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...

FO alert!

Finally, a finished object to post about that was finished this year! For the past month or so, I've been working away on a Honey cowl using Jill Draper Makes Stuff's amazing Hudson Superwash Merino yarn. The colorway is called Coleopterist's Cabinet.

Believe it or not, this was my first time working with superwash merino. I don't know if it's usually this deliciously sproingy, or if that's Jill Draper's yarn in particular, but I love it so much - and it doesn't seem to bother my neck. This is the first animal fiber I've ever met that doesn't make my neck itch. (I hope. I still haven't worn this cowl for any particularly long length of time.)

The yarn was expensive. It was a splurge when I was away with girlfriends in New Paltz, NY, and we stopped in to the White Barn Farm Sheep and Wool yarn store. (And then we stopped in there again the next day! Heehee. Yes, it is that good a store. And cute, too - see pic below. Yes, that's me by the door.)

I highly recommend a visit if you're a fiber fan and happen to be in New Paltz at some point. Anyway, I adore that Hudson yarn. The colors are amazing and a camera can't really do them justice, but I took plenty of project pictures anyway, and then my husband took some pictures of the finished cowl on me. This Honey cowl is a size Large, but I didn't knit it to the full width of 12 inches, I only did 8 inches. (As you'll see, that was plenty!) I also haven't blocked it yet. Not sure what superwash merino will block out like (anyone have any answers for me?). I'm happy with it unblocked, though! And I would never, ever put this in the washing machine, even though I could, in theory.

That last one is of the cowl wrapped around twice. It is warm and squishy and comfortable. I give the yarn most of the credit, but I guess I have to give myself some, too. The cowl didn't make itself. ;) This is the second Honey I've made - the first was a size small with Lorna's Laces Honor yarn (pic below). It is an alpaca and silk blend, and it feels heavenly to the touch - until I put it against my neck. Sigh. Itchy. Heck, cashmere makes my neck itch. I'm keeping my first Honey for now with the thought that I might wear it sometime with a turtleneck underneath.

I messed up quite a bit with the stitching on that first one (it's actually sort of obvious if you know what to look for), so for the second one, I placed stitch markers every 20 stitches so that I'd know whether to purl or slip the next stitch. It worked great!

This is a very repetitive pattern, but it makes for a beautiful cowl if you can stick with it. (Ugh...honey...stick...see what I did there?)

Trip to the Lion Brand Outlet with the S&B group

Today, many of us from the Stitch & Bitch group took a trip to Carlstadt, NJ to go to the Lion Brand Yarn Outlet. We had such a great time! As you can tell from this picture (or maybe you can't--it's not great quality, but it's the best my cell phone could do!), it's quite stunning. Lots of amazing knit and crochet "sculptures," pillows, and yarn-bombed items. Examples below:





Friendly penguins and a yarn-bombed bike!

I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy gawking at the yarn and talking with my S&B girlfriends. I went there with a mission: to procure as much Lion Brand Homespun yarn as I possibly could, in as many pretty colors as possible, within the budget I'd set for myself. (And also enough in certain colors to make certain things, which will eventually be revealed. But I won't spoil it for you...yet.)  Here's my haul:



Another blurry pic, I know, but you can still make out the colors (though this picture really doesn't do them justice at all). After buying all that, including the 2 pattern books you can barely make out in this photo and a few knitting accessories, I came out $10 under the budget I'd set for myself! WIN! So I went back for more, and here it is:



All in all, I made out like a Lion-Brand-Homespun-obsessed bandit. ;) Afterward, the group of us--12 (I think?) in total, in 3 different cars--headed out in search of lunch. As was inevitable, we all eventually wound up taking different routes and getting totally confused about where to meet up. Next time, we'll be careful to make sure that we have everyone's cell phone numbers! 2 of the 3 cars (including the one I was in) eventually caught up with each other, and we decided to head to a restaurant back in White Plains for lunch. Lunch was great (even though we missed the folks from the other car). We ate well, and celebrated a group member's birthday. There was much talking and laughter involved.

What a great day!


I need to catch up on my blog posting. I have quite a few projects to share.

Chanukah/Grams' 95th birthday gifts!

Oh, there are soooo many pics I want to post right now. We had our family Chanukah party/Grams' 95th birthday party on Saturday night, and it was a blast. Now I can finally post photos of my nephew's surprise gift, and of the gifts with their recipients! Hooray!

First, a picture of my gift to my nephew:

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle beanie! I had kind of an awful time making it, but isn't it awesome?! I am so proud of it. Here's my nephew wearing it and rocking out:

Now I must gripe about the hat. (Skip ahead for more pictures if you don't want to read my complaints!) ;) It should've been simple to make, but the pattern didn't give a gauge (and when I contacted the author, she wouldn't give me one), so I started it out with one size bigger than the recommended hook (G hook was recommended; I was using an H) and it still came out way too small. I frogged it and re-made it with a J hook, and it turned out OK. Also, the hat length measurements from the pattern were all out of whack; the length given for the child's hat was longer than that of my own hat, which just didn't make any sense. So I made it the same length as mine, and that worked out fine.

When it came to the band, I started with the number of chain stitches recommended for the child version (still with the J hook), and it came out barely long enough to go around the hat, much less tie in the back. I wound up using the number of chain stitches for the adult version, which made it long enough to tie and untie in the back. I did the width of the child's version, though, and that looked about right.

Other issues: instructions that just said to sew the band to the hat, without saying how or whether to sew it with thread or yarn or if it mattered; instructions to sew or glue the eyes on, without saying how far apart to make the eyes (mine wound up being too far apart when the hat's being worn) or how/with what to sew them; and instructions to crochet all the way around the band, without instructions on how to do that (I'd never crocheted all the way around anything that wasn't, well, round--I did my best, but I still don't know if I did it right).

This pattern was a pain in the you-know-what. My nephew is so worth it, though!

And now, my beautiful nieces in their ponchos, from oldest to youngest:






And here's my niece wearing her poncho with Grams, who is wearing her Seraphina's Shawl:


We gave Grams the shawl pin, too. It was purchased from a fellow Etsy seller, South4th, and it is really lovely.

The gifts all went over really well! My whole family gave me compliments. My oldest (little) niece (the "real" oldest is the 19-year-old, who wasn't with us that night) wore her poncho to school yesterday. Awww!

So, what am I crocheting now that I'm done with all the gifts? Ummm...nothing. I want to make a Sera Lace Top (pattern by Doris Chan, of course) with the yarn that my in-laws gave me for Chanukah, but I tried to wind some of it the other night, and wound up with a tangled mess after only winding about half a hank into a cake. I need a swift, but we don't have the space for it. My hubby is being very sweet and working on untangling the rest of the hank...We'll see how that goes.

Still trying to figure out what to bring with me to S&B tomorrow!


Now for what I've been up to with beads lately...I made these coffee bean stitch markers the other day:


(This picture makes them look scratched--those aren't scratches on the beads, it's just reflected light.) I haven't listed them yet only because I haven't decided on a price. The beads were expensive, but I don't want to charge more than a customer would be willing to pay for them. Dilemmas, dilemmas. I'll figure it out eventually. (I will list them soon, I promise!)

I sold more Autumn Leaves stitch markers, and finally made more last night and re-listed them. They're popular enough that I decided to make--and list--2 sets.

A close friend of mine gave me a gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems & Beads for the holidays! I'm so excited about it. I'm going to take my time in deciding what to get, since there are many tempting things on the site. Nothing fair trade that I know of, though I think Karen Hill Tribe silver is a safe bet (I don't think it's technically fair trade unless sold by a certified company, but I am pretty sure all their workers are treated fairly and paid pretty well...I really should look into it more, though). Also, plenty of Swarovski, which is definitely a safe bet, as are Czech beads. And lots of books! And tools and things! Woohoooo!!!

Secret-ish projects, dieting, and more gifts

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I am still working on a secret crochet project for my nephew, so I can't post much about that...other than the fact that I am now going to have to frog it for the second time! At least I won't have to frog the whole thing this time.

Had fun at Stitch & Bitch today. It was just me and D. Good thing we enjoy each other's company! ;) It's always nice to have someone (or a group of people) to hang out with during my lunch break, and it's especially nice to have someone (or a group of people) to crochet with!

I'm also working on a beaded bracelet for my cousin's daughter. She's either a tween or a teen, I'm not completely sure of her age but I think she's around 12ish. I tried to make it like another bracelet that I'd just sold, only shorter with an extendable chain closure; but I didn't quite have the right beads, so I'm making it a little different. It's pretty. Rose quartz, amethyst, lepidolite and silver beads. I will take a pic when I'm done and post it here once I'm sure it's been given to her (she won't be there for our Chanukah party/my grandma's 95th birthday party, so I'm sending it back to her with my cousin). I hope she will like it!

As I mentioned, I recently sold a bracelet from The Smiling Turtle Etsy store. It was the only bracelet I'd listed. Amethyst, rose quartz, and silver. I am very happy that someone bought it, and I am also very aware that I need to post more bracelets! (Including the one from my last post!) I've decided to include a little insert with it about who made it and where it was made, the metaphysical properties of the gemstones, etc. I will probably start doing that with all of my handmade jewelry, or at least the gemstone jewelry. It's work, but it's fun work, and it's something I think people will appreciate because I know that I appreciate something like that when I buy a handmade item or receive one as a gift.

Meanwhile, I have put myself on a "bead diet" (I bought waaay too many beads last month). We'll see how long I can keep this up. I am determined not to drive us into debt with my addiction...but...the shinies...they are so tempting!

I'll still be getting little presents in the mail for a bit, because the beads I ordered from Israel haven't arrived yet, and neither have some Swarovski crystal cubes and assorted other ebay purchases.

Ohhh, also, we had a little Chanukah celebration at my in-laws' house last weekend. Guess what they gave me? YARN! And sterling silver beading chain! And they stuffed us full of pot roast and latkes and gluten-free brownies! How awesome are they?!

I am having such a crafty Birthukkah season. I love it.

That's pretty much it for now. And I thought I wouldn't have much to write! HA!!! :)

Poncho=done, and a birthday full of yarn and beads (and food)!

Well, my last poncho is done. OK, not really, I still have to weave in the ends. But it's 99.9% done. ;) I am worried that my littlest niece will be totally swimming in it, since it seems to be almost as long as she is tall! *gulp* I'll find out on December 11. Here's a picture of it without the collar, since I hadn't done the collar yet when I took this pic:



My birthday was on Saturday. I had a wonderful day, thanks to amazing friends and family and my incredible hubby. I got lots of phone calls, e-mails, and Facebook wall wishes.

My husband got me yarn for my b-day, and lots of it! It's all cotton bamboo from Yarntopia Treasures. Here is a picture of the various colorways:



The one on the left is called Electric Blue, the middle one is Posiedon (their spelling mistake, not mine--sorry, part of my job is editing, I can't help it!), and the one on the right is Dreamcatcher. He got me 5 skeins of Electric Blue, and 1 each of the others. The yardage is pretty good. About 420 yards per skein, fingering weight. Not sure what to do with them yet, but I will figure that out when I'm not so tied up with Chanukah projects. :) Love, love, love the yarn!

My in-laws got me a subscription to Stringing magazine, which I like to use for beading inspiration. One of my friends got me a rice cooker, which we desperately needed (and are, in fact, using right now!), and a book called "Crafting Jewish." My sister made me 2 gorgeous pairs of earrings. Lots of loot for me.

And then there are the presents I bought for myself! My husband and I went bead shopping on my birthday. First, we went to Beads of Westchester. I hadn't been there for a while. I bought some nice things--a bunch of Swarovski bicones in cool colors I hadn't seen before, a strand of green magnesite nugget beads, some pretty blue fossilized something-or-other beads (I had them write down the name of it and then I lost the card they wrote it on, of course!), some faceted onyx rounds. The ladies there were very nice, and it was an enjoyable shopping experience.

Then we went to Michaels. Not such an enjoyable shopping experience. I bought some more Swarovski bicones (at slightly better prices) and some Swarovski flower beads that were on clearance...or so I thought. They were with the clearance beads. There were many of them with the clearance beads, carefully organized. There were many other beads on clearance as well, and almost none of them were marked. My Swarovski flowers were also unmarked. When we checked out, the saleswoman insisted on charging us full price, without so much as sending another employee over to look at the clearance section. Grrrr. I bought them anyway, because I am a sucker for little Swarovski crystal flowers, and because I am not so good at being frugal.

After that, we went out for dinner to a local Argentinian/Italian restaurant. The food was amazing. My husband had fettuccine bolognese, and I had paella. The paella had lots of lobster in it. I was so happy! Then came dessert: a big cappuccino, and tartufo. Ohmygoodness it was heavenly.

The holiday sales are over in my Etsy store, unless I decide to come up with another one sometime soon. Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale was relatively successful. Not bad, really, for a shop that doesn't have a heck of a lot of items in it yet. The stitch markers have definitely been the biggest sellers. I made some new ones yesterday, but I don't have pictures of them yet, so I'll just have to keep you in suspense.

I ordered some beads from an organization in Israel, and they shipped out today! They are ceramic beads made by needy elderly people in Jerusalem. I am happy to support this wonderful charity, and I hope to make some really nice things.

I have so much jewelry that I've made, and so little time to get it all listed! It won't happen before the holidays, for the most part. D'oh. I will do what I can, though.

Update, with lots of pics!

Time for a big photo-heavy update. First, here's my finished poncho for my 6-year-old niece:

And a close-up of the scalloped edge detail (also, you can see the color of the yarn better here):

And a picture of the poncho-in-progress for my 4-year-old niece:

And, last but not least, I've been making stitch markers again (these and others for sale at The Smiling Turtle):

I am very happy with the way the first poncho came out. I'd started the second one with a smaller hook, but then had to frog it and re-start with the same hook size as I'd used for the first one, since it was coming out too small.

I got to go to a Stitch and Bitch last Wednesday! I just found out recently that it meets down the street from where I work. Sweet! I had so much fun meeting people and crocheting. I plan to go back as often as I can (probably almost every week).

I have become somewhat obsessed with Noro Taiyo yarn. Here's a pic of the 1 skein I own:

It is so beautiful! It is telling me that it wants to become fingerless gloves. Unfortunately, it's also telling me that it wants to be a scarf and a hat. NEED MORE!!! Heehee. Luckily, my birthday is coming up... ;)

I bought it (and some Lorna's Laces Honor and Queensland Sugar Rush) at Fresh Purls in Providence, RI when I was there visiting some friends for Columbus Day weekend. It's a really nice store, with very helpful and friendly saleswomen.

Guess that's it for now! I'm glad I got some good sunlight for picture-taking today.

Hello! It's been quite a while...

I took some time away from crochet again, and now I'm back. Or trying to be, anyway. I've had some seriously frustrating crochet "issues" lately.

First, there was the lovely Java Jammie. I've been wanting to make one of these for years now. Literally. I had the yarn, so I finally gave it a shot. The first few rows looked weird, but I kept going...and it was coming out really cute! Then, I realized I'd screwed up around the flowers and hadn't increased where I was supposed to. So much for that ever fitting a coffee cup. I frogged it...and haven't been able to get it started the right way since!!! :(

The problem: Rnd 1: Work 1 sl st in each ch around.

A row of slip stitch? How's that work, exactly? Seems like, in my case, it doesn't. Did the designer really mean sc instead? Or am I just missing something? HELP! (Please?!)

Next, I tried to work on the Zen Scarf I'd started and left to hibernate for a while. I got it started up again, or so I thought; but it kept coming out wrong, with really strange edges. I ended up frogging it because I just couldn't figure out how to continue the pattern the right way. I also didn't like working with the pattern very much. It was incredibly difficult to keep track of which row I was on (I suppose I should've been writing it down, or checking the rows off, or something; but I hadn't when I'd started out, and maybe that was the entire problem). Maybe I'll try it again sometime, but for now, it's in the frog pond.

Then, I tried to make a Tunisian Lace Ascot. That didn't work out, either. I think maybe Tunisian crochet is not my thing. I eventually got the first row done, was all excited, and messed up the second row and couldn't figure out how to correct it without starting over. Then I couldn't even get the correct number of loops on the hook again.

GRRRRRRAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH.

I have finally decided to try out a Queen Anne's Lace Scarf. I hope that turns out to be easier; it certainly is pretty. (No working pics with the pattern, but there are a ton of projects with pictures on Ravelry.) I want to make it using some beautiful Handmaiden Double Sea Silk yarn that I bought last week in Toronto at Lettuce Knit, while my husband and I were on our (delayed) honeymoon. :) (Honeymoon was fabulous, by the way!!)

I hope the QAL Scarf is a quick project, too, because I will soon be starting graduate school and probably won't have much time for the yarny goodness. *sigh* We'll see, though; I may still be able to fit in my crochet habit somewhere, now that I've picked up my hooks again.

New yarn and other goodies from the LYS!

I was having a crummy day yesterday--the weather was bad, I was exhausted, and I found out during my lunch break that my favorite clothing store is going out of business. I needed a pick-me-up and had a little money to spend, so I took myself out to Flying Fingers after work.

What a good idea! :) I'd never been there before, and they were having a BIG sale. 50% off all yarn in the store, 75% off books, and old magazines for $2. I spent an hour and a half there, trying to figure out what I should get! It was a total kid-in-a-candy-store experience. So much gorgeous yarn that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford, and books that I could actually get for prices comparable to the ones on Amazon!

My haul:
*1 skein Colinette Chrysalis (so yummy! I think I'll make a hat out of it)
*1 skein Colinette Giotto (needs to be made into a scarf)
*6 skeins Wool in the Woods 100% rayon DK yarn (will probably become a sweater)
*Tahki Stacy Charles Crochet booklet with adorable Doris Chan bolero on the cover, and many other patterns for things I like (here's a pic of the cover--thanks, Doris, for letting me steal your Flickr photo!):
*Easy Beaded Crochet by Carol Meldrum
*Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman
*Crochet Today! magazine, a back-issue from this year (May/June?)

I spent about as much money as I wanted to, but I am so tempted to go back. When the heck else will I ever be able to afford handpainted Colinette yarn and other such goodies? (I mean, there's always ebay, but then I can't really see the gorgeousness of the yarn and I definitely can't touch it! And I'd have to pay shipping. Boo.) Sales like that don't come along too often. Then again, I don't want to get myself into toooo much financial trouble. Dilemmas, dilemmas!

There's also this gorgeous pima cotton yarn that I fell somewhat in love with--so tempting. *sigh*


I am still working away on my Cupcake. It's hard for me to get myself to do much at a time, though--it is such a boring pattern!! I'm sure it will come out looking cute as hell, but so many rows of plain ol' hdc. Yawwwn.

I think I will start on my Giotto scarf later. :)

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.

happy Abydos-ing, Ravelry, and Patons Grace

I am now as far along with the Abydos as I was with the other one that I had to abandon due to too-small gauge (I haven't actually frogged it yet, though I will when I need the yarn). It's so funny to me that it took me almost two weeks to get to this point to begin with, but after starting over, it took me about 2 days to get back to the same point (with the right gauge)!

Anyway, so far, so good. I've tried it on, and the gauge is just right with the J hook. And so far, it looks adorable. :) I am very happy. I'm also very proud of myself for starting up again right away, before I had a chance to get too discouraged and abandon it.

Spent some time on Ravelry today, updating my library of books and magazines. It's so much fun to see what patterns others have used, and what the results have been. No, I'm not really having the most eventful 4th of July weekend, at least not where anything but crochet is concerned. ;) That's fine by me. I hope you're all having a good weekend!

I just got a great deal on 10 skeins of Patons Grace in Ruby on ebay. Under $20. I couldn't pass it up, even though my wallet may think I should have. ;) I keep seeing all these nice patterns in Patons Grace--although of course, now that I've ordered it, I can't remember what they are! Heehee. I'm sure Ravelry will help me figure that out when the time comes.

Thursday shopping spree :)

Today was yarn shopping day. A friend cancelled on our lunch date, and since lunch around here is expensive and I'd brought a back-up yogurt to work just in case, I decided to use my lunch money to get some new yarny goodness.

First, I went to Michael's in search of some Bernat Cool Crochet with which to make my Sweetie Pie Cami. They didn't have any. Boohoo. They did, however, have Patons Brilliant in Blue Shimmer on CLEARANCE for $1/skein! No labels, so I don't have any dye lot info, but I'll live dangerously. ;) It was a good find.

Then, I ordered my Bernat Cool Crochet in Amethyst from Amazon.com. Had to pay $5 shipping, but...whatever. Still within the lunch fund. Heheh.

Looking at my apartment, most people would probably say that I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head. But they'd be wrong! Don't you agree? I barely have any sport or DK weight yarn, so of course I needed to get some. Besides, most of the yarn I have is great for crocheting winter stuff, but not good for summer. I have about 10 tons of Lion Homespun, in particular. I am sure it will not go to waste--I just don't feel like spending my summer making winter-weight sweaters. ;)

I do have some nice Berroco Cotton Twist yarn that I need to use, but it's worsted weight, so I'll have to find a good summer project (preferably something wearable) that uses worsted-weight cotton yarn. Any suggestions?

Sorry I've been away for so long.

Wasn't crocheting much for a while there!

I have now finished the baby blanket for my youngest niece, and given it to her. My sister liked it very much. :) I didn't take a picture once it was done, because I was short on time and camera batteries. It looks just like the previous pictures, though, only now it's a big square. ;)

My socks are almost done!! I pretty much just have the toe and heel left to do on my second sock. I'm going to finish it within the next few days and post a pic of the finished pair. YAY!

I have now won a whole lot of yarn from the Mystical Creation Yarns ebay store. *drooool* I hadn't bought any yarn for a while, and they have some great deals at the moment, so I treated myself. I have no idea where I will put it once it arrives. I think I need to crochet myself a bigger apartment! *giggle*

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.

bookishness

Got 3 crochet books from the library today: "Crocheted Socks: 16 Fun-To-Stitch Patterns" by Janet Rehfeldt and Mary Jane Wood, "Cool Crochet" by Melissa Leapman, and "Easy Beaded Crochet" by Carol Meldrum. I am in big trouble now, because I want to buy all of them. :P I am especially enamored with "Cool Crochet," which I wasn't expecting myself to be. Most of the projects are either Intermediate or Advanced level, and I think I can do Intermediate at this point. They are just lovely. The patterns I would like to make are mostly for sweaters, and a few are for bags. *sighhh* :)

I am going to see how I feel when it comes time to return them all. If I can't live without 'em, I'll buy 'em. I'm a bit short on funds at the moment. Well, not exactly; but I've bought a lot of books lately, so I don't feel that the purchases would be justified!

The other day, I picked up "Amazing Crochet Lace: New Fashions Inspired by Old-Fashioned Lace" by Doris Chan. WOW. Beautiful patterns!

I can't wait to try the "Farpoint Topper" (top left) and "Abydos Vest" (both pics on the right side), among other things. I've even ordered the yarn for the "Farpoint Topper" already (Lion Incredible, purchased via ebay, of course! I got it in Copper Penny; the original was done in the Autumn Leaves colorway).

I also recently got "Crochet from the Heart: Quick Projects for Generous Giving" by Kristin Spurkland, which has a lot of really cute projects in it that promise to be quick to make (the hats are my favorites!). And I got "Stocking feet" from Annie's Attic, by Janet Rehfeldt, which I don't exactly recommend (but please click the link to see my scathing review! Muahahaaa).

Other than that, I am almost done with the cuff of my second sock (6.5" out of 8" finished). It's about frickin' time. ;P Sock progress has been soooo slooowww. I am looking forward to trying some patterns from the "Crocheted Socks" book. Socks seem to be harder on me than other crochet, though, perhaps because I need to concentrate harder due to the smaller hook size? I don't know. I'm only using a G hook, but the way I crochet, that's pretty darn small (yeah, I crochet pretty tightly). Especially with the back-loop-only cuff thing. That's annoying. My next pair of socks will not have this sort of cuff. Haven't decided yet if they'll be made from a book pattern, or an Internet freebie. :)

Yarn cake! (And some other stuff.)

As of 2 days ago, I am "officially" back at work, which makes me very happy. :)

On to the crochet-related stuff! I got my yarn ball winder in the mail a few days ago, and finally tried it out last night. Ooh! YARN CAKE!! :D It is so exciting. I want to post a picture of my first yarn cake--perhaps I will get to it later today. I took out this skein of variegated turquoise and dark blue sport weight yarn from MCY (also a gift from my fiance--yes, he IS the best ever). I put it around the backs of two chairs, set up the new yarn ball winder, and cranked it up. ;) It was easy! What a wonderful surprise after dealing with so many tangled yarn "muppets."

I am still working on untangling my other MCY yarn (the cotton chenille one), and it seems to be coming along quicker than expected. I cant wait to make that one into a cake, too. Heheh! I am now obsessed with yarn cakes. Well, at least I won't gain any weight from it (sorry, I had to go with the bad pun there).

I found a whole lot of Lion Suede on sale the other day, including some in Ebony, which I had never seen on sale before. ♥ I bought enough to keep some, and sell some on ebay. ;) I do have yarn in my ebay store, if anyone wants to check it out. Right now, I just have a bunch of auctions for Lion Boucle (in blueberry, rose, and parfait colors) and Bernat Sox in 4 different variegated colors; but I got more Bernat Sox to sell because I was able to get it cheap, and it seems that lots of people are looking for it. Same with Lion Suede. (Heck, there are certain colors of Lion Suede I'm still looking for--I don't have any in rose, ecru, or marine blue (at least I think that's what the blue is called), and I only have one skein of taupe and am sort of fiending for more. Haven't found the right price yet or the extra money, though!)

I am debating getting some Lion Trellis in "Night Life" to sell (yes, I have a source, and I'm not telling!! LOL), since some recent auctions for it that I've been tracking have gone very well. I really don't have the money to get it in the first place, though. Argh. I don't know.

I'm enjoying this ebay "side job" of mine--can you tell? :P

Not much to tell about WIPs, since I really haven't gotten any farther than I had the last time I posted. I've mainly been concentrating on untangling the cotton chenille. It is so pretty--I can't wait to use it! It's a beautiful mixture of purples and browns. Yum.

Successful yarn shopping in RI, and my new jewelry blog

yarn from Yarns at Lace Wings in RI
Originally uploaded by saintlex

While my fiance and I were in RI, we found this amazing yarn store called Yarns at Lace Wings. Oh my goodness. They had really nice yarn, at prices I could actually afford! I went bonkers, as evidenced by the photo. ;)

The purple tweedy yarn in the box is Tatamy Tweed. The photo didn't quite capture the color, which is a gorgeous mix of warm purples. I got enough to at least make a shrug. :) The other yarn in the box is Debbie Bliss Cathay. It was on sale, so I bought all that was left in these 2 colors! Should be enough to make something nice and stripey. In fact, I'm kind of wondering if the spiderweb cardigan would work in 2 colors, since I think I have enough to do that. We'll see.

Outside the box: the sparkly stuff on top is Berroco Jewel FX. I got 2 skeins of 2 different colors (more sale yarn, so that's what they had). SHINY! To the right of that is this AMAZING rayon boucle yarn that my beloved fiance bought for me (in a very sneaky manner, I might add!). I don't think any photo could ever do it justice. It's made by Blue Heron Yarns, and I think the colorway is called Sandstone? Anyway, I will have to figure out what I want to do with 212 yards of it. I want to make something I can wear, but 212 yards isn't enough unless I do a scarf or shawl (which I might), or mix it with another yarn.

To the right of the Blue Heron yarn is Berroco Boho Colors. I have been drooling over this stuff since I first saw the Java Jammie pattern on the Berroco web site. :) I don't think it was on sale, but I want my Java Jammie, goshdarnit! ;D The light green yarn directly to the left of the Boho Colors is a ribbon yarn by Artful Yarns. I'm a little confused about what it's called. The price tag covering the labels says "Cinema 193" and "Norman Bates." The dark green yarn directly below it is a ladder yarn, Berroco Mosaic FX.

Finally, the yarn in the plastic bag is an adorable eyelash yarn from Sweden called Funny, made by Pelsgarn (or is it the other way around? I somehow doubt that the company's name is "Funny," though).

I also bought some pretty buttons and some stitch holders, not pictured.

Then we went to Joann. Boy, was I askin' for it. :P Needless to say, I am now beyond broke (gotta love credit cards). I bought the box in the picture there, and I found the yarn I'd been looking for for the Snuggly Scarf! It was indeed Corinthian, and they had 5 skeins that looked just like the one I'd bought to make my scarf. I snapped 'em up. A pic is somewhere in the near future; right now, my camera's batteries are recharging.

I also bought a lot of beads. I used to make a lot of jewelry. Then I stopped. Now I've started up again, mainly because I am tired of wearing the same old stuff. ;)

If you'd like to see the beaded earrings I've been making lately, please head on over to my handmade jewelry blog at smiling-turtle.livejournal.com.

I also moderate a community over on LJ about fair trade/ethically made beads and jewelry supplies, which I started a long time ago when I first realized that most beads are made by people working in the worst kinds of conditions. If you bead and are at all concerned about such things, hop on over--I just posted a list of suppliers of good fair trade beads. It's a good start, even though the list hasn't been updated in a long time (but I did check the make sure the companies are still around!).

boxes 'o' yarn

box o yarn 5-16
Originally uploaded by saintlex.

The package I got yesterday from Smiley's! Hooray! That's the RH Symphony up at the top. The 5 "columns" of yarn on the left are all Bernat Sox; the 2 "columns" on the right are Bernat Handicrafter Cotton.

So very very exciting!

And nine balls of Lion Trellis that I got for a steal on ebay:

I was so excited that I ripped the box! ;D

Smiley's Yarns makes me all smiley!!

Remember that load of yarn I ordered from Smiley's Yarns that I posted about just the other day? It's already here! Granted, it didn't have to travel far--they're in Queens, NY--but I am so very impressed. And overjoyed. The Bernat Sox colors are only OK, in my opinion, but it was cheap and now I get to make socks. :)

The Red Heart Symphony yarn is nice and fuzzy and should work well for the capelet I want to make with it.

The Bernat Handicrafter Cotton? YUM. Will have to make some nice things with it. I have some good colors for stripes. Hmmmm.

I have been working on the Spiderweb Cardigan from my last post. It took me a relatively short time to realize that my gauge was actually WAY smaller than what the pattern called for! Frog time. Ribbit. I am going to try using my K hook instead of the H. I even wanted to try my L hook, after what people have said about too-small armholes; but I can't find it! *gasp* I'll just have to see what happens with the K. This pattern is going to be quite the experiment for me. Maybe not the best choice for my first sweater, but I love a challenge. ;)

nice yarn versus...

Yesterday, I decided that I really wanted to make this sweater from the spring 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet:



I had already known I wanted to make it, but I had thought I would bide my time. Suddenly, yesterday, it became "Now now NOW!" Oy vey.

I did not own the amount of sport weight yarn called for in this project, much less the amount of fancy-schmancy sport weight cotton yarn called for. So I made a deal with myself. After spending some time at last night's KUTI meeting (which was lovely, but I had to leave early 'cause I wasn't feeling well), I decided that, if I could find suitable yarn for the sweater at the Wal-Mart across the street for $10 or less, I could make the sweater.

Imagine my excitement when I found sport weight Red Heart "Baby Soft" yarn, and enough of it only cost me 7 bucks! Sweet, right?

Not really.

The yarn is crappy. I mean, maybe it's OK for certain other projects, but it is not soft (funny that), and of course it is not at all cotton-like (100% acrylic). I am making the sweater out of it anyway--it's my first sweater, so I may as well use a very affordable yarn because I may well screw it up. And if it turns out right, it will still look pretty, but it won't have anywhere near the same nice drape that the cotton would.

*sigh*

I am considering getting enough worsted weight cotton yarn for the sweater and just using a smaller hook, but I'll see what this one comes out like first.

Are there any affordable, easy-to-find sport weight cotton yarns out there? I haven't seen 'em, but that doesn't mean they're not there... ;)