FO: Honey the second

This pattern is really awesome.  But with over 13,000 projects that goes without saying.  I made one of these for my sister last year and while simple, it's super wearable.

The lovely Rhonda gave me this great yarn for my birthday.  It has some very subtle long colour changes in it, and I instantly wanted to use it in something that would show off the yarn.

I used about half of the mega 200g skein for this cowl, and it has already seen much wear.  In hindsight I wish I made it a touch wider, but I'm always in a rush to cast off and show off!

Pattern:  Honey Cowl duuuurrrrr
Yarn:  Patons Australia Rainbow in a blue/purple mix.
Needles:  4.5mm circulars.
Ravelled here.

~Tan

wip: honey

Lil sis (the one I partake in eggs benny with, not the one that just had a baby) thought she'd have a crack at knitting.  She just wanted a plain black scarf.  Well, she got through almost one ball of yarn and gave up! :(  She was doing pretty well, I thought, with her garter stitch, but she wasn't happy.

Oh well, big sis to the rescue!  I gave her a few options of patterns I could do for her (to hell with doing plain garter stitch) and she chose a honey cowl.  Besides, 7049 people can't be wrong, right?  I do quite like the front of the pattern, but the back is quite boring.  Luckily this is a cowl so it should be easy to keep the right side on the right side, you know what I mean?


Black yarn is just the best to photograph.

I'm making it with some el-cheapo wool my sister chose for her first project.  I personally really want to try this pattern as it was intended.. in that madelinetosh... is it as wonderful as they say?  I just don't know where to procure myself some.  I suppose I'll just go to the internet!  

This is why I can't participate in Year of Projects or One a Day.  I just don't know what I'm going to want to do, or be sidetracked by, next.  I have a rough idea what I want to do in my mind, and I don't feel the need to stick to any sort of plan.  I just do what makes me happy, which I try to do in all aspects of my life in any case. <3

Peace out homies.

Linking to- WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis) | WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet) | Yarn Along (Small Things) | Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams) | What you doing Wednesday (SusanD1408 Crochet Addict) | Hookin on Hump Day (My Merry Messy Life)

WIP: delightful

I was on holiday last week.  This is how progress on my shawl looked like at the time:

Also featured in this photo:  my white white Melbourne feet.

I have renamed my shawl to Sailor's Delight, at the suggestion of Lisa.  I quite like the new name, more than I do the pink/purple colour scheme, but I will soldier on and hope the overall effect will be pleasing.  I'm not sure if I have enough yarn at this stage, so that too could prove annoying.  It currently measures 61cm.

And, astoundingly, during my holiday I cast on and nearly completed Thinking of You.  And as a matter of fact, I cast off last night.  I've made the scarf shorter than in the pattern, at the request of the recipient.  Also, I have the sneaking suspicion that I have done this whole thing wrong, as I can't really see the yarn overs.  Maybe with blocking?  Looking at other projects, the pattern in the pre-blocking photos look much more pronounced than mine.  We shall see.  I haven't had a chance to take a more recent photo, so here is one at an earlier stage, included for, you know, posterity.

I didn't take this one to the beach, far too complicated to take the pattern and all that jazz. 

And now, what am I reading?  Yesterday I started reading two books.  What on earth is wrong with me?  I found myself a lovely little online version of Pride and Prejudice and have been sneaking a chapter or two in whenever I have a free moment.  A close friend of mine had never read P&P, even though she is an avid reader.  I ordered her to read it immediately - and guess what??  She hated it.  I am seriously reconsidering my friendship with her. 

via

And during my commute, I have been listening to Jane Eyre, my all time favourite book.  It has been far too long since I last read this book, and am enjoying it immensely (am I allowed to say that about such a depressing story?).

via

-Linking to-

WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis)

WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet)

Yarn Along (Small Things)

Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams)

What you doing Wednesday (SusanD1408 Crochet Addict)
Hookin on Hump Day (My Merry Messy Life)

FO: finally

This should not have taken me so long.  Seriously.  I'm putting it down to my relative inexperience as a knitter, and the yarn being ridiculously fiddly for my skill level.  11 months from start to finish!  I'm not quite that slow, as a lot of that time includes when I put this item into hibernation while I leveled up. 

Pattern:  Gauzy Gathers Scarf
Needles:  3mm and 7mm
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze
Ravelled here

Here's a rare picture of my face.  I thought it was about time.  Plus I think the scarf looks fab against my new mustard top. 

Lookin' fine in my Finn hat.

I wore this scarf yesterday, and I think it gave me a rash.  I'm putting it down to spite, due to the fact it took me so long to finish.  Seriously dudes, I am not allergic to ANYTHING!  So annoying, given how much angst this piece has caused me.  

Tanya attempts to be arty with close up shots of fuzzy stockinette.

I'm now thinking of giving a crochet version a bash, using Lynn's crochet stockinette technique.

-Linking with-

Tami's Amis FO Fridays

Fiber Arts Fridays at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Natural Suburbia for Creative Fridays
I've Made Friday at SusanD1408 Crochet Addict

Crochet & Knitting Blog Week - 3KCBWDAY2 - Photography & 3KCBWDAY3 - My Crochet Hero

I knew trying to participate in CKBW would be difficult.  I just don't get all that much time for blogging, and less time to take lovely photos, as there is limited daylight when I get home.  Boohoo for me!
So, I'm cramming TWO topics in today, and linking up with WIP Wednesday!  Do you have a problem with that??

Day 2:  Photography Challenge
I got a new hook!  It's a lovely 3.00mm Addi Comfort Handle Hoook and it handles like a dream (hehe get it)?  Using it is like a knife through butter, I could not recommend it more highly.  This photo is dedicated to my lovely new hook, who I have named Natasha.  

Oh lordy thats gorgeous. 

So that's my ripple baby blanket, now with 48 rows (I think this makes me at around 51% complete!)  I also took an uber close up photo of some recent progress on another WIP, my hitchhiker.  I was just going bonkers only working on projects for others and I really needed some me time, you know?  Not that I've done much, I think I added like 4 teeth, but I worked through all the pink and yellow you see below.  It's a bit boring as I feel I've gone beyond garter stitch now am itching to start something a bit more challenging (well, I kinda did start testing a pattern for something A LOT more challenging but I will not bore you with details.... yet).

pretttyyyyyyy

Day 3:  My Crochet Hero


Without a doubt, Lynn from Sweet Little Stitches.   She's recently started releasing patterns on Ravelry. 
There are people who are good with colour, and people who make lovely things.  These people are ok, but I am just not impressed, because I always thing, with enough time and resources I could do the same.   What Lynn does is make practical, wearable crochet items from her brain!  She makes them up!  Her technical abilities just astound me - she even invented a crochet stockinette (Not tunisian)! I've just bought the pattern for the sailor blues shawl because its just lovely - it doesn't even looked crocheted (not that I don't want my things to look crocheted) but it's just ingenious in its simplicity!

Sailor Blues Shawl

To see other bloggers' pictures for day two and three of Crochet & Knitting Blog WeekChallenge click here or here.


Another reason that I haven't had much time today (even though it was a public holiday and I wasn't at work) was that I was out all day trying to see The Avengers!  (why did I link to that?  As if you don't know what I'm talking about!)  OMG the cinemas was pandemonium!!  I have never seen it in such a state!  I should have taken a picture because the line was out past Subway, and I know how much people like photographs of queues!!  The session we wanted to go to was SOLD OUT!  I nearly turned into the HULK right there I was so angry!  We went home, bought our tickets to the next session online (which I will henceforth do as a matter of course because I really hate queues... so much that if I wait in line at a store too long I will put my items back on the shelf and leave, but I digress...) and came back three hours later. 

via.  I told you there is a lolcat for everything!

TOTALLY WORTH IT GUYS, you need to go see it.  It was jam packed with Joss Whedon's patented character banter, lots of action (duh), and lots of classic lines  *teeny spoiler so don't read if you are a wussy*  Captain America tells Hulk to Smash!  hehehehee

-Linking to-

WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis)

WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet)

Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams)

WIP(s). Taking Stock

Holey Moley I have a lot of WIPs.  A LOT.  I think I lamented this fact a while back, but again, the amount of little project bags dotting my living space has made me feel anxious.

So today I wanted to air them out, and hopefully full disclosure will set my mind at ease!   I warn you that you might actually be bored to tears by this, and I'm sure a lot of you will be all 'TL;DR' but whatevs!  This is mah blog and I'll do what ah wahnt!!

Imma start with the newbies.

1.  Blissful Flowers Shawl.  Making this for my crochet biatch, Ang for her birthday in May.  Her choice of pattern and colour (the colour is very difficult to photograph, its a lot nicer in real life).  Such a clever construction!  A way to make a billion motifs without having to cut the yarn!  Genious!  I am enjoying the challenge of a new pattern.  The pattern is from Kristin Omdahl's  Seamless Crochet.

Brought to you by my super exclusive and very fashionable Pandora vinyl tote!

2.  Baby set.  Another first, my first time working a Japanese pattern.  At first I was like waaahhhhhhh??  I'm usually quite good with diagrams, but the back of the bonnet had me stumped.  For a day.  Then I was all, whatevs, I got skillz, Imma do this!  And I did.  

Brought to you by my awesome Dark Days Down Under tour tote I picked up at the book signing!

3.  Neat Ripple Scarf.  Just grabbed a left over skein of King Cole to try this Lucy pattern out. I'm planning a ripple blanket (pfft after I get through my current WIPs) and seeing which ripples turn me on.  Though I love Lucy, this pattern just wasn't pressing my buttons, so I think i will opt for the ripplier Ripples of Happiness.  Happiness > Neatness anyway, right?

Bow down before my blurry photography prowess!!

4. Amigurumi BTTF Delorean.  Seriously, no joke.  Freestylin' this for my man.  I got so excited he actually asked me to crochet him something, I thought, woooo fo' sure!  I made the bonnet and the windscreen, then run out of puff because I couldn't work out how to make a slope.  Watch this space though! 

Brought to you by my spiff Yarn Bucket!

To clarify, this is a Delorean from the Back to the Future Animated Series. Yes, there was an animated series! 

What up Marty? (via)

And some other stuffs you may have seen before.

5. Hitchhiker.  Nothing new here.  Move along.  

wait wait WAIT! I keep this project in one of my home made GRAB BAGS.  Yerr I made these myself.  Pattern here.  If I can make this, being a spaztasitc sewer, so can you!

6. Gauzy Gathers Scarf.  Haven't actually touched this is aaaagggeesss.  Such a shame because it will be such a cute scarf.  I did a few rows when I got my new bamboo needles, and the yarn likes the bamboo much more than ickle plastic, but it's so fiddly I moved onto different garterlicious knitting projects and left this one to hiberate.  Sweet dreams little scarf.

Brought to you courtesy of this lovely plastastic flower tote!

7. Stepping Stones Cardigan.  This is a FAIL, with a capital F.  I can think of other 'F' words I'd like to use in relation to this cardigan too.  It's not that bad I suppose, but just so FFfffffrustrating that I spent SO LONG on it only to discover it doesn't really fit.  I am just leaving this one alone in it's bag so it can have a think about what it has done.

Presented to you inside a lovely pink foldable flower tote!

8. Aran Toggle Wrap.  This was supposed to be a gift for mum, for her birthday in SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR.  Oh I am a terrible daughter.  Butbutbut there's only so much green mock seed stitch a girl can take! 

Shamelessly presented in a Glassons shopping bag, which is slowly growing too small for this behemoth of a project!

9. Pink Bear.  I made this during some lessons I was giving to my crochet biatches.  Crochet biatch R chose the pattern, but I don't think any of us finished it!  Mine just looks weird, like a cow's udder, so I am not feeling very enthused to keep going.

Again, courtesy of a home-made grab bag!!

10. TARDIS. Oh the TARDIS.  This is one of the first things I ever started making when I taught myself to crochet.  But then I got distracted by all the pretty pattens.  A running joke in my family is someone asking me 'so how's the Tardis going' and then me punching them in the face.  Never fear, my Tardis is going to be epic when it's finished.  I will have a wooden box made for the inside, and the top will come off as a lid and I will put things in the box! 

TARDIS lives in a shoe box.  Sowwy TARDIS.

11. Summer Garden Granny Square afghan.  Another project started early on in my crochet career, when I was dazzled by brightly coloured grannies and had no notion of the agony that is weaving in ends.  I now have a deal with my mother, She gets this as a gift if she weaves in the ends!  Fair enough right?

Kept in a rather fetching The Age shopping bag, available annually with your copy of The Age (probably the Sunday edition)

So, all my WIPs in their respective project bags lie in wait in a tub in my lounge room, next to a much lovelier looking tub filled with recently acquired yarn that will one day become a ripple blanket.  If and only if I can make some headway with my current projects.  But then again, there's no crochet police so maybe I will just start it anyways...

Linking with WIP Wednesday at Tami's Amis.. go go go!

ETA:  Linking with Ambassador Crochet too - why not!!

WIP! More beads

WIPs

Current bead count:  dunno, lost count/A LOT

I'm getting a bit addicted to my dahlia at the moment, as I can see the end in sight.  I only have a couple of inches of the body left to go before I get to the edging!  The EPIC NINE ROW EDGING that is.

I think the beads are just subtle enough, though I've been adding a lot of them.  I'm a bit worried that I may run out actually.

Every time I post this project for WIP Wednesday, I get at least one comment about how someone is afraid to try beading.  I would just like to say that this is my first go with beads using the dental floss method.  And while it is fiddly, it's really not that hard. I can even do it on the train, and that's saying something.  I find wrapping the dental floss around my left wrist (I am right handed) and poking the end down my sleeve with the pointy bit dangling out is a good method to keep everything in place.  Let me know if that doesn't make any sense.

 

beeeeaaddddsssss (read it like a zombie, it's funny)

 And the real reason I'm posting this project this week?  To share this picture of The Kitten with you ^_^

I've also made a little progress on my knitting of last week, but didn't take a picture.  Here is a close up from last week for your adminration.  I've really only made 2 more repeats of the pattern, leaving about 15 to go. 

Thanks to everyone for leaving such encouraging and constructive comments last week, after I revealed my frustration with my first proper knitting project.  I can see now the yarn is probably not the best choice for a beginner knitter, but I'm going to persevere just because I don't know what else I should knit right now, and because I am making progress, albeit slowly.

And I have a mini story to tell... I dropped a stitch!  It was infuriating!  I thought I was being very clever and knitting in the car on the drive home from Sassafras, and we went over a bump and the stitch was gone!  Instead of throwing my knitting out the window, which was my first impulse, I took a breath, finished off the row and put the knitting away.  When I got home I googled about what to do about this dilemma, watched this video, and managed to pick the stitch up!!  You can't even tell I dropped it now.  I felt like a knitting wizard!

I still like crochet much better than knitting, though I would love to become a master knitter only because knitting can produce much more varied and versatile results.  I'm just so impatient and don't want to waste my time faffing about with garter garter garter stitch... I want a to make something spectacular!

Reading

I'm now listening to audio book two of the Skulduggery Pleasant series.  I've read it before, but there is so much I honestly can't remember, it's like experiencing it for the first time again.  In short:  Lovin' it.  I walk the long way to work just so I can listen to it some more. 

Skulduggery:  "I'm probably your hero."

Before I end this post, I thought this was the approrpriate place to share a cool link for the sci-fi or fantasy connoisseurs out there. Check this flowchart out.  It's very fun.  I have only read about 20 books listed though :(.  There are a couple of Terry Pratchett books listed, so you know it must be a reliable source ;).

Thanks for stopping by, and do remember to check out more WIPs at Tami's Amis and the Yarn Along at Small Things.

Share my joy, and around the internets.

I won *another* giveaway on a blog (remember this one?)!!  Teehee!  Thanks so much to the peeps at Punto Reves, I won some awesome crochet thread!  SO excited to receive it!

Awesome cotton thread on its way to me :)

Speaking of Punto Reves, isn't this gorgeous?

Look at this gorgeous edging on a baby boy blanket by Punto Reves

More cool stuffs I've seen recently around the interwebs...

Cute pixel cross stitch patterns from weelittlestitches on etsy

Crochet bracelets!

via Futuregirl

pattern via Ravelry

via the Purl bee

Also via the Purl Bee:

Pretty scarf

Citris Coasters 

Just loveliness.  Spotted here.  Anyone know where this is from originally?

Epic granny bag of epicness.  Spotted here.

Gorgeous granny-esque scarf by Do you mind if I knit (who also shares her ingenious invisibile joining technique!)

If you have seen something cool recently... please share! 

FO! Granny pride

When Alice from Crochet with Raymond uploaded this pattern for a granny cowl, she entitled her post 'Do you dare to wear a granny square?'.

Her cowl was so lovely so I thought, yes, yes I would so dare. 

The hilarious thing is, I wanted to make mine really close to the colours Alice used.  Obviously my memory is not so good, looking at the colours I came home from Spotlight with! 

Despite the randomness of the colours, I think it works. 

Unblocked it was 142x19cm.  Blocked to 168x20cm.   6mm hook.  Blocking worked so much better than my last cowl project, pure wool certainly likes to be blocked much more than a blend.

Mine is 8 granny squares, and for the border I did a row of dcs (with half trs in the corners of the grannies, as recommended by Alice) and then I did a kinda shell row comprising:  *dc, sk 1 st, 3 tr, sk 1 st* repeat around.

Despite all the *bleeping* ends I had to weave in, I made this baby in 4 days! 

Ravelled here.

Wearing it in different ways...

wrapped thrice around the neck!  A bit neck-bracey but still works.

the hold loop through like you would any old scarf.

And my favourite, just twice around :)

Didn't think this project warranted a million billion pictures, but I still uploaded a bunch to my flickr :)

Yes, I am one of those people who tortures my pet by dressing her up and doing silly things to her.  I'm sure she secretly loves it. 

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...