The yarn bearer

 

I won yarn from Kayla!  That’s 1200 yards of hand-dyed, 100% fingering weight yarn.  I’ve actually never worked with fingering weight yarn before, so I’m very excited.

Kayla hosted the contest on her blog, The Yarn Bearer.  All she required was a comment with what you would make from this skein.  I chose the Celestine Crochet, which looks like a spiky ball.  If I like the pattern enough I’ll try the knitted version, too.

 

I plan to start crocheting just as soon as I wind this hank into a ball.  I’m a bit scared about tangles from Angela‘s experience, but I think I’ll take her advice and hang the yarn off the end of a chair. 

Thanks again, Kayla, for the beautiful yarn!

 

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Bobble bobble

 

I’ve actually had this Bobble Clutch crocheted for about six months now, waiting to be lined.  Shocking, I know, but my fear of fabric and thread is hard to overcome.  With the “All About Hearts” swap for Swap Swap Gals I decided to make a few purse items in order to force myself to sew.  It worked out and I got everything finished in time, but I’m still not a sewing convert. 

 

Anyway, I finally got this darn purse lined and zippered.   The zipper is sewn in a little wobbly, but it zips like a champ.  I learned a very important lesson – do not sew the lining too close to the zipper!  I had to sew the fabric twice since the first time the zipper kept catching the hem.

 

I’m not 100% positive, but I’ll guess this purse is made of Red Heart Super Saver in Gemstone.  I like to roll my skeins of yarn into balls and rarely keep the wrapper.  I figure the internet can always help me with future identification.  This is easy when I remember what brand, but I’ve had the yarn picked out for my grandma for a long time.  She loves these jewel tones, especially the turquoise, and I was just waiting for a one-skein pattern to catch my eye. 

The Bobble Clutch was the perfect project I was hoping for.  The pattern is from One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet.  (I’m sure you’ve all heard of it.)  Easy pattern to memorize, and the bobbles make any yarn look wonderfully textured. 

Hayley, over at Adventures with Little Miss is working on the Bobble Clutch in a gorgeous olive green color from Vanna White’s yarn line.  It’s looking great so far!

Happy St. Patty’s Day everybody!

*That’s cool* a random fact

New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is the longest running civilian parade in the world.

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All about hearts

Katrina got her Swap Swap Gals package the other day so now I get to blog about all the super-secret projects I have been working on.  It was actually pretty tough to stay mum on so many projects. 

 And I know there are at least a few of you are thinking, “Finally, she made something besides dishcloths!”   

 

The Brea Bag is the item I’m most proud of for the “All About Hearts” themed swap.  I had been weary of intermediate knitting projects until Kara and Katie gave me some knitting encouragement via my Ravelry message box and I decided to just go with it. 

This was my first major knitting project with cables, but the pattern was actually easy to understand, especially with the videos on Knittinghelp.com.  Also, I relied on the Terms and Techniques list from Knitting-crochet.com.  Their abbreviation list is really comprehensive and I learned a bunch of knitting terms like ssk, psso and St st.

This was also my first project with a lining.  I had to hand sew everything and it took me a while to finish.  The lining turned out a little baggy but I was afraid it would end up on the small side. 

The handle was thrifted from an old handbag.  Instead of  sewing the flaps in place I sewed buttons to the inside so the handle can be removed and Katrina can wash the bag easily.  She could even replace the handle if she wanted.

The picture of the Brea Bag along with the free pattern had a heart-like shape.  Mine doesn’t look quite like that so just for good measure I used a button with a heart motif.   

My crochet skills really helped for the last steps of the pattern.  I slip stitched the bag together for strength.  Also, the pattern called for a crab stitch edging and chain button loop. 

Since the purse didn’t have a zipper closure, I made her a matching Half-Hearted Purse with Red Heart in Cafe and Cashmere.  I used a crab stitch for the edging to match the purse and kept the same color scheme on the front and back.  In the original pattern, the designer used hemp and reversed the colors for the opposite side of the coin purse. 

I lined the coin purse, too.  I think the zipper was sewn a tad uneven so it’s a little tough to open and close.  Also, next time I sew a zipper I’ll make it a little longer.  The opening is smaller than it should be.

This drawstring bag is titled That Pouch Thing.  The pattern makes a nice little drawstring bag designed for holding dice.  I would make this again in a DK or light weight yarn.  The crochet fabric is a little stiff to gather with Red Heart (in Cafe and Country Rose).

The bottom view shows the individual pieces of the bag.  I whip-stitched the pieces together instead of single crocheting like the pattern called for. 

Changing colors every row for each of the four pieces would make a nice v-shaped stripe design. 

Katrina is due this summer so I made her baby-to-be a Pixie Hat.  The size is meant for a 3-6 month old, but could stretch to fit an older baby.  Katrina wrote in her Wish List that she liked earth tones and orange.  I originally wanted to make this in Bernat Pink Camouflage, but I didn’t know the sex of the baby until after I sent the package (it’s a girl!).  To be safe I used this gender-neutral TLC yarn in Jungle.   

There was so much sewing for this swap!  When I was done with the purses, I still had to this button to attach.

Instead of a tassel, I added a little orange heart motif.  Looks a little like a carrot now that I see it up close!

For her other three kids (4, 2 and 1) I sent Alice in Wonderland.  Remember the Queen of Hearts? 

There are four items that don’t fit the ‘All About Hearts’ swap theme.  Katrina mentioned in her wish list that she liked to read about organizing and collects recipes, so I had to include the Woman’s Day Magazine.  

As for the pink bag, I was originally going to find a heart bead to thread on the drawstring, but I couldn’t find anything non-plastic.  The little heart beads were perfect for a bracelet kit for her four year old daughter though. 

I also threw in a toy elephant and a spool of ribbon.  These were last minute additions to put in the purses.  I don’t know where I got the idea, but I don’t like giving a bag/purse/wallet as a gift with nothing inside.  It’s probably one of those superstitions you hold over from childhood.  Remember avoiding cracks on the sidewalk?

For the Lewis Carroll book I made a little granny square heart bookmark.  The pattern, Heart Coaster or Embilshment, is from Crochetville.  I just added a slip stitch tail.  The little sun motif at the end is just a ring of single crochet and a row of single crochet and picots. 

Lastly, I made this dishcloth with Lily’s Sugar and Cream in Hot Orange and Over the Rainbow.  The My Heart Dishcloth pattern is pretty and quick, just like a dishcloth should be.

At least this post wasn’t all dishcloths, right?

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Tricot machine

I finally got to make this Starburst Hotpad. Ever since I saw Angela’s orange and pink version on Ravelry I have wanted to crochet my own. The only thing stopping me was the lengthy assembly directions. They seemed complicated, but the hotpad isn’t as daunting as I predicted. The hotpad makes sense once you have the pieces made and it all pulls together for the final step.

I tacked down the petal edges when I wove in the ends. Next time I would do this with a little more ease since there are visible creases. I used Lily’s Sugar and Cream in Bright Navy and Over the Rainbow. With the granny square holes, I’m not sure if I would use this as a hot pad, but it makes a sturdy trivet.

The Circular Cloth pattern is very simple and easy to follow. Perfect for the beginner wanting to practice increases in the round before tackling a hat. I used half a skein of Lily in Summer Splash.

In hindsight this dishcloth would have looked better with a contrasting border. The picture for the free pattern even has an orange border around a white center, but by the time I realized this I had already tucked and cut the ends. The back-loops-only do make nice ridges for scrubbing though.

The Crochet Hexagon Dishcloth is adapted from a Japanese pattern and the origin shows in the writing style. It took a few tries before I understood the notation.

My real problem was the recommended size G hook made this dishcloth bend in a cup shape. I had to use a size I crochet hook to get it relatively flat, and then I blocked it to keep the shells down. The blocking wasn’t really necessary though, and it made the shells look more pointed than they were originally crocheted because I’m still learning to block well.

The dishcloth is crocheted in Lily’s in Soft Teal. The simple, solid look of this pattern is really pleasing and a few of these in coordinating colors would make a nice gift.

Finally, in lieu of a random fact, I give you a YouTube video. Compliments of Geckogrrl, here’s a music video from the Canadian group Tricot Machine.  All the frames are knit!

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Neither rain nor sleet

I finished the knit boucle scarf for my mom.  Even though the pattern was very simple it took a lot longer to make than I’m used to.  There are more stitches to the inch compared to crochet and being a slow knitter doesn’t exactly speed things along. 

When I did finally finish the knitting I still wanted to embroider something simple in the corner.  After deciding on a treble clef, I put an image through knitPro to get one of those nifty graphs.  Originally, I intended to try out the duplicate stitch technique but the Caron SS yarn was fatally hidden by the boucle.  Those little tufts of yarn buried my best attempts. 

Since the duplicate stitch didn’t look right, I tried the back stitch.  Even with two strands together all that fuzzy boucle still got in the way, so I finally came to the conclusion that the crochet slip stitch was my only option.   

The slip stitches turned out to be just what I was looking for.  The only downfall is you have to free hand a bit more than the embroidery (exactly the reason I put it off).  The extra effort was worth it, though.  The slip stitch made the curves look much nicer than the embroidery and the raised effect makes the insignia really pop. 

My favorite part of the slip stitch technique is the opposite side.  Since I wove the ends in back through the treble clef, the backside doesn’t look that much different from the front.  See the gray yarn outline through the back?   

This scarf was made just in time, too.  We got four inches of snow yesterday and then a few more today.  What’s weird is that it snows during the night and early morning and then it’s really warm and sunny during the day.

During the day, on account of the warm weather, the snow trapped on tree branches melt off randomly in clumps.  It sounds like it’s raining all around in short, heavy bursts – defintely an auditory experience.  Plus, every once in a while when I was under a tree (hard not to do around here) I got smacked in the head with an ‘organic’ snowball courtesy of Mother Nature.  

*That’s cool* a random fact

The treble clef is also known as the G clef because one end circles around the ‘G line’.

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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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I ♥ yarn

I was originally going to knit four dishcloths this summer for the kitchen of an episcopalian church in Newberg. I like knitting, but I’m always expecting the project to end much sooner than it actually does. I guess I have a low tolerance for what I call knitting’s “failure to progress”. So, the church will have to make due with three knit and one crocheted.

All four were made with Lily’s Sugar and Cream in the following colors: Hot Green, Hot Orange, Salt and Pepper, and Bright Navy. These patterns are great for beginning knitters since they only use knit and purl. I didn’t run into any problems with the Love or Three Crosses dishcloths, but the tail of the Dragonfly puckered a little bit. This cleared up with a session of light blocking, though. I don’t normally block dishcloths but they are gifts so I went the extra mile. The white star is my Chromium Star Blanket pattern shortened appropriately for a dishcloth. Watch for the free pattern, which will be posted later this week in the pattern section.

*That’s Cool* a random fact

If you were to map the distance traveled by the blood in your body in a single day it would make two round trips across the United States from coast to coast. That’s 12,000 miles!

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