With projects mounting I think I’m going to get something else knocked out before I knit up the blue. Just today I decided to crochet the Granny Square Skirt out of Leisure Arts Fashion Show Favorites using this cotton so not only will I have to buy more, I will need three more colors which may end up meaning three more kerchiefs as well. Since I’m buying it anyway, I mean, why not? I’m also intending on using it for learning the domino technique from Vivian Høxbro’s Domino Knitting by knitting up a bunch of potholders.
Hmm … I guess I like this stuff. (It’s even in my blog header if anyone hasn’t noticed).
Oh, this was my first project using circulars and I only discovered one problem. Since I’m use to working with my 8 inch bamboo needles, I got into the habit of propping the butt of the right needle against my stomach while I adjust the stitches (I suppose with a longer needle people usually stick it under their arm to do this) but obviously this just doesn’t work with a circular so I had to find a new way to accomplish this. One of the good things I found is that for some unknown reason my knitting looks better. Maybe it was related to my new efforts to loosen my death grip which resulted in my stitches moving quite freely and not requiring me to wrestle with them like usual. Several things I liked about using the circulars was firstly, being able to see my work better rather than it all being scrunched up on the needle after a certain point, being able to slide it onto the cord while I wasn’t working with it and not needing to be at all concerned about stitches sliding off and, I don’t know, they’re just kind of fun to fling around and stuff.
I crocheted this blanket while pregnant with DS originally just to use up left over yarn from my first two crochet projects. It became a baby blanket mostly because the yarn I had happened to be blue and there wasn’t very much of it. I learned only recently that this pattern is called box stitch. It’s the pattern my mother taught me when I first learned to crochet and I never did finish that blanket I started way back then (which coincidently was also blue). For the border I went around it three times in single crochet and then added a block edging. I think it was made with Caron Simply Soft yarn and it’s about a yard square.
I have two more kerchiefs in the works and then I’m done for a bit. At least until I find another color I have to have. They’re just so quick and easy, I can’t help myself.
Oh, I tried something new with this one. When making the cords I weaved the yarn end in as I was binding off so I didn’t have to thread it through a yarn needle and weave in it when I was done. I had never thought of doing that until I saw a lady on YouTube over the weekend demonstrating how she weaves in yarn ends as she crochets. I’ll post that another time. Why didn’t I know about this sooner?!
I have this problem with knitting. It seems that projects always call for needles other than what I have. Not only are there the straight needles but fifteen hundred different sizes and lengths of circular needles. Don’t forget double pointed needles. Well, for the sake of my pocket book I decided some time back that I wasn’t buying straight needles anymore. Instead, I decided to buy circulars and use them for all my flat pieces as well whether I liked it or not. That didn’t solve the problem of all the different lengths when it came to circulars so I actually was simply making do with what I had rather than buying new anything. Then I discovered the Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles and fell in love, especially with the pink. However, while I was saving for those my MIL passed on to me a 50% off coupon for Michaels but since I couldn’t think of anything I wanted from Michaels that would make savings worth the gas it took to get there and spending the money I was saving for my Denise Interchangeables, it appeared I wasn’t going to get to use it. Saturday rolled around however and I remembered it was the last day for the coupon and why wouldn’t I want to go to Michaels? I already knew Michaels didn’t carry the needles I was saving for but I ran a search on their website anyway and discovered the Boye interchangeable knitting needles. I figured since we were heading out to the park we may as well go to Michaels and take a look.
First thing I noted once there is that they were more expensive than I was expecting but with 50% off I could afford them and they’d be cheaper than the ones I was saving for. Second thing, and the real hangup, they’re aluminum. Denise’s are plastic and I’ve never knit with plastic before but I had grown partial to bamboo for how light it is (which is why I use a size 9 for my kerchiefs: it’s the smallest size I have in bamboo needles) and had been using my aluminum needles for decoration (they looked great standing up in my red vase). I left the store to find DH who had passed up Michaels for the World Market next door and lamented to him, starting with the price since I knew he didn’t care the slightest what they were made out of. He’s pretty good at math though so he’d figured out before I’d finished speaking that 50% off these needles was a lower total than the ones I was saving for and he’d already latched on to the fact that this set of Boyes had more sizes in it. He forced me into it.
Last night I pulled them out to experiment. As it turns out, I really don’t mind aluminum needles when they’re only 4 inches long. Also, I recently had been thinking about how I kind of missed the distinctive click of aluminum needles. They do up tightly and I haven’t had them come loose on me so far. I still have no idea how to knit in the round but my next kerchief is working up well. Actually, the only problem I’ve had so far is when I pick up the one needle in my left hand and begin looking around wondering where the other one is and I really don’t care to admit how often that has happened.
I know there is an overall preference among knitters for the Denise kit so if you’re in the market I guess take their word for it and go with Denise. Personally I recommend spending the extra for the pink kit as not only is it pink but the extra money is donated to breast cancer research. For me though, the price won out. As it turns out however, the money I saved ended up going to help others after all so that made it worth the sacrifice to me.
It’s my second ever knit project (the first was frogged - not for being bad, just for being useless) and my first kerchief, made with Bernat Baby Coordinates in Soft Mauve and size 7 straight aluminum needles. Blue ones. I still have them. Ah, the memories! I was sitting on the couch with the dog beside me getting bopped in the head repeatedly by my left needle as I knit away and being the good sport that she is, she never complained. I still have the rest of of this yarn and I suppose I’ll make something for DD with it eventually.
Orange is one of my favorite colors right now so it had to be the next kerchief I made. For some reason it came out shorter on the long end than the pink one and yet equal from front to back. It’s not a concern, just a puzzling mystery. The purple kerchief I’ve all but finished is the same. Whatever changed, at least I’m consistent now. 
Finished April 29th but only took the photo this morning. You know you have issues when you’re feeling too non photogenic to even take a photo of the top of your head.
This is the Butterfly Doily currently in progress, awaiting it’s butterflies.
They were going to be multi-colored but the thread I bought looks hideous when crocheted into a butterfly so they’re going to be black butterflies which will suit my decor better anyway. However, if anyone can recommend a pretty, multi-colored size 10 thread or a place I might be able to find one, I would appreciate it for future projects. I’m also taking suggestions on what to do with a brightly multi-colored thread that looks awful when crocheted into a butterfly or a doily. Below is the thread and the butterfly parts made with it. I frogged the doily I attempted because it was scaring my husband.
Filet Butterfly Doily
Made with size 10 thread and a size 7 hook. The free pattern can be found here.
I’m not entirely sure why it turned out far more oval than circular. Any ideas or tips would be appreciated. Could it be that my stitches were too tight and therefore short?
During this project I learned the filet increase and decrease and the hardest part was trying to block an oblong shape. This is the first project I’ve had to do so much frogging and reworking but it was worth it for the lessons learned.
It is now looking very pretty in DD’s bedroom.
Finished Thursday, 05-01-08.
Water Bottle Holder
Based on a free pattern from Luv 2 Crochet Designs, this made the perfect quick project to whip up in the wake of those afghans. It was made with the suggested Sugar ‘n Cream Cotton yarn in Hot Pink. This one was given to my step-sister-in-law to either use or re-gift and it’s actually quite handy so I think I’ll make another one in a different color for myself.
During this project I learned the double crochet decrease.
Finished Saturday, 04.26.08.
Light & Lacy Afghan
This pattern was from a Mainstays label. Actually, it might have been the label from the yarn I started the Diamond Trellis Afghan with now that I think of it because the label says it came from a skein of “Autumn Red”. Well, that solves a mystery. Anyway, the yarn used was Red Heart’s Super Saver’s 0313 Aran. The yarn was given to me and the pattern is one I’ve worked before but ended up using as a dog blanket which in the course of time was destroyed. The two afghans that I’ve completed this month are projects that I started just for the sake of crocheting and to use up yarn. I was originally intending to knit the red and cream into an afghan to match the throw pillows we were given at our wedding shower but it took me so long to get around to it that the dog ended up destroying those pillows anyway and they went in the trash. (Our dog isn’t destructive, she just likes to “nest”).
Finished Thursday, 04.24.08.
SB300-003 Diamond Trellis (Afghan)
The pattern is from the back of a Red Heart Super Saver No Dye Lot label which also happens to be the yarn I’m using to make it. It’s worsted weight in “0332 Ranch Red“. Or at least, most of it is. I started out with a different brand of No Dye Lot yarn and armed with a sample for color matching I sent DH out to get more one evening. I must have bought the original yarn from a different store and DH came home with what looked like a perfect match from Walmart. It’s close, but it’s not a match. This isn’t an heirloom though so after some contemplation (and already being an hour or so into the new yarn) I decided I didn’t care enough to undo it. Unless you were me or had a terribly sharp eye and were specifically inspecting it, you probably wouldn’t notice anyway.
Finished Saturday, 04.19.08.
