3 C's

1: My clivia is blooming! Friends gave me this plant about 7 years ago when they moved to California. It sprouts a couple leaves every year. I was so surprised when I noticed the flowering stalk had appeared. Isn't it pretty?

2: A quick on-the-go crochet project finished. The one skein scarf from the Happy Hooker book. It's linen and very, very long!

3: Chemistry is finished! I did enjoy it but I'm very happy to have most of August free to finish up (and start new) rug hooking and crochet projects.

Zippered Case

I have had the worst time trying to photograph this bag. The pale pinks keep washing out, so this will just have to do for now. I finished punching this bag a few weeks ago and this weekend sewed the sides and put the zipper and lining in. Rug hooking really goes fast with the Oxford Mini needle. It's primarily worsted weight yarns except for the pink which is Paton's SWS (soy-wool). I'm liking the pencil case shape. It's about 9 inches long by 4 inches with a gusseted bottom.

March of the Mansions

Yesterday morning 3 old Victorian homes were moved along the middle of Mass Ave in Cambridge to a new location a few blocks down. What a surreal parade. The photo above is from today's Boston Globe. I stopped by their new location Saturday early evening and a crowd was still checking the scene out. The worker below answered bystanders' questions and filled us in on the details of the move. The houses were placed on hydraulic trolley beds with tiny little wheels, about 4 ft off the ground. It then only took 3 men to steer the houses down the street using remote controls, much like a video game or remote model cars. Trees had to be trimmed, posts and street lights removed or shifted. The largest mansion had to straddle the center median. The move took 5 years of planning. It made me think of Howl's Moving Castle.

Now the houses stand in their new places while their foundations are built.

Here's the spot they used to occupy.

And now to shift topics completely, here's the finished wrap. I'm very happy with it all around except that's it's smaller/shorter than I had hoped. I went with a smaller gauge so I guess that's what I get. I think I'll have to redo it or else I may never wear it. It was alot of fun to crochet so it wouldn't be horrible to redo.

It's a wrap

Thanks to a couple free weeks between classes I was able to finish the summer wrap. I wove the ends in last night and now I just have to block it and sew the side seams. Once that's done I'll post a proper modeling shot.
I've been working on a hooked rug stool and bag but no photos yet of those to share. But I can show you a few granny square motifs with leftover linen/wool yarn. They're in rotation as coasters at my desk. My favorites are the 2 on the left.

Spring = New Projects

I recently acquired Amy Oxford's new fine punch needle. You can punch worsted weight yarns and finer cut (size 3) wool strips. I've been playing with various yarns and think this will eventually become a little zipper bag. The handwoven basket made by Rachael, a fellow rug hooker at work, is the perfect size for holding yarns while I'm punching. Now if I could only find my size 3 cutter head...
I decided to crochet this wrap from the latest Interweave Crochet magazine. The pattern calls for Blue Sky Alpaca's Melange but I'm using Frog Tree's sportweight alpaca. I had to go down hook sizes to get gauge. I wasn't sure about the purple color but now I'm really liking it.

What's in the project bag

While I'm riding the bus or waiting for class to start, I've been working on a simple scarf with one of the yarns my sister gave me. This week I've been doing it in style with the Lantern Moon project bag Bonnie gave me. It's a beautiful dusty purple color that changes color. The scarf is a simple stitch so l decided to add a beaded edge once the bulk of the scarf is done.

Crafting Donations

It sure has been a good long while since I've posted. Between work, going to school, being between ISPs, and a broken camera, I've really been slacking on updating my blog.
One of the Senior Class fundraisers at work this week is a craft sale. The photo shows what I gave them to sell. They'll keep the money for what they sell (though I'll be taking a percentage of the stool price if it sells).
And here's a little update on my swatch pole. The snowflake, 2 color checker, and green square are from the Crochet Stitch Bible. The other motif is the start of a doily I decided not to finish.

Lacy thoughts

I have the best sisters! Bonnie sent me these 2 skeins of KnitPicks Shadow laceweight yarn. They're such pretty colors. I wound the Sunset color into a ball yesterday. Now I'm at the library to check out a crochet stitch guide and find a nice stitch for a scarf. Thanks alot, Bonnie!

Year of the Pig

My favorite Year of the Pig photo, from the Seoul Times.

Happy New Year!

Swatching Pole

One of the advantages of living in an older building is it's unique features. I love my very high ceilings, curved living room windows and odd shaped rooms, but what about the rather ugly water pipe in the kitchen? Why, start decorating it with crochet motifs and swatches. I've been crocheting some stitch pattern swatches and motifs. Here's the first of several adorning the kitchen water pipe. The motif: Pineapple S-737, found through Crochet Pattern Central
Size 10 JP Coats crochet thread, bridal blue
Size 6 hook
Approx 3 in. square

Toiling doilies

I never imagined I'd be crocheting doilies one day, but that's what I've been up to and finding it intriguing and fun. This is another pineapple motif doily for my mom. Same crochet thread and hook as the last. It measures 15 inches across. One more to go of the same for her. What could be next?

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Starting the New Year off with FOs

On New Year's Eve I finished sewing up and blocking a couple lingering crochet projects. First up, my first crochet garment - a granite vest. Not a fancy design but I learned a bit about fit, putting a piece of clothing together and the reverse crochet stitch. I picked the pattern up from a Patons booklet at Joann Fabrics. I used KnitPicks Andrean Treasure in granite. The only change I made was adding another round of single crochet around the neckband to decrease the depth of the V. If I made it again I'd make the shoulder straps shorter to fit me better. I'll probably frog this at some point-but that's okay as I learned alot from the process.

I finished this poncho awhile ago except for blocking it. When I saw my sister's gray poncho that she knitted, I wanted something similar! I used a pattern from the Garnsstudio website for a girl's poncho and figured if I used bulky yarn and a bigger hook it would turn out okay. It's 3 skeins of Sierra in mist. I may add a flower at the V-maybe one that can be removed at will.

Now to finish up my punchneedle and rug hooking projects. In the meantime, here's what I'm thinking about next for crochet, from Interweave Crochet Fall '06.

Petite Pineapples

I just finished blocking this doily and will send it off to my mom in the morning. She asked me to make her a set of blue doilies for the end tables in her living room. This was a fun and thankfully, easy pattern to do for my first thread crochet work.

The details: Petite Pineapple Doily

Thread: J&P Coats Royale size 10 crochet thread

Color: Bridal blue

Hook: size 6

Size after blocking: 9.5 inches

Peace on Earth

and joy to you

Nixed the Corkscrews

I tried a bunch of corkscrew combinations for the trim of the crocheted tassel bag- big ones, small ones, mixed colors, one color and I just couldn't come up with a combination I liked. So, I made a completely different trim that I instantly liked. I'm thinking this trim enlarged would make a nice scarf also. I ultimately decided to go with the crocheted straps instead of leather straps.
One of the reasons I liked this bag design was the clever use of 1/4 inch dowels in the top edge, making for a nice stiff opening. But once I tried it out, this is what happened! I decided that would drive me crazy. My solution was to sew the dowels inside the lining. No more poking dowels and I'm happy to use the bag.

Construction of a Bag Part Two

Here's the final putting together of the hooked handbag. Bear with me on the photos-they were taken at night with flash while I was working on the bag. First the lining was sewn in. The lining is about an inch larger than the width and and a little more than an inch longer than the length of the bag. I added a magnetic snap closure and an inside pocket.
To attach the handles I used handle straps and tabs from Tall Poppy, large rapid rivets from Tandy, along with a rivet setter. A hammer, tapestry needle, and small scissors were also used.
I prepped a hole for the rivet post with the tapestry needle. I also made a tiny snip in the lining to poke the post rivet through.
The post then was easily pushed through the back to the outside of the bag.
The handle strap ring was joined with the tab and the rivet cap was placed on top of the post.
The last step was placing the rivet setter on top of the cap and tapping it with the hammer to fasten the rivet. This is done on a hard, flat surface. The setter is rounded on one end so the dome of the cap doesn't get smashed.
The rest of the rivets were attached to the straps and bag. Easy!
And lastly, a shot of the finished bag at night. My camera hasn't been working so a proper photo in natural lighting will have to wait until I can borrow a camera. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It took me awhile to find handles the length and style I wanted. I'm glad I waited until I found what I wanted.

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.