merry ho ho

as 2006 rolls to an end, i would like to take this time to wish everyone a safe, happy and wonderful christmas and a great crafty new year! thanks so much for stopping by to read my blog and especially those who leave comments to let me know you were here! enjoy the holidays everybody!

the house that hooks built

and yarn. and tissues. because the tissue box was just so hideously ugly and/or cold, i made a cosy for it to cover up its grotesque...tissueness....either that or i saw the pattern and thought it was pretty cute and a little kitsch, and so it began. the construction of the house itself was pretty easy, but as is always the case, the devil is in the details...not hard to do, just...fiddly. and lots of scraps needed for all the little fibre gum drops, etc.....but since i have about sixty bajillion billion balls of yarn it was pretty much cake. it's quite festive and i think the tissue 'smoke' coming out of the chimney somehow completed the whole quirky masterpiece.

did you drop a trail of breadcrumbs to get to my blog? because the twisted part of me can picture a teeny witch crouching just behind the door waiting for you to get closer so she can grab you and stick you in her cooking pot...it's funny but now that i'm older i can see the witch's side... if some snot-nosed little ankle biters were eating pieces off of my house i'd be pretty ticked off, too...probably--probably?--not enough to go the extreme of cooking them for dinner, but still...

that looks dangerous

yes...the double points again. cee's camo (tea cosy) hat needed partners in crime, so this poor, punctured ball of camouflage yarn became these:

notice the interesting colour pooling in the mid section on each glove...i have no explanation, but cee thinks it's neat and they look pretty spiffy on him. now he can drive in warmth and still look dapper, oh yeah, i said dapper.... yes, you've seen this pattern before...it's the knucks pattern....i'm growing to love it more and more each time i make them.

if your poor tissue box is as homely as mine or you just think the pattern is cool, you can find the gingerbread house cover pattern here

if you can't stand it anymore and simply have to make the knucks, you can find the pattern at knitty here

festivus

it's beginning to look a lot like...well, no, it isn't actually. we don't have any of that white stuff on the ground...you know, that four-letter word that most canadians hate to say in the time of winter? well, we did have some here, but it all melted....not that i'm complaining, mind you. no, no, i think i speak for all of us when i say that s**w is only really welcome on Christmas eve and Christmas day and then it's welcome to go away...well okay i'm not that militant about it. but i don't know anyone that likes driving in it, in fact a lot of people seem to forget how to drive on it and end up in accidents on the first winter storm day or any day that it's s**wing while they are driving...you'd think they would remember, because after all, it happens every year, just like tax time.

the neighbourhood looks a lot like Christmas...everyone seems to have gone all out this year. lights and inflatables everywhere you look. even our next door neighbours, the "loud talkers" have gone whole hog and lit up their house and yard...of course all of their unsightly cords have been slung over the fence to our side so that they don't have to look at them, but we get the pleasure of it, which i thought was so nice and particularly neighbourly at this time of year...what's that you say? maybe our garbage should be strewn about their yard in friendly reciprocal fashion?...nah, we're not that kind of people.

uh...is this your idea of decorating for Christmas?

no, but don't these two look happy as pigs in you-know-what? pleased as punch with their scrap yarn haul. i had a bunch of yarn piled on the table (big surprise) and happened to look and see this and thought it was kind of (absurd) funny so i grabbed the camera. i think this is actually meant to hold candies, which are infinitely nicer to eat than balls of scrap yarn, but can you knit a sweater out of candy? oooooh...a candy sweater....

writer's blocks

i made some more progress on the 200 blocks afghan, this picture is of the squares that will be the centre of the blanket, at least that's what i've decided so far:

another random square, loved the pattern, not sure about the colour placement, but that's something i can decide as i go along.

the pictures are not that great, i'm having a harder and harder time trying to get decent shots out of this camera, and end up having to do a lot of editing, but you get the general idea.

the last one i've done is called 'old vienna', not really sure why, unless the little filigree designs are suppose to emulate some sort of bavarian decoration.

i quite like this pattern, again the picture is just not doing it justice. somehow the colours seem to look different in every picture, but they are all the same, trust me.

incognito...

this camouflage item may be a hat for cee, or it may be a tea cosy, he hasn't decided yet.

i also have a similar ball of yarn that may or may not be masquerading as a pair of matching gloves...it hasn't decided yet.

"pengooins is practically chickens..."

yes, it's true, nothing says merriment more than a crocheted penguin with a red vest and ear muffs:

die-hard looney tunes fans will recognize the post title as a quote from one of my all-time favorite cartoons with bugs bunny, playboy penguin, and some poor, starved tramp on a box-car train who uttered the line whilst looking hungrily at the penguin....no worries, the cute penguin never got masticated, and neither will this little guy...that is unless the killer shih-tzu gets hold of him...

i do loves me some penguins, and i found this pattern in a super book called 'tis the season to crochet' by bobbie matela...aside from having the afore-mentioned and pictured penguin, along with a myriad of charming accessories patterns to go along with it, like scarves, wreaths, candy canes, christmas lights, etc., there are some really cute decorations in this book that practically scream out "crochet me!" plus there are even some festive clothing patterns in there like hats, mittens, snazzy evening wraps and jackets and a purse. in my opinion, this book is really worth a look see, it may even rate a hug or two.

and this just in...the 'scarf that never ends'......

still hasn't.

but you can see that i've definitely been working on it, because here's what it looked like when i blogged about it last:

yeah, sure, it was last MARCH, but that's just semantics, so stop being so picky...i told cee he will be able to (not) wear it this winter...and i'm sure he won't...not wear it, that is...

lest we forget

today is the day we honour the men and women who served or still are serving in the armed forces to protect our country. at the 11th hour of 11th day in the 11th month, we pause for a moment of silence to remember the thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom during war or peace keeping missions.

we wear poppies on our coat lapels because a canadian soldier and physician, lt.-col john mcrae, saw poppies growing next to the grave of a friend who had died in battle and was inspired to write the poem 'in flanders fields', which is recited in some form at every remembrance day ceremony. i made this poppy, but i've also bought several--they are famous for 'jumping' off your coat--because the proceeds go to the royal canadian legion, helping ex-servicemen and women.

don't forget to remember

blog blanket blatherings

so yeah...i think winter is officially on its way...we've already had the ceremonial 'turning on of the furnace' and the rest, well it's all inevitable...like making afghans...for me a 'winter' thing to do.

this square (and the next) is from the "200 crochet blocks" book--which i love, just ask cee, and he will regale you with stories about me hugging this book--was that so wrong?!--the colours look much better in the real, but don't most things? Plus our camera isn't exactly the newest anymore...it serves its purpose, i suppose. the dark square is a plum/purple, then sage green, what i would call a delft blue, and then gray.

i have been having the hardest time picking just a few squares out of this book...there are just so many that look good to me...incidentally if you are thinking of picking up this book, do so!! i really couldn't recommend it any higher--come on, if a grown woman hugging it isn't a good enough review of it i don't know what is!


i will probably only go with about 4 or 5 different squares for my first afghan, all with these four colours.

hopefully by the end of this winter i will have decided on which square patterns to use, but i wouldn't bank on it....it's a bit strange, really, i'm not usually this indecisive. no wonder though, because the possibilities are endless...in case you were wondering, i really do love this book!


i joined the crochet along over at the 'ville so hopefully seeing everyone else's projects coming together will inspire me to stick with it.

hey, that looks oddly familiar...

well it should...that is, if you are a faithful reader of my blog...okay, stop laughing, it could happen...but for those who don't frequent this corner of my fuzzy brain, this is my yo-yo scrap afghan that i started...oh...last may and i abandoned it when the humidex made our temperatures go over 47 celcius last summer (that's 117 F for all you fahrenheiters) plus when i realized all the little ends that have to be woven in with the joining of each little yo-yo, i kind of stuffed it away in favour of less tedious projects.

but with the falling of the leaves and the lowering of temperatures comes the instinctive need to crochet blankets, afghans, throws, rugs, anything with which you can cover up. I dragged out ole 'scrappy' and started working again. i have disciplined myself to try to join at least five yo-yo's a day...this way it will get done, albeit eventually. i think in spite of all the tedium it will look nice and 'homey' once it is done.

there is another ghan started...it's a bit of an experiment though so no pictures...i don't know how far i'll get with it but we'll see...it all sounds so mysterious, doesn't it? like some freaky weird science project or something. really it's not that bad....or is it? (cue spooky music...fade out)

baa ram ewe

well, 'socktober' is almost over, and i am almost done my second pair of knitted socks (blue ones for cee this time) i've been scanning the sock patterns ever since i picked up the double-pointed needles. it truly is addicting. my kitchener stitch is getting better with every sock, too, which is somehow very gratifying. yes, it really does take so little to make me happy.

i did a pattern test for one of the clever ladies at the forum:

this sweet little stuffed sheep doubles as a change purse, very cute and not hard at all to make.

who you gonna call?!

the 'mystery cal' on the 'ville concluded last week, and here's the result. this ghost with the most will most likely end up as a tote bag (with a similar, suitable spooktactular picture on the other side of course) or a basket/box lined to put treats in.

now that i've done a graph and changed colours (even though it was only 2) i am feeling a bit more brave and may tackle something a little harder...we'll see.


and, as promised, here's the 'scary backside' of the graph--no, i won't show you my scary backside, so stop asking, or relax, in case you were quaking with fear--it wasn't as scary as i thought it would be (flashback to youthful embroidery days, when mom always said 'the back of your piece should look as pretty as the front!'--this is why you don't see any embroidery work done by yours truly!)

this was a really fun way to introduce myself to this technique.

one sock, two sock

and just like that, i'm a sock knitter:

socktoberfest rolls along...these things may be just as addicting for me as dishcloths...there's already a pair for cee on the needles right now. i must say, the tamale socks are very cozy to wear, and fit my feet exactly...in the past the foot part would be too long in regular socks for me, because, you know, i have ridiculously small feet--although with age they seem to be growing...or is that just spreading--all i know is my shoe size is bigger than it used to be.

uh...what is that?!

this time i honestly don't know...but i have a sneaky idea what it might be. i'm doing this as part of a 'mystery crochet along' with a suitable 'hallowe'en-type' theme on the 'ville, hosted by one of the clever ladies there. We get 8 rows posted every day (you are looking at 16 rows there, hence two day's worth) i have been wanting to try a graph or intarsia project for a while, but could never summon the nerve--now it looks like i've begun one without realizing it. when it's done i will be sure to post the final result--including what the 'scary' back side looks like--no, not mine, the project's.

thanks, that was fun

well, not really, but what can you say when you look out the window on october 12th and see this:
i can think of a few things, most of them not fit for print, and let's just say they got said, by both of us, when we saw 'it' coming down...'it....that four-letter word...snow...at first i convinced myself it was just tiny hail...but alas, i was bobbing like so much flotsam and jetsam in the river of denial...and yes, those are my flowers getting dumped on...poor things, they are looking most sickly today i'm afraid. the sad part is that they were still doing relatively well, but now...not so much. the snow is gone, but the chill remains. snow in october is nothing new for me...when you grow up living fairly close to mountains, you can see snow in every month of the year...if it's spring or summer, it just doesn't last...more like thick rain...but here...they don't usually see snow here until late november or december.

we didn't even get it as bad as our u.s. neighbours to the south...apparently they got 60 cm in buffalo alone...many power outtages and such..and a few of our tv channels that come from that area are out as well so they must be having problems. not sure how far the storm travelled, but it was a strange one, to be sure.

i finished the tamale sock and am almost done it's fraternal twin...i am liking knitting socks more and more, so there will most probably be a large pile of homemade socks soon, to add to the ever-growing stash pile in the corner our the living room, which cee has taken to calling 'mt. kiki'--his subtle way of saying 'clean up yer crap'.

old dogs and new tricks

do you notice anything different about this knit stockinette swatch?

how about now?

something a little different about the needle, right? like the fact that there's a hook on either end?...well, that's because this 'knit' stockinette swatch is actually tunisian crochet! ooooh, ahhh...astounding, right? yeah, yeah, i know, whoopee ding dong...but hey, it excited me...i learned how to do three different tunisian stitches, thanks to kim over at crochetville, who offered a free online tunisian class....which i actually missed (because the older i get, the more i forget) but the text is on her blog and i learned just by reading it! this stitch pictured is called 'tunisian knit' stitch, which was the one that blew my mind because it looks so much like knitting...she also taught the 'reverse afghan' and 'afghan' stitch....it's a little funny, because while knit stockinette tends to curl in from the sides, this tunisian knit curls horizontally from the top and bottom...but that could be because i'm just learning, and i'm told that tunisian tends to be tighter than regular crochet, so it could just be my beginner attempts...the back of it is also a lot more bumpy than knit...the reverse afghan stitch resembles garter knit. i love to learn new things, so i was really psyched...and i just learned that the majority of times i type the word 'stitch' i actually type it 'stich' and have to go back and correct it....i should point out that the hook in the picture is not a 'tunisian' hook, but something called a 'cro-hook' or 'double-ended hook', but it worked all the same...a tunisian crochet hook has one hook at one end and a stopper or knob at the other, but is longer than a regular hook...of course i think one or both of the hooks is also called an 'afghan hook', just to make things more confusing...

at least someone was excited for me:

um...

yeah....

that's..

um...

really...

great...

got any snacks?

some progress on the tamale sock....it would seem to me that i'm over the 'hard' part, or more like the most confusing part, which for me was the heel...so far i am really enjoying knitting socks, and have been eyeing other patterns to try....cee thinks that's pretty weird, since i don't normally wear socks, but you never know, this red beauty could adorn my pudgy little foot someday, and he might--probably--just end up with a pair or two... gee, those double pointed needles look quite intimidating, don't they? rather like they belong with the accoutrements of a torture chamber...'fetch the dpns, boris...i'll make him tell me where the microfilm is!!'

kicking my heels up

is this a sock i see before me?

well...not yet...but it very well could be...someday. maybe. thanks to some inspiration i decided to take the plunge into 'socktober' well, more like i decided to learn how to knit socks...i have crocheted them before, but never knit, always secretly coveting other people's talent for knitting socks.

you can see by the picture i have only just started, but so far so good...let's see how long it takes me to get stuck...i keep calling it the 'hot tamale' sock...no, you don't have to tell me that it's not necessarily 'normal' to give inanimate objects names...but when i look at it i think 'hot tamale! i'm knittin' a sock!'

that old feeling

it's been one of those weeks...i've started and frogged at least 4 different projects, started a crimson cardigan (the pattern states it's easy) and made not one, not two, but three errors in the first 3 inches (it's worked in one piece to the armholes) and had to rip it all out--yes, my working on it every day for almost a week only got me 3 inches in...for a minute i actually considered leaving in the mistakes as they weren't that noticeable and i was feeling lazy, but i ended up with the wrong amount of stitches, and now it's all gone. i keep hoping i'll get some inspiration, but it looks like i've hit a slump.

i don't know if it's the weather--it's rained almost every day for the past two weeks--or what my problem is, but i just feel so blah and can't get into anything i've got going here. i look through all my patterns and search online and nothing seems to interest me.

i keep wanting to start an afghan, but we have so many here--now i know some of you are saying 'is there such a thing as too many afghans?'--but in my case i suppose there is...we have nowhere to put any more, and i'd make them for family, but sending them to my family and friends would cost a fortune in shipping, and cee's mum can make her own....dilemma, dilemma.

i did finish up a few things for my sister's friend's new baby:


i like the hat, it reminds me vaguely of jiffy pop, which we used to get when we were kids...the popcorn in the little metal pan and when you pop it on the stove the top of it expands like a big dome...you can still get it in some stores here. i also made a cardigan with this yarn, just using a plain stockinette stitch.

i've done a few charity squares and tested a hat pattern, in the hopes that it would get me going again, but nothing seems to work. i know this feeling won't last long, and i'll be banging away on something new soon, it's just a little depressing.

i even did a search on knitting and/or crocheting groups in my area and could only find one, and it's a knitting group, they specify knitters only, which i thought was really snobby and elitist--i mean come on people! what about those of us who do both? i'm surprised they didn't specify what colour or religion the people had to be, too! where on earth did all this animosity between crocheters and knitters come from anyways?

dishcloths, bookmarks...and something red...

a weird trio, to be sure, but that just gives you a little insight into my enigmatic brain...

thanks to vik's blogpost about her new obsession with the garterlac dishcloth, i have added another pattern to my bewilderingly large, yet ever increasing dishcloth arsenal:

i really like how the pattern shows off the variegated yarn, and i think it's really cool how the colours line up and form their own little patterns...yes, small things do amuse small minds...




i had been contemplating making this bookmark pattern for a while...but since it was made with thread and a really reeeeeelly small steel hook i was a little apprehensive as i don't have that much experience with either...but then thought, 'what the heck' and gave it a go...and before i knew it, i'd made two of them...

i was going to use a larger hook than the one recommended but did end up using the smallest steel hook i have, and was surprised how fast they worked up and how simple they were once i got going on them....that teeny tiny hook though, i doubt i'll use that one on a regular basis, i'm not sure how people can to be honest...

this is one of cupcake's patterns that she has on her blog.



this is just a motif i've been playing around with...i found it in the book 'so simple crochet'...the title is a bit of a misnomer, as this pattern is marked as 'advanced' in the book ...i would have to agree, as having to work double, triple, and even quadruple trebles is something i don't think a beginner would know how, or more to the point, be able to do with any great success.

this motif is from a poncho pattern in the book, but since i think the poncho has already had it's brief day in the sun (again) and don't see anyone wearing them anymore, i doubt i'll make a poncho, but it could be incorporated into something else...but what? decisions, decisions...

if you would like to make the garterlac cloth, you can find the pattern on dave's blog, criminy jickets

cupcake's fan bookmark is available on her blog, crochetroo...stop in and say hello.

driven to abstraction

i've been knitting these baby sets for what seems like forever and was really starting to miss my hooks, so i put the needles aside and made this:


yes, another doily. i think this one is my most favorite so far...although i seem to think that about every doily i make, so take no notice...cee is befuddled as to where they will all go, as he said i've made about 10 so far and by no means do we have 10 tables, or 10 end tables, or 10 coffee tables, or even 10 surfaces where you would think a doily might appropriately go, but does this stop the doily addict i seem to have become? the answer would plainly be no. this is a free pattern on the celtwich site for anyone interested--you can find the link on the crochet pattern central site, the name of it is 'pink pinapple'...no, your eyes aren't fooling you, this doily is not pink, but the one on the site is. the picture is smallish because this is a large doily, in fact i think it qualifies as a table topper, whatever that means. the specs in the pattern say the finished product should be around 16 1/2 inches, but i'm sure they used a smaller thread than i, because this one is around 25-27 inches in diameter.

'not more dishcloths?!'

dishcloths...what the heck does anyone need eleven million dishcloths for anyways? yes, a slight exaggeration, but still they do pile up...i usually end up giving most of them away, so that is why i think it's perfectly alright to make them by the truckload. i have fallen in extreme like with the ball band dishcloth from the mason dixon knitting book...here is yet another example of how i will look at something, think 'oh wow, that's really neat, but i bet it will be way too hard for me to do' and then when i try it, i end up smacking myself in the forehead because not only can i do it, but it's easy peasy lemon squeezy. i can see myself making a lot of these:

extreme closeup, zoom in on this!!!

even cee liked this pattern, although he thinks it's a lot of bother for just a dishcloth, he thought I was making a sweater or something...now i know what you're thinking...that would be one 'busy' sweater...and you'd be right.

drumroll please.........and 'ta-da'!!

knuck, the second is finished!! now comes the terrifying part...the (muffle gag reflex) embroidery....must come up with witty and/or funny, yet irreverent things to embroider on the knucks...or just leave them the way they are...can't decide. i must say the second went much smoother than the first. i didn't grind my teeth once, which is always nice.

now with added self sabotage

what does someone who's trying to lose weight need more of in their life? that's right! dozens of homemade chocolate chip cookies!!




because i just don't make it hard enough for myself, i decided to bake some cookies...i blame the vicious pms monster...this is a really kick ass recipe, too...the cookies don't flatten out and get those weird-looking wrinkles like some of those 'so-called' good recipes, and the taste, well it's just out of this world. most of these will be destined for the freezer---was that a snort i heard?! you don't think i have the self control to put these in the freezer and not eat them until

a) they are all gone,
b) i pass out, vomit, or some combination of the two or
c) all of the above?

well they did go into the freezer, so there...how long they'll stay there, who knows...out of sight, out of mind as they say. nigel the infamously famous sock monkey is taking odds...




i say! those cookies do look rather good, but i much prefer a scrumptious sock banana any day.

so sweet you'll get a toothache

sugar & spice...i was commissioned by my sister tee to make some baby-type things for a co-worker/friend of hers that is due shortly. tee gave me the colour wish list--they obviously found out the sex of the impending arrival...if ever i had the tremendous blessing of being pregnant, i think i'd like it to be a surprise....although i'm not knocking people wanting to know whether it's a boy or a girl, i'm just saying...there are pros, like you can pick your gender-oriented colours, case in point:

i doubt you'd see anyone dressing a little boy in these...unless they had, you know, issues. i also think there are cons to finding out the sex of your baby...what if you have your heart set on one or the other and you don't get what you want? personally i think people should just be grateful they can have a baby at all and not be picky, but there are some incredibly shallow and stupid people out there that want to design their baby...don't get me started...anyone that knows me knows how close to my heart this issue is.

i'm also working on some leggings that go with this little set, which i think came out very well...the leggings...well,we'll see....i'm not convinced that they will turn out (or more to the point, if i'll be able to finish them without seeking out some help). luckily i have a more experienced knitter in the form of cee's mum close at hand, and between the two of us hopefully we'll figure them out.

there's more baby stuff on the needles, but not enough progress yet to show...that's the thing with this knitting...so much slower than crochet...but i just love the pattern, so i guess i'll just have to work twice as fast...yeah...that'll work...right?

oh, i'm ready for it, come on bring it

what's that?! can it be?....no really is it? why, yes, yes it is! 'knuck, the first' is complete!!

ta da! take that, you knaughty knuck! where's the second, you ask? humph! you ask too many questions! the second...well, it's complete in my head, isn't that enough? i seem to have a case of 'second knuck syndrome'..oh, the shame of it all....it will get done eventually, and maybe even adorned in some astonishing, spectacular way...or not. who knows...for now i'm happy with knuck the first...and i learned a valuable lesson.....ahem: 'when using a sewn cast/bind off--which was another first for me--, leave a LONG (ie: veryveryvery long) tail for sewing'...otherwise you will be most unhappy and bark obscene words about the room until the air is blue and then you have have to 'somehow' tie a knot (gasp)--wishing the yarn tail was longer just doesn't work, believe me--and work in even more ends than this project already has....do i sound bitter? i also think i managed to join the thumb backwards or sidewards or some kind of wards, but it's done...and i think this graduates me to intermediate knitter at the very least...not that it matters.

the night of a thousand dishcloths

well okay, not a thousand....not even a hundred...more like 15 or 20, but how impressive would that sound?! plus, i didn't make them all in one night...that would just be impossible...not to mention downright silly.

i like making dishcloths...there, i said it. i know some people think that is so lame...but one person's lame is another person's fun and/or profit--ooh i can think of so many sarcastic jokes to put in this space--so we shouldn't judge...besides, there are people, and i'm not one of them, that make these little beauties and then actually sell them for actual money (like $5 a piece!?) and actual people actually pay that, just to have one of these things...so how lame is it, really? dishcloths; the "crack" of the fibre arts world?

more news...we seem to have an.....ewwww...infestation in the house!! honestly, you'd think it was bad enough that our yard is the mecca for local wildlife, but now the inside of the house, too??

they look fearsome, don't they? quake in your boots, you hapless humans!!

how fairy nice

here's another doll i tested for kristen. this is the third in a fairy series, and the pattern is called 'adorable addie':

i had lots of fun with this one, as is usually the case with kristen's creations. can't say enough good stuff about her patterns.

as i was taking the pictures i was reminded of the story about the two girls in cottingley in the early 1900's that fooled a lot of people who should have known better (including sir arthur conan-doyle of 'sherlock holmes' fame) into thinking that they'd photographed actual fairies frolicking in the woods behind their homes...even so called 'experts' of the times claimed the five pictures weren't double exposures...but i guess they never stopped to think that maybe the fairies were just paper cut outs that the girls were holding in front of them...but then again, photography was in its infancy in those days. they made a movie about it some years ago, "fairy tale, a true story" or something like that...in typical hollywood fashion they made the ending all 'cutesy' and disney-ish.


here's a back view of her, complete with beflowered wings.

if you are interested in the pattern, you will be able to get it shortly on kristen's site. for now, the other two in the series are available there.

if you are a geek like me and want to read more about the cottingley fairies, just click here .

what is it?

a four-fingered gigantic pain in the arse, that's what....i may have reached the limit of my puny so-called knitting abilities here....this raspberry nightmare aspires to be a semi-fingerless glove, or 'knuck' as the pattern calls it...however it may just turn out to be an unpleasant memory, i haven't decided yet. i'm a glutton for punishment, so i'll probably still keep trying to make it...and then---eeep!!!---even try to make a second one...i thought making each individual finger and thumb would be bad enough...but nooooooo, then you have to join them together....i think i ground some cracks into my teeth. i'm sure it's me and not the pattern, being that i don't have experience with this type of thing, but the phrase 'you know, you can buy those in the store...' runs through my head as i try to keep track of yarn ends and ssk's (had to look that one up)...no, no, i'll soldier on and keep with it...that pathetic little tube beside it is the thumb...which i still have to join...i think i'll need a drink for that one...

and for no particular reason at all:

here's a gratuitous doily shot...just because i felt like it.

dilly, dally, doily

anyone remember when i said i wasn't sure if i would work with thread more than once every 10 years or so? well i guess i'm sure now....i've made a few doilies....although cee is dubious as to their usefulness and/or practicality....so am i if i'm honest....not many people use doilies anymore. still, they are pretty to look at and can be a fun way to challenge your abilities with a hook and thread. so far the nice thing about them i've found is that they are largely repetitive in the patterns, so once you get the basic stitches it's just a matter of repeating them around to the end...as long as you can get the stitches...i have run into a couple i haven't been able to figure out...but maybe it's not my abilities, but the way the pattern is written? yeah, yeah, that's the ticket....

this first one is called 'grape harvest' and it's my latest:



i found the pattern for this one online at annie's attic. it was a free pattern of the day. i rather like the 'grapey' texture of the stitches...i actually used a smaller hook than recommended for this...no, not because i'm crazy, although that is a good argument...but because i didn't have the size the pattern called for so i had to use the one i did have...funnily enough mine came out to the same size as stated in the pattern...either i crochet very loose or the pattern tension was a little off...it measures around 12 inches.


this next is from a pattern booklet and is called 'artist's choice oval'...the thread is a variegated one that i got cheap (i'm thinking because not many people were wild about the colours) and thought i'd try out these patterns...if i made these again i would probably just use white or ecru as i like them plain like that...it's just how i roll--hey check out my 'street' lingo--this is a good one for the center of a table...it's about 20 inches or so.


last is called 'pinapple fantasy'--not sure i'd fantasize about it, but oh well--and it's also from a pattern booklet. i was worried you wouldn't be able to see the pattern to its full effect in the variegated thread, but i think it picks up okay...and again i'd probably only use a plain colour to make it in the future....another large piece at around 22 inches in diameter.

not-so-sad sack

i made this tote bag/purse as part of a crochet along on the 'ville. the pattern is called 'tapestry tote', i'm not sure why...neither the one in the pattern nor mine looks much like a tapestry to me, but oh well:


this pattern worked up really fast, and took minimal yarn. it did take a lot, and i mean a lot of time to weave in all the little ends, which is about as high up there on my scale of fun things to do as having a root canal, but alas, that's always the case when you work with multiple colours.


i lined this one with a plain colour...i figured there was enough colours going on on the outside of it. i had considered using it as a purse but then thought i might get some odd looks especially from the younger generation....go on, say it; "you mean more odd looks than you usually get?!"

my original plan was to make this in cotton yarn and somewhere from thinking about it to actually doing it i ended up using regular worsted yarn, but i may do this one in cotton as well.

if you are interested in the pattern, you can find the link to it here.