Socks!!!

Well I finished my first pair of socks. These are "Easy Does It" in Crocheted Socks by Janet Rehfeldt and Mary Jane Wood made with Patons Kroy Sock Jaquard Hip-Hop. It's tough to use a striping yarn and keep the same pattern on both feet as the crochet pattern changes. After the cuff, this pattern alternates rows of sc with rows of esc (Elmore sc or extended sc) which means the amount of yarn used per round varies. And then there's my inconsistent tension ~~ Life definitely affects my crocheting!! So those are all my excuses for the not-so-perfect striping pattern on the socks! None the less, I think they came out OK.

What do you think?

I've already started another pair... I'm using the "Classic Ribbed Cable" pattern in the same book and Reynolds Swizzle Sock Yarn in a cool blue color with splashes of pink, yellow & green. And I'm trying out my new Addi E hook.. so far so good.. although without the flat thumb hold that I'm used to, I'm having a bit of a problem with the hook spinning around... oh well, it's just a sock!!

I found a button

I've been on the hunt for a button for my Capelet I finished last week. I hit the LYS while waiting for my son's piano lesson to start and I found a button... What do you think?

OK, in the spirit of full disclosure, I also bought 4 skeins of Cascade 220 - 2 in a gray heather heading for another capelet I think, 2 in a black & blue twist headed for a hat for my dh - and a Skacel Addi Turbo E/3.5mm hook for my sock fetish. Now I hear they're having a Superbowl sale!! Oh noooo!!!!!!!!

Neckwarmers

I just finished "Baby It's Cowled Outside" from Crochet Me , I thought I'd post some pictures of my latest FO.

While I was posting neckwarmer pictures... I thought I'd give in to "my public" and fulfill their request. (Doesn't that make me sound like a celebrity? ) In an earlier post I had mentioned that I'd been wearing the moebius scarf around as a neckwarmer and several people requested to see a picture of me wearing it that way...so here I am.

Shaggy & Shabby

I made this bolero/shrug 3 months ago using LB Homespun in Granite. It's modified from pattern #3 in Family Circle Easy Crochet. It's warm, it's comfortable and I got a lot of compliments in October....
The problem is that now it looks worn, shaggy & shabby, especially under the arms where the sleeves rub against the body of the sweater. UGH! I wear it only as a bed jacket when I'm sitting upright reading/crocheting/watching TV. I'm not sure if these latest photos capture the shaggy look....

Chanson en Crochet

The capelet is done!! (well, it still needs a button, and it's drying after blocking, but I'm finished crocheting it!) It was a lot of fun crocheting it with everyone at the yahoo crochet-a-long. It was my first foray into more intricate patterns with flowers etc. Let's hope the blocking shrinks the puffiness of my petals!

Now it's blocked. What do you think?

More WIPS

Crocheters beware: Organizing patterns = more WIPs.
I always have multiple WIPs, but never this many... There's the socks, the baby cardigan & my navy cardigan (see 1/07 post; http://flyinghooks.blogspot.com/2006/01/hook-withdrawal-wips.html) but now I have 3 more...

First, I got sidetracked by the "Baby it's cowled outside" neckwarmer from Crochet Me. http://www.crochetme.com/baby-it-s-cowled-outside I LOVE my Moebius neck warmer and wear it ALL the time, but it's colors are a bit wardrobe limiting so when I saw this pattern, I grabbed some basic black (RH Classic leftover from my Elegant Lace poncho), a G hook and was off...

Second, I was re-filing the patterns in the Crochet Calendar (they do tend to fall out!) and saw the "High-Stylin' Pillow" from Feb 18-19. I was perfect for the floor pillow that had a hole in it and was screaming "Make me a new cover" (Actually it's been muffled since the hole got so big I put it in a basement closet.) I had purchased the yarn for it ages ago, but hadn't found a pattern that "spoke" to me. Next thing I know I've dug out the yarn (RH SS 'Claret'), grabbed an H hook and I'm a few rows into what will be a 26 inch pillow.

Third, I found the "Chanson en Crochet" capelet pattern from Interweave. http://tinyurl.com/boxzm I loved this when I first printed it but was swamped in checkers and tic-tac-toe. Last night I was trying to find an excuse to make this NOW, when I discovered that the yahoo crochet-a-long which spun off from CP chose this very pattern as their first garment. So at midnight, instead of sleeping, I went stash diving and found some LB Wool-Ease 'Blue Mist' and cranked off the first 5 rows before sleep won the battle!

Well, off to crochet...

Variegated yarns, Sock update & more sock yarn!!

There was a discussion on CP about variegated yarns... you know how the colors in a new skein reverse their order.... As on I posted on CP, it happened to me again... I'm making socks with Patons KroySocks Jacquard Hip-Hop. 2 skeins, same dye lot. It's funky yarn with Black & white mixed (A), blue (B) green (C) and yellow (D). the pattern goes ABACADABACAD etc. Well I thought I was being so so good. When I started the 2nd sock I pulled the yarn out to make sure I was starting with the AC part of the pattern as I had begun the first sock (so they'll match!!), Well half way through the cuff I realize that after doing the ACA it went to B not D. Now I can't decide if I'll leave it (so when my socks don't match I can blame the yarn) of redo it (so when my sock don’t match my tension will be the culprit!!)

So I was tending toward the first option (since I'm not going to have enough yarn to finish there socks anyway and was going to end the toes of both socks with either a contrasting solid or more Hip-Hop (in whatever dye lot Herrschner's sent). But the yarn arrived (YEAH!!) and the Hip-Hop is actually the SAME dye lot number as I had ordered from them last summer.... so, I now have no excuse not to FROG and restart the cuff in the right color order!
The other sock yarns by the way are all Paton KroySocks in 'Power Pink' for my 3.5 yo ds, 'Windsor Tweed' for my dh, and 'Westport Check' (blue) for my 6 yo ds.

(So, a-froggin' I will go..... but I can always procrastinate with other WIPs!!!)

Hooks retrieved, 2nd FO

a crazy week and no time to blog... Anyway, after much fanfare (requiring borrowed car seats) I got back my crochet hooks (and my car too!). But before I did I started a new project.

I wanted to make some kids mittens with extra long cuffs. I used this pattern:
http://www.p2designs.com/pdfs/MittsCrochet.pdf
and modified it almost doubling the cuff. I used some of the newly purchased Cascade 220 Wool -- a blue solid #9332 for the main color - kind of a blue heather and then I used a cascade 220 quatro with 1 ply ea of blue, lt purple, blue-green, & lt green (#9439) for the cuff, the thumb and the finger tips. They don't name their colors but you can see them here:
http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-220.asp
and then I used a cascade 220 quatro with 1 ply ea of blue, lt purple, blue-green, & lt green (#9439) for the cuff, the thumb and the finger tips.

Not sure I'd use this pattern again. It looks cute but I don't really like the style where the thumb just sticks out of an otherwise unshaped mitten. There's no widening for the base of the palm of narrowing for the upper hand etc. Also, I also had to make changes in the thumb. It was really narrow. I was following the 6/7 yrs for my small stature 6 yo I added 2 extra stitches to the bottom of the thumb, and honestly it's still a little tight. Oh well, live and learn!

hook withdrawal; WIPs

My dh & I went out to a dinner party last night. I drove to his office and we went in one car from there. We decided at 10:30 pm to just go home (sitter at home with kids) and retrieve my car later this weekend. Well, my crochet bag is in my car WITH ALL MY HOOKS!! So, for my crochet fix this morning, I've been updating the blog and trying to list off my WIPs and WIMs.
Thankfully I took some photos of my WIPS the other day.

So on my hooks....

well in my crochet bag with my hooks (did I mention we're separated by over 20 mile) is my Crocheted sock book and my first attempt at socks. I ran out of yarn at his point in sock. I've decided to start the second sock with the same dye-lot skein I have and then then finish the toes in either a matching solid or another skein (whatever dye lot I get).

Here at home I have two WIPs (AND their HOOKS!). I have the J&P Coats/Michaels "Cute as a button"Baby Jacket (really a cardigan) I started for a cousin but decided it was too big. http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectsheet?pid=24120&categoryid=
I was using ww yarn instead of the Silkessence Microfiber, adjusting gauge to accommodate this change but it was practically going to fit my 3 yo. So, I figure I'll finish it for the cousin for her b-day in April or even next Xmas. No rush on this project.

Next is the Lillian Jarmie "Cardigan with wooden buttons".
http://www.freepatterns.com/fp_pdfs/2002/12-02cardigan.pdf
I was doing this with all sorts of size adjustments too. Width of a small and length of a medium. It's in all hdc with ww millends I found (really soft and pretty navy) and a J hook. It's for me so I should keep going on this.

Well that's it for active WIPs. I think I'll try to wind some of that new yarn, I do NEED to make the kids some more mittens from the wool I got... I could use the G hook with the baby sweater!!
Then I need to make a list of the PIGs and WIMs....

First finished item of 2006

...and it was for me!!! My dh said I was supposed to use that gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill yarn for myself, it just took me a few days to decide what to do. Of course I was dying to use my new "I" Brittany hook as well. On New Year's Eve, I considered doing a scarf using the "splatter" stitch pattern in Caron's Pom-Pom scarf. I really like the stitch pattern when I used Simply soft shown here. I didn't like how it was going with this new yarn though so the next morning I CAREFULLY frogged it after just 3 rows and decided on Bonnie Pierce's Moebius Shawl/scarf pattern.
http://home.comcast.net/~gandal195/MoebiusShawlPattern.htm
And it calls for an "I" hook!!
So off I went and I was loving it.
The hook, the yarn, the pattern... all of it!! The yarn was so silky smooth in my hands and on the Brittany hook. I love the way the shawl/scarf works up. It's like you're crocheting in a figure 8 and adding to both sides with each round. So cool!

I ran out of yarn after 8 rounds (16 rows across) so it's more like a scarf than a shawl. The yarns also stretchier than I thought and I was crocheting looser than I usually do (new hook, new yarn??) so although I started with a smaller chain than called for it ended up too wide for a shoulder hugging shawl. I love it as a scarf. I can wear it long or doubled over as a neck warmer.

Anyway, here's the finished product with a closeup as well!

Checkerboard irony...

Has anyone seen the first project in the Crochet Calendar pattern-a-day? I know I've probably whined a bit too much about making the big checkerboard afghan (we do have a no whining rule in our house!!), but I did finish it!! (photos in 2 post back)

Anyway, I had to laugh out loud when I opened up the calendar on Xmas morning to see the first pattern is a mini checkerboard that uses pennies and nickels for checkers.

Too funny!!

My Christmas Loot....

It's a wonderful feeling when those you love find the perfect gifts. My dh did a great job this year. He even found a local yarn shop that I hadn't found!! He bought me a selection of items from the shop and then brought me back to the shop and let me shop some more while he watched the kids... did I mention I'm married to a terrific guy who did a great job Christmas shopping this year?

So... here's the loot.

I had asked for the ball winder, but he went a step further and got the swift or reeling machine too. Wow! what a pair. They really work well together with the hanks of yarn... in just a few minutes I have a wonderful ball of yarn to use. The yarn he picked out is amazing... It's from Cherry Tree Hill in Vermont. It's a 50/50 silk and merino blend dk weight ... and the colors are gorgeous, hand-painted & hand-dyed. It's called Tropical Storm... Isn't it scrumptious? He also picked me up my first Brittany wooden hook.... It's so lightweight, I'm already "hooked" (and I've never been an 'in-line' hook girl - always preferred Boye to Bates).

I had written on CP earlier that my kids (6, 3.5) had picked up the Crochet calendar at Costco (in early December!!) and asked me to buy for Xmas for myself (without looking) since dh wasn't there. I finally got to look at it on Xmas day! I had also picked up a bunch of Crochet books for myself while shopping for other things for other people at Amazon (I had to make the minimum order to get my free shipping!!). Here's the latest addition to feed my PAS.

If all this wasn't enough, on Monday, my dh (did I mention he's fantastic?) took me to see this LYS... "Ewe'll Love It!!" in Nashua, NH. He introduced me to the owner and then he took the kids for a walk so I could shop. I left with a skein of sock yarn, and 5 hanks of Cascade yarn. Here's a photo of the loot along with the swift and ball winder in action...

So I had a wonderful Christmas!!!
(And yes, I had a wonderful Christmas for many many reasons that didn't include my crochet gifts... but they didn't hurt!!!)

online again...and finished christmas gifts

One kid is in school, one is happily playing and dh is back at work... translation... I can go online!! I love having everyone home and the family time together, but I missed my online crochet world.

I've decided I really like making wearables, particularly small, quickly created wearables! I guess it's the instant gratification factor. I didn't let myself have any small side projects going as the 12/25 deadline neared and the tic-tac-toe and checkerboard afghans were smothering me. Definitely no afghan-like projects for Xmas get started in late October this year!! Still it was wonderful to see the kids faces light up on Christmas morning when they opened their crocheted gifts.

So here's my Abby's completed tic-tac-toe afghan. It's from Vanna's A to Z Afghans "X's and O's". I made it using Caron One Pounder Bright White; RH SS Light Fuchsia, & Dark Orchid. I finished this on December 20th I think.

Alex's checkerboard assembly actually went quicker than I thought it would.. the final killer was making and edging all those checkers!! The checkerboard pattern was from the now defunct solutia site (aka smart yarn). I made is using RH SS Light Gray, Burgundy & Soft Navy.
Here's the before and after photos...

I edged the burgundy checkers in gray so they would stand out better. I also used sc instead of reverse sc to edge the checkers since it was faster for me on such a small circle. I actually finished this on December 23rd.

It was weird to not be crocheting every free minute on the 24th but I was cooking instead!
I had one more gift to do for an 8 month old girl we would be seeing on the 30th. On the 26th I started the J&P Coats/Michaels "Cute as a button"Baby Jacket (really a cardigan)http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectsheet?pid=24120&categoryid=ategoryid=
I was using ww yarn instead of the Silkessence Microfiber, but I thought I could adjust gauge and follow the inches calculated from their gauge. To make a long story short, after an entire day of crocheting I decided even though I was matching their inches for the front panels for a 12-18 m child, it was too big. I'll finish it for my 3.5 year old. Really, their length and width match the sweaters I made for her this year!

So new project... Candi Jensen's Toddler Poncho in the 2005 Interweave Crochet. I used yarn I had on hand, leftover from tic-tac-toe... Caron One Pounder Bright White; RH SS Light Fuchsia. I started and finished it on the 27th.

Last thing I did for Xmas presents was I added some LB Fun Fur Sapphire to the end of the scarf I had made earlier to jazz it up a bit and sent it off to a friend in Texas. I made it using Caron Simply Soft 'off white' and their Pom-Pom scarf pattern (from a project sheet).

Later, I'll tell you about my Christmas presents!!