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!

new Snuggly Scarves

Mom wearing her new scarf
Originally uploaded by saintlex

I know it's been forever since I last posted. Sorry. :-/

I haven't been doing anything very exciting, crochet-wise. I did, however, make a whole bunch of Snuggly Scarves (thanks again to Deneen!) in various shades of Lion Homespun. Here's my mom wearing the one I gave her for Chanukah! I believe this colorway is called Barley. I also gave one to my sister, in Tudor. I didn't know what color her winter coat was, but luckily for us, it matches! :) And I gave one to my boss, as well. That one was in Sierra; at least, it was labeled Sierra. It looks completely different from the other skeins of Sierra I've seen in the stores, though. *shrug*

Also made one for a friend and am in the process of making another for a friend. No more details on those, though, since I haven't gotten to exchange gifts with them yet. (I doubt they're reading this, but I'm paranoid!)

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!).

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.

Grandma needs a snuggly scarf

My 91-year-old grandmother visited last weekend. When I picked her up from the train station, I gave her my snuggly scarf to hang onto, since I was too warm wearing it in the car. She put it on.

It looked so pretty on her. That particular yarn combines all of the colors that look best on her! I never would have realized it if she hadn't put it on.

I would've given it to her then and there, but I didn't want to have a cold neck. ;) So I've ordered more Lion Homespun in "Candy Apple," and am going to make her the same scarf. Yes, my grandma and I will be "scarf twins." Heehee! :)

The "snuggly scarf" pattern comes from Deneen S., by the way. LOVE that pattern. Will be making many more of those as gifts.

My "Snuggly Scarf"

After I finished making this very same scarf in a different color for my friend J, I made one for myself. This time, the color I used was Candy Apple. I love it!



Here it is with my winter coat and gloves:



And some close-ups:

My first crochet projects...

Time to post some projects in chronological order. ;) Here's the first project I ever made, a potholder. Very exciting, I know. (Well, it is useful!) I made it with Peaches & Creme cotton yarn.



Next project: a scarf for myself. I really wanted to make a scarf for my friend J, but I was having trouble and knew I needed to try making one as a "rough draft" with the pattern I wanted to use (the fabulous Snuggly Scarf pattern!). Good thing I did, 'cause I screwed it up! It still looks pretty, though; it's just a little less snuggly than it's supposed to be.



Made with Lion Homespun yarn, in Tudor. Here's another pic:



Clicking on the pictures will take you to my pictures on Flickr.