Golden Sweater--Third Time's a Charm!

Whew!  I finally have a sweater out of the Rowan Purelife Organic Wool I bought over two years ago!  I found 10 skeins on sale at Yarndogs in Los Gatos, in a pretty camel color--Alder Buckthorn, and I bought it with a pattern in mind.   This is the third attempt at making a sweater out of this yarn.  Nothing wrong with the yarn (a little separation of the strands but I still like it!), everything wrong with ME!

Concur by Berroco

My first attempt was this cute cardi, Concur by Berroco.  I even had some big vintage turquoise buttons which looked awesome with the camel yarn.  I was using a gold Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend for the cuffs and bottom hem.  I ran into trouble during the picking-up-stitches stage....I was an inexperienced knitter and did it incorrectly.  Too many stitches picked up.  Then I got lost at the button band.  So I put it away in a bag and found it again last year.

I frogged the whole thing and used most of the gold Manos for a crocheted version of the Just Enough Ruffles scarf, which turned out beautifully if I do say so myself.

I started making Irish Coffee by Thea Colman.  SO CUTE!  But, I got only so far into it, and realized my gauge wasn't right.   And, I wasn't loving the Purelife with this pattern.  (The pattern, by the way, is fabulous!)  So I'll choose a better yarn in the future--perhaps some MadTosh.  I frogged the Purelife again.







So here we are, two years later (at least), from the original purchase date.  I learned a new crochet stitch at the beginning of the summer and I love it!  It's a crossed half double crochet, and you cross it by making a second stitch around the post of the previous stitch of the same row.  Super cool!  I tried a swatch with the Purelife and it was gorgeous.

Crossed half-double crochet alternating with a row of single crochet (US)

So I made up my own pattern, using a basic drop-shoulder construction.  I did taper the sleeves, and I added that same gold Manos for some trim.  I love the result!   It's really soft and squishy, and I just love the color.  You may not see me in the sweater anytime soon, it's a little tight.  Sad, sad, sad.  It looks great on my sister-in-law, though!  We made a deal that if I didn't wear it by Christmas, it would be hers.  Read: if I don't start losing some weight, it's hers.  There's motivation for you!

Neckline detail (right) and hem detail (left)

Embellished Espadrilles

What to do with all those Irish Crochet motifs???  I had a little chat with some of the ladies on the Irish Crochet Lovers forum about the motifs we make on the CAL's.  Some of them have a sample book that they keep all the motifs in.  Melba is arranging hers on a thrift-store purse.  It looks great!  She's using all different shades of brown, and all different motifs.  I've been saving mine in a little ziplock, unsure of how to use them.  The ladies got me thinking, and I decided to sew some onto a pair of espadrilles and I love the result!

Irish Crochet Together Blog Challenge Project

detail of Valentino fabric

Over at irishcrochettogether.blogspot.com we had a little challenge and this one was based on the gorgeous Valentino dress that Cameron Diaz modeled on the cover of InStyle magazine.  I learned quite a bit but I don't think I love the final product.

I love my main motif.  I made this with Blue Heron Yarns 100 percent Egyptian cotton.  I love LOVE this "yarn".  It's a 2-ply lace weight that is comparable to an eight or maybe a three-weight cotton thread.  It's shiny and soft and the color transitions are gorgeous.  It was liberating to crochet this.  I used the leaf shapes from the Valentino fabric as inspiration here.  This was free-form and FUN-- quite a change from deciphering all the antique IC patterns I had been working on.

For my background, I wanted a filled rectangle, but I wasn't sure how to do it.  First, I basted the motif to a base fabric.  I knew I was going to use the Habu Textiles Silk thread that I bought in SF for the background, and I knew I wanted to include some Clones Knots.  I started filling in the round part at the bottom of the motif with Clones Knots.  After I did that I thought it looked distracting, so I opted for surrounding the motif with a border of Clones Knots instead, and filled the round part with plain, diamond-shaped filling stitches.



I liked the four-spoked cross pattern in the inspiration fabric, so I used a shamrock type filling stitch to mimic that.  I first made the outer edge, which is the Egyptian cotton over PC (single crochet with picots).  I pinned it out to the size I wanted around the motif.

I started the shamrock filling at the bottom, went up the right side, then started again over to the left (and ripped out and re-made what you see here).  I then filled in the last rows on the top.  I learned that this silk pulls apart easily and does not rip out easily.  I haven't practiced filling stitches very often and I really need to continue to work on them!

challenge piece detail

finished challenge piece

The final piece is about 6 x 10 inches.  New techniques for me were: free-form crochet, shamrock filling stitch, and working into a corded edging.

I learned that half-double crochet doesn't look very good in IC motifs.  It makes a raised bar that I love in other projects, but the texture doesn't add much where I used it this time.

TIP:  I used my laptop portable desk by Belkin as my work surface while doing the filling stitches.  It is slanted a bit, and made of a fabric covered foam on a rigid backing.  I could pin right into it and the slant facilitated working the stitches!

Pillows for the Kids

We moved last month and I think we are finally at the point where I can start crocheting and blogging again without feeling guilty about ALL THOSE BOXES!  After the June WIP-up, I realized I did not have any easy, meditative projects going, so I pulled out the acrylic and made the kids some pillows to match their yarn blankies.  They went really quickly, and the kids had fun "helping" me decide on color choice and placement.

front of pillows with their respective yarn blankies

For Miss E's pillow, I made a motif which combined an Irish Rose with a circle in a square pattern, then I joined them together with contrasting yarn.  I'm thinking this might be a good pattern to post on Ravelry...add that one to my list!  For Mister M's pillow, I did the basic granny square and continued around and around.

back of pillows

For the back of Miss E's pillow, I just half-double crocheted stripes.  For the edging, I single crocheted both sides together then did a shell stitch.  The back of Mister M's pillow is the Vintage Vertical Stripe pattern.  Then I just did a plain join around in black.

June WIP-up

I'll be writing a monthly works-in-progress post, so I can FINISH things!!!  After I gathered my projects yesterday, I realized that I'm not working on anything fun and easy.  No meditative crocheting!  I'll have to find a project for that.  Here's what I'm working on.  

Clockwise from top left:  Irish Crochet top in large thread;  scarves to write patterns for; Irish Crochet Together Blog Challenge; Miss E's top...must remake bodice; striped top....must replace bottom beginning chain...too tight and doesn't lay right.

UPDATE (July 17, 2012):  I did fix the stripe top, and will be posting a tutorial for replacing a beginning chain.  I also finished my blog challenge piece!  The others....no progress.

Birthday Blankie

Birthday Blankie

I made this last year for Miss E, just in time for her birthday.  It didn't start out as a birthday blankie, but I rushed to finish it in time for her 6th.  With lots of encouragement from her.  "Are you working on my blankie?"  "Mommy, why don't you work on my yarn blankie?"  "Here Mommy, here's your crocheting."

Miss E's bedroom fabrics

I used Lucy's Neat Ripple Pattern and Stylecraft Special DK acrylic yarn.  I love this yarn for blankies!  It's lighter weight than our standard US acrylics from the big box stores, and the price is right.  The color selection is amazing, but sometimes all colors are not in stock.  I ordered my Stylecraft from Deramores in the UK.  At the time, there was a Rav coupon and free shipping to the US.  It was so exciting to receive the packages in the mail.  The kids pulled out all the skeins and started making "yarn trains" through the house.

My color inspiration was Miss E's coverlet and valance that I had sewed up a couple of years ago.  Of course, she wanted PINK, but I managed to talk her into adding some turquoise and green.  I'm pretty sure we ordered one of each pink shade that was available!  Then to temper all that pink-ness and bright turquoise-y-ness, I chose a yellow and a camel just in case.  It was difficult choosing colors online.  I like to lay things out and move them around when I decide on colors.   Once the yarn arrived, I was able to play with it, and lay out different color sequences.  I originally wanted to use a random sequence...well, something that looked random (but of course, is not, because I can't do random).  Miss E wanted a rainbow though, and since it was her blankie, a rainbow we have.

Miss E's Rainbow sequence                        Random (not really) sequence                            Light-Dark sequence

As you can see, color placement really affects the final look of the blanket.  I recommend laying out your skeins in different ways to see what sequence you prefer.  I've been known to sit in the aisle at the yarn store and make pretty rows while contemplating my color choices.  Doing a sketch with colored pencils is another way to visualize your color sequence.  It doesn't have to be a real drawing, just coloring thick stripes on your paper will help you to see.  Another method would be to cut out colored strips of paper and rearrange them.  Take a picture with your phone of sequences that you like so that you can recreate them.  (This works when you are arranging skeins too!)  Don't be afraid of color, have fun with it!!!

Love these together!

Happy Mother's Day!

 

I woke up to little voices saying "Happy Mother's Day!"  Miss E (almost 7) and Mr. M (5) then went out and admonished me to stay put.  Soon they came back in, Miss E carrying a tray with a blueberry Eggo waffle, all toasted and buttered, and a bowl of coffee ice cream with a chocolate egg in it.  Breakfast in bed!  Mr. M had made me a card that said "Mommy, I love you" with all sorts of happy face pictures around it.  What a great start to my day!

My mom and her husband then came over for brunch, and she and I cooked together, making "scrambied" eggs,  bacon (the maple kind), pancakes, berries and "Promosas" (prosecco and oj).  We had a pretty table, yummy food, and very nice company.  But wait, there's more!

So. I have the best husband in the world (aka TBHITW), and he said for Mother's Day my gift was CASH to go shopping at Nordstrom!  Hooray!  I am sadly in need of some new clothes.  Then we decided I would go shopping ALONE (hooray again!) and that I could also have some CASH to go to Imagiknit in San Francisco.  ALONE!  See ya, family!  I love them, but really, mommy needs her alone time.

At Nordy's I didn't find much.  Murphy's Law, when you have money to spend, they don't have your size.  So the sandals I had been eyeing online were not available but I found a cute pair of gold t-straps.  Also found a cute pair of dark purple linen shorts.  They are pretty short but they are really cute!  Did I say they were cute?  (They are)  I ended up getting some tanks and tees at Target with the rest of my CASH.

Ok, now for the good part.  I drove up to the city, singing loudly the whole way (remember:  ALONE!).  Imagiknit is in the Castro, but a few blocks off the busy area.  Parking is a little challenging, but I got lucky and found a spot nearby.  The store is on the corner of Sanchez and 18th and it looks pretty small from the outside, but wow, when you get in there, look out!  There are two rooms, with very high ceilings, and very high shelves, packed full of yarn.  Luckily I'm super tall so I could reach all the yarn, but I don't know what you would do if you were a shortie.  The store is organized by weight of yarn and also by type of fiber.  The first room has the cash register (needles and hooks behind the counter), and has animal yarn and fiber.  They must have every color of MadTosh ever made.  There are many luxury yarns and also staples like Cascade 220.  I saw quite a few local yarns, some others that I had only seen online, and many that I had never heard of.  The second room has plant-based and man-made yarn, and a large selection of books.  They have a good sale section too; it looked like most things were 25 percent off and there was quite a bit to choose from.

I had heard some negative feedback on their customer service, so I was prepared to be snubbed, but the people there were quite pleasant, yay!  The owner was there and she was friendly and helpful to everyone who came in.  They didn't greet me immediately but I don't mind that.  Three people were working and each one at some point did ask me if I needed help finding anything.   When I told one person that I hadn't been to the store before, he excitedly pointed out some Malabrigio that was exclusive to the store.  I wandered back and forth between the two rooms and finally chose a few items.  I tried to select yarns that I couldn't get here at my nearby LYS.  They don't wind your yarn for you, but there is a swift and ball winder that customers can use.  They set up my yarn for me on the swift and I wound up my 1,000 yards of Egyptian cotton.

The first room:  animal fibers.  This is part of one wall.  There is probably three times more yarn on the other walls.

The second room:  plant-based and man-made fibers.  The wall to the right is just as full!

My haul today was pretty modest but of excellent quality and was under budget too!  On the left is a small cone of 100 percent silk from Habu Textiles.  The large ball is my 1,000 yards of Egyptian cotton from Blue Heron Yarns. It's hand-dyed shades of light greens and blues.  I'll be using the two of these together on my Irish Crochet Together Challenge.  The two small skeins were on sale, and are Twisted Sisters Petite Voodoo Special Limited Edition 50-50 Merino and Silk.  This yarn is so incredibly soft!  I was thinking maybe a lacy long cowl or something...

This happy mommy came home in time for dinner.  I hope you had a great day too!