The evolution of yarn, and some FOs

I'm still really new to crochet, and yarn. One thing I'm learning though there are just SO many possibilities, and it's just amazing to see how your yarn works up into an item.

Remember that Aade Long I purchased on Ebay? It's fairly yucky to work with. You can really feel the 'sheepiness' in it. You get that lanolin feeling all over your hands. And it's just coarse as. I still really love the colourway I chose though. Fingers crossed when I wash/block it it comes up nicely (although I'm not holding my breath).

I used this yarn to participate in a Tumblr crochet-a-long for April. The chosen pattern was the Monroe shawl (available here). I have finished this item, but for blocking. I'll take more pics to show it off properly after its blocked.

Yarn in Hank form.

Wound into a cake, now you can see how it will behave!

Starting to work the yarn, how exciting is the colour change!

Better idea of the colour changes.

A bit of detail.

Some of the first yarn I bought online was some random 100% wool, hand dyed, bought from this seller. I chose greys becuase I thought it would be good for work. The yarn is a bit rough, not suitable for garments agains the skin. It did soften up a bit on blocking. I soaked my shawl in wool wash first, rinsed and then soaked in water with some conditioner.

Hank form.

ball form

I made my first shawl with this yarn. The pattern I chose was the seraphina. Chart and further pattern instructions which I found very helpful available here.

Before blocking.


During blocking


Blocking detail.

Hanging out.






Yes, I took this in the bathroom, there's the toilet!

I would like to make another seraphina, in a solid colour. It's a nice pattern and I think I look quite stylish with it draped to the side, even if I do say so myself ;)

I also participated in my first ever scarf swap this month.

The first pattern I made for my partner was a crobaktus. I used an 8ply cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills. Lovely soft yarn to work with. This is my second scarf with this yarn. The first one was a lacy pattern, so the drape was ok, but I really wasn't happy with the result on this one. It came out a bit stiff, so I rushed to get a second scarf done that might be worthy of my partner.

Great value 200g balls from BWM.



About half way through.



Before blocking, a bit of curling on the decrease half.

 And post blocking:

I don't mind how it looks, but it just doesn't have that 'wow' factor.

 So I made another scarf! The second scarf I made for the swap, my version of the Queenies Angel Crochet Scarf. I used a Lincraft brand 100% Merino (3ply), in a flecked brown colour. It was lovely to work with, squishy and blocked beautifully. Really hard to give this scarf up, it came out lovely, soft, swishy and long!

The yarn.

Before blocking it was very lumpy:

On the blocker you can see the pattern coming to life:

And Fin! Grew A LOT longer!

Hanging out

Pattern detail

Wraps twice around the neck.

Funnily enough, the scarf I received in the swap was the same pattern! Thanks Shilo!

The scarf I received.

Feeling very productive now that I look at all my hard work in this post :) Go me! Next time I might even leave my head in the pictures! Stupid head!!

My current WIP is a Sidewalk Shawl done in Acrylic. Its going to be chunky and squishy, the yarn is actually beautifully soft to the touch. It will be my frist adventure in blocking acrylic too, so that will be a challenge!

Pattern detail

Still working on that gosh darn teenage mutant ninja turtle I spoke about here. I have actually done tons since then. Just need to finish off his arms and head and bandanas and weapons! Woo! I'll blog about that later...