Playing with the Crochet Hook

by Kelly

I knit more than I crochet. But lately every time I need to learn something new when I'm knitting, it involves a crochet hook. For example, a provisional cast on requires a crochet hook. Here's a YouTube video by lucyneatby showing how this is done. Then I found this neat method of picking up stitches with a crochet hook, from a site called techknitting. And of course, if you drop a stitch, it's easier to pick it up with a hook than unravel down to the dropped stitch. Putting fringe on a scarf is also way easier with a hook.

So I started to wonder what else you could do with a crochet hook beyond crocheting. Turns out, there's quite a bit.

About.com has a tutorial featuring Tunisian crochet , which is done with a hook but looks just like knitting,

Rug making with fabric strips and threads to produce a woven look.

Filet crochet

Wikipedia

and my new favorite, called Knooking. I especially love Knooking because it has it's own theme song. You gotta love the kind of people that make up their own needlecraft and then create a song to sing while doing it.

Unique Yarn

by Kelly

Ads of the world

Sari Silk Yarn at Bonanza

Euro Sparkle from WEBS

And here's a link to a yarn shop in Frankenmuth, Michigan called Rapunzel's, which looks like a lot of fun to visit.

Featuring buttons made from handmade porcelain and coconut shell, and yarn from suppliers with evocative names like Ironstone Yarns and Ozark Handspun. Next time I'm in Frankenmuth :)

Yarn Shopping - Highest Prices

by Kelly

So I saw a skein of yarn on sale for $30.00, and my jaw dropped open. I mean, what could be so special about 100 grams of yarn that warranted such a price tag? Well, it was made of silk and wool. Okay, but that's not worth $30.00 in my book. So I made up a little game for myself - what was the most expensive yarn I could find on the Internet? Here are my results...

I started with cashmere yarn, since I knew that cashmere clothing was expensive stuff. And yes, cashmere yarn retails for about $70 for a skein weighing 90 grams. Or at least that's the price I found at fabulousyarn.


                   
Pretty, isn't it? Enough to make a sweater out of, at $7,000.00 a pop? Er, no.
By the way, here's a cool chart if you need to estimate how many yards of yarn you will need to knit a particular item. Courtesy of Lion Brand Yarn.

But anyway, on with the search. Here's something that's not quite as expensive per weight, until you think about what it's made of...

                 Prism Yarns 'Cool Stuff'

Prism Yarns - 'Cool Stuff'

Here's the official blurb:

"Cool Stuff is composed of 30-40 different hand dyed, gauge coordinated yarns. They are tied together end to end by hand, so that as you knit the texture and colors are always changing. Cool Stuff has moderate eyelash, metallic, and other highly textured yarns. Cool Stuff has no wool, mohair or other animal fibers in it. "

All this for a mere $92.00 for 170grams. Available at jimmybeanswool. 
Or buy the half hank for $52.00!

And why is this so expensive? Especially since this is stray bits of yarn off the mill floor that someone has casually tied together? They should give this away free to advertise the fabulous yarns you could acquire if you visit their shop.

Hmm...I bet I can do better...


How about this, which I saw in a Crochetville post from 2007...


                                  Vicuna





"As the ancestor of the modern-day alpaca ; close cousin to the guanaco, vicunas are known as the "bearers of the golden fleece" for good reason. Vicuna is the rarest ; finest hair fiber available in the world, ; these animals live only in the upper altitudes of the Andes Mountains. Since each animal produces only about 4 ounces of harvestable fiber each year, that also adds to its rarity. Vicuna fiber is lighter, softer ; warmer than any other hair fiber -- even the guard hairs are soft! -- and since the fiber is sensitive to chemical treatment, vicuna yarn is left in its natural color -- a spicy cinnamon shade."


And the price for such rarity? $299.85 for 28.5 grams (217 yards).
Buy yours now! Buy it here.

What I especially love about this is that it's 15 cents under $300.00. Seriously - if you're willing to spend that much on yarn, is 15 cents more really going to be the deal breaker? Oh, and look, it's only available to U.S. residents. Well, as the world's leading light of Capitalism, I guess we do have standards to maintain. We wouldn't want anyone else in the world to display such conspicuous consumerism.

To my mind, such a value should only be placed on very finely spun yarn, preferably from the wool of an extinct animal like a mammoth, and hand dyed by blind nuns inhabiting a convent in Abruzzo.
 

Vicuna

 So the next time you are yarn shopping, and feeling guilty about the price you're paying, reflect on the fact that at least you're not buying Vicuna. Imagine the Vicuna peacefully grazing in it's remote alpine home, with no fear of a human sneaking up behind it with a set of shears. And don't feel so bad about having a cart full of homespun yarn. After all, the Vicuna would thank you.

Sunday Funnies Amigurumi

by Kelly

Saw this on the Crafster site this morning and had to share.



Calvin and Hobbes amigurumi. Awww! And they're poseable too!

Here's the link, but I don't know if everyone can see it, since Crafster is a registered user site.

Meet Sophia

This is Sophia - she is our new hat model. We pilfered her from our granddaughter/niece Kristin who met Sophia in stylist school. Sophia drinks a little too much coffee - she has that very wide-eyed look to her. But she's pretty quiet and will wear just about anything. Today she was sporting a collection of my recently crocheted hats, scarves and headbands. She looks like she's ready to hit the slopes.

Hit The Wall

I think I'm at the point where I need to find a new pattern. Anyone else get that where they've worked on a certain pattern for a while, you start to get a bit bored with it so you're not really that motivated to finish it? I have that so often with my afghans which is why I have a box full of almost finished blankets. :P

I've made about 16 12 x 12 inch squares and one 6 x 6 inch (I ran out of yarn halfway through). I think that's good enough for that pattern. I'm sure they could make two or three blankets out of it. So now I think I need to find another pattern....that goes well with the yarn I still have. :)

Crafting Progress and The Little Devil Hat

by Kelly


Two squares done for the charity drive.

The first square I knit came out spot on at 12", which fooled me into thinking this would be simple. I had to wash and block the gray square to make it come out right. Also, notice the two colors of gray? That's because I used a partial skein and ran out of the dark gray yarn. (*sigh*) I hope they're feeling forgiving when they get to my squares.

I checked the SmoothFox site today and saw the leader has 157 points for October. I don't think we've got a chance, girls. But I will persevere despite the long odds.

In other news, I've finished a scarf for our local charity drive :

I used this pattern from TLC. The ends had to be seamed together, then the strips braided. Have I ever mentioned how much I love seaming???

And, since I hate seaming so much, I knit this hat(also for the kid's charity) in the round, on a circular needle.

The free pattern is here. In my usual headlong fashion, I tried many new things at once. And, since this was my first time knitting on a circular needle, and also my first time using a provisional cast on, and my first time knitting this pattern, I sort of made a large mistake. Yes, it's much too large. This is supposed to be a baby hat, and instead it fits me quite nicely. Still, at least my Halloween costume is done.

But I have figured out why my gauge was off for the gray square above, and the hat too. Because I was in a hurry, I was using continental knitting, which is done mostly with the left hand, instead of the English knitting (done with the right) which I normally use. So, I am knitting a wee bit too loosely.

Easily fixed! And the hat is so much fun to knit that I don't mind trying it again. But I still think I will go down a needle size, which means a trip to the local craft store for another circular needle and set of DPN's.

But for now, back to the 12 x 12 squares. Ho hum.