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Knitting and Crochet

Starting, finishing, and frogging, plus an update on the donated Cookie Monster bag

So obviously, I get a complete FAIL at that whole “trying to post every day after NaBloPoMo” thing. Oops? I blame the holidays, and the accompanying freakout.

I have been knitting and crocheting my way through the stress, although I haven’t finished anymore bags.  Weird, huh? I have a red and white 80/20 booga bag (decreased the stitch count by 20%) that’s been languishing on the needles with only about five rows to go, and the mustard beaded bag is finished except for the icord, which is about a foot too short still.

Paula, Kathie, Steve and BenInstead of finishing those, last weekend I started four–four!–scarves. One is crocheted alpaca (the defunct Lana D’Oro that I’ve been saving for a special occasion for about three years now) and will be a gift for a family friend. One is the much lauded “My So-Called Scarf,” which called to me one night in such a way that I had to start it–it’s currently six inches long, but it’s a beautiful stitch.  The third scarf was intended to accompany my mostly red outfit for my company’s holiday party on Monday, and was made of a very white, very sparkly chunky Wool-Ease.  I used a spiral crochet pattern, and I hated it when it was done–it looked like I was wearing an Elizabethan ruffle, and it was waaaaay too long.  That was Saturday. On Sunday I frogged it and started the fourth scarf of the weekend,  a dc-crocheted scarf of a much more reasonable length. I crocheted up both sides of the starting chain, so it folds a bit; then I sc’d twice in each dc along all four edges in a bright green, which gave it a slight spiral that was much less pronounced than the first one. (That’s me and my scarf in the picture, on the left.) It’s now further adorned with a touch or two of red wine, but it’s barely noticeable.

But! In bag news! Remember the sparkly blue bag that I made for the silent auction at the holiday party? Well, thanks to my boss, and to the other people that got into a bidding war, the bag finally sold for $100! More than any of my other donations have ever made! It went to my boss, who was out of town at the time so I had to bid for him (which was a little weird). He brought it home when he got back to town, walked in his front door with it slung over his shoulder, and his little two year old daughter took one look at it and reached out her hands while declaring, “Mine!” to the shiny bag.  So!cute! I saw her yesterday at the department holiday party, and sure enough, she had it slung over her own shoulder where it was carrying her treasures. Best spent $100 ever, if you ask me. 🙂

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

Blind leading the….bag?

I spent a good portion of today in a very dark room.  I brought my current bag-in-progress, plus I grabbed a couple balls of extra yarn, in case I finished the bag.  Well, I did, so I started the new bag. In the dark. Without really knowing for sure how the two yarns that I grabbed as I ran out the door would blend. I got halfway through the bag before even seeing it in regular light, but fortunately, it turned out ok.  I haven’t examined the stitches, though, to see if I screwed up.

In other news, woot! End of November! Last day of NaBloPoMo! Yay!

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

Adventures in felting

I felted three bags last night–woot!  I chose the purple/turquoise Little Coco, the first Pink Lady bag (I still have to kitchener the handle of the second), and a Burly Spun bag I knit, oh, forever ago, that’s been waiting for felting for a long time.  All the other bags still need some finishing before felting.

I learned a couple of things. First, apparently Cascade 220 takes forever to felt, because the bags I felted last night were done after two wash cycles, and really, they probably didn’t even need the whole second cycle. The second thing is more of a refresher–the knit stitch really does shrink more from top to bottom than side to side.  The Little Coco came out a little shorter than I’d planned.  Oops? It’s still a perfectly serviceable bag, of course, just….short.

Now they are drying, and then I’ll have to figure out if they need further embellisments.

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

A finished project, suede-bashing, and more bags

Today I started another bag–I forget what number I’m on, and I’m too lazy to check my own posts. It’s a Balloon Bag with double-stranded, variegated Lion wool–no base color this time to ground it, so the color explosion is pretty crazy, which means no beads on this one. I may try to felt some of the others tonight–I have enough quarters and zippered pillowcases to run three bags together for three cycles, which should be enough to felt them. I have to pick one to donate for the company’s charity auction at the holiday party, which is coming up really fast, so it’s time to risk the sub-par machines in my building’s laundry room. Fortunately I have enough purses stockpiled that if something goes horribly wrong, it won’t be the end of the world. Damned annoying and frustrating, but not the end of the world.

Last night I finished the Lion Suede project. I don’t think I’d ever get this yarn again, unless it was for the exact purpose of another one of these projects (which I can’t go into, since I think the intended recipient reads this blog). Suffice to say, if your project is small, and you crochet instead of knit, and you want something soft, then the suede will work–but use it for anything else at your own risk (of frustration, of anger, of banging your head against a wall, etc.). On the other hand, it was a nice break for my hands to crochet something after so many knitted bags. I feel guilty for saying this, but I think I like crocheting more than knitting. :-{

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

Only three more days of NaBloPoMo!

Three more posts after today, and I’ll have posted every day for the month of November–woot!  My visitor stats have been very healthy during this time, so hopefully I’ll be able to maintain my momentum, and not fall back on the once-a-week style of posting I had before November.

I don’t have much in the way of yarn news today.  I’m still working with the Lion Suede, which, as I mentioned last night, works much better crocheted than knitted. Omigod yes. I’m even starting to like the yarn, although I still fully expect it to worm at some point. Sadly, I didn’t have the second ball with me yesterday, otherwise the project would be finished by now. Phooey.

I’ve been holding firm on the no-new-yarn-purchases, but it’s hard with that beaded Booga Bag sitting in a corner, pining for one more ball of mustard Patons wool. I try not to look at it.  I think my next bag will be a beaded Balloon, since I already know I have enough yarn for that, and I want to see a finished project with beads, already.

I’ve added a few more projects to Ravelry, including some of the yet-to-be-felted purses.  Yay! I have so many projects still to add, I’ll probably still be adding six months from now. 

Hmm. I need more tea.  Guess that means I’m done!