Felted Basket

Dempsey and I went to a NEW yarn store last weekend http://www.the-mannings.com/mannings_catalog.cgi. Yarn, yarn, and more yarn. Much to my delight, they had a decent amount of crochet patterns and were not snobs when I told them I crocheted, like other yarn shops can be. I do not understand it. I can buy yarn just like a knitter. And as one of my friends points out, I need to buy more since crocheting uses 1/3 more yarn. But this yarn store appreciates fiber artists of all genres, and the casual shopper too!

One pattern that caught my eye was for a felted basket. It is by Fiber Trends and includes a pattern for a felted rug and baskets of two sizes. I opted to make the smaller basket first.




These two pictures are of the basket before the felting process. Floppy and full of holes.




The basket made up quick enough. The instructions were clear, after the first step. And the first step was clear, just awkard and unusual. I had to stop myself from thinking and just follow directions. Awkard.

But following the directions yields the following:





I really like the yarn I used, however the next time I make this basket, I will chose a more chunky yarn. I think that would make the end product more stiff than what this one turned out to be. I guess that means another trip to the yarn store.......:)

A very long term project

Inspired by Lucy at http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/ and my dear friend that I am meeting tomorrow, this past year I have been consumed with crocheting. There seems to be no turning back for me now.

In addition to the crochet block-a-month and a bag that I am making the pattern as I go, I am working on this little lovely, I mean big lovely:

It is wide enough to go on our bed which is between a double and a queen size. So even though each color is done in two row increments, those two rows can take a long time! The bad thing is that this afghan has become too big to tote around everywhere. If it is to be worked on, it must be done at home. But oh it is so nice and warm to hook under!

I am using Reynolds Lite-Lopi Icelandic Wool which I bought here:http://www.yarn.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/categoryID/106ECA8A-86A4-46C8-A3E8-DED3B28F6B8D/productID/22AB37AF-E64F-4DC3-8C02-07EF4DC3E112/. They had a good deal going because the colors were being discontinued, woohoo. The price was good. But when I found I was a few skeins short, it was difficult to find the colors I needed. Until Ravelry!

I went on the Ravelry site and looked in people's stash(don't get mad, I!). There is an extremely gracious woman in Reno, Nevada who has sent me the yarn needed to complete one of the blues in this afghan. I am so grateful to her and am impressed by her generosity.

Have a fabulous day!

Block-A-Month

Some very important ladies (you know who you are!) introduced me to http://www.ravelry.com/. If you crochet or knit, or wish you could, check this site out. It is an entire community of people who are interested in this art/hobby. Patterns, groups to chat with, a place to list your stash, list your needles - lots, lots, lots of good "hooky goodness".


Ravelry has a Block-of-the-Month group where every month there is a pattern presented for making a 6 inch block and a 12 inch block. It is from the Janaury pattern that these blocks are made:

This pattern was the 12 inch block. The pattern calls for a specific yarn type but I had yarn, not yet earmarked for a project. So, my gauge is just 50% off. Meaning that I ended up with 6 inch blocks! Personally I was glad, because it made it very easy to still come up with a 12 inch finished Janaury project. The blocks look like they have a bit of a slant. Looking at the posts from other Ravelry group members, most have the same slanty look.

I am using a merino wool from Valley Yarns and it is sooooo soft and nice to work with. I intend to use the same colors for the block patterns that turn up for the rest of the year. In picking the colors, I brought in some of my quilting skills. In quilting, it is important to mix light, dark, and medium values. So in picking the colors for these blocks, I made sure I had light, dark, and medium in each block. It will be interesting to see how this makes up over the year.

Want to join me in the block-of-the-month? Go to the Ravelry website and join, if you are not already a member. Then shoot me an email and I tell you my "name" on Ravelry.

I've got to go crochet away!!!

Star Garland

I am excited, a new blog!

So for the debut here I will reveal a newly completed project. Actually this star garland has been up for a couple of days. It was inspired by attic24. Lucy received her inspiration from here: http://theroyalsisters.blogspot.com/2009/11/grandma-twinkle-tutorial.html.

My garland was made from Queensland Hyacinth cotton yarn, purchased from here: http://www.yarn.com/webs-knitting-crochet-yarns-queensland/webs-knitting-yarns-queensland-hyacinth/.

So are you ready?

What do you think? I am hoping the snowflakes inside translate into snowflakes outside!