Scarf Season ... #2: Guilty Acrylic Yarn Pleasures

I hate Homespun yarn.
But I kind of like it, too.

It splits. It's soft. It's hard to see the stitches. Some of the colors are really pretty.
I recognize that among the "serious crochet/knitting" community, Homespun is not exactly popular. At least not in public. But, you gotta admit, that pink scarf on the left is just pretty. I love the color.

I picked up the second skein, in "Prairie," this weekend, after thinking of the warm earthy color combos for my mom. I have decided, on skein 2 of Homespun, that crochet is clearly a superior craft. The pink scarf took me a matter of hours. I've got a good 5 hours in the garter stitch Prairie scarf, and am only 1/3 of the way done. Clearly, I'm a faster crocheter - and the pink scarf is narrower - but I just like the crochet look better anyway.

I'll chalk it up as practice for the Stitch 'n' Bitch sweater(s) I'm going to make over Christmas. Plus, Mom (kind of) knits, so it will be inspiration for her!

Lace yarn is really thin

Ever since I bought this yarn to "play" with, I've been fantasizing about trying this scarf pattern from Interweave.



A quiet Saturday was the perfect time for it. I'm going to get more colors of the yarn and actually complete the scarf. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and the yarn (Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud) is lovely. Really soft.

There's still something in me, though, that sees lace yarn as nothing but a barrier between me and instant gratification. I'll have to work through that.

The perils of crochet in a small apartment

On some levels, crochet is the perfect hobby for a small apartment. Dancing, for example, would be tough. Crochet requires little surface space. Just enough room for me and, oh, say, an afghan. But there are some instances in which a little more room would be beneficial, most of which I've discovered with this shawl.

Example #1: Small mirrors in small bathrooms make for bad self-portraits of modeling a completed project:



And I'm usually pretty clever at taking a photo of myself:



Example #2: Blocking in a studio is hard. It would be harder, I suppose, if I had roommates who would be upset at the fact that I'm covering the only walkway from the front door to the rest of the house with a wet wool shawl that absolutely cannot be moved for two days.



But, all in all, I'd never give up the yarn, the apartment (which was a miracle dropped out of heaven!), or the fabulous city in which we all reside. I love the little challenges that New Yorkers live with. I once tried to get these home on the subway. And now I'm covering my studio with towels and yarn. Yesterday my super had to crawl in my window because my exterminator broke my lock.

I love New York.
(No, really. That's not cynicism. Just a happy Friday night expression of gratitude.)

Scarf Season ... #1

There are more where this came from. I didn't manage to take a final photo of this because I was so excited to wrap it (see below) and give it away, but it was made with Karabella's Aurora 8 in a modification of a pattern out of Interweave Crochet's 2005 magazine. I loved the yarn and the colors. And lacking proper wrapping supplies, I sewed a flower to the first paper shopping bag I could find, a presentation I think I'll adopt more frequently:

Stuff

(That's a euphemism expressing frustration for those of you who haven't heard me throw it around or don't know any Aussies.)

See how this started off as a lovely triangle?

See how I managed to go for a whole ball of yarn without realizing that I was skipping a loop in each row, and my shawl had ceased to be a triangle?

Stuff.

All for the joy of the process.
:)