Tag: yarn

Categories
Miscellaneous

The week, according to me

aerial view of green grass field
Photo by Anil Sharma on Pexels.com

I had two readers yesterday–two!  Woot!  And, uh oh, one of them clicked on the link to my main website.  Ouch.  That sucker hasn’t been updated in forever!  I’m terribly sorry, mystery reader!  I’ll go post a picture or something right away!

I haven’t done anything yarn-y this week, I’m afraid.  Ever since finishing the shell shawl (picture still to come), I haven’t been inspired to start anything new.  Well, that’s not entirely true–there’s one project I’ve been thinking of, as a present for a friend, but first I have to obtain some Cascade 220 in the desired colors.  I’ve been carrying around a couple of balls of nubbly red yarn and some needles, in case I feel like starting a scarf for the Red Scarf Project, but after three days, the needles are still bare and the yarn is still balled.  Also, my evenings have been spent visiting my friends’ daughter at the hospital, where I stand by her bed and sing to her while she sleeps, so when I get home, my back and neck are cranky from the odd standing position, and my head just doesn’t want to think. Just too tired, I guess.  So, no knitting or crochet news this week.

Instead, I’ve been busy at work, integrating two exhibitions at once (not the first time).  When I take a break, I play with Twitter, or I find new widgets to futz with. (Didja see the new iTunes widget in the sidebar?  Scroll down, it’s neat!) I’ve signed up with Scrabbulous, but have yet to actually play a game–everyone there seems way more advanced than I, it’s very intimidating! And sometimes, I search the internets far and wide for the cheapest Brown Sheep Burley Spun in variegated colors (one hank is the perfect size for a bubble bag!).

Last night, I helped my friend Allyson Beatrice assemble gift bags.  She will be doing a reading from her first book, Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby?, and a Q&A this weekend (Saturday, 9/1, 4pm) at Vroman’s in Pasadena.  (You should come!  There will be the aforementioned goody bags, and cake! And, she’s way funnier than me, so it’ll be entertaining, too!)

That has been my week so far. Not exciting, I know (although the near-death of my not-backed-up external harddrive was certainly a pulse-raiser!), but I hate to see this blog go without frequent updates. Perhaps for my next post, I’ll describe my awesome new business cards! 😀

And now, for something completely different–my darlin’, Trouble:
Trouble

WIP: Shell Shawl

WIP: shell shawlI got started on my latest project this week–the shell shawl from Debbie Stoller’s The Happy Hooker.  (The picture is from early Sunday–I spent most of yesterday on it, so it’s grown quite a bit already.)  It was a little hard to get started–shells and treble stitches are new to me–but once I got into the swing of it, it became easy-peasy (except for the blisters forming on my fingers).  I can even work on it while watching dvds, without losing count.  Woot!  I’m using purple Red Heart, which was a Christmas gift from my friend Tricia last year.  I thought it’d be enough, but as it turns out, I was wrong–looks like I’ll need at least another skein.  I’ve long since thrown the wrapper away, so hopefully dye lot won’t be an issue.

I really like the pattern,  particularly how each row gets quicker, since you’re going top down and therefore decreasing a shell on each pass.  I suspect I’ll be making this shawl again, perhaps with the blue discontinued alpaca from Cascade that I’ve been saving for a special occasion; we’ll see how this one turns out first, though.

Outta yarn

First, let me say that I’m coming to adore crochet.  It’s so much faster than knitting, that I can finish a baby blanket in a week with double crochet, when it takes me three times that (if not more) to knit a Big Bad Baby Blanket.  That said, however, it uses more yarn than I expected–I’m about five rows from finishing Grace’s log cabin blanket, and I ran out of yarn!  Ok, so I didn’t run out of *all* yarn, but I ran out of the pink Plymouth Encore about halfway through the last pink stripe.  Not fair!  I mean, sure, it’s a great color, so even if (when) I buy another ball of the pink, I know I’ll use the rest of it in another project, ’cause it’s just too cute not to.  But I was so close to being finished, and now I have to wait until I can find time for a trip into the Valley to get another skein.  And you just know I won’t be walking out of there with just the one skein.  *sigh*

 Just as well, I suppose, as I have to stock up on the right colors for Noah’s blanket, which will be my next project.  And no, I still haven’t gone back to my ribbon tank top.  Sadly.

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

Knitting vs. Crochet?

I’m taking a break from the evil tank top, mostly because I’ve reached the part where I’ll have to take copious notes to keep track of where I am, which makes it less mindless knitting, my preferred method of knitting.  So instead, I’m working on another log cabin blanket, again crocheted, again from Plymouth Encore (specifically, the yarn I purchased when I went to Handmade) in shades of orange, yellow and pink.  It’s nearly finished–double crochet is SO MUCH QUICKER than single crochet, I tell you!  I’ll post pictures soon.

In other news, I wanted to share this comic.  The dialogue is from a conversation that occurred on one of my other posting boards; the graphics came from the really nifty web app at stripcreator.com; and the two were joined in blissful, hilarious harmony by one of the members of my posting board. I think it highlights the differences between knitting and crochet rather perfectly, don’t you? 😀

And if you decide to create something yourself with StripCreator, please post a link here, I’d love to see it!

Cotton at Elann

I’ve always wanted to knit more garments than I do–I tend to be all about the scarves and blankets and handbags, mostly because they don’t require much yarn.  If I have three skeins of Cascade 220, I know it’s enough to make a felted bag; two skeins of novelty yarn will get me a decent scarf; four skeins of Plymouth Encore makes a great Big Bad Baby Blanket.  I don’t usually purchase yarn in greater numbers than that.  Plus, when I buy yarn because I just can’t resist it, it’s usually an alpaca or other wool blend.  Sure, I sometimes buy enough of it to make a tank, but really, who needs a tank made of wool or alpaca?  Tanks should be cotton, and I very very rarely buy cotton.

But two Christmasses ago, JoAnn’s was having their post-Christmas sale, and I picked up ten balls of Lion ribbon yarn (among other stuff), and as I mentioned in a previous post, I’m now making a tank out of it.  Dunno how it’ll turn out, but it’ll be my first adult garment, so yay!  I’m excited about making something new and cool and that I might actually be able to wear.

And then, Elann.com sends out their monthly newsletter of sales, and omigod, the cotton!  Such beautiful colors, and at only $1.98 for over 100 yards! Omigod I want this yarn soooo much!  Gah!  I’m starting to feel the cotton love, ’cause I want to be making more clothing, dammit, and fewer scarves!

But how can I justify buying more yarn of any type, when I have about three tons of yarn scattered all about the house, waiting to be used?  Not to mention the ginormous garbage bag of yarn in the trunk of my car waiting to go to a good charity.

Want!  Dammit!