Hoppy Spring!

Crochet content

I bet y'all thought I'd forgotten how to crochet. Nope.

I made a bunch of flower brooches for one of my sisters-in-law for Christmas.

I did take a knitting class last month, and I'll be taking another in January. Knitting's OK, but it's awfully complicated. Crochet is much simpler. That'll still be my primary yarn craft, but it's been interesting learning how to knit.

Puppet theatre

We've been busy getting ready for the holidays around here, and one of the things we did was make a puppet theatre for one of our nieces. I designed it, Jeff built it and painted it, and I made the curtain. So really, Jeff did most of the work.

It's really hard to get a photo of it because of the paint. The black is chalkboard paint, and it just sucks up the light. But you get the idea.

Jeff did a great job. Thanks, Jeff!

Medusa!

Medusa stopped by the office today to do a little training development.

Oh wait, that was me!

Yes, I crocheted myself a Medusa hat. No pattern. The snakes have wire in them to make them poseable. The eyes are black beads and the tongues are red leaf-shaped beads. I used two different colorways of the new Debbie Mumm yarn from JoAnn's. While it worked fine for this project, I wouldn't recommend it at all. It's a wrapped yarn, and the base yarn is black, which doesn't work for these colors. Also, it has a tendency to bunch while you're working with it, which is a complete pain. And it doesn't feel all that nice worked up; in the skein, it's fine, but not when you're working with it or in the finished product. But, like I said, it worked just fine for this.

Amazingly enough, most people in my office got who I was right off (though several people called me "Medea" until I reminded them Medea was the one who killed her children). At the end of the day, I gave it to a coworker who had really admired it. She was thrilled and planned to scare children with it this evening.

Squares

I've finally decided to use up some of my ever-expanding yarn stash and make myself that blanket I've been promising myself.

Yes, it's a little small now, but it'll grow. :)

I'm using up my unexplained giant stash of sportweight mercerized cotton. And while it's giant, I still won't have enough to make a blankie for myself. I've got about 8-10 skeins in kind of this range of colors, and I'm thinking of edging each square with white, then edging the whole thing in white. Or maybe cream. Or tan. Or whatever I can get in enough quantity at a low price when the time comes. :)

If you happen to have any sportweight mercerized cotton you'd like to donate to the cause, I'd love to have it. So far, I've got Reynolds' Saucy Sport (hard on the fingers and the hand, but just fine for looks), and Schachenmayr Catania (absolutely lovely to work with, but perhaps not produced anymore, sadly).

I hope I will be posting updates on this. If I don't, please ask me to make me feel guilty. :)

Picture of me

Since Lindsey complained that I didn't take any photos of myself at Ben & Joann's wedding, here's one:

What's the fun of having the camera if you can't manage to avoid being photographed? :)

That's a skirt I made the Thursday before the wedding and a hat I bought at Rite-Aid that morning. I was quite pleased with the combination for a summer outdoor wedding.

10 Minute Headband

I love my hair short, but sometimes I just want to do something different with it. So this weekend, I made some headbands.

Mine are a little wider than the ones I've found in the shops, and cuter, too. I've made three, which should go with just about everything I own. I usually wear solids, so a little bit of print in the hair should liven up my wardrobe a bit.

I've made up a pattern and instructions, if anyone's interested. There are several similar ones out there, but I think mine's just as easy if not easier than others. And it only takes ten minutes. You can't beat that!

It's also a great way to use up scraps. All you need is a small amount of fabric and five and a half inches of elastic.

Pattern and instructions are here.

The girls are ready for spring

Cordy got her hair cut, and I made them matching spring collars. Happy spring!

Lunch sack

I was bored and looking for something to do, so I made myself a new lunch sack for carrying my breakfast, lunch, and snacks that I take to work.

It's just a couple scraps of cotton that were in the craft room, with white grosgrain ribbon for handles. It's fully lined with pink cotton and the whole thing only took a little over a half an hour to make.

And I'm still bored. What should I do now? Hmmm ...

Knitting roll

I wondered if I could make a knitting roll (for holding needles).

It seems I can.

The outside is fine-wale red corduroy, and the inside is a printed cotton. You can see the inside here.

No, I don't knit. But I know plenty of people who do!

New bag

I've needed a new bag for work for some time now. My old one is fine, but it's getting ratty, and it's just not big enough for my bigger bento boxes.

So I made a new one.

This one is made out of two remnants (the inside is a dark pink) and two ribbons from clearance "make a belt" kits from Jo-Ann's. Click on the photo for a better view, if you're interested.

Of course, I don't go back to work until Tuesday, so I'll have to wait a bit to use it. I think I'll manage. :)

Apologies to Stephanie

It's going to take me longer to make Katrina's stocking than I had planned. I had hoped to have it in the mail this evening, but that's not going to happen.

I finally found a pattern I liked, but I should have spent more time in the shop reading it. Once I started to work on it, I discovered that it was - to put it mildly - poorly written. I've had to rewrite it, and I still need to fix the cuff (that won't be any problem to do, just an annoyance that I actually followed the directions for that part).

So I'm not nearly as far along as I'd like. Sorry!

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, crafts

Opening an online shop

I've been thinking about opening an online shop for some of my crafty wares.

First, I'd start with dog collars (see Kaylee's newest, at right), some fun onesies, book covers, and maybe some Hildy owls.

Would you buy that? Would you recommend those to friends? Would you buy them for holiday presents?

What else would you like to see? Felted catnip mousies (no photos, sorry. Unless DKM has one?)? Stuffed elephants? Travel art kits? Tissue covers? Something I haven't thought of yet but you've always wanted?

I'm aiming to keep prices reasonable while keeping quality high. Dog collars shouldn't be more than $10. Book covers no more than $7. Hildy owls no more than $10.

Should I do it? Would you? I'm not looking to make (much) money, just an outlet for my creative urges that won't bury my nieces and nephew in stuffed toys. :)

Input would be appreciated!

-------------

Technorati tags: crafts

Hildy the Owl

Hildy the Owl says hello! She's a sweet little thing and takes less than an hour to make.

Materials

• the pattern
  
• large scrap of main body fabric
• scraps of fabric for belly and mask
• scrap of fabric for eyes
• matching and/or contrasting thread
• steam-a-seam lite or similar product
  
• stuffing

Note: pattern pieces have 1/4 inch seam allowances included.

Directions

1. Print out the pattern.
2. Cut two of the main body piece.
3. Trace the belly and mask pieces onto the Steam-a-Seam and follow the instructions to attach it to your fabric. Cut out the belly and mask pieces.
4. Trace the eyes on to the Steam-a-Seam and follow the instructions to attach it to your fabric. Cut out the eyes.
5. Peel off the backing and place belly and mask pieces in place (see photo for placement). Iron onto fabric.
6. Place eyes onto mask (see photo for placement) and iron into place.
7. If desired, decoratively sew the mask, belly, and eyes. You can use the machine, embroider, use a simple running stitch, satin stitch or anything you can come up with.
8. With wrong sides together, sew main body pieces together, leaving a 3 inch gap on the bottom for stuffing. Remember that it's a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
   
9. Trim ear points so they'll be nice and pointy when you turn them.
10. Turn right side out. Use a chopstick or similar to turn ears.
11. Turn under seam allowance on stuffing gap and iron flat.
    
12. Stuff, using chopstick or similar to stuff ears.
13. Using a ladder stitch, sew stuffing gap together.

Enjoy your owl!

-------------

Technorati tags: crafts

Baby sweater prototype

This is the "first draft" of a sweater for one of my soon-to-be-born neices. The yoke needs to be in single crochet rather than half double, but other than that, I don't think I'll change much.

This is made in cheap Lustersheen, but the final one will be in many different colors of cotton - I was inspired by this absolutely stunning sweater. Mine's not nearly as nice, but I can only hope I'll be able to come close!

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Crochet pattern: Baby Mary Janes and three flowers

I've got a crochet pattern I've finally gotten around to writing up: Mary Jane booties for your favorite baby, along with one - two - three flowers for trimming - the Mary Janes or anything else.

This is a super easy pattern to crochet - a pair takes less than two hours. The toes are a tiny bit tricky, since you have to decrease double and triple crochets, but that's the hardest part. I've also inclued three different versions of the top row (picot - pictured, shells, and a plain single crochet) so you can mix and match for your own personal look.

Please note: these patterns have not been tested, though I've made three pair of Mary Janes from the pattern. Let me know if you find any problems.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Sweet pea shawl

I'm finally getting around to posting this... A photo of the sweet pea shawl from The Happy Hooker that I made for my husband's grandmother.

It was a simple pattern, but I didn't much enjoy making it. Plus, I think it's just not quite the right size for most people - too long on the front edge. I wouldn't make it again, but the recipient liked it, so I guess that's the important part.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Don't use this pattern

I like Berroco's yarns, but I'm very disappointed in a pattern that I used from them. This one. Don't use it.

(Please ignore the terrible photo. I should have pulled my damned shirt straight!)

For starters, the ripple pattern was poorly done, leaving very pointy points on one end (the left sleeve above), and nice rounded ones on the other end (the right sleeve). Pluse, the pattern made for a very lumpy fabric along the edges, which was only partially remedied by severe blocking.

That, though, isn't the main problem I have with the pattern. See the front opening? How the ripples don't even line up? That's not because it's crooked. It's because they just don't line up. To get the bottom green band on (and I couldn't use their pattern for that, since the instructions sucked), you have to cheat, and one side od the front ends up being a good two to three inches longer than the other, making it quite lopsided. And see the way that one point is climbing up my neck? Yeah. Attractive, huh?

I'm pissed. It took me a lot of work to make, and I'm just terribly disappointed in the outcome. I think I'll write an actual snail mail letter to Borroco, telling them that although I like their yarns, if this is indicative of the quality of their patterns, then they can be sure I'll never use one of theirs again.

It's a pity, since I like the colors, and I like the way the actual shrug is constructed. I'll probably use the basic construction idea, but use a different pattern - one that's more suited to the structure.

Oh well. Just don't use this pattern.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

I swear I still crocheting!

See?

My project waits patiently in its plastic bag. It will soon be a shrug from this pattern.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Hey, what's this?

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Sweater & hat

My last pattern in my small series of crochet patterns from a seventies magazine. How sad.

This pattern really doesn't need much in the way of changes to be suitable for today. It's my favorite from the magazine. Change the yarn to something less frumpy, get rid of the flowers, ditch the dorky bows and ta-da! You've got yourself a shrug-like sweater that's right in style today.

What goes around comes around, I guess!

Click here for the pattern.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

"Lacy top"

I'm not sure I'd call this "lacy," but with a few alterations - like taking off the collar - this pattern from 1976 still works for today.

Maybe add a little shaping, too. And it's made with thread - not my favorite thing to work with - but I bet you could use a sportweight or DK yarn and just use fewer "lace" panels to get a very similar top.

Miss the cacti from the same magazine? Check them out here.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, clothing

Do you crave cacti?

Like cacti, but hate the pointy bits? Crochet one!

Or two, actually.

In a 1976 knit and crochet magazine that I found at Half Price Books, there is not one, but two - count them two - patterns for crocheted cacti. Cat apparently not included.

Look for a couple other patterns from the mag to appear in this space soon. They're clothing patterns that have actually stood the test of time!

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, cacti

Angel Hair shrug

I made this scrumptiously soft shrug for wearing at a festive family gathering last weekend. So, of course, the house got so hot, I could only wear it for a couple hours. But I did wear it to work yesterday and got lots of compliments.

It's made from JoAnn Sensations Angel Hair in "berry" - which is not at all what you would expect. It's an orange with a great deal of hot pink and yellow shot through it. With a smidge of purple. Very pretty, but it doesn't photograph accurately. The photo below is a little more accurate.

It's basically a tube with the arms crocheted in the round and the body back-and-forth. The trim around the body and sleeves is v-stitch in the round. I made the sleeves a little too long, but only for things like washing dishes and such.

It's a very warm yarn and simple to work with. I got it on a super-cheap sale the day after Thanksgiving, but I think it's worth getting even at near-full price. This took about three full skeins, which at full price would have made it about $17. I think I probably paid less than $10. And I still have enough left to make something else. :)

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Blizzard wrap

(Yes, it is still blocking, why do you ask? :)

Thanks to my lovely mother, I have a nice new wrap for the holidays. She gave me a gift certificate to The Yarn Shop for x-mas and with it I bought the yarn to make this wrap. It's Reynold's Blizzard, very possibly the softest thing I have ever touched (except, perhaps, for a bunny). It's 65% alpaca and 35% acylic, and it's absolutely delightful. I love it. Thanks, mom!

Yeah, the wrap is a bit on the airy side, but I wanted to make full use of the four skeins I got. It's just a basic net pattern with shells as a border. It's about 18" wide and maybe 4' long. And since Blizzard is a super bulky yarn, it took me only about 3 hours to stitch up with a 10.5 mm hook.

If you can, just pet this yarn. You'll thank me for it!

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet

Another Kaylee sweater

And this time it's a proper sweater, not like her jacket.

Like her previous sweater, I used Paton's Melody, but this time in a blue/green/lavender verigated. In retrospect, I should probably have chosen the blue as an accent color, as the green pushes it just a touch toward harlequin, but hey, she's mostly colorblind and it's certainly very warm!

Since she's been sick, she gets cold very easily. I had bought her a sweater a few weeks ago, but (happily!) she's gained enough weight that it's a little snug now. With the below-average temps we've been having lately, she will really be able to use it on our 5:00 a.m. walks.

And, tomorrow, she goes in for her re-check and medication tweaking, and I'm going to make her wear it there so she can get ooh-ed and ah-ed over. :)
-------------

Technorati tags: dogs, dog clothes, crochet

Hats! (and a scarf)

Hats! Hats! HATS! (And a scarf.) It was a hat-a-licious crochet-a-thon this past long weekend.

My auntie requested some and even specified the colors. Here's what I ended up with:

The blue is made with a pattern from 100 Hats to Knit & Crochet in Reynold's Utopia. The red is made from this pattern in Plymouth Encore D.K. The green and pink are both in Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece, and the green is from a(n extremely modified pattern from the 2003 Quick & Easy Knitting & Crocheting). The pink is my ever-favorite pattern.

Then I made a holiday present for my mother-in-law.

Made with Jo-Ann's Sensation's Bellezza Collection Canditi in cream. The hat took just under a skein and the scarf took a skein and what was left over from the hat. I used my favorite hat pattern. The scarf is just alternating rows of single and double crochet with fringe. I'm not normally a fringe person, but it seemed unfinished without it.

Two more to go. Then an optional present for the neice Eve. Depends on time. Then I'm done with the holiday stuff. Fab.

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, hats

Girly-girl Kaylee sweater

Isn't she cute? :)

Since Kaylee has a horsecoat, she gets a bit cold when it gets below freezing. So she has to wear a sweater in the winter when she goes on walks, whether she likes it or not. :) Last year she got a granny square sweater; this year she gets a girly-girl sweater with a big pink ruffly collar.

It's made in Paton's Melody, two skeins for the body, and about two-thirds of another for the trim. No pattern was neded or used - it's pretty much double crochet the whole way, with single crochet all around for the trim on the body. The collar is two double crochet in each single, topped by a row of single.

It's held on with velcro, which was a royal pain in the ass to sew on.

She just looks so cute! :)

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, dog clothes, shar pei

Is perseverence overrated?

So, I'm working on a crochet pattern that I really wanted to make - for myself, even! However, it turns out that the pattern is written terribly and is, in some cases, just wrong. It's extrememly frustrating and I'm thinking of giving up on it, though I hate to lose all the work I've done so far.

This is the project and the yarn:

It's the "Living on the Edge" poncho from the Fall-Winter 2005 Family Circle Easy Crochet magazine. It's crazy busy, but for some reason I like it. Here's what I've got done so far:

I have 47 more rows/rounds to go. (And trust me, the colors work better together than it might appear in the photo. :) (And yes, it needs desperately to be blocked. That ruffly row of brown should be perfectly straight and fringe-like.)

I love this yarn, the Peruvian Collection Highland Wool from Elann, but it won't go to waste if I decide to quit the project. In fact, I'd planned to have extra yarn to play with, and I'd love to have even more now that I know how much I like this yarn. So wasting the yarn isn't a worry.

It's just so frustrating! It's not that the pattern is hard - it's not, particularly, just fiddly in parts. I thought it would be fun to do something that had a lot of different stitches and such, but turns out that an awful lot of it is very simple. Which wouldn't be so bad except the pattern is written so poorly that even doing a simple round of double crochet with increases becomes a challenge (because the counts never end up right, even following the directions because they're just wrong - it's mathematically impossible to end up at the correct stitch counts. And at one point so far, it was physically impossible, too).

So should I just bite the bullet and rip it all out and move onto something else that won't put me in a black mood the moment I even look at it? Or should I persevere?

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, advice

Welcome to Katrina!

Last week, my brother Chris and his wife Stephanie added Katrina to their family, along with Alex (and the birds Phoebe & Pete). Katrina clocked in at nearly eight pounds - a big 'un, like her big brother.

In any case, I had bought some plain white baby socks a while ago, hoping to have them trimmed to send out before Katrina made her appearance. Of course, I procrastinated and never got around to it. But this weekend, I was procrastinating on another project and finally got to it.

So, Katrina's socks:

Boy, were those a pain to sew on! Especially on the toes, but I figured that would be the best place to put them (but I got hand cramps by the purple ones). They're crocheted with #5 thread.

I was going to wait until Chris and the family come to town for Thanksgiving to give them to them, but I think I'll mail them out this weekend. I just can't wait.

Welcome to the world, Katrina!

-------------

Technorati tags: crochet, family

New crochet book reviews at jcrochet.com

• Simple Crochet
• Candy Babies
• Cozy Crochet
• Learn to Crochet

Crochet book reviews

Now on jcrochet.com: book reviews.

Books reviewed at the moment:

• Cool Crochet
• Crochet Stitch Bible
• Hip to Crochet
• 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans
• Quick Crochet: Huge Hooks
• Big Book of Crochet
• Ready, Set, Crochet
• Crochet for Babies & Toddlers
• Candy Tots
• Family Circle Easy Crochet
• How to Crochet
• Vogue Dictionary of Crochet Stitches
• Crocheting School: A Complete Course
• Vogue Knitting On the Go: Crocheted Scarves

More reviews as I spend some time with more books. Gotta get to the library this weekend anyway!

Ondori Handicrafts - crochet

I also got this book at the Japanese bookstore in Little Tokyo that I mentioned yesterday. It's part of the Ondori Handicrafts Book Series (#18).

I'm not normally a doily kind of person, but I do like that pink one on the cover. I also like this little bag:

And this one, too:

I don't normally crochet with thread, but it might be worth it for those cute little sachets.

Bikini!

This bikini is made from a pattern in Ready Set Crochet by Susie Johns. First off, before I talk about the bikini, I'd like to say that, if you're a beginner, don't buy this book. It's only now that I'm fairly experienced that some of the instructions make sense and are do-able for me. For instance, this bikini pattern is one of very first ones in the book, and you have to work single crochet into the sides of rows and work some single crochet upside-down. That's not something a beginner should have to try to figure out.

So, the pattern. It's fairly good. I shouldn't have followed the directions and made the chain four between the cups, since I knew doing that was going to result in a bit too much stretch, but I followed the pattern anyway. :) Next time, I won't do that. And yes, there will likely be a next time, with some sigificant changes. I like the way the cups are made - the rest of it just needs some work.

This is made from one skein of Schachenmayr Crazy Cotton (a self-striping 100% cotton yarn that I absolutely adore working with) using my very favorite 2.25 mm hook. This was not my orphan skein from the Yarn Shop, and I've still got another skein of it. Maybe when I get around to it, I'll make a bikini bottom from it.

Tankini

Why I've not been blogging much this week: for my beach trip next month, I made myself a tankini:

Click for bigger photos

(I wanted it to be longer, but I ran out of yarn, and The Yarn Shop, of course, didn't have any more of that color.)

It's made with Schachenmayr Catania with a 2.25 mm hook. The cups are three granny squares (based on the Lacy Cross square from 200 Crochet Blocks - just the first five rounds), and the bottom is the Filet Squares pattern from The Crochet Stitch Bible - easily my favorite crochet reference book, (along with Crocheting School). I really liked the way the filet squares pattern echoes, but doesn't copy, the lacy cross pattern. The ties are just single crochet; I like the curly effect of them.

I think I'll make a bikini top, too, with an orphan skein of yarn I found when I went to check for more yarn today. More Catania. I love that yarn. :)

Hillbilly Knittin'

Crochet has been termed "hillbilly knittin'" by some. I think that I proved that today.

I was crocheting, a snoozin' coonhound at my feet, drinking a beer, watching my shows on the tee-vee.

Whoo, baby!

June Bug

My submission to a Month of Softies. Thanks to ladylinoleum at monster crochet for leading me there! June's theme was "June Bug."

The Goober Bug

The rare Goober Bug starts out life as an owl, but mutates into an insect at some point during its maturation. Its wild colors discourage predation, as the clashing colors cause predators to cringe and cover their eyes. The Goober Bug is not poisonous, but may cause a lack of fashion sense.

No internet!

My god, how did I survive the weekend! Our internet went out on Friday night and came on this morning. Gah, did that suck!

On the plus side, though, we got the first coat of paint on our porch. Sometime this week we'll get the second coat on and next weekend we can start painting the railings. Our goal is to have the railings up by the July 4th weekend. It looks like we might make that!

Also, since I couldn't sploff about on the web, I got some crocheting done. Meet Calliope (pink) and Gary (the kumquat):

They're from my Japanese crochet book that I got last week. There were only a few things that baffled me, but I just made up what I couldn't understand. I think they turned out pretty good.

Do you speak Japanese?

Amigurumi are just the cutest things. They're Japanese crochet ... thingys. Mascots. Goofy little things. And I'm just enamored of them.

So I gave into the eBay beast and bought a Japanese amigurumi crochet book.

Problem? All the directions are in Japanese.

I can follow the charts, but there's just some stuff I can't get. So what did I do? Don't tell Jeff, but I bought another Japanese book. Logical, right?

So look for amigurumi in the future.