A Garment in 72 Hours

Even though I am both a process and a product girl when it comes to crocheting & knitting, today I'm definitely endorsing the product end of the spectrum.

Last week, after finally assembling the afghan for my parents, I felt inspired to tackle what seemed like another large project: a garment for me. Over the last 18 months, I have been challenged through various Block-A-Month crochet-a-longs, which have expanded my technique and helped me to become a more adventurous crafter. I have also gotten better at knowing what I like and don't like, and am now more than willing to frog a project if it is not suiting my needs.

3/4 length sleeves & 2 buttons

The garment that I choose to make: a crocheted cardigan. I knew this would be a good choice, because it would not take as long as a knitted cardigan (I knit a lot slower than I crochet) and also because I had just recently lamented to my sister the lack of colored cardigans in my wardrobe.

my pair of buttons are nearly an exact match to the stripe I added

The pattern I picked is a free one: Chevron Lace Cardigan. This pattern was recently brought to my attention again through Knit and Crochet Blog Week, where we were asked to think about projects that would reflect the characteristics of our chosen house. My chosen house, the House of Manatee, reflects the calmer, steady nature of crafters, and I felt like it fit my most prominent crafting personality. I further explain this here.

Back to product versus process. I enjoy crafting because it makes me feel less useless while watching television. It makes me feel productive. I also enjoy wearing the items I make. This project was definitely a product. The process was quick, meaning I had the desired item (a colored cardigan) in a few short days. I never thought it would take me so little time to make myself a sweater, and I am totally thrilled. I dyed the yarn for it simply ages ago, blogged about here.

Perfect length, perfect weight

After debating about buttons with several different people, I found the ones I wanted.

It didn't really need blocking, so I wore it on Monday. Outside in the sun, the wool was definitely a bit too heavy. But in my air-conditioned workplace, it was perfect. I had a lot of compliments on it, which calmed my worries about it being a completely awful garment.

This sweater also used up close to 700 yards of yarn, pushing my total yardage used this year over 5 miles!!! (I know I have added to my stash this year, but I still feel awesome!)

Linking with Tami to share the love of a finished sweater!

Sick of Petals!

Yes, today I am definitely tired of petals, but not in the way you may think. While thoroughly enjoy the warm spring weather and the flowers that accompany it, my hands have been busy making little flowers for hats and hairclips, and they've about had it!

In the midst of my moving and cleaning operation, I sat down to take stock of my craft show wares. Hovering comfortably between a dozen and 20 of each of my main items is a safe place to be in May, especially when I don't start attending craft shows until September. However, I wanted to bring all of my totals up to 2 dozen before tackling the quicker projects or the better selling projects. So I grabbed a few small balls of yarn and some hooks, and spent a lot of time making flowers- which I use both as embellishment on hats and on hairclips.

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Even though I over-dosed on flower making, I have not had my fill of new books yet. I'm still reading Jasper Fforde, this week One of Our Thursdays is Missing. Kathy Reichs just recently released her third Virals book called Code, and I finally have it in my hands. A few months ago, one of my students was reading it, and I was insanely jealous that their small-town library had a copy in before my library even ordered it! Along with those 2 books, I finally have a copy of Around the Corner Crochet Broders, to finish my parents' autumn colored afghan. I've browsed, picked a couple, and now just need to establish a stitch count before adding on the border. If nothing works out, I'll wing it, but having the book reassures me and makes me feel like 'at least I tried'.

Joining up with WIP Wednesday and Yarn-Along!

Feeling Unaccomplished

This past week has been a busy one. I worked every day except Friday, the weather has been unseasonably warm, my room went from messy to clean to messy again, I switched over to summer clothes, packed my winter clothes and read at least 2 new books. However, because I have neglected my blog, I somehow feel unaccomplished.

Unaccomplished is definitely not a good state of being. It is also incorrect. I finally finshed putting together the afghan for my parents, and am waiting for Around the Corner Crocheted Borders to come in at the library so I can put the finishing touches on it. Two more infinity scarves were added to my stash for the fall craft shows, and I'm halfway through a third. I have my next half dozen or so projects planned, while still having too many WIPs.

1. Baby afghan for C's September baby-- will probably be a Christmas gift
2. Wedding afghan for me! (I told E we would get a blanket...)-- I have 100 or so days to finish this on time... The last one took me 6 months. I think I'm cutting it close
3. Fjaril cardigan-- the Cold Sheep CSAL just finished up, and I won a prize. I picked out this cardigan, and excited to expand my knitting skills- Probably going to use Knit Picks Palette in Whirlpool after frogging my Blue Pineapples shawl that just wasnt working
4. Chevron Cardigan-- a less ambitious project than the Fjaril, because it is crocheted, but still will be one of my first proper garments. I dyed the yarn for this project over a year ago, and it needs to get out of my stash and into my wardrobe before I move.
5. Infinity scarves by the dozen-- A few weeks ago, I posted about a great deal I got on some Lion Brand Homespun Thick & Quick. I want to use it up as quickly as possibly, so I'll have more merchandise for my fall craft shows, and so I won't have to transport the excess yarn when moving.
6. More hats! Scarves have been my primary focus, but I still have quite a bit of yarn for hats. I need to use it!
7. Shawls for the mothers for the wedding. I have no yarn, no pattern and no plan, but I know I want to make something. (Ones for the bridesmaids are out, as they wont appreciate it)-- I'm thinking of Knit Picks Stroll Tonals, but am currently undecided- I would need to buy yarn, which I dont really want to do....

Yeah.... These plus my WIPs will definitely keep me busy... I should stop worrying about feeling accomplished and just start knitting :)

Changing Progress

I definitely dropped the ball on KCBW. Those weekend blogging days kill me, plus my fiance was over... I definitely could make the list longer.

But I am making some visible progress in the cleaning & moving of my possessions to my fiance's home-- less than 4 months now!

You can see a bit of the border/join here

Due to that steadily nearing deadline, I have been compelled to work on several of my larger projects. The afghan I was supposed to have done for my parents' anniversary/Christmas/etc is finally in the finishing stages. I had 6 groups of four blocks each, which I joined using the JAYG method from Edie Eckman's Connect the Motifs (LOVE this book!), and decided that it probably should be a little bit bigger. So I made 6 more squares, and am joining them together the long way, to go in between the sets of joined squares.

The new squares I added

Joining the last group

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the extra yarn-- I believe JoAnn's takes exchanges, but I'm not sure how long ago I bought the yarn, etc. (It has been within the last year).

New colors: Olive, Sweet Pea, Sapphire, Aqua, Baby Aqua

Even with all the other stuff I am doing, I had to give myself another project, as about a month after getting married, I will properly be an aunt! My fiance's sister is due a few weeks after we get married, and I really want to make a baby blanket. So of course, I have the yarn already... 

On the book front (finally!!) I am reading Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, which is really funny and fairly decent.

Linking with Tami & Ginny!

A Tool to Covet 4KCBWDAY6

A Tool To Covet
Write about your favourite knitting or crochet (or spinning, etc) tool. It can either be a tool directly involved in your craft (knitting needles or crochet hook) or something that makes your craft more pleasurable – be it a special lamp, or stitch markers. 

Is it an item that you would recommend to others, and if so for which applications/tasks do you think it is most suited.

A few years back, among some yarn-y things given to me by one of my mother's friends, I discovered a wooden crochet hook. I know now that it is likely a tunisian or afghan hook, but at the time, I simply used it as a regular hook. I made a baby blanket in a bulky yarn with that hook, and I was in love.

This hook was not marked with a size. It's probably a bit larger than what I would call "K". There is just something about the smoothness of the wood, and how it feels in my hand; not at all like the metal or plastic hooks I've used.

New hook next to old hook

At one of my craft shows last year, I discovered a vendor who carved wooden knitting needles. He also had a cup of crochet hooks, though they were not as finely crafted as his knitting needles (I'm operating under the idea that he found knitting needles easier to size, hence no sizes on his hooks). I bought another wooden hook from him, as it was smaller and better suited to my little hands.

Close-up of the new hook in action

I've really wanted a Harmony set of hooks, with the pretty wood, but have not found reason to purchase them at this time in my life. I would recommend wooden hooks to crocheters who are looking for a different feel in their hooks. They are lighter than metal hooks, and feel nicer than plastic hooks. If you plan on making your own, I would wait to use them until you've been crocheting for a while. The one I purchased needed a lot of help from me to acheive the smoothness I expected, and the hook caught on some of my fluffier yarns until I had taken a file to the rough spot.

Don't forget to search "4KCBWDAY6" to find what other bloggers think is their "tool to covet".
Thanks for visiting!

Color Review 4KCBWDAY4

Colour ReviewWhat are your favourite colours for knitted or crocheted projects. Have a think about what colours you seem to favour when yarn shopping and crafting.
Only after writing this part of your post should you then actually look to see what colours you have used in your projects. Make a quick tally of what colours you have used in your projects over the past year and compare it to the colours you have written about. Compare this, in turn, to the colours that are most dominant in your yarn stash – do they correlate?
Now think back to your house animal - do the colours you have chosen relate to your animal in anyway - if you are in the house of peacock, for example, are your projects often multicoloured and bright?

For Day 4 of KCBW, the challenge is to look at color.

I love pinks. Always a pink girl. But I’m fair skinned, with blonde hair and blue eyes, so I know I look better in blues and greens. I love dyeing yarns in blues and greens, almost to the point where they are excessive. 

Yarn though, what colors do I knit and crochet? When it’s for me, my yarn will be in pink, blue, or purple. However, I crochet a lot for craft shows. So the colors of my yarns tend to be quite diverse. I don’t really like pastels, but they tend to be good colors for baby items.

I'm not really a manatee when it comes to colors. Through my word association on Tuesday, I thought of a manatee color being something either in the blue/green range, or more muted tones that would mean comfort.

screen shot of my most recent Ravelry projects

Lots of pink in the last few months, though I can guarantee you there's at least as many greens, purples, reds, and blues floating around, skeins just waiting to become a project. Though I think I can safely say that I rarely make anything in a solid orange or yellow yarn, simply because I do not like either of those colors on their own. 

Always a Work in Progress

I love this pattern, and I wish my camera would capture the colors better.

There are 2 big WIPs in my craft basket, and they've been there for 2 weeks and many months. The one above is the more recent of the two. Below is a creamy knitted poncho. Both are using KnitPicks yarns. 

5 sections out of 20

One is for me, one is a commissioned item. I really need to get on task and work on the knitted poncho. Friday night, it was the only project I worked on. I love the mindlessness of the knitting, now that I've figured the pattern out. I mentioned this in my Friday post, and a visual will probably help-- as you can see, it is knitted in sections (well, the lace part is) and each lace wedge has 7 yarn-over "ladders", I guess you could call them. So instead of keeping a tally, I now am able to just count the ladders to check my progress. It's a pattern that the friend who commissioned it picked up at a LYS "up north" as we say in Michigan, and I don't think the pattern is written well. Not trying to insult the designer, just saying it could be easier to understand if written better.

If nothing else, I like working on the knit better than my Steph, as the rows are over 100 stitches and take pretty much forever. I'm not even on the short rows yet!

You can see a bit of the size difference here. 

Even though I'm in the midst of KCBW, I wanted to share what I've been working on. And its not too late to get in on the fun!

Linking with Tami & Ginny for WIP Wednesday & Yarn-Along