Wednesday, October 25, 2006

FO: Pink (White) Perfection Vest

Abby's newest piece of clothing is done! This is a white version of Pink perfection vest. I used Caron Simply Soft and my Brittany 5.5mm I hook to get gauge on the pattern stitch. For the buttonhole edging, I used my Addi 4.5mm G hook. I love the way the vest is worked in one piece up to the armholes. I found these cute purple flower buttons (5 for a dollar) at the checkout at the huge yarn sale last week. My only pattern modification is that I did 5 rows instead of 3 for the button hole edging, with the button holes in row 4. I made size 6. It seems a little long, but Abby is tall and always growing!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Felted memo bag - all but strap

This is the Felted memo bag I made as a CAL at Yahoo crochetchallenge using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Hyacinth, Hollyberry and Fog, and a 7.00mm hook.
Pattern modifications: I tried to add side panels to the bag by adding 11 st to each side of the front panel. This necessitated adding a base as long as the width of the side panels. You can see the bag unassembled here. I felted this 2 nights ago, but blogger wouldn't let me post..wah! So today, here it is before & after felting. Oh yeah, someone asked on the pre-felting post about dimensions. So, here's that info as well. Dimensions are in inches (H x W x D)

Before:
bag (13 x 15.75 x 4),
flap (15 x 10) .
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After:
bag (9 x 9.75 x 2.75),
flap (9.75 x 8).
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I still can't decide whether I want to try a felted strap or whether I'll use the leather strapping I have and make a thicker version of the strap I used on my well traveled bag.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

WIP update: felted memo bag

Progress feels good! I'm almost ready to felt! This is the Felted memo bag I'm making as a CAL at Yahoo crochetchallenge using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Hyacinth, Hollyberry and Fog, and a K hook (closer to 7.0mm than 6.5mm). I still need to sew the side seams and attach the D rings and then it's time to felt. I'm considering at crocheted/felted strap, so I might try to make that before I felt. Here are a few pre-felting photos. This is the bag opened up. I tried to add side panels to the bag by adding 11 st to each side of the front panel. The Fog rectangle will be the base of the bag. I ran out of blue (Hyacinth) after I finished the back so the chevron flap is just the Fog & Hollyberry.
Here's the bag as it will be assembled with flap open and closed.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Yarn score & new ideas

Wow! Shopping at JCA was amazing! Thank you to Carol from CP for bringing me as her guest! I just calculated....22,334 yds of yarn including wool, angora and cotton. I'll start with the wool.

Reynolds 'Lopi' - 100% Icelandic wool, 110yd/100g, 3.5st/inch. I have 20 skeins (2200 yds) of this pretty red/white blend. It's a bulky yarn, so now I'm in search of an interesting sweater pattern for myself. Drops 97-1 is one thought.
Grignasco 'Australia' - 100% pure virgin wool, 95yd/50g, 4.25st/inch. I have 20 skeins (1900 yds) of this wonderfully soft wedgewood blue. Drops 97-6 is a possibility.

I couldn't resist these 1 kilo cones of Reynolds 'Devotion'. There were no labels, but according to yarndex this yarn is 51% Angora, 49% Nylon, 93 yds/50g, 4st/inch. In theory I should have 1860 yds of each color!! I'm pretty sure the black is heading toward the Robyn Chachula's Kimono sweater (scroll down) in "Not Your Mama's Crochet". The other two haven't yet spoken to me... although some of the blue could become Robyn Chachula's Spider shrug. I'm kind of hooked on her patterns as of late!

Reynolds 'Gypsy' - 100% cotton, 82yds/50g, 5st/inch. I have 12 skeins (984 yds) of the pale blue, 14 skeins (1128 yds) of the pale green and 30 skeins (2760 yds)of the ocean blue. The pale blue hasn't found it's voice, but the pale green is heading towards the Must Have Blouse from "24hr Crochet Projects", and the 'ocean blue' was calling to me across the sale floor, "Twyla, Twyla, Twyla".

Grignasco 'EURO' - 100% mercerized cotton, 612yd/200g, 7-7.5st/inch. I have 6 balls (3672 yd) of this bright teal green yarn - essentially a fingering weight, I believe. Remember that Spring Green cardigan from Annie's Attic? They call it Lacy Diamonds now. That would take 2400 yds.
Reynolds 'Madrigal ~ a speckled soft cotton' - 88% cotton, 12% nylon, 118yd/50g, 5st/inch. I have 20 skeins (2360 yds) of this almost tweedy yarn - it looks like a natural with a thin line of dark brown. This was purchased specifically for a new Drops pattern I love - Drops 89-15 - I'll probably skip the collar.
Reynolds 'Saucy Swirl' - 100% mercerized cotton, 185yd/100g, 5st/inch. I have 10 skeins (1850 yd) of this variegated dark pink, light pink, white & gray yarn. This had Abby's name written all over it. Drops s8-12 could use about half the yarn.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

WIP explosion!

Last night I had a WIP explosion. I finished the last "join-as-you go" motif on a sweater and didn't feel like beginning the final assembly process...so instead I started 3 new projects! (message to dh: yes your socks were included in this explosion!)

First old WIP progress:
1. Floral Fantasy Pullover - progress = 90%. This is a CAL at Crochetville. Here it is all laid out. I put a white shirt inside so you can see it better. I need to attach the sleeves, add underarm gussets, attach the neck and crochet the trim.
2. Tennis Socks - progress = 25%. Sock CAL at crochetsocks. No motivation - it's a summer sock.
3. Colinette yarns afghan kit - progress = 30%. 5 rows more than this photo.

New WIPS:
1. Felted memo bag - Yahoo crochetchallenge bag CAL. I grabbed a hook and started last night. I'm using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Hyacinth, Hollyberry and Fog, and a K hook (closer to 7.0mm than 6.5mm). I decided the pattern would be too flat for my purposes so I added 11 st more on each side to make side flaps. I'll cut back to the original width after I finish the front panel, crochet the bottom and then continue the back panel to match the stripes from the front. Hopefully it will work.
2. Pink perfection vest - except Abby chose white. I'm using Caron Simply Soft mill ends anf my Brittany 5.5mm I hook to get gauge. I like that the vest is worked in one piece up to the armholes.
3. 'Oxford Style' socks (Crocheted Socks!) - In case you haven't noticed my dh has been mounting a write-in campaign in an attempt to solicit your help to convince me to make his socks!! So I started his socks last night... see dear! I'm using my 3.25mm Addi E hook and Patons Kroy Socks in 'Windsor Tweed' with Silja in 'dark charcoal' for contrasting cuff, heel and toe. They're supposed to have a slst BLO cuff, but that drove me batty last night so I restarted with a sc BLO cuff.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Floral Fantasy Pullover - almost there

Must finish soon!!!! I really need to work on some vests & sweaters for the rest of the family! . For the Floral Fantasy Pullover, a CAL at Crochetville, I am using 2 strands of Sirdar Salsa DK with a 7.00mm hook. My motifs are coming out close to 7.0 in than the required 7.25in. My solution is to use the side gussets, underarm panels and shoulder shaping of the size large. This together with my smaller motifs will achieve the measurements of the medium. The body of the sweater is done. The sleeves each have 4 out of 6 motifs connected (I'm trying to decide whether or not I want flared sleeves... I think not). The neck piece has 2 out of 4 motifs done. The underarm gussets will fill in the armhole. I think I'm going to try to taper mine a bit - do some creative shaping... we'll see.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

FO: Sister Poncho & beret sets

Two sets for a friend of my dd and her big sister.
Pattern is LB Fur-trimmed poncho, and my child version of LB beret.
Yarn is Homespun 'Barrington' and Fun Fur 'Teal'.
Hook size is 8.0 mm hook for the poncho, a 7.0 mm hook for the beret and a 6.5mm or 6.0mm hook for the beret ribbing.
Pattern modifications: Poncho - add a row of dc at the neck and thread a drawstring (anchored at multiple places to reduce choking hazard) through holes. Beret - I followed the adult pattern out to 72 st, then I do 2 rounds even of 72st and then 2 decrease rounds doing 12 dec (instead of 6) which brings me back to 60 st and then 48 st. Then I did a ribbing. On my dd's I did the ribbing as written - sideways sc blo. I decided to try the faster (for me anyway) fpdc, bpdc ribbing on these - I did 2 rounds- and I think it worked.

FO: Matinee Swing Jacket

Well here it is, ends sewn in and modeled by yours truly!
Pattern is Lion Brand's Matinee Swing Jacket, done with the gang at crochet-a-long.
Yarn is Bernat Soft Boucle in Shades of Blue. Hook size is 6.5mm.
Modifications - Size medium with body lengthened to 10 inches. Sleeves were lengthened and tapered more. I started with 24 hdc and increased to 46 hdc over16 inches - increasing every 3 rows.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Sidetracked again...

New WIPs took over when I have so many already!! Last Friday as my dd pranced about in her poncho & beret set, I was asked by the very nice grandmother of my dd's friend to make her two dgds (ages 3 and 8) the same poncho & beret set that Abby was wearing. Now I usually don't sell items I make. I always tell people it just takes too long to make items and that I really make things only for my kids or their cousins. Well.... I commented that these were quick & easy to make and I was held to my word! So I dug up the pattern, LB Fur-trimmed poncho, and my notes for making a child version of this LB beret and headed out in search of appropriately colored Homespun. The grandmother loved the teal on my dd's poncho, but I knew 'Modern' was discontinued. She suggested purples, maybe with the teal. So I found this colorway of Homespun, 'Barrington' and have one poncho completed so far. I'm using a 8.0 mm hook for the poncho, a 7.0 mm hook for the beret and a 6.5mm or 6.0mm hook for the beret ribbing.

In the midst of making these I was reminded that I made these berets for my twin nieces' birthdays last October.... hmm what about this year. So I whipped up two of Dot's little ditty bags and put appropriate "9yo girl stuff" inside them. I used RH 'Dark orchid' and 'Light Fuchsia' with a 5.0mm H hook.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Yarn stash & project matching

Before I can do my October listing of projects, I need to get a handle on the yarn in my stash and the projects on my WIM list. I guess what I'm saying is I'm getting confused about what yarn I was thinking about using for which projects and I need to make match them together and thus have more designated PIGs. One of the reasons is simply sanity - I don't often succeed at organization, but I crave it. Another reason is more yarn is coming...shh! it's a secret... I have the opportunity - thanks to a fellow CPer - to attend a major blow out yarn sale at JCA Crafts. I've been forewarned that the sale prices are amazing on this high quality yarn.

So... yarn...weight...yardage...pattern or project possibilities

Cotton/cotton blends
Omega Sinfonia - sportweight - 100% cotton - 1680yd - ?







Classic Elite 'Imagine' - DK weight - 53% cotton, 47% rayon - 679yd - ?










Knit One Crochet Too '2nd Time Cotton' - ww - 75% cotton, 25% acrylic,180yd/100g. - 900yd Borealis (deep purple) - ? for me; 1080yd English Heather (pink, green, dark & light gray multi) - ? for Abby












Schachenmayr Nomotta Catania - DK - 100% Egyptian cotton - 1233yds marine blue- Drops 68-15 Summer cardigan (swatched)

Katia Mississippi 3 - fingering - 60% cotton, 40% acrylic - 1150 yds lilac - Drops 88-20 Safran Tank


Wool/wool blends
Cascade 'Lana de Oro' Tweed - worsted weight - 45% Superfine Alpaca, 45% Peruvuan Highland wool and 10% Donegal (tweed) - 770yd maroon, 110 yd charcoal - Autumn Spice ?





Cascade 220 - ww - 100% wool - 1760yd Dark Teal, 440yd gray, 220yd black (RJN vest), 220yd black/blue multi (RJN hat), 440yd purple (Abby hat & mittens), 330yd blue/purple multi, 110 yd blue (Alex hat)

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes - ww- 100% wool - 1540yd mulled wine ( Spring Crochet Cardigan), 330yd Fog, 220yd Hollyberry, 220yd Hyacinth, 220yd Hush (felting - bags)








LB Wool-Ease - ww - 80% wool, 20% acrylic - blue mist, green heather, gray heather, rose heather ( 'Alpine Meadow' hooded sweater)




Acrylic
James C. Brett Marble - DK - 100% acrylic - 2400yds - this sweater from Susan Huxley's Today's Crochet or Lush Lace Pullover or IC Smoky Quartz Tunic








RH Kids - ww - 100 % acrylic - 1160yd periwinkle (FCEC cable sweater Alex)
Caron mill ends - ww - 100 % acrylic - 1000yd lilac (Girl's Lacy sweater), 2400yd light teal (?), 1600yd coral (pink perfection vest)
LB Chunky USA - ww - 100 % acrylic - 620yd grape (Ballet sweater)





Caron Simply Soft - ww - 100 % acrylic - 800yd gray, 1600yd navy (Two-toned Pullover; Boy's Easy Vest), 2750 yd dark sage (Kimane design vest - Alex, lots leftover!), 400yd plum wine, 300yd country blue, 400yd white, 150yd light country blue, 300yd light country peach (edgings)


LB Homespun - bulky - 100% acrylic - 555yd Antique (Sweater Jacket - Abby), 150yd Orchid, 200yd Baroque, 185yd Boston Rose, 150yd Fuschia berets


So in the end - I never posted my October UFO/WIP/PIG/WIM list.... but I will add here what's on board for this month. Mostly I'd like to "whip some WIPS" and start some new CALs. These include
1. Floral Fantasy Pullover
2. Tennis Sock CAL
3. Colinette afghan kit
4. Felted Memo Bag CALwith crochet challenge
5. Jacob's sweater CAL with crochet-a-long (if the pattern is ready)
Finally, if time allows, I want to start on vests for the kids.

September progress report

My crochet hopes for September were…to whip some WIPs - the Crystal Lace Bolero at crochet-a-long, the elusive sock-a-long CAL at crochetsocks, and start the swing jacket at crochet-a-long as well. I also wanted to do some work on the Colinette afghan WIP.

So here's what I actually did...

1. Crystal Lace Bolero - progress = 100%. I wasn't sure about the ribbing at first, but I've been wearing it quite a bit and receiving compliments galore, so I guess it's a keeper!

2. Tennis Socks - progress = 25%. I did finally start this sock-a-long at crochetsocks, and I'd say I'm about half way done one sock. I just became absorbed in a few other projects...

3. Matinee Swing Jacket - progress = 99%. This was a quick project. In spite of being sucked into yet another CAL (see below), I started this one around the 16th at crochet-a-long and finished it! OK, I still had the ends to weave in on the 30th... but that's done now too. I'll post a final picture and my sleeve modifications as well. I'm not sure what they were thinking, but a jacket with 3/4 sleeves seems really weird to me.

4. Colinette yarns afghan kit - progress = 30%. I've actually crocheted 4 rows more than this photo shows. I really want to get it finished soon.

5. Floral Fantasy Pullover - progress = 40%. This is a CAL at Crochetville. I still can't believe I actually started another CAL this past month! I've been flying on this one the past few days as well. I'll take pictures tonight and try to post tomorrow.

Not a bad month, all in all!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Floral Fantasy Pullover - progress

Here's another CAL I really want to finish soon (I really need to work on some sweaters for the rest of the family!) . The Floral Fantasy Pullover is a CAL at Crochetville. I am using 2 strands of Sirdar Salsa DK - a merino wool/acrylic blend, in place of the super bulky mohair/acrylic blend, with a 7.00mm hook. Here's what will be the front panel, back panel, or a sleeve, you pick! I have another 4 of 6 motifs assembled into another panel as well. The sleeves are supposed to use 2 larger motifs at the end for a flared look, but I'm not sure I like that... we'll see!

Matinee Swing Jacket - all but ends

This is Lion Brand's Matinee Swing Jacket, done with the gang at crochet-a-long. I used Bernat Soft Boucle in Shades of Blue, and a 6.5mm hook. I think I've mentioned a few times that I hate weaving in ends... I'll try to get to these today, but no promises.... so, here's the jacket with ends still hanging out!