A festival of finished objects (part 3)

Even though the some of the coffee stands on campus are now serving coffee in compostable cups and sleeves, there's always room for improvement. For example, you can reduce the use of cup sleeves with a new reusable crocheted cupwarmer!



This was a quickie! The pattern was published last year in Crochet today! and I remember intending to make one at the time. For some reason, I never got around to it. Other projects kept me busy. But when my friend Nora asked me recently if I could make her a reusable cup sleeve, I remembered the pattern and looked it up.



I set out (with Nora's help) to find a L (8.0 mm) hook. Not an easy task: my multiple LYS carried crochet hooks up to J or K, and then M/N (9.0 mm). But no L. Even JoAnn's didn't have any. I eventually found a L hook at Fred Meyer (go figure...).

I whipped out some yarn out of the stash (originally intended for a scarf, but I didn't have enough for a whole scarf and never found the right yarn to combine with it to make a scarf). The cupwarmer took about an hour to make, from start to finish, including multiple stops along the way to make sure it fit on an actual cup.



Details:
Pattern: Java Cozy, by Vashti Braha, from Crochet today! (Oct/Nov 2006)
Modifications:
- Foundation chain: ch 28 instead of ch 19
- Crocheted two additional rows with M hook at the top, to increase the length.
- Didn't do the slipstiched edging (top or bottom)
Yarn: Di.Ve Fiamma colorway 17017 (browns/purples/greens/red), about 1/3 skein (1 skein: 55 yards/50g)
Crochet hooks: L (8.0 mm) and M (9.0 mm)
Started: November 28, 2007
Finished: November 28, 2007




Isn't it nice? It's so easy to make and practical that I'm planning on making myself one, and maybe a few others as gifts... Save the planet with crochet!

A festival of finished objects (part 2)

Remember when I fell off the wagon? Well, I finished one of the kits I purchased that day: the Lu top, by Perl Grey, using Fleece Artist Scotian Silk.



It's a quick knit and the stitch pattern is easy to memorize. It's all knit in one piece from side to side (front-sleeve-back-sleeve-front), so there's no seaming involved. I did run into one problem. The pattern comes in two sizes: medium and large. I knit the whole thing in medium, only to realize that it was much too short for me (it did measure 12 inches as stated in the pattern, but it looked too short on me). The width was fine. I suspected it might stretch out a little when I blocked it, but I wasn't sure. The yarn is 35% silk, which isn't the stretchiest fiber...



So I unraveled the whole thing and started over, casting on the number of stitches suggested for the larger size (to increase the length) but sticking to the number of pattern repeats suggested for the medium size (to keep the width). It did stretch from 14 to 15 inches in length after blocking, and I think it's a much better length than before. It was worth knitting it twice...



Details:

Pattern: Lu, by Perl Grey
Yarn: Scotian Silk (65% wool, 35% silk) (375m/250g) by Fleece Artist in Jester(?)(I used a little less than one skein)
Needle: addi Turbo circular, US10/6mm
Started: October 2007
Finished: November 2007

The color is really difficult to capture on film. This is the best picture I could get of it on me:



I really like it! I wear a lot of red and it goes well over a long-sleeved t-shirt or a thin turtleneck. To keep it closed, I'm using a small tulip brooch I bought in the Netherlands years ago, in a town called Delft (best known for their porcelain). Because the color is so bright, I wanted something small and subtle... and tulips go well with red, don't they?

A festival of finished objects... (part 1)

I haven't posted in a while now, but that doesn't mean that there is no knitting going on... (although I hardly knit a stitch during a recent 10-day trip).
So, I have decided to make up for lost time and present finished objects from the last few weeks.

First and foremost, the Clapotis. Yes, I too have succumbed to the lure of the clapotis... like a zillion others. I started it in May using cotton yarn, thinking it would be done in time for summer. Of course, other projects became more pressing (baby gifts, anyone?) and my clapotis lay untouched for a good part of the spring and summer. I finally finished it in late October, right before leaving for a trip to San Diego.



I was slightly disappointed with the finished product, because it was a little too short for me to loop it around my neck. Fortunately, it stretched out during blocking and is now a perfect size. (It gained about 10 inches!)



Details:
Pattern: Clapotis, by the brilliant Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Tahki Tweedy Cotton Classic, colorway 268 (orange/teal/lime), purchased at Weaving Works
Started: May 2007
Finished: October 2007
Final size: 15 inches x 65 inches



I followed the pattern exactly. If I were to make another one, I would probably make it narrower and longer. I assume that cotton is more likely to stretch out during blocking than other fibers.

It's now a little cold in Seattle for a cotton scarf, but I'm sure I'll use it a lot when it warms up again. And I love the color: mostly a coral-salmon dark pink, with a little lime green and pale teal. It'll go with everything...



Coming up: other finished objects (the Lu cropped top, and a baby hat) and new works-in-progress (moss grid hand towel, Montego Bay scarf, and bamboo scarf).

Philosophical musings about the world's biggest stash...

I just stumbled upon these images of what might be the world's biggest stash. Clearly, my yarn stash is of amateur proportions compared to this.

My response to those images are an odd mixture of relief (I'm not that bad!), wonder (look at all that yarn!), and concern (am I at risk?). Now, I ask you: should a yarn stash of such proportions be a lifelong ambition or a cautionary tale? In other words, when does "a lot of yarn" become "too much yarn"?

What is the purpose of stash yarn? and when is a large stash a problem? Like any of life's big questions, isn't it all relative? If you have lots of room for it, you're not going broke buying it, and you live a functional life outside of your yarn stash (as it seems to be the case for this woman), it's probably just like any other hobby. Between you and me, it seems improbable that she'll ever actually use all this yarn. At some point, a transition probably occurs from buying yarn for knitting purposes to collecting yarn for its own sake, like others collect stamps or commemorative spoons.

I think it's still realistic for me to think that I'll knit (or crochet) all the yarn I now have in the stash, but how do you know when you cross that line? And what should you do when you get to that point? Stop buying yarn? That seems unlikely. Give some away? Sell it? Or be honest with yourself and admit that you're now a "yarn collector"?

p.s. I stumbled on this link on Annette Petavy's blog, who herself got it from Shannon Okey. I'm not the only one to question the size of my stash in response to those images. Annette Petavy has stopped using a stash counter. She says: "Les pelotes, c'est le bonheur. Et on ne peut jamais avoir trop de bonheur." In other words, "skeins are happiness. And you can never have too much happiness." What do you think?

Fair is fair

Well, after having blogged about my nephew's blanket and Raphael's blanket, my friend Nora asked: "Are you going to blog about H's blanket?"
Touché... So here it is!



Truthfully, H's blanket is probably the nicest one I've made. Or the most polished, I should say. That may be because I actually followed a pattern...
Nora didn't want any pastels for her boy-to-be, so I looked for bright colors. This pattern seemed just right.

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Details:
Pattern: Navajo Throw, from Candy Blankies by Candi Jensen
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, multiple colors. I used the colors suggested in the pattern, except for "lavendar" and "wine" because they weren't available at my LYS when I bought the yarn. I picked the closest I could find.
Purchased at: Weaving Works
Started: August 2006
Finished: May 2007



Now, following a pattern didn't come without a few adventures. Nora's baby shower was planned for late October 2006, and I was determined to be done with the baby blanket in time. I was going to a conference the week before and was more than halfway done. When I got back, I only had about 10 rows to go, and a border to crochet. In 5 days. No problem, right? Wrong.

Because I worked on it on planes and in conference halls, I had the blanket on my lap most of the time and didn't really spread it out. When I got home, I realized that the blanket had gotten narrower and narrower, to the point where my working row was about 2/3 the width of the first few rows. I think I missed a stitch every time I changed colors. I didn't have time to deal with it before the baby shower, so I let it sit (fortunately, I had other gifts planned for the shower). I tried to "fill out" the missing stitches by crocheting additional stitches on each side, but that definitely looked bad, really bad... So, after a few months of denial (hoping the problem would fix itself) I finally sucked it up and frogged the blanket back to the first 3-4 rows. And started all over again.




When it was done, I washed it and blocked it. It blocked really nicely, all soft and drapy. I finally gave it to Nora (or rather to H) just in time for Mother's Day. I think it (secretly) is my favorite of all the baby blankets I made...

H seems to like it...

Here it is!

Yarn from the Yarn Harlot!



In case you didn't know, I won a skein of sock yarn for identifying the "most iconic Canadian song" on her blog. (it was the theme to Hockey Night in Canada)

I received the package today. It contained a nice card, a small chocolate bar (robust dark chocolate, yum!), and a skein of All Things Heather sock yarn in Royal.

It's a very pretty color. Now I just need to find the perfect pattern for this special yarn... Thanks again, Stephanie!

On a separate note, I just finished the Clapotis. More on that another time...

p.s. I didn't win any yarn at the Louet trunk show at Village Yarn and Tea Shop. Guess good things don't come in threes...

They just don't understand...

Yesterday, Happy Hour with other graduate students:
Friend - "We were thinking of going out for dinner on Friday. Do you want to come?"
Me - "Sure, that sounds like fun... Oh! No, wait! I already have plans on Friday!"
Friend - "Really? what plans?"
Me - "I'm going to a yarn store..."
Friend - (interrupting) "A yarn store!?!" (look of puzzlement and amusement on my friend's face, as well as everyone else at the table) "You can't come to dinner because you're going to a yarn store? On a Friday night?"
Me - "Yes, they're having a trunk show. And I've never been to that yarn store..."

Ah, Muggles... they just don't understand. In the end, the dinner plans are not until 8-9pm and the trunk show is at 6pm, so I can probably do both and not have to explain further why I just can't cancel the "yarn store thing"... (I even RSVP'd! How am I going to win a door prize if I don't go? You know, good things come in threes and all that...)