Crochet to Go

My mom is a great crochet supporter. I recently let her know that it's not yarn that I need (I'm drowning in the stuff these days), but rather pattern books. I'm working towards putting together a book of vintage patterns, updated for modern audiences, sizes, yarns, and hooks.

This is her favorite of the latest batch she's given me. I like it a lot too. She requested this hood, which I tried but had to abandon last night. As Adam said, it's just to funereal.

I plan to get started on these projects as soon as I make it through my huge list of holiday gifts.

Today seems to be my day for dealing with failed projects. I just gave up on this shawl, a Christmas gift for my sister. I gave her this blue version a few months back, which she likes a lot. The tan color was a request. Unfortunately, my yarn choice was poor. The ribbon yarn is so much more elegant; the nubbly yarn just looks grandmotherly.

This last picture is the start to a scarf for my mom. I've had it for ages - probably two years now - because I've been unable to find enough yarn to finish the pattern. Thanks to a wonderfully diligent yarn store in the deep South (yet again my local store failed me - darn you Article Pract) I finally was able to officially give up on the project. The yarn, despite the fact that the manufacturer still "offers" it on their website; was pulled out of production 18 months ago.

I think the 2-foot length I've made will make a nice cat blanket.

It's cold today, and I think it might rain in a few minutes. I'm dithering about and trying to clean up my inbox. Here's a designer's website I bookmarked months ago - a young woman who makes handmade crocheted hairclips, among other things. You'll find her bio here.

Crochet Me posted a link to this remarkable project set on Flickr. All of sea creatures, crocheted or knitted entirely out of plastic fibers. I just love it, particularly this white one.

Yes, I've started the Christmas craft frenzy. I'm tacking it in stages: first hats, then ornaments, then scarves and mittens. If I work really hard, I think there's a chance I might actually get everything done. Here are the first six hats. Thanks to Adam for graciously modeling all of them. His favorite is the black and grey one; I'm partial to the fuzzy white hat with blue and brown accents.

I'm really pleased with this year's efforts. Of course, I didn't make anything last year, so it was certainly easier to top nothing. Here's the whole path of events:

In August, Adam requested a pair of white fur pants to wear to Burning Man (nighttime wear; it gets cold out there in the desert.) I've never made pants before, but it was surprisingly easy. Here's what a few yards of fabric and two hours will get you.

October rolls around. We still have about a yard leftover of what I've been referring to as "chicken fur." Adam has been prepairing for a major presentation, leaving me with way too much time on my hands. Inspiration struck on the train last week - a chicken costume!

The entire costume is a single piece of fabric with elastic bands at the top and the bottom. I wrapped a blanket and two towels around my waist and secured with a belt to create the bulk. The hat is also a simple tube, secured at one end. The red top is felt, sewn at the base.

Finally, here's Adam again. We added a pair of horns to turn his fuzzy pants into a satyr costume.

I recently finished this wrap from Cozy Crochet. If I'm being totally honest, I have to admit I don't like the patterns in this book much. Kind of uninspired. I have always wanted to make this project, however. It's shown draped around a woman's shoulders, hanging softly. The author recommends using Blue Sky Alpacas' Alpaca and Silk. I used my standard sport weight acrylic yarn, which definitely wasn't the best choice. It looks fine, but it doesn't drape at all. But, if you used blue sky alpaca, this single project would cost nearly $200! That's just crazy.

I just got the new anthropology catalog in the mail. While I think these shoes are hideous, at least they're crochet!

There's actually quite a bit of crochet on the site - here to see. I love this necklace.

I received a real, final copy of the Costco edition of my patterns last night! It's massive and just beautiful. Rumor has it that the kit will be in stores within the next week. I think this is going to be a great gift - it has 50 patterns (25 from my Crochet to Go Deck, 25 from Melissa Leapman's Cozy Crochet Kit), yarn, and instructional booklet, and several hooks. Adam and I are driving to Costco today to see if it's there yet.

Here's a few samples of how the photography turned out. Gorgeous!

These were a recent find at a thrift shop in Napa. I'm almost positive that the apron I made must have been from a pattern that also listed variants - the designs are really similar. Particularly this second one. I can't say I like the red version much, though it has something tribal about it, with shaping and colors inspired by Native American loincloth designs. Not necessarily what I normally look for in an apron.

I just love fred flare. I want to either buy or make everything on the site. I met the owners at a gift show about a year ago - two adorable young gay men with a great, playful design sense. They quite frequently have crocheted items. I just found this ghost necklace. It's so clever! I assume that for $9 it's made on a machine. Just as well - crocheting something that small would be really hard on the fingers.

These dolls are apparently making quite a splash at the various gift shows this year. It's not crochet, of course, but it seems like a great one-skein project. There are many more here. All handmade in Thailand.

What Not to Crochet posted this gem earlier this week. While the blog is generally right on - there's certainly a mountain of bad crochet out there - I kind of like this Johnny Depp-ish pirate. Sure, he's campy, but I can think of a dozen people who would laugh hysterically if given one for a gift.

This is my first project from The Baby Book of Knitting and Crochet. I drastically modified the pattern to get the gauge to work. Thank god for pictures of what things are supposed to look like, right? My finished version appears to be close to what the author intended. My impression of this book, based on this one pattern, is that it's great inspiration but only suited to a more advanced crocheter or knitter who knows how to identify and correct problems. For example, this tells you to repeat pattern stitch "across until 72 star sts are made. Cut off remaining chain." Huh? The whole thing with unravel.

All that said, I love how this turned out. Definitely a keeper. It could be expanded into an entire dress - you could leave the back open and just attached a crocheted skirt.

My adjustments to the basic pattern: I used South Maid 100% mercerized cotton in peach, size 10, and a 3.5 mm hook. I essentially halved the stitches per row (to 36 star sts in the first row), but kept the number of rows the same.

I just finished my grandmother's scarf. I did end up adding a scalloped border around the entire thing; I think it works quite well. The complete scarf - which is about 70 inches long - took 125 grams of RY Cashsoft Classic 4 Ply (gray) and 15 grams Rowan 4 Ply Soft (dark gray).

The pattern itself is quite simple - it's the "Fan Pattern" in The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches. I started with a foundation chain of 37 stitches and used a K / 6.5 mm hook. The border alternates clusters of 5 dc with 1 sc.

Alicia of Posie Gets Cosy recently wrote a post that includes a great popcorn-stitch purse. It's quite sophisticated - much more so than this playful sweater I made for Charlotte last year. I also used a popcorn stitch trim on these arm warmers, which are featured in the Crochet to Go Deck.

What else can be made? I like this purse I found on flickr. I'm thinking scarfs, obviously, but there's something else...

Maybe a lamp shade? Very retro-looking. I'll have to give that some thought.

I've mentioned before my love for aprons. I really think they're wonderful, and generally spend several hours a day wearing them. Some people have security blankets; I have a security apron. My boyfriend, Adam, is starting to get with the program, too.

An excerpt from an email he sent from his office on Friday:

Nicola was featured in this week's daily candy - she makes a wide range of attractive, clever jewelry. Dig a little deeper into her site, however and you'll find a fine art section; all crocheted. I like the combination of text and flowers in this piece. There are several longer text versions crocheted out of cassette tape.

I'm making good progress on my grandmother's scarf. I bought two colors (shown) so that I have the option of adding a scalloped border around the entire scarf. I'm not sure if I'll actually add it - I'm really liking the look of this stitch all by itself.

Here's the promised sweater. I've taken liberties with the use of color and added a scalloped border around the entire garment. As you can see in the photo of the baby, the sweater is intended to just have a few color bands. I've really quite pleased with my brighter version. I'd consider adding an additional button next time and flairing the bottom section to give it more of the appearance of a dress.

Pattern notes (link to pattern):
The rows are very poorly marked; I'd recommend reading through the pattern first and marking the rows involved in each step.

Hook used: 3.25 mm
Yarn used: Coats & Clark Luster Sheen (1 oz. Pure Aqua),
TLC Baby (1 oz. lilac and light green, 2 oz. white)

Next projects: I'm crocheting a grey and black scarf for my grandmother's birthday and a baby bib from a 1950s baby book.

I've barely crocheted at all for the past several weeks (hence the lack of posts). There's a very real reason - actually, two. First of all, 3 out-of-town trips in July (a few pictures posted on my other blog). Secondly, my landlord has finally agreed to fix my basement - which normally houses my office & craft room / TV room / guest room - which suffers from (among other things): collapsing walls, ceiling, and floor; inadequate lighting; and a door that will no longer open more than a few inches.

As you can tell from the pictures, progress has been made. New cement was poured two days ago in the floor-collapsing section. The ceiling and worst wall sections have been covered in new drywall (the old walls were plaster). In fact, I don't think the whole project looks particularly bad in these photos. My problem is that the area has looked like this for the past 2 weeks - they've maybe put in a total of 8 hours in the last 10 working days.

Meanwhile, the rest of my house, storing the contents of the basement, looks like this last photo. I can't wait to have space to move around, relax, and craft in! Against all odds I'm almost done with a baby sweater, but I promise the production will increase once the house is back in working order.

How do you do it? Not absolute darkness, of course, but how about in the car at dusk, or in front of the television, with the lights off?

I usually wear a headlamp, and also have a clip-on lamp that attaches to a shelf or the arm of a chair. But why bother when you can have a light-up crochet hook? Ingenious!

More here (including the inevitable reference to a lightsaber).