Silky Soft Scarf

So I’ve had some of this Frog Tree Pima Silk yarn in my stash for a really long time. On a whim I made this. I really like it. So I wrote up the pattern and got some great hookers to help me test it.

This pattern is also available as a pdf download on Ravelry and you can find it on Fiber Star Originals as well.

Purple Craze Hat and Scarf Story

First I had roving that I spun into singles:



Then I added dye which created Purple Craze:



Then with my hook I made the Purple Craze Hat and Scarf:



Both are made using a 9mm hook and half double crochet. On the Scarf I crocheted into the the back loop on the front of the work and into the front loop on the back of the loop. I also made a "key hole" so the flower motif acts like a button. The flower was made with my handspun and Elann Luna. I might add some beads to the hat and scarf to bling it up a bit but that will have to happen later as I have lots more holiday yarning to do.

I'm alive and well

I did have a cold last week but we all get better just in time for Halloween. We didn't do much decorating like we have done in past years. I totally forgot to take picks of the kids. Jade was a with and Corbin was well something kind of scary. He was going to be a a cowboy but changes his mind at the last minute.

The week before that we went camping south of Wichita It was a bit cold at night but kind of nice to get warm by a fire with s'mores and a hot cup of cocoa. We did lots of cooking over the fire and baking potatoes in the coals. The night sky was brilliant where we camped and we some shooting stars.

I've been busy getting all my wips wipped. I finally finished dear hubby's Gryfindor scarf. It make him look courageous don't you think ?



Specs:
free pattern on atypically.knit
Plymouth Encore Yarn
16" size 8 needles

This never ending scarf was not enough for me as I plan to cast on a Ravenclaw one for my son. I will cast on 70 sts instead of 90sts. So hopefully it won't take so long. I need to get a bit more yarn so I can make hubby a matching hat.

I finished sweater for me:



This is an adapted Suzanne Sweater from Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman. It called for a hood and I made it a scooped neck cardigan instead by shaping the neck while I shaped the arm holes. I need to get some better pics and a close up if the buttons which are silvery look with a celtic design.

I used double crochet post stitch for edging around the neck and the bottom of the sweater. Then I did a crab stitch to finish it off and on the sleeves. I used about 8 skeins of Cascade Heathers and an H hook.

I ordered some yarn because dear daughter wants a cardigan like it. I got some yarn for me make another cardigan too. I don't have hardly any sweaters. So I am spoiling myself this winter.

I'd like to make a promise that I will post more often this month but I'm also trying not to spend so much time online. So we shall see.

too many wips ...

too many works in progress (wips) that is.

I say I have too many wips and I just might because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. But truly I like having several projects to work on because they each have their place. If I'm bred with one I pick up another. I'm know to start another project, usually small ones in between all this too. Did you see all the dish cloths I made? I've been working on those more than these lately.

Like my crocheted sweater has some patterning to it and needs some attention so it good for quite time at home. This is the Suzanne Hoodie from Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman. I making out of a heathered purple yarn wool yarn by Cascade. The pic really doesn't do the yarn color justice.


The Harry Potter scarf is great for car knitting (I'm not the one driving, I promise!) I like taking to homeschool group too. I got lots done on this visiting the in laws.


The socks in progress I'm doing a basic knit on the foot so they are also good out for an about project. I keep these in my purse for emergency knitting ie. the kids are taking forever at the library or at the grocery store. I got some done on these this weekend too.


I have the ripple gahn but it's unlikely I will do much on it until it gets cool again.



I also have some thread grannies and yarn grannies I'm doing. I see these as long term use up the stash projects. The ripple ghan is like that too.

This doll spiral blanket I really need to finish. I know my daughter will love it because she picked out the colors. I have a hard time working on it because it just doesn't excite me at all. I will persevere.



I crocheting this lovely Chrysanthemum Shawl from Amazing Crocheted Lace. I'm not far from finished. I'm using Soy Silk yarn from Southwest Trading Co. It is divine. Been working on this today.


The exchange bag from Happy Hooker. It's made from nylon yarn from omega. I'm not really a bag/purse person but I love the looks of this so I had to make it.


See this afghan, blockas are from 200 crochet block by Jan Eaton, I *still* have not woven in all the ends.

my first pair of knit socks

I used baby weight yarn from my stash and #3 dpns (double pointed knitting needles.) I followed this tutorial here. I made loads of mistakes but they fit!

Most of my mistakes were due to not reading the tutorial carefully. When doing the gusset I didn't alternate knit rounds with the shaping rounds and I forgot to do it with one sock on the toe shaping. Grafting the toes was tricky but I got the hang if about halfway through the second sock.

A sneak peak of my progress on the Harry Potter Scarf:

Shhh don't tell my crochet friends...

I'm knitting!



This is the first 10 rows or so of a Gryfindor scarf, from the Prisoners of Azkaban. I'm making it for dh. You can find the info to make it here. He's helped me get started on it this weekend. My dear husband is the first knitter in our little family. My dd does okay but hasn;t the patience to get going. I've tried and tried several time to get the hang of knitting and felt like all thumbs so I kept turning back to my hooks and books. This weekend my mind and body were in sync and I can do it. Not very well but I can do it.

I'm giddy can you tell?

Stashbusting Hat, Scarf and Mittens

I've been busy crocheting, hunting for bento boxes, and playing pokemon with the kids so I haven't had much time for blogging.

My stash busting has been my biggest crafting distraction over the last few days. Yesterday, I finished weaving in the last of the ends. Oh my, there were a lot of ends to weave in! I love the looks of it not to mention I used up over 8 skeins of Knit Picks Merino style wool at the same time. Colorwise this was a big stretch for me, but I think it turned out well.



I posted pics of the project on crochetville and someone asked for some tips to make their own.

Mittens:

I adapted a pattern from Hip to Crochet



These turned out a bit bigger than I'd like so I need to reduce the number of stitches or use a smaller hook if I make these again. I think they will serve me well for the most part.

Scarf:



I started with a foundation chain of 26 and ended with 24 stitches across. Really you could start with any number of stitches. Then I varied the patterns looking through Encyclopedia of Crochet, 63 Crocheted Blocks for ideas, and just my own memory. I chose not to use fpdc stitches because I wanted it to lay flat and not have an obvious wrong side or right side. I didn't worry if the patterns didn't work out balanced. If needed 2 dcs on one end and one dc on the other that was fine with me. I did do some frogging to make the patterns work out nicely or if I missed stitches. So a skinnier scarf would make that more painless.



After weaving in ALL the ends I added fringe. If I had more yarn left I wold have added curlies instead.


Hat:


I crocheted the hat vertically. The base row of hat had 16 sts across. I started with dc stitches on the right moving to hdcs then sc at the end. On the return row I would do all sc or scs moving to hdcs, this gave the hat some shaping so when I sewed the hat together and finished the top it was less gathered the top. On the hat I really played with cable stitches. I would wrap it around my head when I thought is was large enough, if not I added a few more rows. When it was long enough I fastened off leaving a long tail to sew the sides together with the right sides together.

To close up the top of the hat I first sc around on the right side, then did sc decreases around in a spiral until the top of the hats was finished then fastened off and wove in the end. I'm not completely satisfied with the look of the top of the hat. If I make this kind of hat again I might sc across before sewing then sides together and gather the top together. Alternatively I could crochet a circle and sew that to the top.



I made a rolled brim for the hat. I started with sc around on the wrong side of the hat, then did at least 2 row of hdcs, you might want to do more so the wrong side of the had doesn't show. Then I did a few rows of fpdc changing colors and finished it off with a shell stitch. I haven't done it yet but the hat could do with gentle steam blocking to make a sharper crease where the rolled brim begins. You could also end with finishing row of sc or hdcs on the right side of the hat.

Good luck making you own own colorful stash busting set.

what we've been up to wednesday

Yesterday we hung out with our local homeschool group. I missed last time 'cause Corbin and I were sick. It was good to be back. T he kids had fun playing pool, air hockey, dolls, and building with legs. I really wish I had brought my camera 'cause all the kids came up with some really great lego creations.

Jade made brownies then we ate them of course. Here's what's left:


Earlier this week the kids made a family of royal puppets out of toilet paper tubes.



and played dress up



and made tents in the family room

Sorry about the blurriness but I didn't want to retake the pic. Yes, I did pick up some before I took the picture.

I introduced the kids to hangman. Jade enjoyed it but Corbin just isn't as reading well enough to enjoy it. He was pretty frustrated.

Jade made some melt and pour soap for gifts. We are almost finished with that. We made some holiday cards. I'm almost finished with my gift crafting this year. Just one or two more things to make and a few more loose ends to weave in. Then I'm done. Phew!

I whipped this up over the last few days. It's for my sister, hope she likes it. It's my own design and I plan to write a up a pattern for it eventually.



Right now the kids are watching Astroboy.

It's a flower scarf - NaBloPoMo#7

I couldn't sleep so I'm sneaking today's post in very early this morning. Enjoy.

It's a flower scarf but I didn't get to keep it. I made it for my swap partner on Crochetville.



I use knit picks merino wool which is fairly soft. I like how it turned out but was disappointed in the color selections. I didn't use more colors in the scarf because there other choices weren't in the right hue. I also think this would have looked really good using a mercerize cotton yarn to give it more drape and shine. Cotton would be cooler to wear for a fun scarf in the summer.



I saw some cotton merino mix in some colors I really like at my LYS and I wish I could have made it out of that. It was silky soft too.

I got my scarf in the mail!

I love getting packages in the mail. It's so fun.

I got my summer scarf today from my partner. It's beautiful and my favorite color, purple.



She included the leftover yarn she used too, it's called Endless Summer from elann. She also sent me some stuff from her home town, Austin, TX and MORE yarn. I got a hank of laceweight knitpicks yarn and some Cascade 220. Yippee! My yarn stash just keeps getting bigger. (It's simply irresistible y'know :)

Thanks so much!

Tunisian Crochet and some Ribbon Yarn

I'm experimenting with Tunisian Crochet and some ribbon yarn just to see what happens.

I'm using Modea Ticker Tape yarn
What I think is likely a K or L hook. If I do it again I want to try using a larger hook. The Yarn calls for a an N hook.
I'm not following a pattern.

I'm using the following Tunisian stitches going back in for between and open look and doing all the stitches and using different sized stitches (follow stitch names to links for tutorials/intructions on how to do the stitch):

Tunisian treble
this recommended a chain two for the first treble stitch. I think a chain three works better.
eyelets or skipping stitches
I skipped stitches doing the Tunisian treble so I wrapped the yarn over 3 times instead of two and pulled thru twice.
simple stitch crochet

Lots of good video tutorials for Tunisian here and how to's for more stitches here


The beginning






I think the scarf looks good with green.



You can see the fringe I added here, how it looks with a purple shirt and about how long it is. I dyed the shirt myself doing low-water immersion dyeing.



Back to the pic with the green shirt because even if do say so myself not a bad picture of me. I like how the scarf looks too.

I'm trying to decide if I like the tape yarn or not. It was fun to experiment with and I want to try some more. I think that tape might be something you like or you don't like. It has a more "edgy" modern look to it and less organic than yarn. So that's how I am looking at it and trying to see how to showcase it's edginess best rather than trying to make it something it isn't.

It's a scarf!

Here's the scarf I made for the summer scarf swap on Crochetville which my daughter is graciously modeling. I can finally share it because my partner recieved her scarf.




Frog Tree Yarn (85% Cotton and 15% Silk) a dk weight yarn
Used and E or F hook (I forgot!)
I added glass beads to the fringe

These are very basic instructions on how I made this scarf:

Chain any number depending how long you want the scarf
I used an extended sc stitch and I skipped stitches randomly leaving some open work.

See photo below:



I only did 5 rows to make it fairly skinny.

Add fringe in three places across each edge.
Add beads of your choice, as shown our in your own style.

Scarves, scarves everywhere

Scarves seem a bit insane with the heatwave sure to hit Kansas as the summer kicks in. I still like scarves because they are so easy to make. I'm having fun designing my own. It's a fun way to try out new stitch patterns and they work up so quickly.

I'm also making head scarves and head band like things too so I can hold my long hair back away from my face. It's giving me chance to try out some patterns and ideas with Lion Brand Microspun Yarn which I ljust love the feel of.

Here's a headband one I made inspired by Bruges Lace I love the look of this lace. I'm not much of a thread crocheter at least not yet. This style might make me a convert. I think it also translates well to yarn. I have a few ideas swirling around for a fun scarf using this method as a starting point. You can get the free pattern here for this headband.



















Here a scarf I made using microspun yarn from the Interweave Crochet - Spring 2006 it's The Pointer Sisters Scarf scroll to the bottom to find it. While you are at it you will find lots cool crochet projects. I want to make the colorful Babette Blanket, the Sea Side Espadrilles sandals for the summer and I also like the lavender shrug and I'm not a shrug person. I want to make the Sea Foam Skirt too but I have to learn how to do hairpin lace first. So much to learn so little time....

























Here's a yellow open net stitch scarf and a granny square like kercheif also made with Microsup Yarn.



A close up of the yellow scarf I also made a kercheif with the yellow but couldn't find it to take a picture. I can tie this scarf around my head to keep my hair out of my face too.



A close up of the kerchief - It's a free pattern from the Craft Yarn Council of America