Tip Tuesday - It's all about the labeling

And the note taking and the remembering.  A fiber friend ask me at knit group a few weeks ago,  "How do you remember what the fiber is after you bring it home?"  My witty answer, "I don't."  The sad thing is I don't.  If I have a little bit I can keep track by what's in my stash on Ravelry.  If I have more than two undyed fibers I am likely to get confused which one is which.  Add dyed at fiber into the mix and I get doubly confused.  Since I don't like being confused I've been pondering how to keep track of it all.

I came across this nifty idea of using landscape tape.



Landscape flag tape is easy to break off or cut then write on with a permanent marker.   You can get this at your local hardware store for about $2.50.  I like this over paper as it doesn't get torn easily as paper or fall apart when wet.  So I can use it for dyeing and spinning samples as I can write information on it with a permanent marker and it doesn't wash off.



Things I like to take notes on when spinning: fiber, colorway, fiber prep, ratio, take up, drafting method, plies, how it was plied, yards, yards per pound, and angle of twist.

I also use tags cut up from old milk jugs.  I punch a hole in a corner and add a long piece of string that I double over and tie.  Then I loop that through the hole then loop the tag and string over the fiber.  I like this method as I can reuse it over and over again.




How to keep track of the leftover bits of yarn?  Do it like my mother did.



Wrap a bit of bandaging tape around a free end with the name, colorway of the yarn and weight. I think my mom left off the yarn weight on this one.

Now these are all great methods but only if you do it!

Icelandic Kitty Bag

This gray Icelandic fiber:



Spun up into this yarn:

About 300 yards of fingering/sport yarn that is. I spun up about 150 yards of black Icelandic yarn as well.

Then I used just a part of that to make this Tapestry Crochet Kitty Bag.


Specs:
A Perrrrfectly Wonderful Tapestry Crochet Kitty Bag Pattern
D/3.25 mm Crochet Hook
About 2.5 oz of the yarn total.
I did a reverse crochet edging with the gray instead of carrying the yarn together as the pattern said because I love reverse single crochet. I still want to line the bag. When that's done it will hold my spinning tools.

It's a Whoo

But she's not from Whooville. She sure looks sweet in the Whoo Hat I crocheted up for her. This is the same babe I made the Frog Blanket.

You can find this pattern in Not Your Mamma's Crochet. I used the Red Heart Soft that I used for the Frog Blanket: Lt blue, Teal, Dk Purple, Lavender and Lt Green.

For the joining round I only joined in the 3dc of the shell (or the middle one) that made the most sense to me.

Rainbow Sherbet Coin Purses

Materials
Rainbow Sherbet Handspun Handyed Yarn
4.0 mm hook
1/2 inch buttons

Are you a spinner or do you have some aran/heavy worsted yarn in your stash? Then checkout the free pattern here.

Teal Twist Mitts

Remember my Teal with a Twist Handspun? I spent some time this weekend using it to hook up some fingerless mitts. I tried using a shell stitch which I thought would work great but I was so wrong as you can see:



You just can't see any stitch definition and as you all know I'm all about the stitches. Shell stitches I think looks best in solid colors.



But sometimes look good in yarns that have long colorway like this:


As it turns out this project more about the yarn. So I went back to the basics just plain old half double crochet (hdc) and came up with these:





Did I telly how soft these are? They are very soft. I'm going to love them this winter to keep my hands warm around the house. Heck, I love them now. I took notes so you too can make them if you wish. Check back later for the pattern.

Java Jammies

Java Jammies keep coffee warm but not your hands! I've had some great comments on the one I've made when I use them in public. One of the cashiers at our healthfood store thinks they are great and says I should sell them there. I don't know about that but maybe someday. If I don't count on gettting rich I could be a bit of mad money at least.

Take at look at my Java Jammie Gallery:


It's an owl. Since we all know drinking coffee can keep you up all night. I used Plymouth Boku from Infinity Shawl.


Shell stitch and Plymouth Boku lefotvers.




More Plymouth Boku and what's called a griddle stitch: dc in sc and sc into the dc. (US terms)


Alpaca leftovers from my Spiral Shawl.


This was made from red heart scarps and one I get the most comment on when I use it.

Katamari

I made this for my husband for his birthday this year. It's pretty fun. He actually doesn't play the video game that this comes from. It was sufficient geeky enough that he liked it. I want one for myself in purple. It can hold my hooks and needles



Specs:
Leftover TLC Essentials and Red Heart from the stash and and 28 ceramic magnets.
Katamari is a free pattern you can find online

Autumn Romance Pullover

I started this last September and got quite a bit finished then got stuck on how to shape it as the directions in the magazine were not clear. Then I got help from the designer and made some tweaks myself so I finally finished it this spring.



Specs:
Autumn Romance Pullover by Annette Petavy in Interweave Crochet Fall 2007
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy about 6 skeins of it almost 1000 yards or so. I bought 8 but I have almost 2 full skeins left over and some small balls too. I really like this yarn and will use it again.
Hook: H/5.0mm

I didn’t do the shoulder shaping like it was written. I just didn’t like how it looked and my shoulder’s don’t slope that much. I did just two rows of shaping and made it go more gradual.

I wish I had crocheted the sleeves a little shorter but I don’t mind the length. I think I did gradual increase every 4th row or something like that until I got the the patterns requirements then I worked even.

I slipped stitched the sides, shoulders and sleeves for more stability. I wish I had done it a bit loosely but it doesn’t look bad. I did the back stitch for the shoulders and that turned out well and I will use this method more often sewing together crocheted sweaters.

The edging called for 4 dcs and I did 3 dc as I didn’t want an over ruffled look.

Yippee! It's Shawl Season

It's finally cooling down so I can wear my shawls. There are a few some of you have not seen in my blogging absence.

Eva Shawl


A free pattern online here, made with lace with yarn from knit picks, in my favorite colors.



It's very light weight and nice if it's just a bit cool outside and great even in the summer when you go in to the store that is cooler than it is outside.



This picture I just had to share because I like it so much. Danielle is such a sweet kitty.

My Flower Basket Shawl and first knitted lace shawl.


(if you click through to flickr and look at the larger photos you can get some great detail on the pattern)




Specs:
Flower Basket Lace Shawl and Scarf by Evelyn A. Clark
Size 5.0mm needles and about 1000 yards of Naturnspun Sport in Mallard



Finally my Infinity Shawl:


Specs:
Infinity Wrap designed by Kristin Omdahl
Interweave Crochet Winter 2007
Plymouth Boku and and I / 5.5mm hook



That's all for now. You all stay warm now.

V Stitch for Me Stitch Hat

Made from left overs from the froggy blanket for my nieces little one.

I used an US I hook (5.5 mm) and Red Heart Soft lavender, dk purple and teal.

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.

Finished Object Friday

This little Doggie was in Crochet Today! Dec 2006/Jan 2007
Doggie really didn’t take long to make but I got frustrated with sewing the ears on they just didn’t look right. So I let it all sit for a few weeks and finally finished her up. It still doesn’t look as good as I like. The main problem was I put eyes in too far out and maybe a bit high. Otherwise I think she looks very cute. I crocheted a collar and added a flower too.


Meet Valentino the Amigurumi of love. I got to test this for Clare on Crochetville. He is just so sweet! My son decided he needed a scarf so we made one for Val. I think he has stolen my heart but do me a favor and don’t tell dh. He might get jealous;) You can find the free pattern here.



Fish from the Great Barrier Reef bookmarks designed by crochetroo. Check out here etsy shop here.


Fan bookmark also designed by crochetroo and it's free on her blog here.



Crinoline Lady bookmark. I followed a pattern from an old magazine that I can't find any more. She's supposed to have an arm reaching up to her bonnet but without the pattern I decided against freeforming it and left her armless.



Shell bookmark is my own design.


Pineapple bookmarks is from a pineapple motif in Crocheted Lace through Pictures by Yoko Suzuki


Australian Reptiles of the Land - bookmarks and motifs. I didn't do the lizard yet but you can see the snake and the gecko. Another pattern by crochetroo here.


Star flower bookmark made from a free pattern online I can't find anymore.


Heart bookmark, I used a free heart motif pattern here, then added the chain tail and tassel to make a bookmark.