Felting and Knasty Knitters May 12, 2009

I tried my hand at felting this morning. I use a tote bag for school and every term I swear my books get bigger and my bags get smaller. I want to crochet a tote but I know it will just stretch as soon as the books get into it. So I thought I would felt one. Ive never felted before so I used some leftover alpaca yarn and made a small flower and tried to hand felt it. After nearly an hour of failed attempts and constant “hand felting” googling, I gave up. It never shrank or got tighter or harder. In fact, it now looks like a flower that my long haired cat slept on. The fibers didnt make it look kind of fuzzy like Ive seen in tutorials. It looked like cat hair. I made a felted hairball. Bluck. So I went onto Ravelry and tried to get some advice. I got a few great replies and realized that A. I needed some friction and B. the yarn I choose may not felt. So in a few weeks when I get the nerve, Im just gonna give that bag a shot and try machine felting.

My vintage yarn from the attic excursion still hasnt been washed yet. I rewound some of the balls and skeins yesterday. All was well until I got one that was particularly smelly. Not bad smell just old smell. I have a weak gag reflex so I stopped for the day. That same ball that I was rewinding also got grabbed by Clancy (the cat) and by the time i caught him, he had managed to string it around the kitchen bar and stools twice. It was a frightening glimpse into my future: cats and yarn.

The other thing on my cluttered crochety brain is knitting. I love LOVE to crochet. For real. I do want to learn how to knit because some of the sweaters are just gorgeous and could never be done by hooking. Ive tried knitting. I think my brain cant handle it. However, I appreciate knitters. When someone tells me they knit I consider us yarn friends. We both have appreciation for fiber art. However, Ive recently learned that some knitters look down on us crocheters. Ill agree that crochet has some really tacky patterns that you would never see as a knitting pattern. And I also agree that knitting is the cheaper hobby since it uses less yarn. But why cant those die hard knitters appreciate crocheting?  And why does it seem like every yarn shop in the country focuses mainly on knitting? I feel like the crocheters are desperatley under represented. Its upsetting. Oh well, I will continue to appreciate the art of both crochet and knitting. And hopefully win some knitters affections along the way.

Vintage Yarn? May 11, 2009

My Aunt bought a house at an auction which was full of treasures in the attic, cupboards, and garage. While there trying to clean and move my cousin into the house, my grandma found a box of yarn. Mostly green and brown, but a few pinks, yellows, and oranges. One of the labels is an old lions brand design, and one says “Moon Glo Yarn”.

I was SO excited at this discovery. Who has ever heard of finding vintage yarn before? Its all in skeins and good shape, though its dusty and I’m not trying to find a way to clean it. When we found more yarn, my cousin looked at me and said “Take it, its yours. I have no idea what to do with it!” as if it were some bizarre technology that you need a degree to use.

I’ll post pictures of the labels later, but it was a very cool discovery.

Purse! May 5, 2009

Anyone who knows me knows that I have three loves in my life: my car, crocheting, and purses. I decided the other day I wanted to make a purse and got a pattern from Joann fabric’s website. I did the first row and was so confused I ripped my stitches out. So I decided to just play and what I ended up making I absolutley love:

           

I worked it with an I hook in one piece for half of it. The bottom is single crochets which then work into half double crochets. About half way through I switched to a N hook and continued with the HDC. I then dramatically reduced my stitches every row (2,4,8,16) and finished it off. The handle flaps were added on and then the brown striping. I used it that day and it stretched too much. So I lined it, which can be seen in the next photo:

 As you can see I havent worked in my ends yet! Anyway, the lining was my first attempt and I sewed the fabric into a pouch by hand and then sewed it into the purse (I hate sewing machines. Coco Chanel didnt use sewing machines so neither will I!). The only think I would change for next time is when I start decreasing the HDC, I would switch back to the smaller hook to tighten it up a bit.

I like it because it has a square-ish shape to it to go with the square handles. But it would be quite easy to make a round one too! This was my first major project that I havent used a pattern for so Im very content with myself!

Happy Earth Day April 22, 2009

Since it is Earth Day, I thought I should post this quick project I made this morning (took 15 minutes, top). My family has cut out the use of plastic bags (most of the time) and have switched to reusable bags. My mom bought me a nylon one that folds into a smaller case and clips onto your keys. But she bought it from a grocery store and it had the store logo on it. So I decided to crochet a small daisy to cover the logo. At first, I was going to use normal yarn. But then I thought since its Earth Day I should use a natural fiber. My friend Tarah bought me bamboo yarn last year that I hadn’t used at all because its very thready and hard to work with. I made the flower out of two bamboo colors with an F sized hook. Here is the finished product:

Here are a few fast facts about plastic bags:

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
 

According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)

Find out more from this great website where I got these facts from: http://www.reusablebags.com/

Winter Wear April 22, 2009

Here a few projects I made this past winter. The first two are a simple scallop cap pattern. They work up very quickly and are pretty. The purple one is made from regular worsted weight yarn and the blue one is made from a chunky yarn.

Next are the “glittens” I made. Fingerless gloves that convert into mittens. I attatched a strawberry button to each one to hold the mitten part back.

         

Finally, here is another hat I made. This winter, the weather was very harsh in New England. Between ice storms and freeeeeezing cold tempatures it was brutal. And the wind was vicious. Pretty hats are just pretty. They dont keep your ears warm. So, I made this ear flap hat out of chunky soft yarn. Some woman actually stopped traffic as I was walking across a parking lot to ask me where I got it. When I said I had made it she asked if she could buy it off me. I gave her my email and told her Id make one, but never heard from her. Ah c’est la vie.

Not crochet, but still cute April 21, 2009

Ok, Im still working on the blanket mentioned previously. And I’ve crocheted something amazing, but I cant post it yet, for it is a present that has not been recieved yet.

But, I have discovered the awesomeness of decoupaging. So the story to this project goes as follows:

My friend works for a publishing house and loves loves LOVES books (I too love books, in fact they are piled everywhere because they dont fit on my bookshelf) and we always make jokes about building a house out of books. So I thought, “How cute would that be as a christmas present? A house of books.” I made this during my hurt shoulder time when I couldnt crochet but I needed to craft SOMETHING.

So I went to Michaels and bought a bird house. I also bought several colors of acrylic paint and painted the roof, base, and door area. I then spent weeks cutting out little books covers from magazines and the literary guild catalogs. Weeks and weeks and weeks. Then I decoupaged the titles on and voila! A house of books.

So I’m back to crocheting but I could decoupage every flat surface of my house if that wasnt tacky. Im almost done with the throw I’m crocheting, so in a week or so I’ll post that.

I also just read Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Yarn Harlot and thought it was one of the funniest books I have ever read. And even though she seems to have an extreme dislike for crocheting and crocheters, I will still buy the second book. (BTW if you havent read it, its worth it just to read the squirrel story!).

 

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.  ~Henry Ward Beecher

I havent dissapeared! March 31, 2009

So a while back I pulled a muscle in my shoulder making crocheting quite painful, so I took a break. But I got back into it this weekend. I tried completing a sweater I started in January and realized I had a major flaw so I ripped the whole thing out and decided to start fresh. What I want to make is a “quillow”, a quilt-esque blanket that folds neatly into a pillow. I guess it would be a… pilghan? (pillow + afghan). However, I dont like any of the patterns Ive found, so Im creating my own by changing a pattern I found for a pot holder that I liked… no lie. It should be interesting….

Look back in a few weeks to see if I had any success….

Buggin’ February 12, 2009

I drive a VW New Beetle and as most people know, they have a little vase just behind the steering wheel called a “bud vase”. I orginally had a fake flower in there, which I hated. Then I saw in one of the VW brochures that they put pinwheels in them, but they are hard to find. So I tried to crochet a flower for it but I hate every single flower I made.

In December, we were hit with that aweful ice storm and lost power for a few days. Since there was nothing to do, I started playing around with yarn. What I ended up making was this ladybug and then attatched her to two leaves. I then found a small dowel and wrapped it with green yarn and sewed it in between the two leaves. This was my final product:

I know that it could use some perfecting, but I absolutley adore it. The biggest problem is that I was just playing around. I don’t think that I could reproduce it! Below its pictured in the actual vase…

Baby set February 11, 2009

My friend is having a baby boy (due next month, YAY!) and I wanted to crochet a set for her. I hate baby yarn because it only comes in pastels. The baby’s room theme has browns and dark greens in it, so I took inspiration from that and used Red Heart Super Saver yarn. First up is the hat…

 The pattern came out of the Stitch n Bitch Happy Hooker book. I liked the pattern because the hat has ear flaps (my ears always get sooo cold!).

The sweater most likely wont be of use until next fall. I couldnt find a pattern for a new born sweater that I liked. I believe I found this pattern on Ravelry.

I liked this yarn because the sweater almost looks camoflauged (if you’re from Northern NY like I am, you would most likely appreciate the beauty behind Camo). However, I thought that the varigated yarn was a bit overwheliming, so I used plain green for the button band, collar, sleeves, and waist band. I also used antique wooden buttons.

This next picture is a close up of the puff stitched used. The stitch looked better in the picture with the pattern because it was used with baby yarn that was one color. It gets lost with the varigated yarn because the mix of colors doesnt make it stand out. I still like the sweater, but if I were to do it again I would use the trimming color for the puff stitch as well….

Cable “knit” February 11, 2009

I also learned how to do a cable stitch this winter. I enjoy the stitch because its puffy and works quickly. However, I havent really played with it too much. I would like to use it as an edging on a blanket at some point….