Yummy

That's all I can think of to say about this yarn. It's a Blue Heron hand-dyed cotton & rayon boucle that I got at Seaport Yarn in New York (which is pretty yummy itself -- more on that later in a planned 'all you need to know about yarn/knitting/crochet in New York City' post.)

It was even on sale - 150 yards of a bulky yarn for $20. Saturday was a happy yarn day, indeed.

Unfinished business

Please find pictured several of the in-progress projects I'm working on. No, not all fo them -- just many of them. There are also two crocheted scarves crying out for fringe and one half-done on my new knitting needles. Hmm.

I think part of the problem is an excitement to try new things. I didn't know how to make a mitten until I made that one; so now I know how to make a mitten, and I want to make a shawl. Etc. That's also why knitting has become so interesting to me lately, as I feel comfortable with crochet and am enjoying a new challenge.

Crochet has also opened a whole new creative window for me, a person who has often doubted her creativity, even as a working writer. ("But I'm just writing other people's messages," I say.) I don't doubt that I am creative when it comes to creating with yarn. I see color in a new way, I see people on the streets of the city in a new way, as I analyze their knitted garments for ideas. As my faith increases that I am, indeed, the creative being God made me to be, that creativity flows out and infuses everything I do; I've even felt more creative in writing "other people's messages" at work. And I'm using this blog to write creatively about my creative process via crochet. Brilliant.

So I suppose the reason I have so much "unfinished business" on my hooks and needles is because to me it represents unlimited possibility. The interdependence of life is amazing.

Wow, I can knit

I'd almost given up on knitting in favor of much-more-comfortable-because-I-know-what-I'm-doing crochet. But I got inspired tonight. I started fresh on a ball of Lily Sugar 'n' Cream yarn, varigated in neon blue/yellow/green, and did 6 rows each of stockinette stitch, seed stitch, and a 1x1 rib, repeating the 6 rows of St st in between sections of seed and the rib. I edged it* with Lion Cotton neon orange in crochet, and sewed on what may be the first button I've ever sewed on anything.



(But I didn't have any thread, so I used alpaca lace yarn!)

*"It," by the way, is a cell phone cozy. It's also, I guess, my first original design. Sort of. :)

Very pleased with my little creation!

Rock and Roll Crochet

I don't even know what to say.

But I like clicking on the link over and over again, because it makes me laugh.

Uh-oh.

As if the crochet habit weren't enough...

I tried to knit for the first time when I was eight or so. I got really good at knitting, no purling, which I now know is called the garter stitch, and of which I wasn't too fond.

Six months of crochet work has made learning to knit much easier. It still feels a little awkward in my hands, but I've become comfortable with stockinette stitch in 2 days. It took me nearly a month to feel like I knew what I was doing with single crochet.

I've also learned I love the challenge of learning something new. I have several crochet projects in progress (or on the Christmas gift to-do list), but it's fun to try to teach my hands to do something more.

Crochet remains my first (yarn-related) love, but part of the reason I was so drawn to it was the ability it provided to connect with people. At present, knitting seems to strike more of that than crochet. I hope to introduce knitting people to the joys of crochet. Wish me luck.

By the way: that's the start of a cell phone cozy from Stitch 'n Bitch, using Lily Sugar 'n Cream and Lion Cotton. I actually have a new cell phone--the first in three years--en route, so perfect timing.

It's felted. It's sewn. It's done.

Finally. I'm very excited about this bag from CrochetMe.com, but it took me a long time to finish -- my on & off commitment to it was very much a contributing factor.



Since Alias was frequently on in the background while I was working on it (and happened to pop up in syndication when I was sewing on the straps), I thought it appropriate to picture the two dear things together.

Some notes, for the crochet-savvy gang:
(1) Unfortunately, laundromats don't allow one to stop their machines to avoid the spin cycle. Nonetheless, it felted pretty well. I just think it's a little floppy, which I suppose comes from the fact it was drier by the time I got it home to shape it.

(2) The flower is temporarily pinned on; I'm not sure how I feel about it. Thoughts?

(3) The body of the bag is Knit Picks yarn. I think it felted pretty nicely; didn't lose shape at all.