I have never, ever, been able to figure out how to do a crocheted provisional cast-on so that the crocheted chain unzips neatly from my knit stitches.
But now, ha ha, thanks to the super-duper clear instructions for the Grace Lace Beret, I can do it! One simple phrase was all I needed: "pick up 60 stitches from the back of crochet chains." Winner!
And I'd thought I was doing well because I already had a random piece of crocheted chain in the right weight and length just lying around in my bag of scrap yarn. But no, now my lazy ass has learned a new skill, too.
Anyway, I'm pretty stoked about this. It will save me a lot of frustration in the future, I can feel it.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
A Sparkly Blue Thing
If you look very, very closely, you can see a faint stripe in this yarn, but it's not quite enough to count towards my stripey projects. :)
Anyway, here's your first look at my Sparkly Blue Thing. The yarn is Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, which appeared on my doorstep in a swap. It's soooo pretty I can't even deal.
The pattern is Something Lacy Shrug. I've been wanting to do something of this sort for a while, but most of the patterns I've found have had lace that seems a little bit 'granny' to me. I'm still not convinced that this isn't a bit granny.
I guess it's a granny with sass, though. The pattern calls for just a little bit of ribbing for sleeves, but I think I might make them longer, if it doesn't look silly. I should have plenty of yarn.
Anyway, here's your first look at my Sparkly Blue Thing. The yarn is Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, which appeared on my doorstep in a swap. It's soooo pretty I can't even deal.
The pattern is Something Lacy Shrug. I've been wanting to do something of this sort for a while, but most of the patterns I've found have had lace that seems a little bit 'granny' to me. I'm still not convinced that this isn't a bit granny.
I guess it's a granny with sass, though. The pattern calls for just a little bit of ribbing for sleeves, but I think I might make them longer, if it doesn't look silly. I should have plenty of yarn.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
a quick stripey hit.
Tiny stripey sweater! I feel the need to bust out a tiny sweater every so often. This one is a keychain. It's got i-cord coming out of the sleeve and attaching to a key. I have no idea how practical this is, but it sure is cute.
Oh, and the yellow yarn? It's the stuff I dyed myself! It's maybe a slight bit too brown to be a real Pittsburgh medium-yellow, but I like it anyway. It hearkens back to the old Terrible Towels.
Oh, and the yellow yarn? It's the stuff I dyed myself! It's maybe a slight bit too brown to be a real Pittsburgh medium-yellow, but I like it anyway. It hearkens back to the old Terrible Towels.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
random round-up.
We had a primary election this week. I knew it would be a slow day, so I brought some knitting. Each of these items was barely started at the beginning of the day.
They grew a lot.
The scarf is in stripes, yes, but notice how I am weaning myself away from my solid stripes in the fingerless mitt. We've got a bit of colorwork going on! This mitt was the perfect thing to knit on Slow Election Day. It was just complicated enough that it was interesting (gotta love variegated yarn for that) but not so complicated that I couldn't figure out where I was when I picked it back up after registering a voter.
And I made a wee nerdy Green Lantern case thing for my brother's birthday. It's pretty cute. I didn't have time to block it, or it wouldn't look so squiggly. :)
They grew a lot.
The scarf is in stripes, yes, but notice how I am weaning myself away from my solid stripes in the fingerless mitt. We've got a bit of colorwork going on! This mitt was the perfect thing to knit on Slow Election Day. It was just complicated enough that it was interesting (gotta love variegated yarn for that) but not so complicated that I couldn't figure out where I was when I picked it back up after registering a voter.
And I made a wee nerdy Green Lantern case thing for my brother's birthday. It's pretty cute. I didn't have time to block it, or it wouldn't look so squiggly. :)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Orange! (And perhaps some stripes. Because.)
Yeah, I say "orange" and then the first thing I do is fake you out with some blue. We'll just all have to live with it. Anyway, this is my wool/silk laceweight from NeuroticKnitterz. I dig it, and I think my mom will too. I'm trying to decide what sort of lacy thing I want to make out of it. Right now I'm thinking a half-circle shawl, but I haven't found one that I really, really adore.
The yarn is actually a good bit brighter than in this picture. It's sooo pretty.
Ok. On to the orange segment of the day! (Ha ha, get it? Orange segment? I just made an awesome salad with quinoa and cilantro and scallions and oranges, so I may have oranges on the brain.)
This is from my second-ever adventure in dying. I was overdying some light brown--it is now a coppery brown, which is much more me--and thought what the heck, I'll toss in some of this white Knit Picks Palette I have leftover from Christmas. I had three extra (more or less) skeins, and I really don't think I need that much white. I dig this orange, though. I think I also dig this dying thing, though I do not have a precise nature and will therefore probably never be very good at it.
And here we have some stripes! This is stripey yarn, in my defense. I saw it lying there a few days ago, and there wasn't enough to make into anything, not even a baby hat, so it became this wee little pouch. I don't know what I'll keep in it, but it sure is cute.
The yarn is actually a good bit brighter than in this picture. It's sooo pretty.
Ok. On to the orange segment of the day! (Ha ha, get it? Orange segment? I just made an awesome salad with quinoa and cilantro and scallions and oranges, so I may have oranges on the brain.)
This is from my second-ever adventure in dying. I was overdying some light brown--it is now a coppery brown, which is much more me--and thought what the heck, I'll toss in some of this white Knit Picks Palette I have leftover from Christmas. I had three extra (more or less) skeins, and I really don't think I need that much white. I dig this orange, though. I think I also dig this dying thing, though I do not have a precise nature and will therefore probably never be very good at it.
And here we have some stripes! This is stripey yarn, in my defense. I saw it lying there a few days ago, and there wasn't enough to make into anything, not even a baby hat, so it became this wee little pouch. I don't know what I'll keep in it, but it sure is cute.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Promised Hat
It's big, it's red, and it's snoodly.
First we have an up-close shot of the stitch pattern, which is your basic Zigzag Lace from the first Barbara Walker book. I happened to have it out of the library. The hat used about a skein and a half of Knit One Crochet Too's Tartelette.
The hat, which was made up as I went along, turned out pretty much how I wanted it to. It's very slouchy and very very red, though, and I have not had the guts (or maybe just the occasion) to wear it outside the house.
In other news, I finally bought the 'treat' yarn I had been promising myself for months. I'd been looking for a lighter orange, but I finally found some blue laceweight that was almost exactly what I wanted for a shawl for my mom, so, to save on postage, I bought some orange yarn from the same shop.
I liked it pretty well in the pictures online (duh, or I wouldn't have bought it) but I LOVE IT in person. Like, LOVE IT. It looks way better in person than in my pictures, too. It's kind of a glowing rusty orange-brown, and I don't know how I'm going to choose a pattern for it.
That's a nice merino/nylon fingering weight in Rust by NeuroticKnitterz , y'all. It's good stuff.
I'll show you pictures of the blue laceweight later. Right now it's in a bit of a snarl. I had some winding issues. But the color is awesome!
First we have an up-close shot of the stitch pattern, which is your basic Zigzag Lace from the first Barbara Walker book. I happened to have it out of the library. The hat used about a skein and a half of Knit One Crochet Too's Tartelette.
The hat, which was made up as I went along, turned out pretty much how I wanted it to. It's very slouchy and very very red, though, and I have not had the guts (or maybe just the occasion) to wear it outside the house.
In other news, I finally bought the 'treat' yarn I had been promising myself for months. I'd been looking for a lighter orange, but I finally found some blue laceweight that was almost exactly what I wanted for a shawl for my mom, so, to save on postage, I bought some orange yarn from the same shop.
I liked it pretty well in the pictures online (duh, or I wouldn't have bought it) but I LOVE IT in person. Like, LOVE IT. It looks way better in person than in my pictures, too. It's kind of a glowing rusty orange-brown, and I don't know how I'm going to choose a pattern for it.
That's a nice merino/nylon fingering weight in Rust by NeuroticKnitterz , y'all. It's good stuff.
I'll show you pictures of the blue laceweight later. Right now it's in a bit of a snarl. I had some winding issues. But the color is awesome!
Monday, April 25, 2011
check this out!
Get ready, friends, for I have several non-stripey things to show you this week! (Don't worry, I'll probably have to have a Stripe Day soon, because I've got plenty, but first, some other stuff.)
Remember that grey laceweight yarn I did my Vernal Equinox Shawl out of? It used to be a Gap turtleneck? I had a goodly amount left, even after the shawl, and let's face it, I love grey knitwear, but grey is not my best color. I really don't need two grey shawls, you know? So I dyed it green!
This was my first foray into the world of dying. I used good ol' Paas, because there was some in the cupboard left over from last Easter. It turned out a nice uneven mossy green, which was kind of hard to photograph, but you get the general idea from these pictures. I think next time I will remember to stir the yarn a bit when it's in the pot, but I think the erratic dye job will actually look really nice when it's knit up.
And yeah, that's right, I said 'next time.' I've done my best not to get started with any dying or spinning or any of that, because the last thing I need is another hobby or something else to spend money on, but it's kind of fun to make yarn be the color you want it to be. I've got some white yarn left over from my mom's Christmas sweater, and I might have to turn it some kind of orange. Just because you can never have too much orange yarn.
Next up (oooh, a teaser!) we will have a big red hat made out of ribbon yarn. I kind of love it.
Remember that grey laceweight yarn I did my Vernal Equinox Shawl out of? It used to be a Gap turtleneck? I had a goodly amount left, even after the shawl, and let's face it, I love grey knitwear, but grey is not my best color. I really don't need two grey shawls, you know? So I dyed it green!
This was my first foray into the world of dying. I used good ol' Paas, because there was some in the cupboard left over from last Easter. It turned out a nice uneven mossy green, which was kind of hard to photograph, but you get the general idea from these pictures. I think next time I will remember to stir the yarn a bit when it's in the pot, but I think the erratic dye job will actually look really nice when it's knit up.
And yeah, that's right, I said 'next time.' I've done my best not to get started with any dying or spinning or any of that, because the last thing I need is another hobby or something else to spend money on, but it's kind of fun to make yarn be the color you want it to be. I've got some white yarn left over from my mom's Christmas sweater, and I might have to turn it some kind of orange. Just because you can never have too much orange yarn.
Next up (oooh, a teaser!) we will have a big red hat made out of ribbon yarn. I kind of love it.
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