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!

Playing catch-up

Wow, it's been almost a year since I last posted! Oops. Sorry, dear readers. Also, happy Valentine's Day!

I have been doing much with the yarn (and not much with the beads) since my last post. I stopped doing anything with either hobby for a while, actually, until a close friend of mine had a baby last October and I decided to make a sun hat for the baby. That got the creative juices flowing again.



Hat made with Lily Sugar N Cream yarn. Free pattern can be found here.

After that, I made a Bellflower Infinity Scarf. I was loving the way it was turning out as I worked on it, but I am less satisfied with the finished result. I used Red Heart Soft yarn for it, which is acrylic, and I am way too scared to block acrylic (or anything, for that matter, but especially acrylic), so of course I didn't block it. As a result, it is sort of sloppy and bunchy. Also, the part at the end of the pattern where you slip-stitch the ends of the scarf together resulted in an ugly seam. I don't know if that's because I somehow did it wrong, or if it's just supposed to have an ugly seam! Either way, when I wear it, I keep the seam in the back.





More to come very soon.

Insert witty title here

Once again, "real life" has been interfering with my crocheting and beading adventures. *sigh* I keep planning to do more interesting crochet stuff, but I'm still just making that one darn scarf for the children's hospital. If you're on Ravelry, you can check out the pattern here. It's called "Skinny Cabled Scarf." Lots of front and back post double crochet, making a reversible cabled pattern. It's pretty cool, but it takes a while. I've also pretty much only been working on it at Stitch & Bitch. The other ladies have been stitching up a storm, so we may actually make our goal of two dozen scarf and hat sets by Valentine's Day, despite my delinquency. :P

Don't know when I'm ever going to start that baby hat for my family friend's grandson. Maybe when he's about 2 years old? OK, now I'm just being mean to myself. I'll get to it eventually--and I'll make it big-ish, and he'll grow into it. I hope that's a good plan. Anyway, a baby hat shouldn't take me too long to make. (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that.)

Meanwhile, since I last posted, I've made a bracelet to match that cool green ceramic bead necklace. Here's a pic:

I plan to list it and the necklace soon. I also made a bracelet to match the unakite necklace. It's a little long, since I wanted it to have a clasp to match the one on the necklace, and I didn't want to make it too short. After all, I can always shorten it for a customer; I can't lengthen it without re-stringing it. But I'd be willing to do that for a customer as well, of course.

I've also made a whole bunch of stitch markers. I made a set with a Valentine's Day theme, a set with Czech flower beads in 3 different colors, and some purple butterflies, among others. They'll all be listed in my Etsy store soon. Here's a photo of those Czech flower bead markers:

These can also be 3 pairs of earrings, if you'd prefer! I actually had a customer order 6 coffee bean stitch markers because she wanted 3 pairs of coffee bean earrings. The lever back earring hooks are great. These stitch markers/earrings are much cheaper than what I usually make, because the head pins are base metal and the lever back hooks are silver plated. I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to my jewelry-making materials, and will usually use sterling silver or gold filled for jewelry before I'll use "base metal" (confession: I don't even know exactly what that means, besides inexpensive!) or metal plated. (Though I've been thinking about branching out into copper and brass.)

I've also been doing a lot of soul searching when it comes to the jewelry business and how I want to run it and what my goals are. I've been reading loads of books and websites. I bought a book called The Handmade Marketplace the other day, because I'd been reading it in the bookstore and thought it was helpful enough that I wanted to own it. Thanks to the book, I finally understand the concept of "branding," which I really didn't before.

I also need to contact my accountant (she doesn't even know I've started a business!) and make an appointment with a SCORE representative.

Also, I bought a really cute little Sony Vaio laptop for the purpose of watching beading and wire work tutorial videos while I'm actually working on said beading or wire work. I got a very good deal on the computer. Because of the layout of our apartment, my desktop computer is not anywhere near my jewelry/stitch marker workspace, so watching tutorials on that would be useless unless I had a really good memory--which I don't. ;)

And now I must bid you adieu so I can go do "real life," non-crafty things. Boooo.

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.

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*

Tangled yarn, and missing KUTI

My fiance bought me some incredible Cotton Chenille yarn from Mystical Creation Yarns a while back. As a crochet novice, having never worked with a skein like this before as opposed to a store-bought yarn ball/skein of inexpensive yarn, I totally messed up the ball winding process. Now, I am stuck with a pretty tangled skein of really gorgeous yarn. :(

I ordered a yarn ball winder the other day, so I'll have that soon; but can it help me with a tangled skein of yarn? Can anything? I've spent hours already trying to unwind it; it seems like I unwind about a foot (or maybe a yard, if I'm lucky) of yarn per hour. *sigh* I don't want to just give up, because it was a very special gift and I love the yarn so much. Buying another skein wouldn't be the same. But I can't spend forever trying to untangle it, either!

Any advice?

I've become a pretty solitary crocheter these days. My health problems have gotten somewhat better now that they've been diagnosed and I'm on meds, but that just means that I make it to work for a few hours if I'm lucky. I keep thinking I'll be able to go to KUTI meetings, and then I just don't feel well enough.

Today, I didn't even make it to work...but if I had, I probably would have been too drained and sick afterward to go to the meeting. *sigh* I miss the group. I want to be a part of it again. I am lonely. And crotchety. Wahhh.

I am still working on the baby blanket and the socks. Slow going these days. That's due to a number of things: being extremely tired, having another hobby that takes up a lot of my time, having to spend a lot of time listing things on ebay, and trying to work again. The blanket's within an inch or two of getting to its desired length, though; then I will just have the hood left to make, if I decide I even want to do that. I really like the thickness of it and think it would make a good playmat, so I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the hood. I might do some purple edging, though.

As for the socks, I'm not done with the cuff of my second sock yet. It'll go quickly when I really get down to it, though. I'm just easily distracted these days.

baby blanket 6-28-07

baby blanket 6-28-07
Originally uploaded by saintlex

I am almost done!! :) Just a few more inches to go.













Here's a close-up pic of the pattern:

Sock progress and blanket progress

I finally picked up my sock again tonight. I am now almost finished with the first one; I just have the heel and a little bit of the toe left to do. I am pleased to report that it seems like it will fit! :) I've been trying it on at all its various stages. If it does fit, let's hope I can make one that matches. Heheh.

I am not overly impressed with the Bernat Sox yarn I've been using. Yeah, I know, it was cheap. It's probably not the best quality stuff in the world. But the center-pull skein keeps getting all tangled up in itself. I can't get the other end of the yarn to stay awaaaaaay from my WIP! Grrr.

I am also still working on the baby blanket. It's getting close to being done. I had no idea it would take this long! Anything for the baby, though. ;) I got to hold her for a while the other day. ♥ ♥ ♥

I confess that I have been terrible at keeping up with others' blogs lately. I've been selling a lot of things on ebay (mostly jewelry-making supplies), and trying to take care of some health problems. I hope to get some good reading time in soon.

I am such a happy swapper. :)

My first swap was completed today--I got my book in the mail (Encyclopedia of Crochet! Yeah baby!!), and she got her yarn in the mail today, too! :) What good luck. We both sent our packages out on Saturday.

I am verrrry happy with my new book, and can't wait to try out a whole bunch of new stitches. I hope my swap partner is happy with the yarn.

And I'm in the middle of a swap with someone else. I'm giving her a whole bunch of jewelry findings and beads in exchange for a knit & crochet book and (what else?) YARRRRRN. :D Some cotton sock yarn that sounds yummy, and violet Fun Fur! Whee!

I like this swapping stuff!!

We saw my sister's new baby the other day. She is beautiful. (As are all of my sister's children! I am not kidding--they have the most gorgeous kids. I may be biased, but wow, they are cuties.) My sister and brother-in-law loved the booties I'd made, and my sis says she'll take a picture of the little one wearing them. I can't wait to see those little feet in the little booties. Awwwww.

I will definitely be making more of those booties. I can't help myself.

yarn for sale or swap

I bought this Araucania Nature Wool (color 47 - turquoise) at a yarn store not long after I first started crocheting. I was just thinking about how pretty it was, not about how I can't wear wool and how no one I know can, either, and how crocheting with it would probably make my fingers itchy. D'OH!

Now, I would like to either sell or swap it. I'd ebay it, but I'm reluctant to do that because I think this yarn deserves better! ;) If you'd like it (I'm giving those who read this blog first dibs), let me know how much you would be willing to pay for it, or what cool non-wool yarn you'd be willing to swap it for. What would be especially great would be if I could swap it for a functional yarn ball winder.

After this post has been up for a bit, I'll probably also post this in some LiveJournal communities; but like I said, first dibs to you folks!

Not much else to report here. Still working away at that baby blanket, which is now more than halfway done.

Back to work, baby blankie, and a request for flower patterns

My Meez is knitting at the office. *giggle* I've been sick for a while, but I made it in to work yesterday afternoon and will be doing the same today. I won't actually be crocheting at work, but my Meez can get away with it. ;)

I am almost halfway done with the blanket for the new baby. It's a very easy pattern, but it takes a while. It will be a very warm blanket, which I guess will be more useful in the winter...though it would also make a good playmat. It's nice and thick. It's going to have a hood, but who cares if it's a hooded playmat? It's all good.

Tomorrow, my fiance and I are heading out to RI for the wedding of one of my best friends, in which I am a bridesmaid. Before we go, I need to have made a black flower brooch to fasten my sash (our bridesmaid outfits have cute sashes) and a pair of earrings to match the necklace I'm going to wear. The earrings will be easy--I already know what I'm going to do--but I don't know about the flower. *gulp* I've never tried one of those before. I'm not even sure which pattern I should use. I'll be using Caron Simply Soft, and I want a flower that will be about 3 inches in diameter.

Any suggestions for a pattern that would yield that result?

I'm gonna sew beads onto it afterward (I'd start crocheting with beads, but I don't want to do that with a first attempt, since I won't really know how it'll look till I'm done).

I had to miss last night's KUTI meeting. I'd had every intention of going, and then it turned out that the air conditioner repair guy could come fix my A/C sometime around 7 PM, and I had to go for it 'cause it's been HOT in my apartment. I stopped in at our meeting place at around 6:15 and didn't see anyone there yet, though evidently there was a group member in line buying her dinner. D'oh.

It's just as well that I didn't see her, though, 'cause I would have hung out and talked for a little while...and meanwhile, the A/C guy was already at my place! He'd forgotten to take my cell phone number with him, so he was there waiting when I got home at about 6:30. He did a great job with the A/C (and didn't charge much!). YAY!

I put hearts on them.

baby mary janes with hearts
Originally uploaded by saintlex

I just could not help myself! :) Ooh, I can't wait to see those little baby feet in 'em.













I found instructions for the heart appliques here: Suzetta's Heart Motif

A pair of Mary Janes!

baby mary jane - pair
Originally uploaded by saintlex

Yay, I finished them! :) I am still thinking about putting some kind of tiny applique on them (a heart or flower or something), but I should probably work on the baby blanket instead. I'd really like to have it done on time.

Baby Mary Jane!

baby mary jane
Originally uploaded by saintlex

I was thinking about the baby booties last night. The one I'd been working on was coming out nicely, but it was big and thick and warm-looking, and this baby is being born in the spring. I realized that it would probably be a better idea to make something the baby could wear in the spring and summer.

I started looking for patterns, and I came up with one for "Fake Mary Janes." I couldn't resist!

I whipped this one up pretty quickly, though it took me a little while to get the hang of it. The pattern calls for an I hook, but I had to use a K hook, and the sole still came out to only 3 inches (the pattern says the sole should be 3.5"). I am a fairly tight crocheter, and I guess the designer crochets more loosely than most? I don't know what's "normal," or if there is any such thing. ;) Anyway, I am sure the second Mary Jane will be even easier to make. :)

This is Caron Simply Soft yarn; can't remember the color name, but it's more purple than it looks in this picture.

These baby Ugg boot booties are the cutest things I've ever seen.

I now know what to make my youngest niece for the holidays! (I'm mainly posting this so I don't forget, and so others can see the pattern...)

WsIP: bit of a baby blanket and boxy baby booties

How was that for alliteration?! ;P

Here's a pic of the baby blanket I'm working on for my newest niece, who has yet to be born:

It's Lion Pound of Love yarn; I'm making this with the hooded baby blanket pattern from the label. It can also be found on the Lion web site.

And some baby booties I started working on today--I've only got one about halfway done:

The yarn at the top is a stitch marker for the instep. They're gonna have cuffs and pompoms. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting "Crochet Basics" (see sidebar if you're curious). I'm using Caron Simply Soft and an F hook (the pattern calls for a G hook and sport weight yarn).

And just for fun, here's the Lion Homespun yarn in Candy Apple that I received yesterday.

Isn't the color gorgeous? Not what I'd expected, and nowhere near as soon as I'd expected it, but very nice indeed. (I think it will make a lovely poncho for my oldest niece. I even have the pattern picked out!)

And another update!

Now I'm not sure if the "mystery color" of Lion Homespun is indeed Mexicana, or if it was a skein of Corinthian that just came out looking different from the others. I've done a lot of Google-ing on this very important issue, and it appears that many items made out of Corinthian come out in colors very similar to my beloved snuggly scarf.

Hmmmmm.

In other crochet-related news, I've been working on a "Pound of Love" hooded baby blanket for my newest niece, who should be arriving any day now. I am not even halfway done! *gulp* Luckily, it's not my only gift for the baby. ;) I bought a really cute gift set with little short-sleeved bodysuits and socks to match. I'm also going to make some easy baby booties.

Yay!

I am still working on that present for a friend of mine...looks like it may not be done by the date I was aiming for. Arghhhh. She may just have to wait. That kind of sucks. But the gift is taking longer to work up than I'd expected.

And there is another friend for whom I'd really like to make a gift, but that one will definitely be late for it's intended occasion. Well, we'll see how all this works out. After all, I do still have that spiderweb cardi to make for myself, and my 2 bags to work on, and my socks!

I also really want to make a black crocheted flower brooch (I'm planning to sew some beads onto it, too) to fasten my sash with for my bridesmaid's outfit for my friend D's wedding. The outfits are so cute--long turquoise skirts, black sleeveless tops with sweetheart necklines, and turquoise sashes. And I'm making my own jewelry. I already have a necklace I made that goes perfectly; I'll just need some matching earrings and the brooch, and I'll be good to go.

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!