Cute Yarn for a Short Term Relationship

by Kelly

What's not to love about yarn? Especially a bunch of yarn piled in a heap. The different colors and textures and personalities of the yarn complement and contrast each other, and all sorts of unlikely relationships start to seem like a good idea. Kind of like a really good party, only without all the drunken shouting and slamming of car doors in the alley afterward. And maybe without a Häagen-Dazs splurge when the relationship falls apart, although a botched crochet design can be a heartbreaking event.

But let's put this somewhat strained analogy aside for a second, and ask what can you do if you don't have a stash of yarn to act as inspiration? Well, you could let a yarn company put one together for you. Specifically, I'm thinking of Lion Brand's cute new collection, Bonbons Yarn, which I ran across, as is the way of the Internet, when I was looking for something else entirely.

via LionBrand

These sweet, tiny packages are available in cotton, acrylic, and metallic, depending on which color collection you choose. The yarn itself is sport and DK weight, and each skein is only 28 yards long, so these are the perfect short term relationship for those of us who love color and are looking for relief from a larger project that's giving us trouble.

Speaking of larger projects, I'm seaming the Mary Maxim Kimono at the moment, and that is proving to be lots of fun. More on that in the Monday post. Right now, a tiny smiling amigurumi figure might be on the agenda. Even though I don't have any Bonbons in my stash.

Renaissance Tunic

So, Kelly, now that you are perfecting your hand knit clothing, I found this pattern for you to try. Might be a little hot for the Southern faire, but could it be any hotter than all those layers of clothes! The pattern is at http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Cardigans-and-Wrap-Sweaters/Renaissance-Tunic/ml/1

"Beautiful Lace" Translated from Fancy Work Recreations

by Kelly

Check out this little bit of lace that I knit from a pattern in an old ebook titled Fancy Work Recreations. The name of the pattern is 'Beautiful Lace'.

Of course, this is supposed to be knitted as actual lace, using "No. 50-70 linen thread and No. 18 steel needles." But I thought that trying out a vintage pattern that uses old abbreviations, with no picture for guidance, and doing this for the first time with tiny thread and needles, would be just asking for trouble. Especially lace. Grrr...I'm feeling tense just thinking about it. So I used what I had on hand, which was worsted weight yarn and size 8 (US) needles. It's still very pretty, isn't it?

If you're curious to see what else the book holds, check out this link to the book on the Internet Archive. Look over to the top  left of the page you land on, and you'll see a 'read online' link. And don't worry, the book's not just for knitters - there are many beautiful crochet lace patterns too.

And since I had to translate the old fashioned abbreviations used in the pattern, I thought I would save someone else a little trouble, and post a more modern version here. I won't even attempt to match the original gauge - this will only be the written instructions.

I've done the best I could to troubleshoot the pattern, but if you find any typos or mistakes, please let us know in the comments.

The increases and decreases are sometimes staggered, so don't worry if they don't follow each other immediately. But a quick way to check, if you think you've made a mistake, is to count the stitches when you've finished a row - the total should always be 28.

Beautiful Lace

CO 28 stitches and knit across

1. Sl1, k2, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k2, (yo, k2tog) three times, k2

2. Purl this and all even rows

3. Sl1, k2, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k3, yo, k2, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k2, (yo, k2tog) three times, k2

5. Sl1, k2, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k5, yo, k2, k2tog, k2tog, k2, (yo, k2tog)three times, k2

7. Sl1, k2tog, k1, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k2, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k3

9. Sl1, k2tog, k1, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k2, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k3

11. Sl1, k2tog, k1, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k2, k2tog, k2tog, k2, yo, k5, (yo, k2tog)twice, yo, k3

12. Don't forget to purl the last row!

repeat above 11 rows for pattern.

Show and Tell

by Kelly

It's show and tell time again! Lately, I've been crafting for cooler weather.

I think I'll call the first one a 'Bring Back the '80's' scarf. The second one is  a ruffle scarf made with Lion Brand Homespun. The homespun scarf is sooooo soft, it'll be hard to let it go.

And I'm also working on the project for my aunt, which I mentioned before. This one is really a great stepping stone for me. It's just three panels of stockinette seamed together, with a crochet border. How simple, right?

 

The only challenge here is that I had to make a gauge swatch...tons of fun, since I failed at that before. But I have learned things since then, and seem to have been more successful this time around. At least, the piece of the garment that is on my needles at the moment is coming in at 19", which is what it's supposed to be.

 

Fingers crossed...

Crochet Edging Books

by Kelly

While trying to make a pretty edging for my 3D heart ornaments, I stumbled across a must-have crochet book. I know, I know, all books are 'must-haves' for me, but really, take a look at this one.

I think the exact title is Crochet Edging and Braid - 100 Patterns. Since the book is Japanese, and I don't read kanji, I'm not completely sure about that. I found this on Susie Can Stitch, which you can visit to see more beautiful pictures of the books contents. And take a peek at her Hello Kitty crochet project here. Too cute!

Okay, they had me at '100 patterns', but those images are mind blowing. Two problems, though- the book is in Japanese, but fortunately there's no language barrier, because the patterns are given in charts. One more problem, however, is that it's out of print. Oh, but here's another, similar book on Amazon. Oh, wait...that's also out of print. Sigh. Time to contact the library and see if they can get hold of a copy.

The Story of the Crochet Dragon

by Kelly

Long ago, in a small white house by a sinister woodland, there was a little girl who was reading The Hobbit. She spent much time lost in this book, wandering through a world full of adventure and magic and dragons.

One day, the little girl's talented and crafty aunt, who lived not far away at all, came for a visit. When she heard what the little girl was reading (for they talked often, in that house, of the books they were reading) she offered to make the girl a dragon of her very own.

The girl was startled at first, for she hadn't imagined that such a thing was possible. Then she broke into a smile and, jumping up and down a little, said, "Yes, please!"

A few months later, after many misadventures at the dragon factory, the elegant, emerald creature was ready for delivery. And one day the little girl woke up to find a fine crochet dragon waiting for her on the coffee table in the living room of the small white house.

They have never been separated since.

The end.

Well, not quite.

Meet Smaug. I named him after the dragon in Tolkien, of course.

Although he has never laid waste to anything that I know of, and, sadly, has never acquired a golden hoard to sleep on, he does have an irrepressible, goofy quality that is very endearing.

Recently, my aunt asked if I could knit something for her. I haven't seen the pattern yet, and I have the impression that this is some kind of actual garment, which will probably prove to be beyond me, but I told her that I would be happy to try.

She offered to buy the yarn, and when I said that wouldn't be necessary, she offered to pay me. I told her no, again. When she protested, I said, "Do you remember the green dragon that you made for me when I was little?"

She had no idea what I was talking about. So I asked my husband to take a picture of me and Smaug, so that I could print up a copy to give my aunt.

He humored me, of course. Love is like that.

Oh, and by the way, the kid in the story above was reading an adapted version of The Hobbit, specially edited for children. In all honesty, the full version of any Tolkien book is a bit of a slog until you get the hang of his writing style. I just mention this so that you don't hand off a copy to your little angel and expect them to thank you for it, because then you'll both be disappointed. And sorry, no, I have no idea what version I read as a child. That was a long time ago, after all!

After the Rain in a Dry Garden

by Kelly

There are about eight billion songs titled 'After the Rain' on YouTube. Queue up your favorite and take a walk in the garden with me.

Chokecherry? Black Cherry?

Soloman's Seal

Chicory

After the rain, the birds came out of hiding. I hadn't realized that they weren't singing anymore until they started again.

Speaking of wildlife, we have some seriously strange squirrels around here. There are about six or seven of them that seem to run in a pack. This pack makes a regular morning trip, a few times a week, from one bank of trees to another, at about eight in the morning when I'm hanging laundry on the line. The weird part is, they run across the yard together to do this, looking a lot like a bunch of Meerkats. They could easily travel through the tree branches to get where they're going, but they don't. I have tried a few times to get a picture of this behavior, but they're way too fast and blend perfectly into the dry, brown grass.

Their destination is a line of trees that contains a few oaks and one huge, old walnut tree. Since there is already a squirrel's nest in that walnut tree, I can only imagine that these guys are poaching in someone else's territory. And that could be why they travel together, so they can get away with this. But why do they run across the lawn? That has to be dangerous for them. Then again, the previous owners of this house never, ever had pets, so generations of squirrels have grown up here without being chased by dogs.

Things might get interesting in the fall, when all those acorns and walnuts are finally ripe. I'm hoping for a massive squirrel battle that I can record and post on YouTube to earn my fifteen minutes of Internet fame.

Anyway, enough David Attenborough type stuff. Let's hope that this little bit of rain saved some of the plants. Especially the local farmer's corn and beans. The crops have failed in the rest of Illinois, but our county still has a chance.