Crochet Craze

on June 10, 2008

My knitting friends are crocheting like crazy all of a sudden. Let’s blame Maryse, shall we? Not only does she crochet wonderful things, but she takes gorgeous photos of them and is happy to teach the poor knitters to crochet, as well. I’m thoroughly addicted, but maybe need to branch out and crochet a different pattern next time. Oh, well, he’s another Anne scarf, without mistakes this time!

Pattern: Anne, by MK Carroll. Ravel It.
Yarn: My handspun and hand-dyed worsted weight singles yarn. Corriedale, 3.55 oz., 212 yards. It’s the one on the right.
Hook: 5mm
Size: Approx. 3″ x 80″

I spun a singles yarn from the end of an un-split combed top for long color repeats in the finished scarf. I love it!

Check out Cheryl from yarnbee’s awesome example. She Navajo plied her yarn for a long color repeat.

Here’s the other one I made a little while ago, complete with “elbow” where I forgot to turn the scarf. Oops!

Later on today I’m going to add some nostes and handspun from Maisy Day Handspun to the shop and I’ll be back later today or maybe day after tomorrow with some fantastic summer salad recipes I’ve been making like crazy for the past couple of weeks. They’re saving our lives in this heat!

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Noro Taiyo Sweater: In Progress

on June 3, 2008

Despite the lack of action around this blog, there’s been a decent amount of knitting and spinning and a whole lot of action on the home front. Blame this all on the fact that we’ve been looking at houses. We haven’t found anything perfect yet, but we’re still truckin’. There was one that seemed ideal for a moment, but it wasn’t meant to be. I also had a lovely little vacation with a guest from out of town, including Webs shopping, BBQ-eating, banjo-band-listening, and a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. Does it get any better than that? Only if the visit is longer.

I should probably show you my current big project before it’s finished, huh? This sweater is a total experiment. I usually like to have an idea if something is going to look okay on me before I start it, but I’ve thrown caution to the wind on this one and am just going with its glorious 70s smockness. Will it be too dorky? I do not know. Let’s hope the yarn’s beauty keeps it on the awesome side. If not, you’ll hear all about it.

Here’s the inspiration:

It’s a smock from Knitting in the Nordic Tradition by Vibeke Lind, knit in stockinette stitch with rolled edges. I’ve done absolutely no shaping whatsoever on this sweater. The pieces are four rectangles that I’ll sew together, leaving a wide boatneck. The stripes are made like all those scarves, by knitting 2 rows from one ball and 2 from another, only I’m using the same colorway for both balls. The decision to make the stripes vertical comes from the inspirational smock and a bit of honesty about the fact that I have a 40 inch chest. :)

And here are the results so far:

The yarn is Taiyo (colorway #4), the 40% cotton, 30% silk, and 15% each wool and nylon big fat papery Kureyon-looking, yet summery, yarn from Noro. The fabric is light and bouncy at the loose gauge I’m using. The colors are insane. The knitting is fast. I should be wearing it, weather permitting, within the week.

There are more projects coming: another handspun Anne scarf, a handspun naturally-colored striped vest for Mr. HelloYarn (Totally not copying yoohoo, in fact, he copied me. Yeah, that’s it.), and who knows what else that’s buried in my knitting basket!

PS: As you might have noticed, I’m a ton better at keeping things up to date over on Flickr so, if you miss me, you can always find me there.

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