At long last, a WIP Wednesday post

I have some WIPs to show off today. First, the one I started last night. I am so excited about it! It's an Elder Tree Shawl. I'm using Malabrigo Rios in the Jupiter colorway, generously given to me by my mom last year. I have 4 skeins, and I doubt I'll use them all for this project, but I want to make this pretty big so I can wrap myself up in it and be all warm and snuggly. (Yes, I know it's lace and has holes in it. I'm sure it'll still be nice and warm.)

 
I'm using size 9 circs and alternating skeins - I've got 2 different dye lots going on here. My mom isn't a yarnie and doesn't know from dye lots, so she got me 2 skeins from one lot and 2 from another. I could've just used one of the sets of 2 for this shawl, but like I said, I want this to be really big, so I'm alternating and I think it looks great. I don't know if I'll want to use more than 2 skeins for this shawl, but I like having that option.

Speaking of my mom and Malabrigo Rios, I'm crocheting a pair of Basic Fingerless Mittens for her out of Rios in Azules. I've made one and a half so far.

She tried the finished one on and it fits, well, like a glove! ;-) These are turning out great. I love this pattern. It's my 2nd time using it. I plan to make myself a pair eventually. I have a skein of Rios in Bobby Blue waiting for me. Anyway, my mom's apartment can get very cold, so I'm glad to be able to make these for her. May she wear them in good health.

I'm also still working on the Clapotis and on my kimono sweater (which had been in hibernation for a while), but they don't look different enough from the last pics I posted of them to bother putting more pics here!

I finally got some hollow glass beads from Alisha White's Etsy shop. I have sapphire blue and emerald green and I know exactly what I'm going to make with them. I just have to get myself to actually do it!

My New Year's resolution was to learn how to knit hats and socks. I've got some Craftsy classes and a bunch of books. I've ordered some DPNs so I can make the socks the way the class instructor makes them, and I think I have enough interchangeable circular needles to try using 2 or doing magic loop. I do not have the smaller sizes for socks yet, but I already know I get hand and wrist pain from using smaller needles, so I may have to stick to making heavier socks.

That's it from me for now, but I have a bunch of FOs to show off, so watch for a Friday post...

Gifties for my 6-year-old niece

My niece's 6th birthday was last Saturday, and her party, which was supposed to be that day, got cancelled because her sister got sick. Poor kiddo. The up-side of this, though, is that I get a little more time to work on her presents. This is the hat I wound up making for her:



It's the Shell Brimmed Cloche by Cathy Phillips (free pattern), made with Lily Sugar 'N Cream cotton yarn in Robin's Egg. I did the crown through Rnd 6, then the straight rows (Rnds 9-14), then through Rnd 19 (2nd row of 7 dc shells), skipping Rnds 20 and 21. I didn’t want the hat getting too long for her. I also did the sc edging with the G hook (Rnd 22). It looks great. I hope it fits well.

By the time her actual birthday rolled around, it looked like she was going to be getting this hat and a few other things we picked up for her. However, when the party got cancelled, I decided the hat needed a flower. I made it a barrette, so it can clip onto the hat or she can put it in her hair.





I'm still working on the Spring Bag I wrote about in this post. It's caused me a lot of frustration, but I think I've finally got it. I was going to give it to my niece, but it's taken too long, and I want to send her gifts out right away. Also, if I give her a bag and a hat, I will have to do both (or the equivalent) for my other nieces' birthdays, and I'm not sure I'll have time what with all the other projects I plan to make.

I've decided to keep it for myself as a project bag, and line it with an old scarf. (I've never lined anything in my entire life, so this will be a new experience.) :)

Granny square baby hat!

Here's another FO from a few weeks ago. A good friend from college who lives pretty far away just had a baby girl, and I had some great colors of Caron Simply Soft yarn, so I decided to make a hat using the Granny Square Crochet Hat pattern by Kristin Spurkland. It's in the book Blankets, Hats, and Booties: to Knit and Crochet. First thing I've made from that book, and I'm happy with it--and the new mom loves it!

Here's the top view:



It's being modeled by Abbey, our very round stuffed piggy, who is the closest thing we have to a baby head around here! And here is the side view:



Simple hat to make, but lots of color changes (obviously) and ends to crochet over/weave in. I'm very, very satisfied with the finished project. I hope it proves to be durable.

My friend posted pictures of the baby in her hat to Facebook! I downloaded them and put one on my Ravelry project page, so if you're on Rav, you can see her here, in the first photo. Such a cutie pie!

I'm on a roll with the granny squares lately, but I've been making other things, too! More blog entries to come soon.

Sort of secret stuff

I'm working on some secret projects right now. I have one gift in the making that just needs an edging, and then it will be done (and I will post pics after it's been given to the recipient). I have a baby gift that I recently finished and sent out to a friend, which I don't want to post photos of until I know it's been received.

Mon urban hat, pic taken from the pattern website

Less secret: I will soon be making gifts for my niece, whose birthday is coming up too quickly! She'll be 6 on the 31st. I plan to make Mon urban hat and a Spring Bag for her, both from Lily Sugar 'N' Cream yarn in robin's egg blue (blue is her favorite color, or at least it was the last time I checked!). Hope to get started tonight if possible. If crises occur before her big day, we'll buy her a toy instead; but I really want to make her something.

Spring Bag, pic taken from the pattern website

Also, I will soon be making a hat for a friend of some friends who has a terminal illness. I don't know him--we've never even met--but any friend of theirs is a friend of mine, and I am glad to be able to give something to help out. I'm going to use Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage (which is really more of a forest green).

I've re-started my little knitting swatch. I got sick of looking at the holes, and when I tried to fix them, things got even more screwed up...So I decided to start over from scratch and try my hand(s) at casting on. :) I did it! I am so proud of myself. My friend who is teaching me at S&B (which I unfortunately did not get to attend this week) uses the Continental Method. I've never used the English Method, so I don't know which is "better" (and my knitting friends tell me it's just a matter of personal preference). I think I like Continental, though. It seems like it might be slightly less complicated (?), and some say it's quicker. As an impatient person, I think the quickest method should suit me best!

I've gotten some books out of the library, including Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook, which is what I used to figure out how to cast on. It seems pretty comprehensive; I think I may need to own it as soon as I have some money. For now, hooray for libraries!!!

Any other book suggestions for a very new knitter?

I picked up The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits at the bookstore the other day at a really low price. The projects in it are mainly made with chunky yarns and big needles, and I don't have big needles yet, but I'm sure I will at some point. For now, I just have the size 8 needles that my friend is letting me use.

Knitting? And more FO's...

I can knit! Sort of. Last week at Stitch & Bitch, one of my amazing friends there taught me to knit. Of course, she cast on for me, and all I know how to do so far is the knit stitch. Also, this piece has progressed a little, and now has holes in it where I messed up. Holes! But I will learn how to do this, slowly but surely. I say "slowly" only because I have so many crochet projects to work on right now that the knitting's got to go on the back burner. One project is a top-secret gift, which is almost done. The others are less secret gifts that haven't even been started yet, and one has to be done by the end of the month! Eeps!

Now for the FO's.

I made this Snuggly Scarf for my mother-in-law for her birthday, which was toward the end of last month:



She loves it! I am so happy. It's Lion Brand Homespun in Nouveau, which has a brown base combined with shades of blue, purple, and teal. Very pretty. I picked up another skein so I can eventually make myself one in that colorway!

Also, our Stitch & Bitch group made hats and scarves for veterans for Valentine's Day. I made 2 hats to contribute. Here they are:





And finally, something that's not an FO, but something to laugh at. I started making a baby hat from Lion Brand Velvetspun that I'd had sitting around for a few years. I don't know if the problem was the yarn itself, or the age of the yarn; but wow, this thing was a mess. The pattern didn't really help, either. It's a cute hat with a knot on top, but first you have to make the "cord" to tie into the knot. Hence, this thing:



Some poor purple elephant lost its trunk! ;) This yarn was shedding all over the place, and when I tried to weave in the end so I could tie the "trunk" in a knot, ALL of the fluffiness of the yarn came off and the ends became just thread. Impossible to work with. I gave up, but I had to document it first!

And that's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year!

Best wishes to all of you for a happy and healthy 2011! Hope you did some good celebrating last night/this morning.

Since we're headed into a new year, it's time for a new crochet project. (At least one, anyway!) I've decided to make a hat for a family friend's new grandchild. It's a boy, and he's already 3 months old, which makes this a little more complicated. I've searched lots of patterns on Ravelry, and there are plenty for girly hats, but not so many for boyish hats or for unisex hats that aren't completely boring.

Here comes the part where I must ask your opinions, dear readers! Should I make a hat that's more on the cute side, like a hat with monkey or bear ears? Or a hat with some sort of interesting cable- or rib-type pattern, like this one? Or a very plain hat?

I don't know the parents very well, so I don't know if they're the types to dress their child in a cute animal hat. But part of me thinks I might not care. ;) I mean, this is a kid, after all. He doesn't have to worry about looking "respectable" yet.

If any of you have cute patterns for baby boy hats (crochet only, please--I still don't knit!), or any other input, please share.

More crochet mishaps

Still workin' on the Java Jammie. I think it's coming out too small. :( I should've gone up a hook size. Here it is being stretched out on a cup:



Itching to start something new, I decided to try out a Lace Cap from the free pattern by Kim Piper Werker. I used black Caron Simply Soft. It seemed to be coming along fine, until all of a sudden there weren't enough stitches left in a row for me to do what I was supposed to do...Now I don't know if I should attempt to find whatever the mistake was, or start over. I think my gauge is too small (as usual), anyway.



And, last but not least, I am trying to make a scarf for a friend using Cherry Tree Hill Zebra Caribe yarn. I'm using the Surreybelle Scarf pattern by Sarah Cooper, available as a free Ravelry download. Anyway, it's not really coming out like the one in the picture in the pattern, but it is pretty. Beautiful, in fact. That's not the problem. The problem is that this mostly cotton yarn is not soft. Now who wants to give their friends scarves that aren't soft?! *sigh* I don't know what to do. Any way to soften this up? Anyone?



I will probably continue on with this scarf, regardless, if only because I don't know what the heck else to do with this yarn (and it is very tricky to work with)!

Plum Gulf Shores hat

Plum Gulf Shores hat
Originally uploaded by saintlex

Here's my latest creation, in Caron Simply Soft Brites yarn in Rose Violet. This one looks pretty good on me, though maybe I should've gone up a hook size.

Also, this hat goes with my fall-weight and winter coats, and with my Snuggly Scarf. Yay! I will definitely be wearing it when the weather gets chilly.

I am not even going to show this one to my mother. :P Not unless she sees me wearing it in the fall, anyway. And by then, it will be too late for her to discourage me. Muahahahaa.

Still workin' on the Moldy Cupcake. ;) It's coming along slowly, since I have been distracted by the hat and by other things I've had to do.

I've ordered some Caron Spa yarn, which is 25% bamboo, with the intention of crocheting myself a Somnambulista (the cute little nightie in Doris Chan's "Everyday Crochet"). That will be a big project for me. The pattern is done in some very expensive 100% bamboo yarn...I don't have that kind of a budget. In fact, I am pretty firm with myself about not spending more to make a crocheted garment than I would spend to buy that article of clothing, and I buy pretty inexpensive clothing. I spent roughly $25 on the yarn (ordered from Joann.com), and that was about right for me.

The other plus about Caron Spa is that it's machine washable. Much as I would love 100% bamboo yarn, I'd probably have to hand wash it, or at least not throw it in the drier.

wearing the Abydos, and working on a hat

I wore my Abydos to work today, and the only compliment I got was one I had to totally fish for (which wound up being along the lines of, "It's nice"). Not even a peep from the friend I had lunch with. And here I thought my Abydos was pretty striking. People confuse me.

I have a ton of projects on the back burner right now. I've had a frustrating week, so tonight, I decided to start on a Gulf Shores hat. It was a good choice for instant gratification! It's coming along quite nicely. I'm using Lily Sugar 'N Cream, in the Shaded Denim colorway. I will take a pic of my progress tomorrow if I get a chance.

slump-o-rama

I just read a friend's blog, and she mentioned being in a crochet slump. Well, I have been in one lately, too. I started my tunic, and I'm only about 5 rows in (though I spent plenty of time trying to start it and screwing up--wasn't sure about the gauge at first, or about what size I should be making). No other progress made on anything.

I haven't felt much like crocheting lately. Don't know why, though my neck and shoulders have been achey, which I guess doesn't help. Also, I've been distracted by Harry Potter. ;) After having seen all the movies, I finally caved and decided to read books 6 and 7. I'm in the middle of 7 now.

I managed to get The Michaels Book of Needlecrafts the other day at a bookstore for $5. I was really happy about that, since it was on my wish list anyway, but I would still have paid more if I've ordered it from Amazon--and this way I got to look through it. There isn't too much in there that I want to make (some of it's really silly), but there's an adorable kids' hat that looks like a fruit or vegetable top (Xmas/Chanukah present! Yay!) and a really pretty tote bag made from Lion Incredible. I'll skip the furry arm warmers, though. :P

Also, according to one of the customers on Amazon who reviewed the book, there's a good article on yarn substitution in the "Knitting" section of the book (which I otherwise might not have looked at, at all!). Hmmmm.

Happy auntie-ness for me, and happy Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Hope you're all having a great day with your moms/kids/whomever. I am going to see my mom and my grandmother in a little while. :)

Yesterday was my nephew's birthday party, so my fiance, my mom, my grandmother and I drove up to Rockland County to my sister and bro-in-law's house. It was loads of fun. And here's the crochet-related part: I finally got to give Kristy her hat! And ohmygod it looks so adorable on her. And not only that--she loves it! :) :) :)

I was expecting that she might not like having it on her head and so might not like it or something, but she is already pretty attached to it. We put it on her yesterday, and she took it off after a little while, but you couldn't take it away from her without her bursting into tears! Awwww! And she doesn't seem to object much to having it on her head. We got a good picture, which I would post except for the fact that my sister has Internet privacy issues, so I should respect that.

I will probably post it as friends-only on my Flickr account, though.

I am a very happy auntie! I am also soon to be an aunt again--my sister's 4th child is due in 3 weeks! How exciting. I am planning to crochet at least one present for the newborn--I'd better get a move on!

I made a ruffle for the hat!

kristy hat - ruffle
Originally uploaded by saintlex.

I finally jumped in and made a ruffle for the sun hat for my 1-year-old niece. (No, I still haven't seen her since I made the hat. That's scheduled to be remedied next weekend at my nephew's 4th birthday party.)

It is so cute! I hope it fits her. I am concerned that it may be a little too big. We shall see.

sun hat

kristy hat top view
Originally uploaded by saintlex.

I finished this little hat for my 1-year-old niece (she just turned 1 today!) a few days ago. It's so cute. It was supposed to have a ruffle at the bottom, but I couldn't figure out how to do it from the pattern (another pattern from Lion's web site).







Edited to add: It's now 4/15/07, and I still hope to figure out a way to make the ruffle. Haven't seen my niece for quite a while, and I don't know when I will--seems that whenever I'm not sick, my sister's whole family is--so I've got some time to work on it. Besides, it's definitely NOT sun hat weather yet!


Side view:

My pom-pom hat!

My pom-pom hat!
Originally uploaded by saintlex.

Then, I made myself a "Pom-pom Hat" using a pattern from the Lion Yarn web site. It looks pretty silly on. Suits me just fine--I am pretty (er, make that very) silly! One of these days, my fiance will take a picture of me wearing this hat and my snuggly scarf. I think I'll wait for it to get cold again before we try that, though. (Or I'll wait till I have A/C in my apartment...)