Trinket's Yarn Box

Yarn Review - KnitPicks Stroll Sock Yarn

2012-01-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

KnitPicks.com offers a lot of very reasonably priced yarns. Among them is their sock yarn, known as Stroll. Their solid color, multicolor, and glimmer (silver sparkle spun into the fiber) yarns come in balls of 231 yards each, so you'll need at least 2 for a pair of socks. Their Tonal and Hand Painted versions of this yarn come in 462 yard hanks, so you'd only need one of those for one pair. The price range on this yarn is between $3.50 and $11.00. Compared to most other brands that cost somewhere within the $15.00 to $20.00, that is a very competitive price! They're 75% wool and 25% nylon, and they're machine washable!

The color selection for this particular yarn is very good, with the only really limited color selection coming from the multicolor and glimmer versions. There is something for nearly every color preference out there in this yarn! They also offer a version that you can dye yourself to any color you please.

Now, how does it measure up?

I'm notorious for being very hard on footwear. And when I knit socks, I knit them to wear them, not to hang around in my sock drawer and look pretty. So, I've knit up a few pairs of socks in this yarn and have put them through the same punishment anything that goes on my feet endures. The results actually kind of surprised me.

After a full 8-9 hour day at work they had little to no felting. They went through the wash just fine and didn't seem to lose much of their dye in the process of washing. Several more wearings and washings later, they're still not showing much for felting or general deterioration. The color is still bright, the fiber is still soft, and there has been only a slight amount of felting along the back of the heel where my heels rub on the backs of my shoes, as well as a little under the foot. Those very slightly felted areas feel a little stiffer than the rest of the sock, but it has not made the sock uncomfortable or in any way fit poorly.

If you haven't tried KnitPicks Stroll sock yarn, then I encourage you to give it a shot. With a wide selection of colors, you're sure to find something you like. Their sock yarn has received a rating of 4 out of 5 stars by members of Ravelry, but I personally give it a solid 5 out of 5.

Attempting to lay claim to what is already mine

2012-01-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

I did take down my two crochet patterns some time ago. I have gotten a lot of requests to either return them to the site or to send digital copies upon request. By what seems to be popular demand, I restored one of the patterns and will restore the other one later.

What upset me through this process, however, is that people were making some comments that suggested I was misleading people. Not that these patterns cost money in any way, and I have never attempted to deceive anybody in any way on purpose. One comment that struck me, though I know the commenter had not meant true harm or ill will in what was said, is that, because my 8-pointed round ripple pattern was available in Ravelry's database, yet it brought people to a dead link, I was being misleading. I feel a need to clarify something.

I didn't create the entry of my pattern into Ravelry's database. I AM a member of the site (username is CatnipTrinket there), but I didn't submit my pattern to them. Someone else did. As a result, the best I could ever do was be a "volunteer editor" for the pattern. At first, that apparently didn't give me any freedom to make necessary changes if they needed to be made, such as the removal of the pattern from Ravelry, or anything else. It wasn't until recently, as a "volunteer editor" that I apparently have any control over what you see there. And I did, in fact, go in and make some changes as soon as I had the authority to do so.

The pattern is still not linked to my own account on the site, and I don't have full freedoms over it. I have sent a message to someone on the site's staff in hopes of taking full control of my pattern, so that if anything ever changes in the future, I can make sure it gets changed there. And, also, if I were to want to link up any other patterns of mine to their database, I could actually do that. I've yet to hear back.

So, if you were wondering why the pattern was still available on Ravelry, but I had deleted it here, that was why. I just had no control over it at all to now. I'm sorry that there was any confusion.

8-Pointed Round Ripple

2012-01-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand. I didn't realize people liked this pattern so much...

8-pointed Round Ripple Afghan

There isn't much that's different from one round ripple to another except for how the center is created. This pattern's center creates 8 points, which was something I had not seen anywhere at the time this pattern was created.

Materials needed:
Worsted weight 4-ply yarn in any brand (Red Heart Super Saver and Caron One Pound - also known as Perfect Match - were used for my example)
Size H 5.0 hook (or size you prefer for best results)

Pattern*:

Ch5, slip stitch into beginning chain to form a ring

Row 1: Ch2, 12 hdc into ring, slip stitch to top of first ch2 to join

Row 3: Ch3, dc into same stitch, 2dc into next stitch and each stitch around, slip stitch to first ch3 to join a ring - 24 dc

Row 3: Ch5, skip next 2 dc, sc into next dc, ch5, skip next 2 dc, ch5 round to first ch5, slip stitch to first chain of ch5 to join - 8 ch5 spaces

Row 4: Slip stitch into first ch5 space, ch3, 2dc into space, ch2, 3dc into same space, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) into next ch5 space repeating around to first ch3, slip stitch to join - 8 (3dc, ch2, 3dc) points

Row 5: Slip stitch into next dc, ch3, dc next dc, (3dc, ch 2, 3dc) into first ch2 space, dc into next 2 dc, skip next 2 dc, dc into next 2 dc, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) into next ch2 space repeating around, slip stitch to top of first ch3 to join

Row 6: Slip stitch into next dc, ch3, dc into next 3 dc, (2 dc, ch2, 2dc) into next ch2 space, dc into next 3 dc, skip next 2 dc, dc into next 3 dc, (2dc, ch2, 2dc) into next ch2 space repeating around, slip stitch into top of first ch3

Continue on with the pattern in this way until it's as large as you want it. Make sure that once you've slip stitched to join the rows that you then slip stitch into the next stitch. As you go, be sure to alternate the number of double crochets in your "shells" (the "shells" are the series of stitches places into the chain 2 spaces on the points). The pattern begins with 3dc, ch2, 3dc, then switches to 2dc, ch2, 2dc, and then should switch back to 3dc, ch2, 3dc on the next row, and so on. This will ensure that you don't get any an uneven puckering effect in your blanket.

If you find that your work is not laying flat, I recommend going up a hook size or two. This will generally correct that issue.

This is a FREE pattern for your personal use ONLY. It is not to be sold in any way. Appropriate actions will be taken against anyone found to be selling this free pattern in any form.

More Yarn Dyeing

2010-09-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping at my yarn dyeing for a couple months or so now. I have progressively gotten better and learned where I was making errors and how to stop it from happening again. Here are some of my favorite completed yarns:
The top one I called "Antique". The middle one is "Walking With Strangers". And the bottom one is "Truffle". The first two have been sold, and the bottom one - as of this writing - is for sale in my Etsy shop.

I feel my progress has been quite good, and am very satisfied with the finished products I've created. I think they're about as nice as anything you find that's been commercially produced. It's difficult to part with them sometimes, because I would love to work up some socks in these colorways. But they weren't made to stay with me. So I eventually will be saying goodbye to them all.

Still, I will likely dye some for myself at some point. One can never have enough sock yarn!

If you're interested in "Truffle" or want to see some of my other finished yarns, please drop in and take a look at my Etsy shop!

My adventures in yarn dyeing

2010-08-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've decided to pick up yet another yarn related hobby: yarn dyeing. I figure, it's cheaper and easier for me to get the yarn in the colors that I want if I just do the dyeing myself. Heck, maybe I can get good enough at this to make a little extra income on it, even!

Unlike when I started knitting and crocheting, my first attempts were not as... presentable. I started with 2 skeins of 100% wool fingering weight yarn I'd intended to use as socks. The very first one I dyed a sunny yellow. It was a pretty, happy yellow. I'm not normally a fan of that color, but this was pleasant. Sadly, the skein was so tangled up and felted that it was not usable. The second skein was a cobalt blue, which came out much better. Here it is drying a day or so after being dyed:

I was skeptical about it while it was drying. It looked like it was going to turn out too frizzy. But, after drying all the way, it smoothed out. Now here it is rolled into a hank:

Muuuch nicer looking, as you can see! Looks like the kinda stuff you might find at a festival booth, maybe. And, as it turns out, it's very soft! I'm currently knitting it into a pair of socks.

I had 3 skeins of 100% wool to begin with, but after it's used up, I don't think I'll be working with it anymore. I have some wool/nylon that seems softer and just a nicer quality than this was. So I may just continue to use that yarn instead if the results turn out favorable.

"Ratings Systems" and the Bullies That Abuse Them

2010-04-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

This kind of does and kind of doesn't have anything to do with knitting or crocheting.

I know this isn't just me. I know this because I've heard complaints from others and have seen these things with my own eyes in action. I don't know if it has something to with how a person can be "anonymous" on the internet, and therefore can act like a complete jerk and get away with it. In other words, a bully.

As a member of Crochetville, I see it a lot more in the moderators than in the members of the community. They seem to have their heads up their butts about copyright when they have no idea what they're talking about. I even had one of them once tell me she lunched with her lawyers quite regularly just to talk about the website. WHY would you even waste money on something like that, if it were the truth? It's a website. Red Heart, Caron, or whatever yarn company isn't going to waste time and money putting people on the internet to go looking for websites that "violate their copyrights". They wouldn't bother putting up all the money and effort to sue some stupid little webpage for some minor little crap because it isn't worth it to them. And their approach to their members is, frankly, horrible. I never see them saying anything, anywhere, unless it's to scold somebody for something stupid. That's one of the reasons I don't bother with that place so much now.

I tried other crochet communities and even attempted once to make my own. But, as I've seen with a lot of older communities, people are not willing to leave for something better. Even when they're not happy with the current state of the community they're in. WHY this is, I will never know.

I'd joined with Ravelry at some point in 2007, if I remember right. And I'd basically let the account sit, poking at it once in a while. Then someone from Crochetville told me how much more polite and helpful people there were. So, I decided to go dig around and see what there was to be seen. And, really, when I first started to get involved, it WAS very friendly and nice. However, as the sad state of everything seems to be, it got worse and worse and worse.

On their forums, Ravelry has a system. On each post, you can click a button to say you find it educational, interesting, agree with it, disagree with it, or give love. WHY on earth would they institute such a system? Over and over and over and over again I've watched systems like this turn otherwise nice people into complete jackasses and the entire thing ends up crashing and burning at some point or another. There are, for whatever reason, people who will hit that disagree button just for the hell of doing it. They don't disagree, they just want to be a jerk. Or they've decided they don't like the poster, and so they hit the disagree button to "punish" that person. Therefore, the people who get bullied by such ones end up leaving because they feel their words mean nothing to no one and all that remains are those very bullies, who only end up fighting amongst each other. In the end, the community is ruined and no one wants to participate.

After so many years on the internet and seeing so much of this, I can't help but be jaded. It makes me feel so much less interested in participating. How unfortunate.

Crochet verses Knitting - My thoughts on the rivalry

2010-03-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

This subject has been going around for ages. Heck, Debbie Stoller even talked about it in her Happy Hooker Stitch N Bitch book!

I'm a member of a large crochet community as well as knitting communities online. Truth be told, I've not seen knitters in those communities put crocheters down. To the contrary, I've seen crocheters putting knitters down. This is opposite of what I've always heard, in which it was presented that knitters can't stand crocheters and will put them down at any opportunity.

There is, of course, something on the knitters' side that I HAVE seen, which is what's referred to as "yarn snobbery". And, in a lot of ways, I have to agree with where that's coming from.

Those who know me know I began as a crocheter first. I learned to crochet in the summer of 2005. I had to teach myself, despite being involved in a local crochet club. The members of the club didn't seem to believe I would pick up on things as fast as I did. They didn't give me any credit, and therefore only had me doing chains when I was more than ready for single crochet. And then only single crochet when I was way past ready for double and triple crochet. I took a book, taught myself what I needed to know, and then showed up to one of the meets wearing a beret I'd crocheted in one night. They were floored.

But what does that have to do with being a yarn snob?

As a crocheter, I was encouraged to use a lot of cheap acrylic yarns rather than nicer wools or cottons. I think that this is because most crocheters use those kinds of yarn exclusively. They seem stuck on just making afghans or baby items, rather than using the skill to create beautiful clothing articles for adults. That's been an acceptable norm for decades, from what I can tell. And, honestly, it's what turned me away from crocheting...

For years and years I made afghan after afghan. I made a few shawls, too, but it was almost all about the blankets. In an effort to break away from the monotony, I tried crocheted dolls. However, I was trying to switch to that at a time in which "amigurumi" was becoming very popular. In ways, that was good. There were loads of patterns everywhere for crocheted toys. In another way, it was bad. I don't like being part of a fad. I wanted to make the toys as something unique and fun. When I made a few and was accused of stealing patterns because my designs looked like other people's creations, I was fed up.

That was when I turned to knitting.

I wanted to make something functional. I wanted clothing! At the time, crocheted clothing patterns seemed difficult to find. And in a lot of ways, I like the look of knitted clothing items more than crocheted clothing items. Namely, scarves. I like knit scarves. Not crocheted ones. And I was now living in a cold weather environment, so I needed nice warm sweaters. It was definitely time for a change, and knitting seemed the right way to go. I checked out some books from the local library, learned what I needed to make a ribbed scarf in about 4 hours, and I never looked back.

I knit 99% more than I crochet as of that day in October 2008. But that doesn't mean I gave crocheting up.

My honest view on it is that I think crocheting needs a "face lift". I think the focus needs to shift away from blankets and baby stuff to adult clothing and functional items. The craft may receive more respect if this were the case, as knitting is seen as a practical skill. From my experience, hardly anybody appreciates a handmade afghan as a present anymore, but they'd adore you if you made them a pair of wool knit socks.

Both skills have their place. That will always be the case. But, for me personally, I'd take knitting over crocheting. But not entirely.

Make me this! Make me that!

2010-01-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

This is a recent development. I'm completely at a loss for how to handle these situations because... it just has never happened to me before.

And, don't get me wrong! I love it when I receive compliments about my projects, whether it's artwork or knit/crochet items. Compliments help boost my self esteem, which motivates me to work on more.

Recently one of my coworkers has been quite demanding about having me make a hat for her. Granted, this would be a very simple project. In fact, this is the hat in question:

As you can see, it's just a simple beanie style cap. Nothing at all special about it. But somehow, my coworker was very taken with it.

4 days prior to Christmas, she called out to me, "Make me a hat like that for Christmas!" I thought she was kidding until she started naming off the colors she wanted it to be. I said nothing. I was taken by surprise by the demand and couldn't think of what I should say. I thought she was joking, as a matter of fact. But then she demanded yet again on Christmas Eve. And then I posted a photo of a tam hat I had finished to my Facebook and she once again demanded I make her a hat.

She's not the only one to do this. Just the most persistent.

I've had SO many coworkers make requests for things from me. One girl saw a photo of Beyonce in a magazine wearing a beret. She asked me if I could make a hat like that, and I said I could because I CAN. She then told me she wanted me to make her one. I informed her that the yarn alone would cost about $12 for something like that if she wanted quality materials, plus I'd need some payment for my time. I never heard anything more from her about it. Yet another cowork offered me a whopping sum of $5 for a scarf. That would barely pay for cheap acrylic yarn for such a thing...

This goes beyond my coworkers, though I get most of this from them. The worst of this comes from my very own mother!

My mom used to know how to crochet. She hasn't done it because she complains of pain in her shoulders for several years now, so I don't know that she'd remember how anymore. She's straight up said I'm going to make pairs of socks for her, or sweater coats, or whatever. She never asks me. She just points at it and tells me she wants it. I'm not a Sears catalog! I don't make custom clothing items magically appear!

I don't understand why people do this. And I do understand I'm not the only one. I've heard many, many stories to this effect. That doesn't make it any less frustrating...

My unpopular opinion

2009-06-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

This opinion is not always popular amongst some in the knitting and crocheting communities. Though I don't believe many people will venture to my blog here and read this, I am still going to do a write up on it.

This is what I think of the way a lot of knitters/crocheters act about copyrights...

I find it over the top and downright stupid. In fact, I have a former friend who acts as uneducated and extreme about this issue as some of the moderators of certain communities do. And by no means can you call me a thief, because that isn't the case in any sense. Just because I have this opinion does not make me a thief or a cheater.

There's something about working from patterns that just downright pisses some people off, whether they knit or crochet or not. The former friend I mentioned doesn't do either one, and she was very upset that I had crocheted a few amigurumi toys based on patterns in a book I purchased and later sold them to people. The fact is, I had no real use or place for those toys, but the people I sold them to did. I see no point in keeping the items when I've been offered money for them. The money paid for the materials I used to make the toys and for the time I spent in making them. I figure, in that former friend's case, that it was jealousy that caused her reaction. I can't say I know what's up the butts of the people who really do know how to crochet or knit, though.

My first run in with what I like to call a copyright extremist is when I shared a scan of an old Red Heart flier I got from one of those tablets of free patterns you see in retail stores like Walmart. What made it all the more ridiculous is that the pattern was literally for a simple granny square pattern. Red Heart DOES NOT own any kind of rights to the granny square, and they never will. Granny squares have been around since forever, and probably nobody even knows who made them up. Also, those fliers are FREE to the public. Red Heart, or whatever company it's from, puts those out in hopes of luring you into buying their yarn to make that project with. It's a marketing tactic. If you choose to share the pattern, they won't sue you over it. They have better things to do with their money than try to sue personally owned websites or individuals over the distribution of free fliers. They probably LIKE it when you share those free fliers because you just convinced someone else to buy their yarn to make that project with. If you really do think that your website will get sued because of something like that, then you're full of yourself and you're too busy thinking you're the shit to realize you're not worth jack to these corporations. Get over yourself.

There was another case in which I saw this that comes to mind right now. It was a pattern I saw somewhere. It's a free pattern, and I copied it down. It's for a "button tab hat". The pattern is extremely simple, and I could have figured it out on my own if I had the gumption to do so. At the end of the pattern, however, there are explicit warnings not to reproduce the hat for sale. Not even a week after copying that pattern did I see the same style of hat in my LYS. In fact, a FREE PATTERN for the hat was being offered to anyone who purchased the yarn that was used to make it with. And I've seen other similar style hats for sale by people who created them from their "own pattern".

You can't copyright a spiral. You can't copyright a knit or a purl - a double crochet or a single crochet. These things are just basic parts of how knitting and crocheting is done. They create certain shapes, regardless of who does the stitch work. The concept to create a doll's head or a ribbed scarf can't be copyrighted.

And then there's just style. Everybody has it. You can copy a pattern as closely as you possibly can, but your own personal style WILL show in it in some way or another. In the amigurumis I made, I could see my own style very easily. When people saw my dolls, they KNEW that I had made them just by how they looked. What's more is that I don't follow patterns 100%. A lot of the time I'll veer off in some other direction with it to add my own flare. So the finished product is more like an inspiration worked from a base rather than something copied exactly from the words in a book.

Not everything I create comes from a pattern, either. I've worked hard to build the skills necessary to make my own designs. But, even at that, I see nothing wrong with working from a pattern if I like what that pattern makes.

So, yes. I DO distribute free patterns, both online and in real life, and I DO sell work created from patterns I find here and there. And there's no reason to freak out and have a stroke over it, either. So just chill the hell out, would you?

Another tam hat

2009-05-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

I've been really into tam hats. Which is funny, because I used to hate hats and had no desire to make any. Tam hats and berets seem to be popular right now, though, and after having seen a couple, I got on a kick of knitting and crocheting them. I'm faster at crocheting, so those are the hats I've finished first, but I do have knitted tams on my needles, too.

I tried this pattern before, but it didn't turn out right somehow. I thought it might be the kind of yarn I used or that I couldn't find the hook the pattern specified anywhere, so I used one that was a millimeter larger. I ripped out the first one, then tried again with some Lion Brand Homespun yarn instead. I liked this result MUCH better.

With these kinds of hats, I prefer something bigger and flopper, so I like this one better than the wool one I posted about earlier, even though it's not as soft and bouncy, really.

In truth, I didn't follow the pattern very well... I ended up going it alone on the second row or so, but if you want to make a similar hat for yourself, the original pattern is located here: http://creativeyarn.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-soft-tam-beret.html

Ribbed Tam Hat

2009-05-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

I have a health condition that has caused my hair to thin out. It's been affecting me since I was a teenager, and I figure it'll only keep getting worse despite all my efforts. But rather than despair over it, I'm looking for a silver lining. Hey, it's an excuse to knit and crochet lots of cute hats, right? ;)

For this hat, I used this free pattern: http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/phannie/phannie.html
I did, however, change the first few rows because I didn't like how they were turning out. It wasn't very drastic, though.

Here's how it turned out:

I look a little dejected in the first photo because I was tired and had just gotten home from work... and someone had hurt my feelings.

I forgot to take a picture of it while it was blocking, so I don't have a picture of the very top of it. But it looks very much like the top view photo shown with the pattern I linked to. My only gripe is that after blocking it, it left a "ridge" along the side that makes it look lumpy. Not really much I can do about that, though. Even though that happened, it still looks better over all after having been blocked.

I used a 100% wool yarn called Luxor, which is an Italian yarn. It's really light and soft. I love it! Wish it was sold in the States. I happened to find 2 balls of it at a thrift shop.

Running Roses

2009-03-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of yarn. A LOT of it. I've been trying to bust out my stash for two years now. One of the results of that stash busting endeavor is this bedspread:

It turned out prettier than I had expected it to. It's basically just 140 tri-colored granny squares joined together with "lattice". I liked it so much that it's been on my bed ever since it was made.

Somehow, I expect to be making one of these for my mom when she moves up here this summer...

Cloud Nine

2009-03-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since I've posted any of my finished work here, so I decided I would start off getting caught up by posting one of my favorite shawls. I've done very few shawls, though I am planning to make more. You could say I've "grown up" when it comes to my yarn craft, I suppose. I want to make wearable and useful items now, rather than so many blankets and toys. This shawl was done for a friend of mine as a commission some time ago.

The yarn I used here was from Hobby Lobby. It's Yarn Bee's Lambie Pie. Personally, I would never buy this yarn for myself. While it's cuddly soft and has cute little boing-boing curls in it, it's a devil to work with. You can't see your stitching and the curls get tangled up with each other, so if you make a mistake, it's almost impossible to take back out again. In the end, it turned out alright.

I almost want to make another shawl like this one for myself. But I can't think of what yarn I would want to use for it. I like the fluffy look and feel, but I hate working with that stuff!

Work, work, work!

2009-02-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been working quite a lot. There's an up and a down to that. The upside is that I make more income. The downside is that I don't have a lot of time to spend on doing the crafty things I love to do.

I do have things I would like to post about, but they'll have to wait for now. Hopefully my hours will slack off a little bit. But not *too* much.

Still Hookin'!

2009-01-25T22:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've updated my blog, which I do apologize for. I'll be working on some things to post here pretty soon, I hope.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has used my patterns. I noticed that my 8-pointed round ripple is listed in the pattern library on Ravelry! I hope that everyone is enjoying it. I did make a correction to that pattern in row #5. Thankfully it doesn't seem like the mistake affected anyone too much.

I've taken up knitting recently, so I may be adding some of those types of projects, too. I have something in mind concerning the combination of knitting and crochet for a scarf. If I can make it work, I'll work out a pattern and post it here for anybody who would like to make it.

Thanks for coming by my blog!

A star-ghan for a friend and a rectangle stash buster!

2007-09-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted anything. Moving got in the way, and I haven't had a lot of time to post here until now.

Since coming to Minnesota from Mississippi, I've done a few things. These are the first couple of projects I'd completed since the move!

My friend is having a baby. She'd seen my star-ghans and had wanted one for her soon to be. I had some yellow and light blue yarn in my stash, as well as a skein of pastel multicolor, so I put them together and they turned out lovely! I sent it to her along with my Baby Blue afghan as a bonus.

I still had a ton of yarn in my stash (and still do, to be honest), so I picked out a few colors that seemed to go together well that I'd never be able to use in any other projects and started working on a granny-ghan. Instead of making the usual square type that I've made many times already, I went ahead and tried for a rectangle shape. I'm told that it DOES look rectangular in shape, but I'm missing it, I think. I should have made the inner square longer. That would've given it a more elongated shape, I figure. Maybe next time.

Bold Boxes

2007-06-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

I call it Bold Boxes because I really can't think of anything more interesting to call it.

I started doing this on a whim one night. I didn't want to work on one of my WIP's because I intend to do that while in the car or at the motel when we start off to our new home in a week. I had yarn to use, and I thought the colors went together nicely, so here we go.

It's really nothing more than standard granny squares and rectangle granny squares put together in strips. The border was something I played by ear. I wasn't exactly sure what I was intending to do with it, but I think that it turned out nicely, regardless. It's about 52x42 inches.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this afghan. I guess I'll be keeping it.

Baby Blue

2007-05-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

I was going through my stash of baby yarn and found some Bernat Softee Baby yarn in Denim Marl that I had bought at a salvage shop. I didn't want to combine the yarn with anything else because I liked the soft variation in its color so much on its own. So, I set to work and here's what came out!

It's made with what I believe is called a "box stitch", which is rather simple to do and makes an interesting textured effect. What I would like to do is put a bit of a spin on this and try for something in an adult size with a nicer looking border. I'll post a pattern for it once I get around to doing it.

Cloud Nine

2007-05-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine wanted me to make a shrug for her. The pattern that she gave me was hard to follow, though. So, I made her a shawl instead. She seemed happy, even though she didn't get exactly what she'd wanted.

This was made with a yarn that Hobby Lobby sells called Lambie Pie. The edging is done with Lion Brand Fun Fur. Really, it was very soft and warm. I was sort of sad to see it go!

Too many balls!

2007-05-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

We're moving (though I've already changed my location on my personal info), so I'm doing all I can to find extra room for everything possible. I checked out one of my yarn boxes to see if I could possibly squeeze some more yarn into it. It did have a couple of full skeins in it, but over half of the box was made up of yarn balls! In all sizes!

I thought, "Guh! How did I come to accumulate so many yarn balls?! I could really use that space for full skeins..."

And after thinking it over for a while, I decided that these yarn balls needed to be used up so I could get that space back. And what better way to use up scraps than to make a super-stash-busting granny square afghan! :D

I currently have 33 squares in all kinds of colors. And that's about half or so of what yarn balls there were! o_O But now I have room for my full skeins and have something to do while traveling! :D

For my sister-in-law's baby.

2007-05-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Shortly after finishing the blanket I mentioned before, I found out that my sister-in-law would be having a baby. I had a lot of extra baby yarn left over, so I decided that I'd make up a blanket for her.

Looking back on this, it took a lot longer than it should have. Something like this would take me about a day or two to complete now. This took me several weeks to finish back then.

I didn't really like the colors very much. My mother had insisted that I buy a color of Red Heart Soft Baby yarn called "Koolaid", which has since been discontinued. I would have preferred something like Bunny or Angel Print myself.

I made this blanket a lot heartier. I knew that with a baby, it would be put to heavier use than my previous blanket, and I'm glad for the experience that blanket gave me. Otherwise, I don't think my sister-in-law would be using this blanket anymore... ^_^;

My second creation.

2007-05-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

I had done two of the Homespun blankets before I moved on to something else. I found a free pattern on a leaflet in the yarn department at the store, and thought that it looked like it would be a challenge for me at the time.

I wish I had a better picture of it, and I also wish I still had the blanket! I was still really new to crochet at the time, and didn't have anybody I could ask about anything I was having any trouble with or unsure about, so my connections were not able to hold up to machine washing or extended use. I feel embarrassed about that now, looking back, but it was a good lesson for me to learn so that I could make sure my future projects were strong and able to withstand the use I hoped they would be put to.

This afghan turned out to be rather large in size, considering that it was a baby blanket pattern. I liked it a lot, too. The yarn I used was Red Heart Soft Baby in pink, blue, and white. Two strands were held together, so it was somewhat thick.

I do still love this pattern, and am strongly considering making this blanket again with regular Red Heart Super Saver yarn instead of baby yarn. It'll probably be even bigger, which is A-okay with me! I'll just use 1 strand, though. I don't see any need to use two. And I'll be using a different color combination next time.

The addiction begins!

2007-05-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, my mom took me to a little crochet club held at the local library in a town near where I used to live in Mississippi. The lovely ladies there taught me the basics of crochet; chaining and single crochet. My very first project was a rather sad looking little purple purse that I have since misplaced. My second project was a beret with a pompom on top. I moved on to larger projects from there, finding my true love in crochet - afghans!

The photo doesn't really do the colors of this any justice. I didn't have a good place to take a picture, though. The afghan shown is exactly like the first afghan I ever made, except my first one was in blue instead. It's very simple, using only single crochet throughout the body and double crochet on the border. It also has tassels on each of its 4 corners.

I gave this afghan to my mother in law. She seemed to be pleased with it. I just wish I had a nicer picture of it. Sigh...