:00.002-04:00

Well, hello...

Thanks for visiting! If you enjoy reading about, talking about, dreaming about, or actually engaging in, crochet and yarn... then this is the place for you. I have a couple of dear friends whose ears I regularly bend with incessant prattle about yarn and crochet, or crochet and yarn, and "Look at this!" or "What if I did that?" or "I'm so excited about that bonus check because there's an online yarn sale this week..."

So this blog will be my outlet for such talk. More than that, though, I plan to provide useful and interesting information to my readers, and to post several times a week. That's the goal, anyway! And I'll keep it brief, hopefully with lots of pictures, because I know we don't all have endless hours for blog-reading!

Each day of the week (excluding weekends, unless I'm feeling frisky) will have a specific theme:

Monday: photo mosaics, this week's online yarn sales
Tuesday: useful tips / tricks
Wednesday: update on my WIPs
Thursday: potpourri! Random topics, such as crochet book reviews, new yarn info, philanthropic crochet efforts
Friday: amigurumi!

So thanks again for visiting - please comment regularly if you are moved to do so!

-Erica