Working in White

Since learning about the Crochet for Cancer project, I'm looking at this challenge and my stash with new eyes, excited to have a worthy purpose for all that yarn instead of just trying to think of projects to get rid of it. A good deal of my yarn is soft and quite suitable, and so I will be knitting hats for some time, I think. :)

In the meantime, I made up a baby cap which I have labeled Project 9: The Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby Hat, a sweet little pattern by Tonya Wagner over at The Shiznit site. Of course, she did her hat in blue - thus the title - while mine is white, as I am attempting to whittle away at that Cottontots yarn that just never seems to get used up!

I did this cap up for a newborn, and it is so soft! The darning needle beside it is there for size perspective and, as you can see, this is quite a tiny little fellow. I will probably use up the rest of the yellow and white Cottontots by making up as many of these as I can, and then will donate them to Pregnancy Resources, a wonderful organization here in Brevard County for pregnant women in crisis.

And an update on the Irish Lace Collar, the project that seems like it will never be done! After more stitching and ripping, I'm slowly making headway. As the directions suggested, I gave the collar a light pressing to help organize the placement of all those little triple picots and to help them lie flat so I could do the final rows.

This really is a lovely pattern, although it's more like a faux-Irish Lace. A true Irish Lace, I believe, is all about the motifs, which are quite dense and detailed, and then joined in an amazingly creative way on the lace ground. The "crown" design in this piece gives a nod to those detailed motifs, and the triple picots imitate the look of the lace ground.

Remember the trouble I was having with those picots? Well, the whole idea of a right and wrong side and working into the back of those little buggers creates the illusion of the picots being somehow suspended above the lace chains behind them. Very interesting!

It's not a difficult project at all, but between all the other projects I've been juggling and my difficulty in grasping the idea behind how this collar is constructed, this baby has dragged out way too long. I've enjoyed the challenge, but I will be happy when it's done. And I think all of Ireland should be grateful that they didn't have to depend on me to see them through the potato famine. At the rate I'm working, they would have starved. Erin go Braugh!

Baby sweater set complete

I went ahead with my plan to knit up the sweater to match the baby hat I finished for Project 6. The Ripple Eyelet Baby Sweater is so sweet.

The original photo shows a solid color sweater under the garter ridge for the lacy part, and then a coordinating color for the yoke, but I didn't like this color-block idea. In the matching hat, I had done a single white stripe, so I decided I wanted to do white piping on the sweater. It took a little thought, but I love the finished product. The designer, Jeannie Leech, gives instructions for flat or circular sleeves, and since I hate seaming, I opted for the circular. I also chose to omit the ribbed neckline and opted for a garter edging at the neck, in keeping with the garter edging throughout the rest of the sweater. I couldn't be happier with the results.

Now, I'll have a nice gift set for little Jessica. :)

Unbelievably, there is still quite a bit of both colors of this Cottontots yarn left! This yarn just never ends! However, I've figured out what to do with the rest. My LYS, The Knitting Closet in Palm Bay, is sponsoring Crochet for Cancer and serving as a drop-off site for anyone wanting to help knit or crochet caps for anyone - child, teen, or adult - going through chemotherapy. The soft Cottontots yarn would be perfect (as is much of the yarn in my stash!), so I'll be using up as much as I can to make some caps.

If you live in the Brevard County area, please consider knitting or crocheting a chemo cap or two. Even if you don't knit or crochet, you can come into the shop, purchase some yarn, and donate it for one of our knitters to make on your behalf. Instructions are on The Knitting Closet's Facebook page.

Baby, baby, baby, oh!

Okay, I'll admit that those three words are the only thing I know about Justin Bieber, but they seemed appropriate today because of all the BABY stuff I've been doing!

First up, Project 1, the Zig Zag Baby Blanket blocked beautifully.

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. And it looks so pretty with Project 6, the Ripple Eyelet Baby Hat, that I've decided they're going to be a gift for a little girl named Jessica Jade who is due in a couple of weeks.

This hat is really more for an older infant, though, and I wanted to have a newborn hat for her, as well. I found this gorgeous pattern called the Ava Lynne Baby Hat, and couldn't wait to try it. The designer's name is Jenny Sorensen, and I am so impressed with the beauty of this pattern. It worked up fairly quickly with some of my leftover white Bernat Cottontots and is sooooooo soft!

In keeping with the yellow-white color scheme, I wanted to add a little flower applique and found a Tropical Flower pattern by Jessica Zeltner on her blog, Living the Craft Life. This sweet little flower worked up in minutes, using a small amount of my pale yellow Size 10 crochet thread.

Isn't that pretty? And it looks so cute on the hat.

 

So there's Project 7. I'm so excited to give these items to my sweet young friend awaiting her baby girl. If I have enough of the yellow and white Cottontots yarn left, I may attempt a beautiful little sweater designed by Jeannie Leech to match the Ripple Eyelet hat. That would made a perfect set.

Quick Fill-In Projects

I took a little time out from Projects 1 & 3 to whip up a little gift for a dear lady who blessed me this week. I wanted to make something lovely but not too personal. When she saw me crocheting the Irish Lace Collar, she made some very kind comments and bemoaned the "lost art." Perfect. I decided it would be some crocheted lace and searched through some patterns online and in my library. Then I remembered the delicate Undercover Bookmarker I had done several years ago as thank-you gifts for some of my children's homeschool co-op instructors.

It's a quick project, which I finished in about an hour and a half. A gentle touch with a steamy iron is all that's needed to set it straight, unless you want to pin open all those little loops to block it properly. Not surprisingly, I took the shortcut.

Kathryn A. White is the designer of this little gem, and let me tell you, this lady is a creative genius with crocheted lace. I can't wait to try more of her patterns, especially because I have SO MUCH COTTON THREAD!!!

I really do.

I've finished the Zig Zag Baby Blanket, and it's being blocked as I type. Unfortunately, it didn't use up all the yarn as I'd hoped it would. In looking for other baby items I could make to get through the remainder of the Bernat Cottontots, I found a very sweet pattern on Ravelry called the Ripple Eyelet Baby Hat, designed by Bonnie Brann. It's a knitted hat that has a similar pattern to the blanket! How cool is that?

The pattern is written as a flat piece to be seamed up at the end, but I hate seaming and so decided to work it in the round using circular needles and the magic loop method. I love using magic loop, particularly for pieces that will decrease in diameter, as it overrides the need for using double-pointed needles. You just keep working, using the same long cable, and voila!

I knitted most of it during my son's District track meet yesterday, and finished it up when I got home. We don't have any more babies in my home, nor any large dolls, so blocking is always tricky when I've made a baby hat. My solution? A large vase turned upside down covered with a clean towel and some plastic bags stuffed into the crown. Hehe. Looks silly, but I think it's working:

Time to tally up: Projects 1 and 2 are now complete. I'm still laboring over Project 3 - crocheting, ripping, crocheting, ripping, ad infinitum. I will count the Victorian Egg Covers as Project 4, the Undercover Bookmarker as Project 5 and the Ripple Eyelet Baby Hat as Project 6, since they all helped reduce my stash, however little.

What's next? The Asymmetrical Top didn't work out as planned. The 100% silk I harvested from the unraveled J.Jill sweater is just not soft enough (versus Paton's Silk & Bamboo, which my sister is using). So I think I'll save that yarn and attempt some lace shawls. I'm not sure there is any yarn in my stash suitable for the Top, however. That idea may have to simmer on the back burner a while.

Today will be a search-the-stash-and-plan-more-projects kind of day. Can't wait!

Finishing up Projects 1 & 2; Progress on 3

The first two projects of this challenge are nearly finished. Doing a happy dance!

I've been steadily plugging along with the Zig Zag Baby Blanket. This has become the project I take to my son's track meets with me. It tends to be cold up in those stands, and I'm sometimes there for 3 or more hours. This blanket gives me something simple to do with my hands while I'm watching the runners and keeps me warm at the same time!

When finished, this will be a good size for a stroller blanket. However, I'll still have one whole skein left each of yellow and white, so I'll have to come up with at least one more project for this yarn. I'm thinking about a bunch of baby hats.

On to Project #2: the Cozy Striped Kerchief. I have finished the entire body of this pretty shawlette, but the edges are bothering me, so I'm considering what type of border I can do along the striped edges to finish it nicely. I welcome any and all suggestions! I have plenty of the brown silk/cotton yarn, so that might be an option - maybe a crocheted edge? Hmmm

 

 





It doesn't show clearly in the photo above, but the stripes are so pretty against each other. Here's a closer look:

I am really pleased with how this kerchief has turned out. So glad I ripped out the first try!

Now that these two projects are nearly done, I've already begun looking at what to do next. My sister and I have purchased the pattern for a beautiful crocheted shell, offered by a talented lady who goes by the name Gu'Chet. The pattern recommends using Paton's Silk & Bamboo (the yarn I used in my kerchief!), but I have to follow my own rules! I remembered that I have some lovely 100% silk sock-weight yarn in my stash that I harvested from two J. Jill sweaters I unraveled. Here are the bubble-gum pink and ice yellow yarns I have to work with:

 

I haven't measured anything out yet, but I think there will be enough of either color for the shell. I'm currently testing with a gauge swatch, holding 2 strands together to try to get the DK weight necessary for the pattern, and then I'll do some measurements afterwards.

Quick update on Project #3: Irish Lace Collar. This was on hold for a little while, but I've started back to it again. Thanks to my brilliant cousin Jody at www.chickswithsticksofglenmontny.blogspot.com/, I got through those pesky triple picots and am on to new stitches. Who knew the thing had a front and a back? I do, now.  And I'm very pleased with the progress thus far:

That's all for today.

New beginnings for Spring!

Well, that step back did me a world of good. I restarted the Cozy Striped Kerchief, and I have never before been so glad to have frogged a project and restarted it. What an improvement! I'm close to being finished, but here's a peek:

I just love the alternating bands of color and the brown garter ridge piping all along the way. It will make for a less formal accessory in the end, but lovely still. Best of all, I'll have plenty of the ladder yarn to finish it to the correct size, and will have used up more of the silk/bamboo and brown silk/cotton to clear out my stash. And after all, that my goal here. :)

A great deal of the stash has yet to be documented, and much of that is in cotton crochet thread. A bin under my bed holds the major part of it, mostly in white or ecru in various weights. Remnants of different colors have been wound into balls and tucked here and there throughout my storage spots. Here are a few of the pastel colors:

With Easter quickly approaching, I remembered making some sweet little ornaments several years back. Our family was in the process of packing for a move, and we had delayed in taking down a small Christmas tree in a corner. When it became mid-January, the kids suggested we keep it up for a "holiday" tree and decorate it throughout the year for the respective holidays and seasons.

That was such fun, and the ideas started coming like gangbusters! We immediately removed all the "Christmasy" ornaments and left only the white and silver ones, including the crocheted snowflakes, giving it a wintery theme.

Then I started planning for Valentine's Day. Sarah and I began crocheting red and pink and white hearts of all sizes, and when February 1st arrived, down came winter and up went hearts. We filled in gaps with artificial red and white flowers.

Towards the end of the month, I began thinking about spring and Easter and went searching online for something to create. I ran across a site which offered Victorian Egg Covers. These enchanting little sacks have a drawstring top to allow for the egg to be inserted and then drawn closed. They also have a loop worked into the top by which to hang them like ornaments. I printed out the patterns (there are seven) and got to work. I filled them with plastic eggs of different colors, added some spring flowers, and the tree loooked beautiful.

Fast forward to last week, and I couldn't find my Easter ornaments. Anywhere. I can't imagine I got rid of them, but they may be tucked away in boxes that we've never brought into the new house since the move. So I pulled out the patterns, rounded up my threads, and started crocheting. Here's what I have so far:

Aren't they sweet? I'll be making more and bringing them to the yarn shop today to see if Judy would like to use them as decorations for the next couple of weeks.

As for the pattern, it has disappeared from the internet...sort of. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I was able to see the snapshot of the original site. If anyone would like to find these patterns, go to the Wayback Machine and enter in http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/jacobean/141/eggcovers.html. Then click on 2009 on the timeline along the top of the page and choose the February date circled. That's where I found most of the photos still intact.

Buona Pasqua!

Two Steps Forward, One Back

Ribbit, ribbit. Do I hear frogs in the backyard? No, it's the sound of me ripping out the entire Cozy Striped Kerchief that I had just finished.

I know it sounds crazy, but it just didn't look right to me. And if I'm going to do this challenge, I want to be satisfied with the results and not just waste my stash making dumpy things.

Though it drives my husband bats when I number things, here are my three reasons for frogging:

#1. It was making me crazy that I didn't have the brown contrast stripe on every garter stitch ridge. Sometimes, almost good enough isn't good enough.

#2. The brown silk/cotton yarn, looked great, but I miscalculated the thickness. The 8-ply that I created was a DK weight, when what it wanted was a worsted weight to match the bands between the ridges. So, out comes the drop spindle again.

and the clincher,

#3. The finished kerchief was too small. I had to end it sonner than I should have because I ran out of the ladder yarn. However, I have plenty of the silk/bamboo and plenty of the brown silk/cotton, so.........

Ribbit, ribbit.

Everything's back in the bag, and I'm going to start again. The solutions to the above problems, as I see them (sorry, Bob):

1. Every garter ridge will be brown, but first....

2. I will re-spin the brown yarn into a 10-ply worsted weight and try again.

3. To help extend the ladder yarn, I'll take my daughter's advice to alternate the 6-row bands between the garter ridges: one with the silk/bamboo-ladder combination, and one with just the silk-bamboo. That way, I can make the pattern the correct size and be happy. :)

*****

In the meantime, I'm continuing with the Zig Zag Baby Blanket. No new photos, since it looks the same as before, only longer. It's nice, sometimes, to have a simple pattern for a reliable outcome.

I'm also slowly getting on with the Irish Lace collar. After figuring out my dilemma (see last 2 posts), I've worked another row and a bit more of the next. Here's how it's looking so far:

And last night, I got to use a little of my scratchy Icelandic wool and the remnant of some brown Fun Fur to make an ancient Mongolian hat for my son's presentation on Genghis Khan to his homeschool co-op class today. It took 4 tries, but I finally got it to look the way I wanted:

He did a great job on his report, by the way!