Quick update.
QUILTING:
Progress on the quilt for my mom. Finished the quilt top:
KNITTING:
Am onto the sleeves of the Tapestry Marsh Sweater. Finished the front and back while my mom was in the hospital. Great mindless project as it's straight stockinette.
Uh. My. Gawd.
A knitted, crocheted and embroidered FERRARI made in England. LOLOL!!!
Knitted Ferrari
I just had to share if y'all haven't seen it.
A few weeks ago it seemed my biggest problem was what to make next and why wasn't I finishing projects I started. I learned my mother has ovarian cancer, and that cancer had spread to my brother's lungs, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last fall. It's hard to cope with things you don't normally have to deal with. I guess writing here will make me feel a little better. Sharing always makes me feel better. But, I've broken my personal rule of avoiding personal topics (which I've already done) on my blog that's dedicated to the handmade, so I apologize.
On the plane rides to see my mom, I've been able to wile away the hours with some knitting. I completed my Presto Chango Baby Sweater. I'm missing two buttons at the bottom, but figured I'd post the pics now otherwise it may never happen. I used 4 skeins of Lion Brand Organic Cotton in color Almond. And I made it in the largest size for a 2 year old. I'm going to bring it to Knitty City to display. I picked up the buttons, and the yarn, at Knitty City so it'll be nice to show it off to the customers.
So, I decided to make a quilt for my mom. She's not a huge fan of the "americana" style. And I'm not an expert quilter to make something appliqued with creative shapes, so I'm sticking to muted colors and simple shapes. I hope she'll like it. Here's the first block:
I'm using Heather Bailey's Fresh Cut fabrics. I'm really excited for it. It's so sweet and charming. I just hope it's not too pastel-y for my mom. I'm almost done putting the top together, and am trying to decide whether to border it or not. I'll keep you updated!
I'm feeling a bit erratic and split-personality about the crafting lately. I haven't knit in a long while. I've been crocheting, but only those silly blocks. And now that I've taken up sewing, the patchwork and quilting have come into play along with my dreams of making clothes that actually fit me right. Well, I was thrown back into the world of yarn a few weeks ago. I went to the TNNA Trade Show in Columbus, Ohio.
It was a grand 'ol time and I have NEVER seen so much yarn. So many different fibers, so many different dye-jobs and techniques used. And, I met some knitting/crafting celebrities... well celebrities in my book - Nicky Epstein, Lily Chin, Melanie Falick, Jenny Hart, Candi Jensen, Teva Durham, Jane Sowerby, Annie Modesitt, Takako from Habu and more. The best part - I got some free loot!
Autographed books by some of the above names:
Free yarn (not too much of that going around - understandable):
Yarn Place's lace weight yarn at the top, Malabrigo lace weight yarn in the middle and then some samples from O-Wool and Punta del Este (thanks Sharyn!)
Other goodies from embroiderers (Jenny Hart is SOOO sweet):
And lots of other random stuff... new Clover Takumi Velvet straights, some very strange teeny tiny needles from Unicorn books, a ton of totes. Great fun.
So all of this came at an incredibly pivotal point in my life. I've had to make some very hard decisions over the past months, regarding my future, and my future with yarn in particular. And all of this exposure to an incredibly welcoming industry and positive energy has reinvigorated me. And, I was at the TNNA show because I've been blessed to have crossed paths with Pearl Chin, the owner of Knitty City. She has been more than kind enough to have given me a weekend gig at Knitty City and to have let me tag along to the TNNA Show. I couldn't feel more blessed than I do now.
The only downer was that both flights, to and fro, were very much delayed. The bright side? I got some more crochet blocks for my afghan out of the way. I've got around 42 now.
Running low on the yarn, so I've got to get more. I've also got to start thinking about the color I'm going to use to attach and connect them all. I'm thinking of an additional color - totally separate from the blocks. But thank the heavens for the crochet I brought along. The 3 hour delay there and 2 hour delay back would have driven me mad if I didn't have that to do.
As I arrived home - dragging my 2-ton bag behind me - I had some packages waiting for me. "Oh crap, what the hell did I order now?!" My Yesasia.com order arrived:
The obvious stand-out item is the Setsuko Torii, Habu's designer, pattern book. It's absolutely riveting. I think my first piece from the book will be the Chinese Pullover:
Fortunately, a few days ago - I received an email from Takako at Habu regarding some workshops they're planning for the Fall. One is on japanese pattern reading. So, I signed up for it right away. I think you can figure it out, but with all the different numbers, I figured I'd play it safe and learn from the pros. The class is in September and it seems like years away!!
And... how could I have forgotten... my package from eBay had arrived too. I "bought it now" some 4" squares of Liberty's Tana Lawn fabric. Ha... some. I bought around 300 of them. 
I want to do something REAL nice with them. For now, they're stored away in my ziploc's.
So now officially drowning in not only yarn, but in fabric and sewing notions, I decided I had GOT TO finish my baby quilt for my friend. I'm kind of sad about it all. I love everything about this quilt except the quilting. Love the fabric, love the patchwork, love the binding, love the size and shape... HATE what I did with the quilting. I decided to use fuchsia thread to quilt with. I thought it would bring out more of the pink since the brown and oranges really dominated the fabric colors. I tried out the alphabet setting on my sewing machine. Super-goofy:
And then, I basically made straight lines following the diagonal blocks. I ended up with three diamonds. I think it looks so stupid. I tried some other quilting motifs - I even tried a dog pawprint in the middle and figured I could do smaller dog pawprints around the rest of the quilt. After completing the big dog pawprint in the middle. I realized it barely looked like a pawprint, but instead like five random puddles. So, I ripped that out. And figured I would just stop there.
Then, when it came to the binding - I was excited to try a new binder attachment I bought for my Bernina. The Bias Binding Attachment is for "easy " application of a strip of fabric onto your piece as binding. Not so easy. I realized that my quilt edges, not being basted down right to the edge, were a bit too thick for this attachment. I tried it about 5 times all the while cursing, sweating and seam ripping. I gave up. I put on the binding the old-fashioned way. 
And here it is:
I'll probably just rip the embroidered signage out too. *deep sigh* Maybe I'll make a different one for my friend. I think I'm a little embarrassed to give this to her as her baby shower gift. I'm starting on a baby sweater that I've been eyeing, so that'll be my backup gift. The sweater is from Jimmy Beans Wool - the April 2007 Pattern Contest Winner. It's the Presto Chango Baby Sweater. It is the cutest darn thing I've seen in awhile. And very practical too! 
I'm using Lion Brand's Organic Cotton instead. We'll see how it turns out as it doesn't have as much oomph as Blue Sky Alpaca's Organic Cotton.
It feels good to be knitting.
Something came over me when I stepped into the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Rockefeller Center. I was entranced, bewitched. I was in the neighborhood, and innocently thought I'd just check out their selection on crafts. Well, let me just say it's the closest thing to a black hole I will ever encounter. What was my lunch hour, turned into almost 3 hours of perusing, pondering, putting in basket, taking out of basket and settling on a shameful amount of books and periodicals.
Oh, that doesn't look like a shameful amount, does it? Well, I'm deceiving to you. This is only a mere portion of the books and periodicals I bought. I'm kind of ashamed. Not enough to change my ways, mind you. This also excludes the yesasia.com shipment that should be arriving any day now (which I forgot about it. bad bad sign.) Barnes & Noble was bad enough. Now, I've got Kinokuniya in my clutches, and ladies (and gents)... it's going to get ugly.
Like many of you, I find the japanese crafting books to be so inspiring. The layout of the books reminded me of flipping through graphic novels at the Forbidden Planet. It's the simplicity, and the lightness of touch. Lightness of touch is something that's always escaped me. All of my drawings and paintings are deep and bold. I go through charcoal like I'm feeding newsprint. Nothing inferred. I prefer to write in Sharpies as opposed to fine tip pens. Playing the piano - always allegro, never andante. When I run, it's like the earth shakes beneath my moose-like steps. I'm pretty much built like a Mack truck. But, enough about my hang-up's. These pages have me wistful and dreamy.
My favorite out of this last bunch is the 156 Original Patchwork Designs by Yoko Saito. Filled with patchwork blocks, I'm salivating at the thought of what I can make! The designs are whimsical, but not goofy. I love this little sewing machine block:
(ISBN# 4-529-04188-3)
My piddly progress on my granny squares. I thought crocheting was supposed to be so much faster.
Not that I've been working on them day and night, but come on... 31 squares completed? Thirty. One.
I do still like the colors. I'm regretting not taking the picture in Fire Island. My half-a**ed lighting is for sh**.
The unofficial start to Summer began this past weekend here in NYC. Memorial Day weekend is when NYer's typically give a collective sigh of relief in anticipation of the slowing of the city. Even more typical of NYer's is that we leave. We get out of the city, and that's just what we did.
I was tempted to bring the sewing machine along, but the one thought that stopped me was that it might get wet on the ferry ride out to Fire Island - never mind its weight, bulkiness... the overall inappropriateness of a piece of machinery on an island that doesn't even allow cars during the high season. So, I packed my knitting (Swing Jacket, argh) and my crocheting (Granny Square Afghan) and forgot almost everything else. I'm a very bad packer. Pack light is my motto and to-hell-with-it if it doesn't fit. Well, I had plenty to keep me busy and that's all that mattered.
Once I got out to the house and the beach, my will softened and my motivation... well, I left it somewhere on the Long Island Expressway. I laid back and ate, napped in the sun, ate...
napped on the deck, ate some more. You get the picture. (I don't know how I managed to take the Rembrandt of all fruit pictures, but I had to share. Who knew a big bowl of fruit could look so serious. I think photography is next on my list of things to tackle.) I managed to eek out a few squares and a couple rows. What was really great was that I was able to appreciate the loveliness of the nature that surrounded us. And one thing I had almost forgotten all about... REAL sunlight. I got a whole bunch of it over the weekend. And it threw everything into a completely different light, in every way. I never noticed all the subtle variations in this beautiful hand-dyed yarn I've been using for the afghan. Pure prettiness.
Even my anxious city dog was able to stop and appreciate.
I just finished the quilt top to the baby quilt. I'm happy with the result, but it didn't come without a few hurdles. I feel a bit stupid saying this out loud, but I was using the wrong presser foot for about the first quarter of the top. I was assuming that the outside edge of the foot was 1/4". I was wrong. It was more like 3/8", or something more precise in metric. I realized I had a presser foot especially made for patchwork with a 1/4" edge, with a built-in a fabric guide. I mean duh. I did get the Patchwork Edition to a sewing machine afterall. After that, the sewing went much more smoothly and quickly. In the end the minor differences at each seam made the whole top a little crooked. I'll have to square it up before I quilt, I guess.
So, I think I'm going to just use the hot pink Amy Butler fabric for the binding edge. I just ordered a special presser foot from Bernina that can attach the binding in one go. We'll see if I'm coordinated enough to use it. I can't say that I minded the hand sewing to finish the binding. It was very soothing.
When I found out the date of a dear friend's baby shower, my mind started to race as to what I could knit her. That's right, a baby girl. The options were endless. I have over a month and, of course, the first idea was another Zimmermann jacket. They're so precious. Then, I got a newsletter from Jimmy Beans Wool and their contest winner's pattern was for a baby and so cute it is. But, I consulted a close friend and fellow crafter, and she suggested I continue on my quilting path and make her a quilt. Why yes! A quilt! It would last longer than a sweater which she'd outgrow. And, for a summer baby... well a quilt was the ticket.
I raced over to The City Quilter and bought some fabric I had seen on a previous trip there. Heather Ross' Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries for Free Spirit Fabrics. I just loved the dogs and who could resist the throwback to the VW Bus. The colors are more 70's, less baby and if you knew the couple you'd know how perfect it was. Less pristine, more quirky. They'd appreciate these "Little Darlings" colors.
I added some leftover Amy Butler Lotus fabric I had and think I'll use it for the binding. Give it a little oomph. But for the backing, I'm going to stick with pale pink. She is a girl afterall.
I set out to find the perfect pattern. I needed one a beginner like myself could handle. And after I buying about 5 quilting books and 6 quilting magazines (along with the rest of the sewing section at B&N), I found a really cute one in the latest Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. It's called Crossroads Baby Quilt, and since the pattern only had straight lines, I thought I'd take a stab.
I cut the pieces.
Pinned to sew.
And planned the layout.
It is SO 70's looking! I love it! I think I remember my mom's beaded flowers having this color range. A lot of yellows, oranges and browns.
I'll hopefully be finishing the patchwork this weekend, and then I'll have to figure out a quilt design.
I've been working on my granny square afghan, one square at a time, and as I started "researching" other granny squares and afghans online, I stumbled across quilting and patchwork. I began taking in all the quilting blocks and thinking of future afghans I could make with the feel of an old-fashioned Americana quilt.
Months ago, The Migglesworth was kind enough to buy me a no-frills Singer sewing machine from Target. I wanted to play around with fabric, and make home decor items as opposed to, let's say, clothing. I even signed up for an "Introduction to Machine Sewing" a two-part course at The City Quilter. The City Quilter boasted brand new sewing machines they just brought into their classroom, and for a mere $45 I thought this class would be a great investment. I learned the basics of the machine and left the class with a decorative pillow case.
So recently, I bought the latest issue of Blueprint which included a lovely article about the owner of Purl Soho and Purl Patchwork. The article was about her love of handmade things, and a certain dreaminess started to come over me as I looked over the photos of her apartment with her many hand-created or hand-refurbished items. What resonated was a lovely and simple quilt. Instructions for this quilt were on the Blueprint/Martha Stewart site, so I began to think whether or not I could do this... did I have the room even to make something sizeable like a quilt, and do I have the patience.
I returned back to my sewing machine a little guilty that I hadn't played around with it much since taking the class. I dusted it off and started cutting up some scraps and practiced sewing some straight lines desperately trying to remember all the tips my instructor had given me. I thought to myself, "Self... why not?" So, I high-tailed it over to The City Quilter dead set on recreating the Blueprint quilt and bought:
7 different kinds of fabric, totaling 12 yards
Twin-size batting (after the incredibly knowledgable staff simply shook their heads when I mentioned the words "king-size bed" and "first time quilting" together.)
Mettler spool of machine sewing thread in all cotton
Basting Pins
Binding Clips
Bias Tape Maker
Magnetic Pin "Cushion"
Dear Jane book
I already had some basics from my class and previous lives, like:
OmniGrid 24" x 6" Ruler
45mm Rotary Cutter
12" x 18" Olfa Cutting Mat
Gingher Fabric Scissors
Glass head pins
Seam Ripper
Hand Sewing Needles
Sketch & Wash Pencil
Iron/Ironing Board
(A LOT more supplies needed to start as opposed to knitting and crocheting. I had a whole little sweatshop set up in my teeny studio.)
Ran over to Barnes & Noble and bought:
Better Homes & Gardens Complete Guide to Quilting
Fabric I started with:
With the more-difficult-than-it-looks rotary cutting behind me, and after doing the patchwork - halfway through the quilting, I became exhausted with my Singer. It wasn't built for the quilting part of this project. It was fine for the patchwork even though it sounded more like a machine gun than a sewing machine. The feed dogs weren't supporting the heft of a quilt, and the darn lightbulb was hot and making me sweat. My mind started to drift back to the machines I used during my class at The City Quilter. The new machines they boasted were Bernina 440 QE's. I did my research on sewing machines, and after the sticker shock of the 440 model subsided, I decided to invest in a lower model Bernina. I purchased the 230 Patchwork Edition model. Not cheap, but it was like pricing out a Rolls Royce and "settling" on the Porsche. But after my Yugo of a Singer (fantastic machines, just not their cheapest model), I was in heaven. This baby can sew. I mean... SHE CAN SEW. She whistles as she works.
And here you have it. My very first quilt... not even Twin Size, more like lap size, but I thought a decent start:
So when The Migglesworth offered to buy me some yarn for Mother's Day, I looked at him sheepishly and suggested Purl Patchwork instead of Purl:
Here's some progress on my Granny Afghan. I've thrown four more colors - nine colors in total now. And I was hesitant about using too girly of a bunch of colors, but thought better to make some girly than something drab. So, here are the new colors being slowly worked in. The dark violet is a bit dark in the picture, but it's much more vibrant in person. And, after getting the opinion of my crochet class last night, they convinced me to leave it in. I'm going to keep it completely random after thinking about doing some pattern, or starting with some spectrum effect. For my first crocheted afghan, I'm going to keep it simple - at least simple in the planning.
Hope you like the colors. And I've downshifted from the king-size plan, to a throw. Not surprising. I calculated I would need about 650 squares, so I thought better not. I don't want to get sick of it before I'm using it.
The ongoing saga of the Swing Jacket sleeves - progress is slow. I do a couple rows a night, doing both sleeves at once. I won't be getting anywhere fast at that rate, so I'm going to try to pick up the pace soon. Ah well... what's the rush?
How do you like the color combos and the pattern?
I'm thinking if this is going to be such a large blanket, I should add some other colors in. Maybe a muted lavender and a coral? Just to spice it up? Or, a chocolate brown (thanks Cara!) and some greys and a tomato-y red?
I may have to bring these squares over to Purl and play around with their stash.
And, check out my miserable attempt at customizing my title bar. Ha! I just threw a pic of what I'd like there, so it's just awful.
I've been intrigued by all the interest in the "Babette Blanket" that was publishsed in the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Crochet. It definitely looked like fun to plan out and make, but I know I would personally want something simpler looking. Not that granny squares have a simple look to them... I guess symmetrical is a better word to describe what I'd want in a blanket. I'm planning on covering my king-size bed with it. So I stopped by Purl in Soho to take a look at their fingering weight yarns. I was tempted by Koigu, but not the price. And my eye finally landed on a pretty warm yellow from Hand Jive - perfect for Spring, not that the price was much better. I threw in some other colors and played around with how bright I could personally go and came up with the five colors below. I had some GGH Soft Kid yarn in a sage I thought would work well, but as you can see in my test square, the brightness of the other colors makes the sage look a bit dirty. I wanted to possibly try different textures, but I don't think this is the right color. Still thinking on it... may stick with one texture. I do love the granny square pattern I found in a book a friend had - 200 crochet blocks, or something like that. (If you know what I'm talking about it's #35 - Tricolor Square). Fun and easy to make, and I think it's floral without being too girly.
I'm still, slowly, working on the sleeves to my Swing Jacket.
And, I'm trying to get my own Blog Title into this darn template, but can't seem to find clear instructions. If anyone has a quick hint as to how to do this, I'd be forever in your debt.
It's the little things in life, isn't it? I started making granny squares this weekend, and found myself devouring remnants of leftover yarn with every little square I made. The always fantastic Purl Bee planted the Granny Square bug in my ear. It's a great way to practice crocheting, and I'm finally starting to feel comfortable with it. Here's a close-up of my favorite - taken from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave's Crochet.
I feel a blanket coming on...
Finally, I'm making some headway with the swing jacket. I finished the front left last night and am moving onto the sleeves today. I'm going to do both at the same time, which I've never tried before. But since the majority talk about how much faster it is or seems, I've got to give it a try. I'll try anything at this point. I'm excited for the jacket, but it's just taking forever. I was hoping to be wearing it by now.
Please let me know what you think! Any constructive criticism, suggestions and comments... hints, tips :)
More pics on my Flickr site!
Thanks to Wendy at Knit and Tonic, I have finally knit up a cute little cap I can wear... in public. I've tried crocheting one (see below for pathetic excuse for a hat). I've tried a different beret pattern which turned out much too small so it looked like a brain-sucking mollusk, and another felting disaster that came out looking like a plain old mistake. Since I usually wear my unruly hair up, I'm happy the cap can cover my haphazard bun-knots.
And after many attempts of trying to photograph it on my own head, then my dog's head, I decided to let my dress form model it. Much to my chagrin she does a better job than me.
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Aslan. Less than one skein used.
I've also made some progress on my Phildar Swing Jacket. Just about done with that front left side. I'll be moving to the sleeves next. Hopefully I'll have something picture worthy soon!
I just love the name of these socks from Knitty.com. I finally finished them as I kept getting distracted, and they're kinda cute. I like 'em. I don't wear socks though, but I'm putting these babies on. And I tried taking photos of them on the foot, but they just looked better on their own. You can see the pattern more clearly.
Here's a close-up... you can tell the sock on the left is the second one I did. I made a lot of mistakes in the pattern on the first sock. I think I'm going to learn my lesson, for once, and practice the pattern before jumping right into the project next time.
And last night in crochet class, we started to incorporate beads into our work. Oh the possibilities! So I came home and started a very simple cord/necklace thingy just for the exercise of it. I'm still an awful crocheter. It's terribly embarrassing.
I'm using a 1.8mm crochet hook and size 10 crochet thread with some glass seed beads I found. At least I can put these beads to good use now instead of randomly throwing them onto socks.
I've been a long-time admirer of the tea cozy. I don't own a teapot, and I don't especially like tea. But, for someone to think of knitting a teapot a sweater to keep it warm? I love it. Anything that brings life to an otherwise lifeless object, I applaud. And, it's practical too.
So, my ode to tea cozies - my Mug Cozy. A specially crocheted sweater for Mr. Piggy to keep my morning coffee warm, of course.
Thanks to Lollygirl, Project Spectrum is enjoying much success in its second year. For April/May, the colors are green, yellow and pink. As I looked at the list of the three colors, I mentally made a note that I probably have a lot more green and yellow (one of my favorite colors) than pink hanging around in my ever growing yarn stash. But as I sifted through my stash, the only color that peppered my sea of neutrals was pink. As I pondered this, I looked down at my Mr. Piggy coffee mug to find myself holding, well... a pink mug. Well, I figured I'd have to consult him as to what I would do with my little bit of pink yarn.
I placed him in front of the pile and he quickly started with the little ball of pure wool in fuchsia.
"Hmm, since you're the only knitter I know of that just randomly buys one ball here, and one ball there, we'll have to think of something small." After a bit of a pause, and chin-rubbing, "I've got it! Felt some flowers with it!"
He quickly moved onto the rest of the pile.
"Obviously," he said, "you'll have to do a fun pair of socks with those self-stripping Lorna's Laces. Nothing too fancy as it will just get lost with the stripping."
"And, that random skein of Malabrigo, which I would barely consider pink," he added with a little arrogance, "try crocheting another hat."
Lastly, he motioned to my one skein of Lorna's Laces Chunky Swirl and looked at me pointedly even accusingly, "I guess it's never crossed your mind to knit up a Mr. Piggy Cozy, has it? Didn't think so."
Every weekend has its up's and down's. Mine happened to start with a down. I had to toss away the latter half of my yarn from Bolivia. A tangled mess it was. Merrily knitting my second Queen of Cups sock, I realized that I was almost at the end of my working yarn. How could that be - I had half a ball left the last time I looked down. When I reached down to join in the rest of the ball I realized that the remainder was wound as 3-stranded yarn. Huh. Simple, I thought. I'll just separate the three strands. I don't recommend this course of action. After more than 30 minutes of separating about a yard of the 3-stranded ball into 3 separate strands, I gave up. Luckily I was brought back two balls of yarn from Bolivia and dug the other ball out. If anyone has any brilliant solutions to the strand separation (other than gorging themselves with cupcake out of self pity), please let me know. 
I couldn't help the indulgence of this finger-licking delight as it soothed away my ruffled feathers with its chocolate-y goodness.
Not letting yet another yarn debacle get me down, I decided to start the baby bolero from One Skein, as a good friend just had a baby girl. I had the yarn in my stash, and I thought it a cute design. This was the first piece I had to "finish". Sew up the shoulder seams, sew sleeves into armholes and sew up the sleeves. Well, I'm glad my first foray into finishing was on this tiny little piece, because... let's just say I knit and not sew for a reason. Turned out ok, but as I appreciated EZ's designs before, now I REALLY appreciate her minimal to no finishing designs. Genius. Why did I ever stray from her Surprise Jacket, or February Sweater? In any case, an up to my weekend:
I threw my sheep measuring tape into the picture to show just how teeny tiny the cute little bolero is! Teeny-tiny!!! And here is a detail of the cute little eyelet on the back. Just too adorable.
The only change I made to the eyelet pattern was I made a center double decrease instead of the K3tog they have listed. I used the sl2, k1, pass the slipped stitches over. That was the only change I felt confident enough to make.
As I played around with my new Flickr account this past week, I took a trip down memory lane. I browsed through some old projects, beaming with pride about how far I had come. How far I had come knitting-wise, that is. I stopped on this beautiful peacock blue number. "WHAT is that?" I asked myself. I had completely forgotten about the Branching Out scarf I had started months ago with some gorgeous Tilli Tomas silk. "WHERE the heck is that?" I was starting to harass myself.
I just completed it, embarrassed to even admit I forgot about such beautiful yarn I remember scouring for on eBay. It's going to be a birthday present for a dear friend of mine. A friend that gave me the lead on my current job. A friend that trained, long LONG hours, with me for the NYC Marathon. A friend who is always up for some greasy Chinese food. I can't wait to give it to her. A friend that would brag that it was handmade.
This was all good timing too as I had to frog my Print O' The Wave Stole. I'm using some fuzzy hairy laceweight yarn, that's also variegated in color. It just didn't look good at all. I'll have to find something proper for the pattern. I just don't know what to do with that yarn.
And I did finish that crochet homework. I crocheted a hat. And I sewed my crocheted flower onto the side of it. The main point of the assignment was NOT TO RIP OUT AND START OVER - which is so easy to do while crocheting. Anyway, it's a little odd looking. First, because I used chunky yarn as I wanted to do it quickly. Secondly, because I used cream and then black colored yarn. Not that cute. Next, it's very square shaped. And then finally, I'm a sh*tty crocheter people. It's ok. I've admitted it to myself. At least I can only go up from here, right?
Of course, an entry wouldn't be complete without Little Miss Monster Peanutbutterpumpkinface
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