10 posts tagged “yarn”
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Rina's Drop-Stitch Scarf
Two balls of Patons SWS in Natural Earth
(200-220 yds of worsted weight)
With size 11 needles, CO 17 sts.
NOTE: This pattern works best on yarns that have long color repeats. After you cast on, knit Color A until you have two rows of the color changing, one row of Color B, drop stitch pattern, one row of Color B, two rows of the color changing, one row of Color C, drop stitch pattern...ad nauseum. I've only tried this pattern with Patons SWS, I'm sure another brand would be different, like Noro Kureyon.
edit: When I say "knit two rows" I mean to knit two garter ridges! Or, in non-headache inducing terms for newbies, your knitting 8 rows.
Drop-Stitch pattern:
Row 1: K1, *YO twice, K1* repeat til end of row
Row 2: K1, *drop YOs, K1* repeat til end of row
Row 3-8: Knit
Repeat until you have enough to make fringe - BO loosely.
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Anyways, Ravelry now has a look-up feature to see where you are on the waiting list and there are 144 people ahead of me! Ahhh the torment, I think I've got the shakes, too. Yesterday the count was 344 so heres hoping I get in tomorrow. I've already got my ducks in a row and took an almost complete picture of my stash. Hope to see you all there!
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.
The pattern is from Jan Eaton's 200 Ripple Stitches and its called 'Pink Ripple'.
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.
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 only showed one of each and theres like 25 skeins of this stuff. It's a sick, sick obsession. On the other hand I am well stocked for when the revolution comes.
Some lovely handpaintedyarn.com Merino bulky in Lettuce Violet. I'm teaching my friend, who first taught me to crochet, how to knit so I'm going to gift her with these. Perhaps it will coax her to the dark side of expensive yarn.
Here it is. The yarn that makes grown sheep around the world cry. I don't think I've ever seen yarn this ugly before. Its an atrocity - someone was obviously going blind. Okay, I'm going to stop now. My eyes are burning from the pain.
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!
With a busy schedule of being a new mom, a new FO!
I wanted to knit the popular Kittypi beds but heard that the end result was a little floppy. So I loosely based it on this pattern here.
This was my first foray into dyeing and felting wool. I used Yarn Bee Pizazz and 3 skeins of Knitpicks Bare in bulky weight. I used Kool-aide to dye the yarn in Orange, Ice Blue Rasberry and Lemon-Lime. To dye the yarn I simply put the yarn in a jar and zapped it in the microwave for two minutes. The felting process took three washes. The first two times not much shrinkage was going on until I remembered that agitation was the key here and stuck a pair of jeans in with it. Came out perfectly!
Made for my best friend's cat, Snape, so no action shot just yet.
Here are 3/5 of my yarn for the Rapunzel scarf! I joined my first swap on Craftster to make this. I love what I've received so far but next time I will definetly ask for a certain set of colors. This swap was so easy I want to do it ten more times!
While visiting my friends new apartment, one of them received a box of yarn. She let me pick it over and I walked away with 3 circulars and 5 (vintage?) skeins of Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb!. The yarn definetly came from a grandma. Two WIPs gave that out right away. I also grabbed a skein of vintage Lion Brand wool but when I got home the yarn broke very easily.
Oh, and because I love it so much, another picture of of the kitty bed.
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Lately my yarn stash has gotten a wee out of control. The pictures two posts ago? Okay, think doubled. The drawers next the the stash are filled. There is yarn on top of the drawers. The bag underneath the desk is still full. The empty sewing machine box is no longer empty. I've never had this problem before. When I was pregnant my entire yarn stash all fit nicely into the wire crate. I'm learning the hard lesson that babies just arn't craft friendly. My problem isn't that I'm buying too much yarn. It's that I no longer crochet/knit fast enough to keep up!
Yet, I still get to do some things. It requires me to stay up after I put Lily down for the 'big' nap while I get anywhere from 5-7 hours of sleep. But as any fiber artist worth her weight in yarn knows totally, totally worth it!
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!
I cry about my figure. I get angry at the drop of a hat. My mom drives me crazy. I scrutinize my DH's every move and parenting skills. Everyone that rubs me the wrong way incurs my wrath. I have postpartum depression.
Then...my honey got a day off and I got to unwind - finally! I wanted to try my hand at recycling sweaters so I stopped by the thrift store in Plano thats off of K ave. I scored two angora/lambswool blend items and 2 wool sweaters, one Shetland and the other lambswool. All for $11! The thrift store is kind of hard to find. It's unmarked and nestled between Family dollar and a Mexican grocery store. There is another thrift store 2 minutes away called Dallas Thrift Store but it reeks of priceyness.
I've got more stuff coming in the mail, probably $200 worth of yarn (Berroco, Knit Picks, Spincity Yarns) and Japanese crochet books. I ordered a bunch that I've been eyeing off YesAsia and shipping may take 1 - 2 months! I'll post as they come in the mail.
And yes...I do feel a little better.
Hello all! My name is Rina and I'm starting my own knitting/crocheting blog.
Here's the main yarn stash. I'm a big fan of Yarn Bee, Hobby Lobby's house brand.
Contains: Yarn Bee Soft Illusions, Knit Picks Vacation and Get Away, Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair, Yarn Bee Soft Delight, Yarn Bee Wild Child, Yarn Bee Beguile, Yarn Bee Elf, Nobo some fuzzy stuff called Panda Space, Yarn Bee Playful, Bernat Bling-Bling and Lion Brand Suede.
If you can't tell by now, I am a BIG fan of novelty yarn. I figure I'm still young (22) and something about the stuff screams hip and youthfullness to me - but I'm sure that will change with age.
Anyway, I've been crocheting since I was 19 and just recently taught myself to knit. Sorry to all my fellow hookers and as I loathe to say this, I think I like knitting better. I'm not cheap. I'm not frugal. But I love getting bang for my yardage and knitting does use less.
I have several other small stashes around the living room, tactfully hidden in
drawers, but this is the one my boyfriend doesn't know about. Now he doesn't say a word about my yarn collection. If he did I probably wouldn't listen. Then why do I sneak yarn in sometimes? Am I a yarn addict and ashamed of it? Anyway, this bag is bigger now. It is now filled to the brim with wonderfully soft Yarn Bee Frosting. In my defense, it was on sale.