a girl, a bird, a wurm, and a medal

Or, the early bird gets the wurm?

the bird: my winter pigeon

Doesn't he look tough? The pigeon was a bit challenging to train. Fingering weight wool yarns, C hook.

the pigeon's cute backside

the Wurm: a squishy knit with Cascade 220, 1 skein, US 7 & 8 circular needles

my wurm pile

the medal: Ravelympics 2010 Skelegurumi (for crocheting the pigeon)

...and the girl gets them all.

Loving the unlovable

What's not to love about a pigeon?

Winter Ravelympics has begun on Ravelry! I've entered the Skelegurumi event and hope to medal for Team Sennott by crocheting the lovable Alfred the Pigeon. My much more challenging event will be the Mitten Moguls. I'm still in training for that event.

bits & scraps

Winter Daisies Pillow:
Scraps of unfit (meaning too thin for rug hooking) wool fabric. A bit of crocheted daisy flowers, an abandoned scarf project (all those endless chains...). I used the incredibly easy envelope back pillow tutorial here.

Coral Strand Necklace:
A bit of Berroco Mica yarn to make a chained and slip stitched cord, with spare button and looped end. Some scrap yarn of Berroco Seduce yarn, leftover from my knit Baktus scarf. The jumping off point for the necklace is Coral, a free crochet pattern from Berroco. I wove the slipped cord through the holes of the Seduce Coral to make my Coral Strand. Depending on my mood, I can wear it spread out or scrunched up.

new boy in town

He sings, he's athletic, he looks good in red, he's

Homestar Runner!

Another brilliant design by Aleta Fera

Sock Star Scarf Reveal

I was so thrilled to be a finalist in Berroco's Sock Star competition! Now I'm even more thrilled to see my crochet scarf, which Berroco named Olney St., in the upcoming Sock Star Pattern Booklet. The scarf is crocheted using one skein of Berroco's Ultra Alpaca Fine wool. The pattern booklet will be available in LYS' soon and directly through Berroco. If you voted for the scarf back in the Fall, a huge thank you to you, and I hope people like the scarf if they crochet it. These are a few photos I snapped before I had sent it off to Berroco in August.

In September I crocheted it again, using the Redwood Mix colorway. I gave it to my sister, Bonnie, a small thank you for all her support and continuous inspiration.

Cowl Happy

I was totally happy when I received my very own Chickadee Cowl knit by my sister, Jackie. I love the colors. Sheep Shop 2 yarn if I remember correctly. Thanks, Jackie!

Then I was way happy at the beginning of this week when I finished knitting my Buttermilk Sky cowl designed by my sister, Bonnie. Knit in Berroco Pure Merino. Such a great texture and great fun to knit.

Cowl Happy

Crochet for a Winter's Day

I've been crocheting a few different items as I try out my Habu mystery yarn samples. The doily pattern is from the Kyuuto! Lacy Crochet. I love the claw-like petal/leaves and its simple design. The Habu yarn is a laceweight linen so I used a small 1.75 mm hook. The yarn has a beautiful natural color and texture and draped nicely with blocking.
Sometimes it's very satisfying to complete something from start to finish in just a matter of a couple hours. The Habu yarn I used for this simple necklace appears to be a silk paper/ribbon yarn. It's bronze color seemed to be the perfect compliment for some peach seed beads I had left over from a scarf. I played around with several hook sizes before deciding on a 1.75 mm hook for smaller chains. The necklace is long enough that it can be worn in single strands or doubled up around the neck.

This motif reminds me of a passion flower. I'm not sure what this will become. I had just enough of this yarn to make two circle motifs. I may combine it with some linen or wool fabric to make a brooch. Plenty of winter days left to ponder its use.

Squeezing in one more 2009 post

Thanks to a new laptop, I can end 2009 with a quick (and not terribly exciting) note. Christmas was spent in Florida's warmth visiting my mom and brother, and his family. My traveling project was a crocheted shawl that perfectly fit the bill - it was pleasant and quick and just needed some blocking when I got back home.
Pattern: Blue Jeans Shawl by Knottie by Nature
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Lace in Celery

My insect-loving nephew received a Rhinoceros Beetle, which spent a little time frolicking with some garden gnomes before being tagged and mounted.
Pattern: King of the Forest Rhinoceros Beetle

Happy New Year to You!

Happy Thanksgiving to you

Have a nice holiday if you're celebrating and safe travels to you.

the (Habu) line up

Last week at Stitches East I couldn't resist getting some Habu yarn. I snagged two sample bags of unusual and interesting silks, linens and wools, some crinkled, some paper ribbons, some bound, and some with halos. Here they are all in a row - beautiful!

I also like arranging them like a specimen collection. I don't tire looking at them.

These three bundles were not part of the samples. Ideas are floating around in my head as to what they'll become.

But first, I've been crocheting one of the samples, a tsumugi silk, into circular motifs. Now to add another yarn to end up with a necklace.

no more brown bagging it for me...

...now that I made a reversable Japanese inspired bag, perfect for carrying my lunch to work.

From the book, Linen, Wool, Cotton. A free project here.

little things on a rainy autumn day

A few small leaves, another sweet design from the Charming Crochet book.

The green leaf of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes kettle dyed worsted weight in Grasshopper.

The gold leaf of DMC perle cotton #5.

And the kitties? Found long ago amongst nails and screws in a "hardware store in a can" coffee can from my father.

Despite the chilly gray skies, my geranium continues to bloom bright pink . Its hot pink inspired me to pull out some Malabrigo Silky Merino I bought in the heat of the summer last year and begin to turn it into a flowery scarf.

Hempathy's Bounty

A skein of Hempathy is 153 yards. I've found it can go a long way, and that's even with yarn-eating crochet. After I made myself a Comet using the Tea Rose yarn, I still had alot left over. I added a crocheted edge to a gauze scarf. And I still had yarn left so I crocheted a necklace pouch to hold my eyeglasses or iPod Nano.

Even after that I had a bit of yarn left. I could have made a little flower or motif. Instead I crocheted this little bird from the Japanese book, Charming Crochet, that has no function other than hanging sweetly on my wall.

my berry stained hands

The last time I was at Webs I got some Berroco Comfort DK for swatching. When the fall weather arrived, I thought the yarn would be great for transitional fingerless gloves. They're not too hot for this time of year, are stretchy yet keep their shape well, and are just fun to wear. I didn't use a pattern. Using a F/3.75 hook, I just made a long enough chain to fit my hand, joined it for working in the round, then went round and round single crochet through the back loops, skipped some stitches and made some chains for the thumb hole, and continued round. I still have a good amount of yarn left for swatching.

My apologies, here's a really blurry photo of me wearing them. I seemed to have deleted the good photo! Oh well.

And, a beautiful woven cloth I was rewarded with from Missouri Trouble! It sits perfectly on my bedside table. It's a cotton and linen blend and the pattern is called Fig Leaf. Jenny wove a series of these mats in tribute to one of her weaving mentors, who before she died, had asked the weaving group to explore the pattern in memory of her. It's so nice to hear the stories that may be behind what people create.

Sunday's Rosy Hue

Made while watching the US Open. Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, 2.75 mm hook. The stunning cloth underneath was a handwoven gift from my sister, Jenny.