Tatting Hiatus 2016: What I Have Been Up To, Part 2 Crochet

As promised, here is part two of my post about what I have been up to while not working on the Monsterpiece Doily. This is about the crocheted projects I have been working on. For the record, these were done a few weeks ago when I started my short break from tatting. I've been working on knitting projects this week, and will hopefully continue to do so until the end of the weekend.

The first couple of crocheted projects are, of course slippers. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I go through a lot of slippers as I don't really care for socks, and I'm not a fan of bare foot.

I'm trying to move out of my colour comfort zone with these. The top pair, the ones I'm currently wearing, are made using Lion Brand Fun Fur in the "Tropical" colourway. I don't need to say that I used Lion Brand "Red" Fun Fur for the second pair. Both used Patons Classic Wool in red. If you're new to my blog, these slippers are made using two strands of wool yarn and one strand of fur or eyelash yarn together. The finished slippers are felted or fulled in the washing machine to shrink them and make them all warm and comfy. I love making these!

These next two projects are part of my Mom's Mother's Day present. I will be giving them to her this weekend. Mother's Day was last Sunday here in North America.

The first project is a crocheted cactus and succulent garden. It utilized patterns from June Gilbank from her shop PlanetJune.  She has two collections of four different cacti each and two more collections of four succulents each. If you buy all four, you can mix and match between 16 plants. She also a large and small pot pattern in each collection to make your own customized garden. This was pretty easy to follow and lots of fun to make. I won't link to the collections directly in case the links stop working but they are in the Flowers and Plants part of the crochet pattern section. The link to June's shop is above.

The second project is a crocheted Primrose, another one of June's patterns. For some reason the colours are not quite right in the photos. The primrose flowers are a dusty rose. This was also pretty easy to crochet. If you haven't seen June's patterns before, she make mostly amigurumi style animals and plants/flowers. I love her designs and have purchased a number of them. Most are stuck in my to be crocheted list for one reason or another. Most, I think, need eyes purchased in order to make them and I just haven't done it yet. Hopefully I will get them crocheted.

That's about it for now. Since I posted twice in less than a week, I probably won't post again for a week or two. Unless something important happens or I get a lot done. Anyway, till next time.

Last Post of 2015, And It's About Socks

I can't believe how fast 2015 has been. I've been through a lot, much like many other people. As with other years, I'm not making any resolutions. I do have a few personal goals that I plan on working on. I've been working on controlling my anxiety, and some of the goals I want to accomplish do require me to face my anxiety and other fears. And of course lots of tatting and other crafts. I see a lot of knitting in 2016 in particular. I haven't really touched the Monsterpiece Doily or any other tatting for that matter. Since I plan on staying home tonight (I got home from work around 5:30pm and don't feel like doing anything), I'm going to try and spend some of the evening tatting. Well, tatting, drinking beer and watching Star Wars movies-I've only got three more to go!

I finished the black pair of socks over the weekend. If I had taken them with me when I went to see my family for Christmas, I could easily have finished them then. I finished them Boxing Day, back at my house. I decided not brave the crowds and shop that day. Although, I think I may have missed out on some yarn I wanted. It amazes me at how expensive yarn can be considering you may need many balls of it to finish a project. I guess I'm used to buying a ball of thread and making numerous projects from it. I found a knitted blanket I want to make using Bernat Blanket yarn. It's a bulky weight yarn in a largish ball and I would rather get it on sale than pay $10-12 a ball when I need 5 balls. When I went to Michaels on Wednesday, the colour I wanted was out of stock. So I'll have to wait for the next time its on sale. Anyway, back to the socks.

I really like how they turned out. I made this pair a little differently than the blue and purple pair. After making the heel, I continued knitting in stockinette stitch for several inches then switched to the 2 by 2 ribbing. The yarn is Isaac Mizrahi CRAFT University yarn. The socks are a little big though. Either my feet are smaller than I thought or the pattern is made for a larger male foot. I think the next pair of socks made in worsted weight yarn will be made in the "medium" size (which the pattern calls "womans"). The pair I am working on confirms my suspicions that the mens size is larger than I need. I'm sure if I had measured my feet and not just the length I would have figured that out earlier. I'll still wear the socks though.

I started another pair of socks Sunday. This time I used a DK weight yarn. This is the first deviation I have taken from the pattern. I am using a set of circular needles between the sizes needed for the worsted weight and sock yarn weight ones. I used the mens size as I wasn't sure what I should do. Despite the slightly smaller needles and yarn the socks, so far, still fit fine.

The socks are not this brightly coloured. The flash on my camera makes them look much brighter. They are darker in person and I love them too. Nothing really special to mention about them. Same techniques as before: two-at-a-time toe up magic loop socks. The only difference is the needles and the yarn weight. Knit Picks do not offer needle tips for their interchangeable cables in sizes smaller than 4 US, I had to get a pair for each sock weight and DK weight yarn in fixed circular needles. I like these too. The cables are finer than the interchangeable ones. The yarn is Patons Classic Wool DK Superwash. I bought this yarn as a replacement for the awful Wool to Wash yarn I returned. I didn't see any other heavier weight. It is soooo much better to knit with.

That's about it for now. I want to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year. I hope everyone had really Happy Holidays, no matter what you celebrate. I look forward to a brand new year since this one has been a little weird. Cheers!

Still Knitting

Yeah, I'm still knitting. And I'm still enjoying it. I still find it weird considering how much I haven't liked knitting in the past. I'm guessing the new needles are the main reason. They're just so smooth to knit with. Better yarn makes a difference too. I returned the two balls of yarn I mentioned previously and got a couple better knids; one of which I using right now and lovin' the result. I share a photo in a moment.

I finished the pair of socks I was knitting last time I posted. Considering that I didn't care for the yarn (Wool To Wash by Loops and Threads), I think they turned out pretty well.

As you can see in the first photo, I am using a two-at-a-time method to knit this pair. I love this method of knitting socks! The socks are the exact same size, and binding off one sock, then the other one immediately after is so satisfying. No Single Sock Syndrome for me! These are for my mom for Christmas.

I started another pair of socks shortly after finishing the purple pair. These ones going to be for me. As I said above, these were made using some of the new yarn I bought after returning the terrible Wool to Wash yarn. I think they're going to look great when they are done.

They look way better in person. I'm quite a bit further along than the photo shows. I'm about an inch or so away from doing the heel. I love this toe up sock method. I definitely am getting faster at knitting. The yarn I'm using is Isaac Mizrahi CRAFT University yarn. It's a washable wool, acrylic, and nylon blend yarn. It knits pretty well, as long as you don't catch the coloured nylon (I think) ribbon that runs through it. It's made by Premier Yarns and I think it's a Michaels exclusive yarn. I may be wrong on that though. Anyway, I was hoping to have them finished by Christmas so I can wear them when I visit my family Friday, but I don't know if that will happen. I got distracted by a crocheted hat pattern that I just had to make for myself and that's what I spent most of the afternoon working on. I have all the parts crocheted, I just have to put it together. I won't get it done today as I need to pick up a couple of large buttons tomorrow after work.

That's about it for now. I have to work until Thursday, but I'm trying not to let that ruin my mood. I'm sure the store I work at will be insanely busy by Wednesday and/or Thursday. Till next time.

More Knitting

I can't believe how quickly December is flying by. I haven't done much tatting. I was working on the Monsterpiece doily yesterday evening but that's about it. I finished the second sock I was working on so I will be sharing that today. The second sock is definitely harder to do since I had to constantly go back to the first one to count rows in order to make them both the same size. I started another pair on Sunday, but this time using a two-at-a-time method. They are still toe-up Magic loop socks since I am really enjoying knitting socks that way. I still can't believe how much I am enjoying knitting right now.

Actually I would enjoy knitting the current pair of socks more if I was using a better yarn. I bought several balls of Wool To Wash by Loops and Threads (it's a Michaels brand) and I gotta say I do not like it very much. It's a super wash wool (washable wool), which is what I wanted but is one ply and doesn't seem to be very well twisted. I keep splitting the yarn which slows me down which sucks 'cause I am getting faster at knitting. I think I will be returning the two balls of this yarn that I haven't used yet. I did order some yarn from Knit Picks during their Black Friday weekend sale, which should hopefully get here by early next week.

Here is the finished pair of socks:

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I accidentally used the wrong needle size when knitting these. I realized I mixed up the US / metric sizes about halfway though the first sock. I was supposed to use a US 5 needle and I used a 5 mm. They seemed to work so I kept using them. The socks fit fine and are nice and comfy to wear. The cuff is just a little short for my liking. I am using the right size needles for the current pair. The socks are also pretty warm since they are made using 100% wool yarn. They aren't machine washable though.

Just in case anyone out there doesn't know what interchangeable knitting needles look like, here is a photo of some of basic parts:

Pictured above are one set each of wooden and nickel plated needle tips, the cables, end caps (used to make a "straight" needle if you use one or to hold the stitches on the cable without the tips if you use both) a joiner and the key used to tighten everything together. I got my set from Knit Picks. I really like this set and very happy I bought it. I haven't had any issues with the cables coming undone after I have tightened them up. Like anything that can be added to or upgraded, I want to get more tips and cables now. But that will probably have to wait until next year.

I'm going to keep knitting for a while. I do want to make several knitted gifts for Christmas. I will try to work on the Monsterpiece doily when I can. I will have a very busy week next week as I have a couple suppers to go to, a social group meeting and maybe a dance (don't know about that one yet) and I'm sure work will be hectic. You gotta love working retail during December. I'll hopefully get a chance to post again before Christmas, but I won't make any promises. I'll try to visit and comment on everyone else's blogs at least. Till next time.

Not A Lot Goin' On, Again

Sorry for disappearing, yet again. I was hit with some sort of flu the weekend following my last post. That knocked me down for most of that week. I didn't do anything that week. The following week wasn't much more productive. I worked on some test tatting. I'm not sure I can share, though I didn't do the pieces justice. One required a lot of beads, and I couldn't find a crochet hook fine enough to go through the holes in the beads. I ended up skipping the beads, and left long picots the approximate length of the beads to tat the pattern. It worked, but it isn't as pretty as it should be. Besides the tatting, I have continued with the crochet I mentioned earlier, but I haven't finished anything yet to share. Soon though, hopefully. I will quickly share some weaving I did before I got sick. I've got some more orchid photos too, but I'll leave them until next time.

About three weeks ago, or so, I picked up a Martha Stewart Crafts Knit & Weave Loom Kit from Michaels. I used a 50% off coupon so I got it for about $26; I wouldn't have got it at the full price. This kit does weaving, knitting and double knitting. I have a basic double knitting loom already, and while I may try knitting with this kit, I bought it for the weaving. If you are wondering the kit is made by Lion Brand Yarn and has patterns available on their website. I played around a bit and made a small woven square, then had an idea. The instruction booklet has a pattern for a baby blanket which consists of 3x3 large squares sewn together. I figured I could make a larger "man" sized blanket using the same squares. I think 4x5 squares may work. Each square is 13 inches square (32.5ish cm) so the finished size should be about 52 x 65 inches (130 x 162.5 cm). That should be big enough. I have one square made:

This was made using Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick yarn. I like the way it came out, but I think it took nearly a full ball of yarn to make. I'm not 100% sure if it was a full ball when I started but there isn't much left. I like the yarn (it's a super bulky weight wool acrylic blend that is machine washable and dryable), but what I don't like is that I may potentially need up to 20 balls of yarn (at about $7 each, I think, maybe more). I'll have to watch for sales, and who knows, it may be possible to get more than one square per ball. Even 1 1/2 squares would be more acceptable. We'll see if anything comes from this. I'll provide updates when and if I make any progress.

That's about it for now. I bought a snowflake tatting pattern from an Etsy seller last week that I'd really like to work on. Hopefully I'll get to it tonight and I'll have something tatted to share. Till next time.

Dawg Hoodie, Complete!

I managed to accomplish something since my last post. Something of my own anyway. I'm watching the 25 Motif Challenge blog for Sharon while she gets better. After two trips in two days to Michaels-though the second trip wasn't exactly planned (let's just say it involves the glass of a newly purchased frame and a chair), I found the shade of grey I wanted for my hoodie. I'm going to try and make this short. I really, really want to do some tatting tonight before I have to go to bed, so I can get up and work in the morning.

As I said, I found the shade of grey that I wanted for my Dawg Hoodie, a pattern from The Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys book. The yarn I chose is Patons Classic Wool Merino, a 100% wool yarn. It's not the type of yarn I wanted (and may not be compatible with the acrylic/cotton blend yarn I used) I think the properties of the yarn can work in this case. Wool will shrink and felt if machine washed if care isn't taken. For ribbing, this could work, as I find that the cuffs tend to stretch more than the rest of the garment, so when washed (carefully) they'll shrink back down. If it turns out I'm wrong, I could simply cut off the ribbing and remake with a different yarn. We'll see. Anyway, here are some pictures. First just the hoodie:

 Try and ignore my feet seen at the bottom of the photo. I placed the hoodie on my bed, and had to stand on the end of the bed to take the photo.

Here are the required(?????) photos of me wearing the hoodie:

The second photo proves I actually have a pocket on the front of the hoodie. It blends in remarkably well. Which it kinda good, as it's not quite centred, and my sewing isn't the straightest. Finally a photo showing the hood:

I don't like this photo as much as the previous two, the first one is my favorite. As an aside, I am pleased to say that I am a little over 21 pounds lighter in these photos than I was when I posted a photo of me wearing my Hauberk back in May. Please ignore the empty photo frame on the left side of the photo. It may or may not be the one that had the incident with my chair. Also ignore the fact that the above three photos don't show the drawstring of the hood. I was so excited to have the hoodie done, I put it one\ and took a bunch of photos before I remembered I forgot the drawstring. So, what do you guys think? Is that the right shade of grey or what?

That's about it for now. I am going to try and tat this evening. If I do, then I should have something new to post about. Oh, before I forget, what do you guys think of my new header? I've been wanting to make a new one for a while. I found the photo of one of the city's bridges (it's called the University Bridge, if you're wondering) at Wikimedia Commons, and the site says it's in the public domain. That's it for now. Till next time.

Nothing New, Just Some Updates

I haven't done much, so I don't have anything new. I did get another order last week, so I worked on remaking the sold item. But other than that I haven't done much else. I did finish crocheting the hood on my hoodie. I still need to do the ribbing, and, uh, I have to sew on the pocket. I forgot about it until I posted the photo. I also forgot that the the hood has ribbing on it as well, so I definitely don't have enough yarn to finish it using the same yarn. I stopped at Michaels last week to buy some dark grey cotton/acrylic blend yarn. Big surprise I didn't find much. Actually, I didn't find any. Instead I found some 100 % cotton yarn in black (called Ebony) in the Loops and Threads brand (I believe its a Michaels brand/exclusive) and some grey yarn in a bamboo/wool blend from Stitch Nation. Here's some photos:

I really don't know which one looks better. I was hoping for a darker grey (or lighter black!). I really think the black may be too dark, but the grey may be too light. I do prefer the grey, but that may be because I want to use a bamboo yarn for something, though now that Michaels has this line of yarn I may be able to find another project to satisfy that need. Let me know what you know what you think. I may have to go on another quest for the prefect grey cotton/acrylic blend yarn.

I mentioned in the last post that I had purchased an LED light system for my aquarium. Well, it looks great and produces a fair amount of light. As I said, time will tell if the plants appreciate it. One cool feature of the unit is that it has "Moon Lights". These are blue LEDs that mimic the light of the moon. Makes the tank look pretty cool:

You can't see the fish (I can't anyway) but it still looks kinda cool. Moon lights aren't really for freshwater aquariums, they're more for reef setups, so I won't be using them much. But I had to try them out at least once.

I had a request for an update on my five new Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants) plants. Here is a (fairly) recent photo of them:

Four out of five are doing pretty well. The fifth, the one on the front right, isn't doing so hot. Fortunately, it was also the least expensive of the five (well, if you don't count the one provided as a free gift; it's right behind the dying one). I'm not really that disappointed. It's a fairly common plant so I should be able to replace it easily. I have been opening the cover regularly to let some fresh air in. I'll try and remember to provide another update in a month or two.

Finally, here's an update for another plant that I haven't mentioned for a while. It it, my Tillandsia, or Air Plant:

It (they?) has/have grown since you've seen it last. And, if you look in the second photo, there's going to be another plant in the near photo. I'm surprised on how well it's doing. Since my first one died after flowering, I assumed this one will too. Though the first one did spend a summer, a Canadian summer, in near full sun all day and not watered nearly enough. That is probably why it died. My understanding is that some, if not all, Tillandsias will form clumps or clusters. I think it will be quite spectacular once it gets really large as there may be numerous plants in flower at any given time, or perhaps the whole plant at once. I will try to provide updates on this plant too, but since it grows rather slowly, it won't be very often.

I think that will be all tonight. I do have more plant photos ( I really want to show you what one of my Phalaenopsis orchids is doing) but they will have to wait for another day. I bought a bunch of new findings recently as my main supplier got over a hundred new items. Two of the findings I bought include some hair clips and some solid stainless steel toggle clasps. I will have to get some photos with the toggle clasps and play around with the hair clips so look for that. I have been working on some tatting, so hopefully I will have some tatting to show soon. Till next time. Goodnight!

Almost Done Hoodie, and My New Tatting Books

Well, I finally get to post. Between work, several welcome sales, not feeling well earlier this week, and other stuff, I never got around to posting. That's not to say I have that much to post about. As I said, I got several sales, which was awesome as they allowed me to purchase a(n) LED light system for my aquarium (without having to wait until payday). Hopefully my aquatic plants like it, though it will compliment my existing fluorescent light system. Anyway, my main focus tonight (or whenever you read this) will be a status update of my Dawg hoodie.

I finished the last sleeve towards the end of last week (I think). I won't bore you with a photo of it since, well, it looks just like the other one. I had hoped to sew everything together Sunday, but a surprise visit by my parents meant the hoodie had to wait until another day. That day was Wednesday.

Nothing special to report here. As expected, all matching pieces were the same size. In case you're wondering, I folded the sleeves down for the picture so more of the hoodie is visible, or rather less background is visible. There's not much left to finish. Basically, the hood part and the waist and sleeve ribbing. There's also some ends to hide, but it's not a big deal on a crochet project. There is one problem. I may run out of yarn (again!!). It's my fault; I had figured out how many skeins I would need, but decided to round the number down since I was making the sleeves shorter. I bought 8 skeins of yarn. I have one left, plus a little of another skein. This really may not be a problem after all. I will finish the hood with the skein I have left. Once that's done, and I know exactly how much yarn is left, I can figure out what to do next. What I have been thinking was that if I think I have enough (probably not) I'll do the ribbing in the remaining yarn. If I don't think I have enough I can either a) try to find a matching skein of yarn with the same dye lot or b) do the ribbing in a different colour (either black or grey). I like option a but it's probably unlikely I can match the dye lots. I'll probably go with option b, with a yarn of similar content if possible. I'll update you once I get this far.

Finally I will finish this post with something tatting related, since I haven't posted anything tatting related for awhile:

These are my newest tatting books. I've been looking through both books and have several bookmarks picked out that I'd like to tat. I do have a few projects in progress that I'd like to finish first. Of course, the finishing of my hoodie has to be done before I can tat.

That's about it for now. We'll see what happens over the next week or so. I have some chainmaille to show you-I played with my camera last week and got some pretty good photos. I think everything I've made is listed now, so feel free to look at my shop to see the new items, if you'd like. Till next time.

Dawg Hoodie Continuation, and a little Chainmaille

Sorry for the delay in posting. I haven't really felt like blogging lately because I haven't really done anything worth post about. No tatting. Still. I think I over did the tatting with the bookmarks. I'll get back to it eventually. A few weeks ago I ordered a few new tatting books from Bestitched that should hopefully arrive this week. Both books are full of bookmark patterns. I'm still crocheting my Dawg hoodie, which I will get to soon. I've also done a bit of chainmaille. A sale (finally!!) got me back in the mood recently. I have a bunch of stuff that needs to be listed, but I can't seem to get photos I deem decent enough to use. Maybe I'm being too picky, but metal is so hard to photograph. Anyway I'll show a photo of one maille project too.

I finished the front of the hoodie a few days after I last posted. Here it is:

I'm hoping it's the same size as the back. I checked several times while making it and when it was done, but I won't know for sure until I sew them together. I won't go into much detail. The yarn and pattern source are in the previous post. You can use the "yarn" and "crochet dude" tags to find the other post(s) and related ones. I started the first sleeve shortly after the front was done. It took me a good week to make it. Mainly because I spent hardly any time on it until yesterday. Coincidentally, I finished crocheting the sleeve yesterday as well.

Nothing real fancy here. I made the sleeve shorter than what the pattern says. I found the ones on my last Dawg hoodie much too long, and I don't like that. I started the second sleeve early this afternoon. I'm going to pop in a Blu-ray disc in the player soon and watch a movie, so I should be able to get a good chunk done tonight. I'll have to go to bed early tonight since I get to/have to work tomorrow. In case you're not aware tomorrow is a stat holiday. It goes by different names in many provinces, but here in Saskatchewan the holiday is referred to as Civic Holiday. So everyone who gets tomorrow off, enjoy! At least I get to spend most of the day with air conditioning.

Finally, I'll show you the chainmaille piece I was working on yesterday (I had a fairly productive day yesterday, it seems):

This came about from a suggestion I received some time ago. A triagular shaped Dragonscale pendant. It turned out to be narrower than I expected. It's about 2 3/4 inches long by about 1 1/4 inches wide. I might expand the pendant upwards by a few rows, though it'll look more like a upside down house rather than a triangle. What do you think? I used some yellow brass rings for the larger rings; these are a "special edition" ring, so to speak, that my supplier had leftovers of from a custom order. The lavender rings are kinda new. My main supplier is changing anodizing methods of their aluminum that results in shiny coloured rings. Beside the pendant, I also made several Bicubix Blocks earrings. While I have been offering customization of earrings and such, I have been wondering if I should make a bunch of earrings with different colours and offer them for sale too. I'll try it with a few pairs and see.

That's about it for now. I plan on getting the final sleeve done for my hoodie. Then I get to assemble it. I do want to get stuff listed on Etsy to this week. It can't sell if it's not listed. You never know, I might even get some tatting done. It could happen! Till next time.

It Started With a Pocket....

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Anyway, I had hoped to post earlier this week, but with it being rather hot here, I turned the computer off late in the afternoon and kept it off until the next morning. Anyway, I haven't done much tatting, still. I got my Handy Hands order last Thursday; I'll share more on that later. Except for a little chainmaille, I have been spending most of my time on a crochet project. And that brings me to the pocket.

I mentioned a post or two ago that I had finally received some yarn that I ordered. Instead of putting it away like I should have, I left the yarn out after taking it out of its box. I could almost hear it calling me. I figured I could crochet just the pocket of The Crochet Dude's Dawg Hoodie, from his super awesome Designs for Guys book. That way I could see how the yarn crochets up.

There. I crocheted the pocket. I know how the yarn looks. I like it! In case you are wondering, the yarn I used is Bernat Denim Style, in the colour Jordache. The yarn is a 70% acrylic, 30% cotton blend. And it is soooo soft. And I think that is what started it. I started and finished crocheting the back of the hoodie:

I couldn't help myself. This isn't the worst of it. I, are you ready for this, started working on the front of the hoodie. I know, right?! I'm so bad. I'll be done crocheting the hoodie in no time. I finished shaping the shoulders on the front while waiting for supper to cook, so I could be close to finishing it within the next day or two. You can probably figure out what I will be working on for the next week or so.

That's about it for now. I do plan on working on some tatting soon. I bought Jon's new snowflake book (which contains some very pretty patterns), and hope to tat a few of them. Perhaps with some of the new Lizbeth thread I got from Handy Hands. Till next time.