Why eek? Well, just look at this! Ericka Jo found this in a thrift store for just $5. Why did she buy it? Well, would you have believed her if she said she'd found a designer crocheted sweater composed completely of teddy bears? If this had been child sized, then it might have been cute. However, intended for an adult it is pretty scary. Get a load of the one on the upper left hand side with the patriotic bib! It appears that there just weren't enough bears on the front as if you turn it around the solid back is decorated with two bears holding hands that are directly over the right buttock. EEEK!
Now for the squeal of joy. Here is the completely crocheted scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. I'm really pleased with the result. Now I just have to screw up my courage and block it to remove that weird one sided curve I mentioned in a previous post. Wish me luck!
We made the rounds of all the tables and ended up with lots of free yarn, coupons (not pictured), and a book signed by the author! Next stop was the fastest knitter contest. Neither of the ladies with me would give it a go BUT challenged me to try the fastest crochet contest. I know I'm not fast. Nevertheless I was there to have a good time. I'm somewhere in this picture of concentrating crocheters...
Get a load of the variety of postures. Looking at the pictures made me LOL to see how twisted around we crocheters became as we worked! And the surprising news...I WON! Well, I was declared the winner beating out one other crocheter by a mere half a stitch (we were doing double crochet). However, after recovering from shock and composing a smile for a photograph it was discovered there was a woman on the other end who had done another entire row! I was prepared to give back my lovely prize. Luckily, there was another one available so I got to keep it. Look!
Check out her latest delightful sewn and knitted creations on her blog! The gloves she's modeling were knit by Gina in record time (was it two days Gina?). They are an original design by the amazing Heather who also creates stitch markers, knitting needles, and gorgeous yarn colorways! Such creativity in one tiny woman.
I just love the lacy pattern. That is one lucky baby! The hat is going to the Caps for the Capital project I've mentioned before. As this hat evidences, she is having a grand time playing with color combinations to create cheerful hats for this worthy cause. Only a few more months to stitch before mailing off to D.C.!
This is the scarf I was making for my ISE pal. The sad truth? It is taking on a decided curve on one side. How can it curve on just one side? Doesn't that break a law of physics or something? Because of this weirdness, I'm now searching for a new pattern. I cannot bring myself to frog this yet so will begin again with one of the other balls of yarn to see if things go better. I tend to think this is a yarn problem as the spin for this yarn makes it springy! Perhaps it is just not meant for crochet... Trial and error makes for adventures in crochet! :-D
I was ruminating the other day that a guide to yarns would be helpful so I could choose the right yarn for my project. Viewing the scarves being created on the ISE blog, I realize now just how important matching the yarn to the pattern can truly be. Trial and error is fine in many cases but there is a limit to the number of times I'm willing to swatch! So far I haven't found one. The up side of this is that it leads to many interesting conversations with experienced knitters and crocheters.
Here she be! The ISE scarf has begun. This is the pattern I was planning to use originally but thought would be too warm for my pal. When the Interweave pattern didn't work, I decided to try this pattern with the fingering weight yarn. And wouldn't you know it, the scarf is lovely. There will be contrast color later! This picture makes the yarn look much redder than it is, however, I was too impatient to wait for the sun...
Sorry that it has been a while since the last post. I have been debating posting about the progress of ISE, however, decided that if I am careful it will not give my identity and pal away. So, to your left is the lovely yarn pairing that I picked out for my pal. It is INCREDIBLY soft and yummy (think cashmere, silk, new wool...) The owner of the LYS kindly gave me an extra 5% off so that I could at least pretend to be close to my budget!
After several more false starts and much frogging it finally hit me. To change the point on this shawl and make the wedge shape broader all I needed to do was START WITH MORE STITCHES! duh... Why did it take so long for this to occur to me? I'm well into this latest attempt and am pretty sure the shallower V will result in sides that fall further down the upper arms that the original pattern to provide better warmth when worn. Cross your collective fingers. I really don't want to frog this baby again!
Well, as you can see my plan did not work. The back of the shawl did not lay flat with the extra increases. Unfortunately, it also did not ripple in a manner that was attractive. I stopped as soon as the camera (thank GOODNESS for timers) revealed the problem. Shortly after this picture was taken the shawl took a trip to the frog pond. Tonight I started again. I thought that maybe using the original pattern with the slight increase which DID work combined with working an even row in between might be the ticket. I didn't get to try this idea, however, because upon arriving at the knitting/crochet group tonight I discovered I didn't have the right size hook with me! As a firm believer that there is a reason when things like this happen I decided to try the pattern with a smaller hook doing the increases every row. The body is stiffer, however, I'll keep going for a while and see how it develops... Wish me luck!
Today, my mother "commissioned" a second shawl, this time in white. She has gotten so much use from the black one that she wants another before heading south for the winter months! Just one thing, it needed to be a shallower triangle than the first one so that it would cover more of her arms (and maybe even have the ability to be worn wrap style). You see while I am five foot four, my mother is only four foot ten. That six inches makes a big difference! So here was the first attempt. I added some stitches so it would increase faster. The triangle is shallower but nowhere near enough. Luckily, I like this one on me. I may get a shawl out of this after all! BTW this is the Light and Cozy Shawl.
So back to the drawing board. More increases spread across the pattern resulted in this. Here are the first eight of an estimated necessary forty to fifty rows. It seems to have promise. Could this be it? Only time will tell!
Meet my new crochet basket. Not a basket you say? True. However, who could turn down such a sturdy set of cubbies that are the exact depth of a skein of Red Heart when the cost is just $5.00? This gem was found at the local Salvation Army where I was actually looking for a suitable basket along with any yarn they might have. 
