Post Holiday Cooking

I figured before I give the stove a proper cleaning I'd do a little dying. After pre-soaking the wool in synthrapol, I dumped a variety of blue-greens, camels, and dark greens into the pot with laundry detergent. I let these cook to allow the colors to run onto each other and mute.
Here's the results. I'm thinking of using these for the background of a hooked rug stool.










While the wools were stewing I crocheted a swatch of the triple curve stitch used in a mobius pattern in the new Amazing Crochet Lace book by Doris Chan. I really like the stitch and the book is fantastic.

Construction of a Bag Part One

I found some (really bad) photos of the circles hooked bag I had taken while I was sewing it together. With this bag I decided to sew it the way kilim or mafrash bags are sewn - on the outside/wrong sides together. First I used a single strand of overdyed yarn and whipped the top edges of the bag.
I also whipped the top seam edges open to provide a bit more room when using the bag.
To sew up the side seams I first used a ladder stitch with a single strand of yarn. I covered this construction stitch up with a whip stitch using 2 yarn strands.
While I was sewing it up, I thought of another way to sew a hooked bag together. I'll have to try it on the next bag I make. Stay tuned for Part 2, putting in the lining and adding the handles.

Mulled Wine

It's a rainy, slow paced Sunday - the perfect kind of day to have some wine and cheese, watch a movie, and catch up on projects and blogging.

The yarn: Knitpicks Panache (cashmere, silk, alpaca, merino) oh so silky, smooth and soft, about 1.75 skeins
The color: mulled wine
The hook: size k
The pattern: Get the Skinny Scarves, from Interweave webcrochet

It's about 3 inches wide and 46 inches long. I wish I'd made it a little longer. Still, I'm pleased with it. I haven't blocked it yet. I'm not sure it necessarily needs it.

You gotta love Target

I was so happy to find that my local Target stocks Interweave Crochet. It also had Interweave's Holiday Gifts which has some nice things in it, but only 1 crochet piece. Target also had some cool, argyle over the knee socks - I'm wearing them in the photo.
The FO in the photo: a drawstring bag. I used the bikini bag pattern in "The Happy Hooker" book but changed the strap and added balls to the drawstrings. The yarn is Louet Avalan, linen and wool. Oh, and I'm wearing a crochet bracelet with little corkscrews. It also works as a necklace. I used pearl cotton I had in my embroidery tin.

More than a month later...

and November brings with it a new hard drive, some FO's, some WIP's, some discards, and some photos to recapture. Life has been a bit busy, while I also had a need to slow down. I'll try to catch up and post a few things I've been doing. I'll be enjoying this bobble hat. The pattern is from fable handmade goods. Jen has some lovely designs. The yarn I used was Plymouth Encore. Not a fancy yarn but I liked the color.
And I had enough yarn left to crochet this neckwarmer! It's not a pattern - just alternated single and double crochet stitches.