Category: Knitting and Crochet

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Knitting and Crochet Shopping

Kitties and fibers and LYSs, oh my!



Gabby admires my yarn haul from WEBS

Remember that trip to WEBS that I took back in late December? The one right after Christmas? No? Probably because I glossed right over it–too holiday-weary to write out a long involved post, I’m afraid. But finally, here is a picture of what I came away with, with my sister’s cat Gabby keep a very careful eye over it all. Isn’t it pretty? It raises the dead! (Ok, not, but in my head, that’s what logically follows “isn’t it pretty?”)

The white and maroon balls on the left are Amherst Yarn in UMass Amherst colors–they are currently on their way to becoming a granny square scarf. The autumn-colored hanks in the middle were purchased by my sister so I could make her a lacy scarf. The rest of it–the purples, the oranges, the whispy multis at the top–all caught my eye for one reason or another, and I don’t know yet what I’ll be doing with each (per usual).

So, that’s the WEBS stash! Can’t wait to go back next year!

In other, more dire, news, I have a mission today, and it’s a very dangerous mission. You see, my friend Kristen would like a hat to match the scarf I made her for her birthday. I would love to oblige her, but to be honest, there wasn’t enough yarn left over after the scarf to make anything bigger than a head band. This is where the mission comes in: I have to walk into a yarn store today. Worse, it’s my favorite yarn store. ?!!! I’m doomed! I can’t just walk into my favorite store, buy one ball, and walk back out again without browsing! It’s inconceivable! And I know what you’re thinking–WEBS has that very yarn on sale, just order it! It’ll arrive in the mail! Safe as houses! Except, WEBS is sold out of the chocolate brown, which is the color I need the most.

It’s going to be scary, and I’m not sure how I’ll make it out with my bank account still in the black. I’m toying with the plan of leaving all my debit and credit cards at home, and walking in with only a $20 bill. That could work.

Or maybe a fifty. That would work much better, don’t you think?

*THUNK*

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Blogs Knitting and Crochet

Posting a finished hat through Flickr's "Blog This"!



Todd wearing his new hat
Originally uploaded by BronzePolgara

I configured my Flickr today to post directly to my knitting blog, so this is me, testing it out. Sadly, you can’t choose tags/categories in this window, so I’ll still have to sign in to edit a little, but I think I might post more often if I’m posting directly from a photo page.

This is the hat I made for my brother-in-law for (after) Christmas. It’s double-stranded Patons wool, ribbed brim with a stockinette base. I was afraid the 80-stitch cast-on might’ve made it too big, but I think it was just right. Not happy with the little peak at the top, though.

Also, I should probably mention that I did NOT chicken out Thursday night and did, in fact, go to the WeHo SnB group at the Farmer’s Market. It was scary, I’ll admit–I expected maybe six people, and there were closer to 20 people there–but I grabbed an empty chair, pulled out my crochet, and even managed to spit out a sentence or two before the night was over. And, I met Ellen Bloom, whose blog I’ve been reading for almost a year, so that was cool too. Which reminds me, I have to go look up the shawl she was working on, it was beautiful–Serephim? Serephina? Something like that.

I can’t say that I fit in right away, since it takes me awhile to warm up to new people and start acting like myself, but I do plan on going again next week, so I call it a win!

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Knitting and Crochet

My To Do list for 2008

brown house near pine trees covered with snow
Photo by Adriaan Greyling on Pexels.com

I am home now, yay! Well, home as in Los Angeles–at this very second, I’m actually at work.

I have a list of things I need to accomplish before I can do my own projects again:

  • a scarf for my sister using yarn she purchased at Webs a couple of weeks ago and a pattern from a crochet magazine (Crochet Today? Interweave Crochet? I forget, they all blend together for me);
  • a hat, also for my sister, to match the scarf I gave her for Xmas, using the leftover Lion Suede;
  • and a hat for my friend K to match the scarf I gave her for her birthday (fingers crossed that there’s enough yarn left over).

I think I’m free as a bird after that to tackle my own projects, such as:

  • finishing my UMass scarf;
  • doing something, I don’t know what, with the yarn I bought from Webs;
  • tackling my first-ever sweater (I already have the yarn, I just need a pattern);
  • finishing my gazillion WIPs;
  • and a little (translation: verra ambitious) project I’ve been contemplating for awhile, an intarsia wall-hanging (haven’t decided on a pattern yet–I waver between two or three color movie-poster-theme and multi-color recreation of a work of art).

That last one is the one I’m most excited about, but it really will be a big and scary undertaking (that will require much yarn to boot), so I don’t know when that one will happen.  Hopefully in 2008, though.

I also have to figure out what to do with my now largish collection of felted handbags, since I didn’t give away nearly as many as I’d expected to for the holidays.  I don’t need that many bags myself, that’s for sure, but I don’t feel comfortable selling them since all but one were made from other people’s patterns. I may yet find people to give them to, or I may use them for some charitable purpose. Or, I may continue my lazy ways, stick them in a bag in a closet, and forget about them until next Christmas. Who knows?

GabbyAnd finally, since this blog is horribly boring enough without including any photos, here’s a picture of my sister’s cat Gabby.  Gabby likes to talk (a lot!), is always begging for food, and has the largest eyes any of us have ever seen on a cat.  In fact, her vet even examined them for oddities since even he had never seen such large eyes and was afraid she might be in pain (no evidence of this, though).

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Knitting and Crochet Shopping

2008, so far

Don’t look now, but I’m closing in on post #100! 11 more posts after this one, woot! I should probably do something to celebrate, but I don’t know what–I’ll have to think on it.

I’ve been contemplating the new year, as I’m sure everyone has, and trying to decide what I want to try to accomplish this year, or if I even want to try to set goals. Let’s face it, few people actually stick to the goals they set on January 1st, and I’m no exception. Of course, 2007 was the year when I finally learned to crochet, so goals aren’t always useless.  I haven’t been over-the-moon happy with my life for a long time, so obviously something needs tweaking, so I’ve been trying to compartmentalize stuff to set specific tasks for each aspect of my life.

One of my new goals that’s near, if not at, the top of my list is to meet new people, and to that end, I’m going to try to go to the WeHo stitch and bitch group once I return to L.A. (I’m still in Massachusetts with my family.) I’m terrible at meeting new people, as it requires effort and I’m notoriously lazy (and poor), but the SnB group is near where I live, doesn’t cost anything, and, as an added bonus, I’ll already have something in common with the group. And hopefully, now that I’ve “said” it out loud, I’ll actually do it.

ION, yesterday I taught my friend Jane to crochet, one year and two days after I taught her to knit. We did chains and single crochet for awhile, then she pulled out my Happy Hooker book and taught herself to double crochet a circle. She’s getting on a plane in a couple of hours, where she will hopefully continue practicing her loops and chains.  I love sharing my crafts, and am very grateful to her for her desire to learn new stuff.

Earlier this week, I finished a wool hat for my brother-in-law–forest green knit cap with a ribbed brim and a stockinette body.  I’ve finished seven granny squares for a new scarf in UMass Amherst colors (maroon and white). I started a new sc scarf with a wool/soy blend from…Patons? Bernat? The yarn is on the table and I’m too lazy to get up and look. (Jane and I were at Michael’s a couple of days ago, and I couldn’t resist the 30% off all yarn sale.) It’s a self-striping yarn, ’cause I’ve been getting tired of working in solids.

And in completely non-yarn-related news, my face feels like it’s been sandblasted.  I hate having a cold.

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Knitting and Crochet Shopping

The one where I visit the largest yarn store EVAH

close up photography of colorful yarns
Photo by Avni Jain on Pexels.com

It’s been terribly long since my last post, for which I apologize. I haven’t really been in the mood for posting, I don’t know why. I’m currently sitting in my sister’s living room, playing Scrabulous in my jammies. I should be finishing the hat I’m making for my bil’s Christmas present, or starting the hat or shawl for my sister, but I’m too lazy to get up.

Last Thursday, I and my sister Nancy and friend Jane drove out to the Pioneer Valley, to a) visit my alma mater (UMass Amherst) for the first time in about 15 years, and b) to visit WEBS! It was raining, and then it was snowing, but that didn’t stop us. Webs was even more overwhelming than I’d expected, and I’d expected a lot. We weren’t even halfway through the store proper when a salesperson asked if we needed help. When she learned it was our first time there, she took us to the back room–the clearance room–where I nearly started to hyperventilate. Seriously! I didn’t know where to start!

I was good, though, and managed to stick to the $50 limit set by the two $25 gift cards I had in my pocket (my geekiest purchase was of the Amherst yarn in UMass colors!). And, oddly enough, it was my sister the non-knitter that had to be pulled away from the store, as she checked out fall-colored yarns and every sample garment, looking for just the right item to ask me to make for her.

In purse news, so far I have gifted three of them–the turquoise and purple bag went to my stepfather’s gf; the brown variegated balloon bag to my sister, and the half tan, half red balloon bag to my sister’s sister-in-law. The green/yellow and mustard with beads booga bags still need to have their handles poked through, then they’re done.