Evergreen

This is the One Skein Scarf from Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Happy Hooker.  The pattern is so easy-peasy, and I liked the chart included in the directions.  The ends curl a bit, but I can see why this scarf pattern is so popular. 

The yarn is from a garage sale, so I have no idea what brand it is.  I’m 99.9% sure it acrylic yarn (but soft).  I really like the teal color, which is actually a combination of blue and green fibers.  If you recognize this yarn brand, please comment! 

Purely for the blog, I took my camera on a short hike to Cascade Falls in Moran State Park.  The flash was actually really useful, since it is very shady under the forest canopy. 

*That’s cool* a random fact

A tree branch is not actually attached to the rest of the tree. It is held in place by a series of interlocking “collars”. Collars overlap and mesh to form a tight woven pattern of tissue.

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Cotton twiggy

I crocheted this Kitchen Scrubbie with the very last strands of my Sugar ‘n Cream stash.  I ran out of Hot Blue after making the body so, I had to dig around in my small scraps basket for a very short strand of Summer Splash cotton yarn.  Fortunately, the variegated matched the blue body and the green color makes it looks like a flower stem.

The pattern calls for a size J hook but I went with a size I hook since my size J hook is MIA at the moment. (Angela, I loose them too!) The scrubbie itself consists of two layers chain loops and a slip stitch handle.  The double layer construction may confuse beginning crocheters, but the idea is easy enough.  

Here you can see the ‘inside’ of the scrubbie.

This kitchen scrubbie could double as a bath poof since the stitches aren’t too tight.  It would probably dry just fine.  If a reinforced handle were added it would also make a nice duster. 

 

This was a nice distraction from my top secret Swap Swap Gals purses.  I’ll get to that in a later post!

*That’s cool* a random fact

Scientists in Japan claim they have developed the first true blue roses by extracting the gene for blue pigment (delphinidin) from pansies.

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Tawashi rosebud

    

I’ve been making these scrubbies on and off for a while now.  The pattern is a no brainer, so it’s a great project for the hands when your mind is occupied.  I put all my Lily’ s Sugar and Cream scraps in a little basket with a hook, ready to crochet when I’m on the phone.

These scrubbies are also perfect cotton stash-busters.  There’s very little yarn needed, and the pattern is exceptionally easy to modify.  Subtracting a few rows or reducing the foundation chains does little to alter the finished product. 

I picked up too many stitches to gather together in my first few scrubbies.  It’s best to thread through less than half the stitches on the side, otherwise you’re left with an open hole that is difficult to pull closed.  This is what happened with the bottom right scrubbie.   

The photo mosaic shows my four favorites out of a batch of eight.  If you’re interested in the other four, I made a slide show of the complete set over at slide.com. 

Another free pattern with a similar design is the baby swirls hat, which is basically a giant scrubbie with only one side cinched together.  It’s a great hat for beginning crocheters and makes a cute hat for newborns.   

*That’s cool* a random fact

Cottoncan absorb up to 27 times it’s weight in water and the absorbent fibers get stronger when wet.

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Word of the day

The word of the day is blustery.  It’s very windy here in the tip top corner of the Northwest.  I was holding the door ajar for the dog this morning and I actually had to use force to keep it from swinging.  It felt like this massive vacuum was pulling the door closed. 

You would think with all this stormy weather it would be miserable outside, but apart from the hurricane force winds it’s actually a beautiful winter day.  There’s sun coming in through the windows and the sky is mostly blue.  I’m happy if I see a patch of blue in between the clouds this time of year. 

Craftwise, I’m knitting a scarf from Bernat Soft Boucle in natural.  I wanted badly to crochet this stuff, but I was going nuts.  Unless I used a large hook the yarn caught every bulge and and was a nightmare to frog.  I just didn’t feel like fighting with the yarn.  Knitting with ‘fun’ yarn is easier than crocheting, in my opinion, and that also goes for this border-line difficult boucle. 

 

The pattern is Melissa’s All About The Yarn scarf, using a k5 vertical border.  Mine’s not alpaca, but I think it’s turning out well.  There are problems with the border curling inward so I guess I’ll try blocking it.   Acrylic doesn’t have a superb reputation for yielding to pins and water though.  Still, the boucle is hiding my uneven stitches and it feels light but warm.  I am considering putting an edging or embroidery to spruce it up. 

Here’s my first knit swatch from way back in 2001, when I was a seinor in high school.   I spent a saturday afternoon watching an Omen marathon and trying out different purl/knit combinations from my stitch dictionary.  If you look closely you can spot attempts at ribbing and cables.  

You may remember this yarn from a series of scrap yarn squares I made earlier this month.  This swatch would be perfect for the kind of knit graffiti Knitta started.  You know, where they fasten knit UFOs to random stop signs and car antennas.  Maybe next time I’m in Seattle… 

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