I am joining a crochet-along on CrochetMe.com.  The pattern is called a Sweet Sweater.  It starts on September 28.  Eh, what’s one more project, right?

Hey, did you see that, I got the button on. Maybe I’ve figured out the picture problem. Hmmm.

Well, I finished my first felted object.  My Mom’s birthday purse is done and I am pleased with the results.  I had to felt it by hand from some instructions in one of my magazines.  Hot water, cold water, hot water, cold water, over and over again with lots of rubbing and agitating until it was the size I wanted.  It isn’t quite as felted as its supposed to be, but hey, that’s a lot hands-in-the-water time.  All I care about is that it didn’t shrink too much or not enough because I, as usual, did not do a swatch, just plunged into the project with my fingers crossed.

 The only part I didn’t like was the handle.  It got longer.  Don’t know why, I didn’t pull on it, and its was shaped funky because I crocheted along the length of it and didn’t crochet on the other side of the base chain.  To fix that I rolled the stap and sewed it closed so it is round rather than flat.  Then I sewed on a shiny quarter button.  My mom liked it.  I don’t like how the pictures turned out, so even if I could post them I wouldn’t until I got better ones.

I am making a spiderweb shawl.  I had been thinking of doing a triangular one, then I saw the one Lady Linoleum did on her Monster Crochet blog.  Hers is completely round, a big circle.  I’m doing mine as a half circle and I think as fringe I might try to make it look like parts of the web have been torn away.  I’m doing it in black Lions brand microfiber.

I changed my Halloween costume idea again (this is normal, I change my mind all of the time)  I think I am going to crochet the entire thing and go as a stitch witch with a crochet hook as a wand.  If I can afford the yarn.  I have a lot of it already (projects I changed my mind about after buying the supplies) but I think I will need some more.  I like this idea even better than the cape.

For anyone who read my last post, I want you to know I am feeling better.  Sunday was a bad day, but time has passed and I am not feeling as overwhelmed.

 I am thinking I will have to change my cape idea for Halloween.  I was going to do it in crazy quilt style, but I need five and a half yards of material for the cape.  I may just sew 18 inch squares together and only do the shashiko style quilting in some of those squares along with a little other embroidery and beading.  Five and a half yards is a lot of crazy quilt embroidery.

In my first blog post I wrote that crafting is sort of spiritual for me and I am going to use that as a means of getting over my depression, or at least feeling better more often.  I bought five skeins of rainbow Moonlight Mohair from Lion’s brand on clearance.  I am going to knit myself a shawl.  But I am going to do it as a working meditation, maybe sitting on the grass at the park, and focus on reconnecting with the divine.  When I am depressed I feel cut off from divinity, this is going to be an attempt to reconnect.  I’m not great at knitting, but I think I am going to try a lacy drop stitch on size 15 needles.  Big needles are easier on my hands and I have trouble keeping track of fancy lacy stitches.  I haven’t tried this stitch yet, but I will as soon as I get another project off of them.

I am knitting myself a velvet skinny scarf.  A few months back I bought a single skein of velvet spun by Lion’s brand.  It’s in the baby yarns so colors are very limited, but the white I bought is very nice.  The yarn is a thick, soft chenille and the scarf is three inches wide, but it should be long enough to wrap around my neck.  I work on it while I wait for my slow computer and slow dial up to change pages.  I’ve done quite a bit today.

You might notice I finally got some links up on my sidebar, woohoo!  I’m working on pictures next.  I am determined to figure out what I am doing wrong because I want to show off my stuff like all of the other bloggers.

Oh, I want to learn how to spin too.  I was pricing hand spindles today online at www.carolinahomespun.com this morning.  Some simple ones aren’t too expensive, and neither is cotton roving, so maybe I’ll save up and buy some.  I may try one of the stores in Sacramento first.  I think there is a store downtown that sells supplies.  Maybe after Christmas, if I get some cash, I might go for it.

Well, just so you know I just spent 30 minutes trying to get a picture up on the page and couldn’t get it to link. But I will keep trying, I just don’t have anymore time today.
]]> http://divinethreads.wordpress.com/2006/09/07/a-new-day-more-ideas/feed/ 0 divinethreads http://divinethreads.wordpress.com/2006/09/03/not-entirely-in-the-pink/ http://divinethreads.wordpress.com/2006/09/03/not-entirely-in-the-pink/#comments Sun, 03 Sep 2006 15:55:17 +0000 divinethreads https://divinethreads.wordpress.com/2006/09/03/not-entirely-in-the-pink/ ]]>

You know you may be crocheting way too much when you dream about rolling up biots of super chunky red/black yarn, dipping it in nacho cheese sauce and eating it and it doesn’t occur that this isn’t normal until you wake up.

I have a lot of projects going on.  I do things like this every once in a while when I just overload myself.  I’m still making charity caps; I’ve got about 15 right now.  The charity blanket is on hold.  I’m almost done crocheting my mom’s felted purse, better finish that soon.  Then I got the urge to do something for Breast Cancer Awareness month and since I don’t have money to donate, decided to increase awareness and am making a bunch of pink scarves for the women I am close to.  I have an amazing amount of oink yarn in my stash for someone who really doesn’t like the color.

Then to top it all off, I am going to a costume ball in October and will probably have to make my costume and I’ve decided to make a cape, b ut not just any cape.  I am going to do it like a crazy quilt.  All black fabrics, black, white and silver threads for the embroidery and then some sashiko style quilted motifs with glow-in-the-dark threads that look white in the light.  I’m not starting that one until the crocheting is done though.

I think I know why I have taken on so many projects.  It’s the same reason my house is a mess and all I want to do is sleep whenever I sit down at home.

I feel like I am drowning.  Because of financial problems and a sense of dissatisfaction in my workaday life I am becoming depressed again.  Scares me.  I’ve been there before, I don’t want to be there again, so I am trying to distract myself with so many projects.  Yarn is so much softer than my thoughts.  I’ll get through it again, but it is so hard when I am in the middle of the emotional flood.

Sorry about the downer ending.  I always write about it better than I can talk about it.  My family gets freaked out when I mention it, so I don’t talk to them about it.  I’ll probably write it out in my journal today and hope I get past today’s flood.

I guess I could erase that up there, but I think I’ll leave it.  It’s part of me.

My hands are feeling a little better and I think its because my back is too. I called in sick to work Saturday (I usually work six days a week) to give my back a two day rest and it helped so much. Then I went into work today and the truck hadn’t shown up (I push stock to the shelves at Target) so I get a third day off. Usually that bothers me but I think it will be good for my back, so I’ll go with it.

I’ve been very busy in crochet this week. I finally used the first skein I recieved from Brandy during the One Skein exchange. It’s the fuschia, orange, and yellow cotton yarn. I had started a chevron stitch purse, but didn’t like the hook I was using, so I finally pulled it apart, chose a larger hook, and finished it. It’s like an evening bag about 8 inches long. I used a spool knitter to make the strap. Then fake crystal beads to extend the length of the strap and dangling from the bottom chevron points. It’s very pretty. Maybe one day I’ll figure out how to get my pictures to post and you can see it.

I am starting my first felting project too. My Mom’s birthday is this month so I am making her a purse out of denim blue and gray wool from Patons. I am making it bigger than usual in the hopes that I can felt it enough to make it the right size. I found the greatest button for it. It looks like a shiny new quarter. Its a casual purse and I thought a quarter button would add a bit of whimsy.

I am also altering some work T-shirts. The collar is too close to my neck so I am making some trim to put on the shirts and cut away the extra. I am using Lion brand Microspun in black (nice contrast to my red shirts) and making some lace trim (not too fancy) to sew on.

I finally bought a skein of Midnight Mohair by Lion. Its on clearance at Wal-MArt. But only one skein, it’s still five dollars and its not a good payday right now. Maybe if they still have it I will get a couple more so I can make more than a scarf. The one I chose was named Rainbow Falls and has lots of color.

Now I have to find some fancy yarn in white to make a scarf for my Grandma. She saw my yarn and decided she wanted a scarf too. I might combine some of what I have a make a fancy scarf. I know I have some white fun fur, and another white yarn with a little sparkle, and some fuzzy soft yarn, I may be able to make something out of that.

Well, that’s my crochet life for now. Like usual way too many projects, just the way I like it.

I got my last shipment from my secret pal Brandy.  It is the most adorable little bear, fits right into the palm of my hand.  Of course I can’t seem to do pictures, but she sent me the link to the pattern by Edith Molina, www.squidoo.com/thread_crochet_bears/ and you can see what the original looked like.  My bear is bigger because it is not thread crochet and it had wispy soft hairs all over and long ones off the ears and one little curl on its forehead.  The yarn is a short variegated peach, tan, and gray, and the body is jointed.  I’ve been showing it off.

On the charity crochet front I have finished a dozen baby caps and am about halfway through the granny squares for my Linus blanket, but I’ve hit a kink.  My hands are killing me.  But I am not entirely sure its just my hands; I hurt my back last year and whenever it hurts, my hands get worse.  I think the swelling in my back presses a nerve.  It’s getting a little better.

I taught my friend to make the charity caps. Her goal is to make one a day before the interest gets distracted. She’s doing pretty good this week in spite of having to get a birthday party for her four year old ready.

The poncho I made for my friend’s daughter was well-recieved- by my friend. Her daughter will like it when she’s done playing with all her new birthday toys. It’s a little big, but that means it should fit for two winters which will be a record for anything I’ve made or bought for her in the past.

I hope my hands are feeling better soon, I have so many other things I would like to make.

In the past year or so, I’ve really wanted to participate in charity work.  I decided to combine my love of crochet. my huge stash of yarn, and my compassion to make things for charities that collect items like blankets and baby caps.

I started with Project Linus, www.projectlinus.org .  I’ve finished one blanket so far and am going to use up my baby yarn and make a few more.

 The other day, I came across a link on the Annie’s Attic website at www.anniesattic.com to create baby hats for underpriviledged children in countries sponsored by Save the Children.  They are putting together new baby kits that include a handmade hat, a sterilized blade to cut the umbilical cord and basic baby care instructions for mothers.  They are trying to cut down on the infant mortality rate.  Instructions for the hats and how to participate can be found at www.warmupamerica.org or www.savethechildren.org.

The hats are smaller than those we usually get patterns for because these babies are born underweight.  Its so small I nearly cried when I finally got the gauge right.  My grandma thought it was for a toy doll.  I’m going to make a few of these to send off, and then get started on my next Linus blanket.    

I started this blog when I began participating in the One Skein exchange sponsored by Interweave press, but I have such problems getting the blog to work that I don’t make many entries.  But I am gonna try today.

The secret pal who sends me yarn, Brandy, sent me a new skein a week or two ago.  It’s a pretty wool yarn from Chile.  It’s pale blue and tan.  She bought herself one also to try felting, which sounds like a good idea, because you can felt crochet to.

My other secret pal, that I send yarn tom sent an enthisiastic thank you for the red silk/lamb’s wool yarn from Norway that I sent to her.  I bought it on a trip to Mendocino California.  There is a little yarn shop there.  I also bought myself some hand dyed wool to play with and a burgandy wool to make my final project, where we actually make something for our pal.

I’ve really enjoyed this skein exchange, and hope they do another one.  It really encouraged me to try new yarn types.  Though I can’t spend $34 dollars on only three skeins very often, but it’s fun sometimes.

(This was supposed to have pictures, but it seems the site is having issues because it wouldn’t even get the pics off of the disk.  I’ll try to add them later.) 

 Well, I finally finished my grandma’s granny square jacket; it was a pattern out of the October 2003 issue of Crochet Fantasy (not that mine looks all that much like the example after I got done altering it to my own specifications).  I had little money when I began it so I raided the stash and decided to use a lot of the unused Red Heart acrylic.  I know, that makes some crocheters and knitters cringe, but it really is the perfect choice.  My grandma’s memory is really bad nowadays, she’d never remember how to take care of anything more delicate.  This way, she can throw it in with her jeans and it will come out as nice as when I finished it, it doesn’t stain or shrink either.

The colors are reminiscent of her life in Chester.  The Clay and Terracotta colors look like the red dirt; the Green is the trees, the Yellow and Burgundy are the colors of some of the flowers in her garden and the same with the Berry color which is pretty close to the ripe raspberries she used to grow.  The black makes a nice contrast to the brighter colors.  I decided to put one frog clasp on it as a closure.

I also finally did a little freeform crochet.  I could have used another square as a pocket (she needs someplace to put her tissue), but I decided to just make a bit up.  The pocket is made up of several units.  A tri-color spiral, a piece of linear stitches in several different stitches, a couple leaves, a flower, and even though you can’t tell, there is also a raspberry.  It turned out cute, even my non-experimenting mother liked how it turned out.

One more change I made was the trim.  My grandma is not overly girly, she used to hunt and fish with grandpa, but she does like a little bit of femininity.  Since I used dark , non-girly colors, I decided to make a scalloped edge on the bottom of the jacket and sleeves, giving it just a little bit of girliness.

She liked it, but that doesn’t mean she’ll ever use it.  I sewed her a quilt for Christmas and it sits folded up on the shelf in the closet.  She doesn’t even remember I made it or that she has it.  When I tried putting it on her bed, she took it off after a couple days, she says she was too hot.

Oh well.  I have actually found that most of what I make for people goes unused, but I keep making it, mostly because I like making and giving people things.

I joined a skein exchange through Interweave press, though I can’t for the life of me get the button for it put on this blog, but I’ll keep trying.  I got the information for my secret pal, and she prefers natural fibers and doesn’t like novelty yarns.  Egad, I hope she likes what I send because I’ll probably spend more on her skeins than I ever spend on my own.

Oh, hi Brandy!  She’s the person who got my information and will send to me.  I’m so excited.  Hee-hee!I could probably go on, but I think I’ll leave the rest for another day.

Blessed Be!

What is it with the whole “Not you Grandmother’s crochet” thing?  I think just about every crochet magazine I’ve seen lately throws that line in somewhere between its pages.  Why?

Are potential crafters so juvenile and frivolous that they won’t crochet because grandma did it?  My grandma was the first person to teach me to crochet.  The red and white chevron blanket she crocheted for me still graces my bed.  Its how I keep her close to me when I sleep now that she is dead.

But Kitsch and retro is in.  How many “new” patterns are just rewrites of old ones.  I’ve seen projects online declared to be original and new that could have come straight out of an old crochet book from the 70’s called A New Look at Crochet. It’s funny, if you read that book it talks about the new fiber trends that are allowing crocheters to create new patterns totally unlike what their grandmothers could do.

Maybe it could be that new crocheters aren’t interested in making doilies, so they look at that form with contempt.  But to do so is to completely ignore the honorable history of crochet.  Crocheted lace helped people get through the Irish famine, and doilies really, are just an extension of that.  Besides those doily and lace patterns can be reworked in thicker yarns to create clothing and scarves. We do ourselves and our craft a disservice if we relegate anything not published the past few years as being uncool and beneath contempt.

And we dishonor our grandmothers as well.