Lutheran Alert!!

I find this really funny. I get marketing mail from this Lutheran insurance company, having received an award from them in high school, and this particular campaign really cracks me up. Why does overpaying on car insurance qualify as a "LUTHERAN" alert? Are they still concerned about my insurance payments now that I would cateogorize myself as a plain old "Christian"? And do they notice the Manhattan zip code and think, "We should save ourselves the stamp. This girl doesn't have a car."

Crochet? What crochet?

It's been a while. I busily knit a sweater over Christmas (of which I'll eventually post a picture, but I really am tired of taking pictures of myself in a mirror and need to enlist some help) and am now happily back to crochet, working on a shawl for a one of my many friends who's having a baby.



It's the "Petals and Stems" openwork pattern from this amazing book I've been wanting for ages:





And though I did just realize I paid $9 more at Barnes & Noble than I could have bought it for on Amazon, I think the work I've done in the last week is worth it. Yes?

The yarn is a Blue Heron hand-dyed; wool with a sparkle from Seaport Yarn.

Paradox

Tonight I attended an event where two very famous authors hosted a very highbrow discussion about the role art plays in society's search for justice. The event was quite exclusive, featured views of Central Park, and was attended by people whose last names are preceded with a "The" that makes me think I should know who they are. But I don't.

Now I am home and am eating the microwaved remnants of last night's burrito, accompanied by a beer.

I do love my life.

Over-ambitious

I decided today, December 19, to crochet socks for my coworker. I was going to buy her something crochet-related, as she's joined the company of the crocheters, but then thought it would be more fun to make her something. However, at 12:20am with (most of) one sock finished, I'm both laughing at my ambitious ambition and determined to get them done in time. I'll at least give her the one sock before we close on Thursday.

I do hope this is a future of making lots of socks, but I think I'll switch to knitting. The Knit Picks sock yarns (this is their Simple Stripes) are just too lovely not to work up!

Knit + Crochet = Pretty

This is a pattern out of the recent Family Circle Easy Crochet magazine. The feature was called "DreamWeavers" -- a few projects that weave in both knitting and crochet. Perfect for this girl, I thought.

This poncho will be a gift for a friend. I'm loving making it because it incorporated the things I like best about yarn craft just the way I like them:

(1) Challenge and learning new things, in the knitting. (My first decreases! And my first time sewing knitted fabric together.
(2) Total comfort & relaxation. The crochet part is detailed, but I find even complicated crochet restful at this point.

And it was perfect that I could first work through figuring out the knitting and then relax into the crochet.

And, it's cute. I'm thinking I might make one for myself in black.. but I'll probably make it a short capelet, as seen here, rather than finishing for a full length poncho (as I'm working toward).

P.S. I just always have to laugh at the mirror pictures. When I see them on other people's blogs, I laugh knowingly. But I actually laugh while I'm taking them. So silly. Ah, the lengths we go to to share our crochet...

"Quick Holiday Gifts!!!"

I'm amused by the yarn companies' e-mails this week pushing easy-to-complete projects. The cheaper yarns' designs tend not to be my style, but I had to give this one special attention because of its caption:

Hip "New York" knit purse in Patons® Pebbles for your
jet-setting cousin.

*I'm* that New York jet-setting cousin. Too bad none of my cousins knit. :)

(I'm having trouble posting the link out of the e-mail, but if you are interested in the bag, I'm sure you can find it on Paton's website!)

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.
:)

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.

Breakfast

To whomever invented the chocolate-chocolate chip muffin, allow me to extend my gratitude. Through a stroke of brilliance, you have made eating a brownie for breakfast acceptable, and I thank you.

The whole world in her hands

This may be the world's most beautiful yarn. Well, it may be one of many beautiful yarns, but I spent $12 on one hank of it, which is my most expensive purchase so far, so I feel a great affinity towards it. I'm still undecided on how I feel about the utility (or lack thereof) of fingerless gloves, but wrapping my hands in baby alpaca seems a good idea no matter the source.

What a difference a day makes

Monday...
...I was on a beach in Kailua, on Oahu in Hawaii. It was one of three beaches I visited that day. I also ate shrimp from a roadside truck, preceded by a mid-morning shave ice. I wore a swimsuit all day.



Tuesday...
...back in New York. Speaks for itself.

The funny thing is, I find it all beautiful. Both are inspiring. New York has its relaxing moments. Hawaii had its stressful ones. I was thankful for the quiet on the beach. I'm thankful for the activity in the city. What a broad, diverse, beautiful world we live in. I'm in awe of the One who created it.