8 posts tagged “crochet”

I finally get to post the BIG project that kept me busy during April/May:
Ahhh, so nice to have them done! The more I completed the parts the easier it was to read the japanese patterns. I was also able to 'decode' some of the text, too! I learned as well - that I super suck at embroidery and when you are one stitch extra it really shows. The frog was the very very first one I crocheted. I'm afraid his eyes don't match...neither do his arms. (which are put on a little crooked...ssshh!)
The zebra was the hardest of all, the mane took a while as well. Tried to do a black and white zebra in the beginning but soon learned that black yarn is pretty hard to see. The lion is my absolute fave and being the last one I made he is the most refined. Good to know my technique is getting better!
Oh...that mushroom hiding in the back? Erm...as I said I'm no good at embroidery so he looks a little cracked out.
I used Red Heart worsted for all the amigurumi except the little red bear which is made from Patons merino wool. I used Yarn Bee Elf in Mocha for the lion's mane using surface crochet. I think I like using wool the best, as the slight fuzziness hides the sc2togs really well.
After six failed attempts knitting My So Called Scarf I gave a go at Danica. I never thought I would get this far! I'm still astounded at my progress. Would you believe it took three tries for me to get entrelac? Patons SWS is easy, at least for me, to work with. I haven't had ANY problems with it being splitty. Once this is done I'm going to do one with SWTC's Karaoke. I've got 7 balls of this gorgeous stuff! I had a little problem with two of the skeins. I first ordered the yarn from www.kpixie.com and threw it into the stash for the day I was ready for entrelac. When I pulled it out, after two months, I noticed that two of them were short - by a lot. I weighed them and they were short 5 and 6 grams! I contacted SWTC and they replaced two of them, with two extra ones cause they sort of forget about me during TNNA!  I wonder if anyone else had any problems like this with kpixie.com...

Can you tell my ball winder came in? I wasn't able to get the yarn swift as my mother was buying it for me but her account was frozen because the bank thought that someone that stolen her card (not true). So I'm going to have to hold on til another Joann.com sale. Honestly, why did I wait this long to get a ball winder?  This thing is RAD in every sense of the word.

You know what I just realized? How the hell am I going to work with all those skeins of lace without a yarn swift or ball winder? Answer: Joann.com's 50% off Memorial Day Sale! I got the most expensive yarn ball winder for $25 and the yarn swift for $30. My fingers were oozing with delight as I was typing in my credit card - I never thought I would get a yarn swift since they were just so expensive! Joann usually has a 50% special about once a month or so in case you missed out. I also finally found peach yarn to make the amigurumi pig chef I've been coveting so much. It was Bernat Big Value that come to the rescue! I heard this stuff was a might softer than Red Heart so we will see. Also, it shouldn't be this hard to find peach yarn. Seriously now.

As for all those amigurumi books I got? They're not being neglected! I'm currently in a craftster swap (Handcrafts for Handspun) and I'm making a nice little zoo for my partner. I wish I could post what I have so bad but of course, I can't ruin the surprise!

As for the best idea ever, I got the tip from the Knittyboard. After making several fluffy bunny slippers my Happy Hooker was starting to come apart and I was getting tired of awkwardly sitting on my book.

It cost $4.19 each and while I was a little wary dropping them off they did such a professional job! They also check beforehand to see if any text will be cut off. I don't know why they just can't make this mandatory for all knitting and crocheting books.

I also donated a giant trash bag of yarn to my friend and her mom, who both like to crochet. They are always having money problems and have a hard time affording Red Heart, which is their preferred brand. Plus I got to unload my unwieldly stash on them - and the last of my Red Heart. So really, I should be thanking them. Its also nice to move on from Red Heart. It was the yarn I learned to crochet from and for the first three years supplied my many blankets but I have discovered premium/luxury yarn and I won't ever look back!

        I recently got very, very into lace and just went crazy ordering yarn from handpaintedyarn.com. I'm going to RAOK a certain person who likes lace several of these on the Knitty board cause I'm soft like that.

After a bajillion days my amigurumi books finally came in! In a couple of weeks be prepared for an overload of cuteness. Amigurmi collection #1 took forever to get in stock but the wait is worth it. Compared to sellers on Ebay and Etsy I saved nearly $15 on each book. I got a bunch of acrylic yarn left over from my nonchalant days of crocheting, when the only thing that mattered to me was color. So here are the perfect projects to use them all up. Oh, how little I spent on yarn! When all my money went to cigarettes and video games! It's hard to believe that was only a year ago and here I am with a little tiny mini-me....and a really expensive yarn stash.

Oh, it is going to be fun looking at the charts and figuring out which part is an ear, mouth or other extremity.

The knitting gods do not favor me. I have casted on soooo many projects here and there only to screw up somewhere and just frog the entire thing. Knitty's Calorimetry? I've probably done that beginning two rows 6 times now. Even the drop stitch scarf I was working on, the simplest pattern on earth, 2/3 of the way done and I dropped the totally wrong stitches. I know I have to be patient but I have all these wonderful yarns just waiting for my inexperienced knitting hands to turn them into entrelac scarves and Jess Hutchinson bears!

So what happens when a knitting project disillusions me? I crochet something. Or rather, hunt and skin Cookie Monster to make a basket. I used the Brown Sheep that was gifted to me and Yarn Bee's Playful in Blue Waltz. The Brown Sheep didn't felt all that well, so not a lot of shrinkage occured. I even had to cut the top a little bit cause it was waaayyy too long! It's all right I guess, I wanted a basket of some sorts to hold my laceweight yarns yet only half of them fit! Oh! Lest I forget, the Rapunzel scarf from the craftster swap is done! Er, actually half done. I split the yarn I received by color since I wanted one skinny and one fat scarf. I had a hard time braiding, cause it turns out I don't know much about braiding and certain fuzzy yarns got tangled really easily with the other yarns. The ric rac were no help either! As it turns out, boyfriends are good for standing on couches with yarn in hand. Anyway, the skinny one is done!

 I've gotten half of this done so far! It's Yarndiva's Star Afghan in Baby Bee's Baby Chenille in Licorice, Boo Pink and Baby Blue. Very soft!

To the right is my insane purchase. I have never spent $32 on a SINGLE skein of yarn before but this stuff is beautiful. It's Handmaiden Sea Silk in Lily Pond.
Please note that I am not a person who usually buys luxury yarn. This stuff is that good. In fact, all Handmaiden and Fleece Artist yarn is. It will be the death of me one day!