Of Mice and Men

The second shop we went to in Pittsburgh was Knit One and I picked up some gorgeous yarn. It is a really nice shop. It has the most wonderful knit space right by the window with big, cushy chairs and a sofa and the store is nicely laid out. For those of you who go to Chix With Stix - it is way bigger than CWS and for those Loopettes, it probably the size of Loopy but on one level.


I wanted something hand dyed or hand spun that I couldn't get by walking into my LYS and
the yarn I picked up is hand dyed by Schaefer yarn in Interlaken NY. The yarn is called Sandra and the color (a mix of blues and purples) is called Billie Holiday after the singer. It is 78% cotton and 22% rayon and I have no idea what I am going to make with it. I have 450 yards of it so that's enough for a hat and scarf. I don't remember what I paid for it but I do remember there's no sales tax on yarn in Pittsburgh!!

If you have any idea what I can do with 450 yards of cotton/rayon yarn, I'd be glad to entertain ideas. I am still on the afghan roll but I don't want to incorporate it - I would really like to use it on its own for a project. Trust me, I'll listen to any ideas - but can only follow one!!

Speaking of afghans - and I was - I know the plan was to finish the 42 square afghan but that didn't come off as planned however, it is 1/3 done and well on the way to being 1/2 done. The third strip is almost done. But even adding the second strip changes the whole demeanor and that was the point: to see how the progress happens. This is going to be a really neat afghan which you couldn't tell from just the first strip alone. I've held up the section of third strip next to these two and it's really going to be fun!

You know what I love about these block afghans? The rustic and quiltiness of them. It's fun and fanciful and almost anything goes. What really helps pull it together is a uniform color around the edge of all the blocks and it doesn't have to be any major edging, just one row of single crochet will do the trick. In this case, I chose a cranberry color because black or white would have been a little too flat.

The other thing I mentioned working on was a redo of the crochet afghan I had started because I wasn't feeling it. Well, I did start again and I am feeling this one a whole sight better than the first. I like the three colors instead of the hodgepodge I was doing. The gold, brown and white look really stunning and the fact I have only one skein of the gold and brown means nothing. There should be more at the Hobby Lobby and I will need some to finish this out and I am also thinking matching pillows would not be out of the question. They wouldn't be in the same pattern because that would be strobe light overkill but pillows using the same colors either in a block pattern or a solid pattern with one color on the front and another on the back - something like that would work very nicely.

And if yesterday wasn't enough of a success, I had a really good workout last night. My schedule said I was due for a workout and I put it off until after the rather exciting Cubs game, so I didn't work out until after 10pm and it was really great. I breathed hard and sweat and everything. I then watched Prince Caspian worked on the crochet afghan and then went to wash up and then straight to be for a nice sleep. I could do it all again because that was a really great day.

Cushy

Lest you think that I have been out joy riding in Mr. Honey's new car this past week - which I have not been - I have driven it twice at his request and once at mine - I want you to see what I have been up to.

I have finished the white granny afghan. Complete with a single crochet edging, I might add. Finished it up last week and even I have to admit it's a little on the cute side. The colors are much more spring like than they appear in the photo but even the photo shows a nice afghan.

But that wasn't the thing that kept me away from you. Recall me saying I wanted to make pillows and afghans to match or coordinate?
Behold some cushion pillows! It goes with the fur trimmed one I showed you before. Do you see what has kept me so busy? I love these pillows. I had to go out and get the 16 inch form because I made the one in the middle too big for the 14 inches I had in stash. But it turned out. My first crocheted pillow - yes, let us take a moment.
My library now includes at least three crochet books and I gave away a crochet stitch dictionary last year some time. I do not regret it but little did I know I would add it to my repertoire. (That's French for skilz.)

I have an afghan on the needles and it appears as if it will be a quick knit so I should have that to show you shortly. I started it late last night and it's twenty squares and I am already on square three. It's a stash buster.

And speaking of 4953 - the afghan took 10 skeins, the big pillow took 3, the pom-pom pillow took 2 and the sequin pillow took 1. So now we are down to 4937 and I went to Joann to pick up the pillow form and not one skein of yarn even made it to my hand let along the basket.

I know this is enough for the stash enhanced to talk about kicking me out of the club, but I do this for the greater good. One it is embarrassing how much yarn is all over my living room. One cannot have a stash this big if one is not going to be organized and I cannot seem to manage that for any length of time.

Two, really do we really need a huge stash? No, we don't. I love having it around, too, but really, it's a cute form of OCD and at my age, cute ain't that cute anymore.

I am knitting myself out of the stash and hopefully will give Mr. Honey his clean house back for his birthday - six months from now.

In the meantime, I have one more 14 inch and one more 16 inch pillow form. I need to make pillows and afghans to go with them and I will get started on that as soon as the other afghan is completed. The stash bust continues..

It's a good thing!

4953 - and Counting

And the stash bust continues..get this after the sale on Saturday, the wonderful Melissa (listen tomorrow for a great big YIPEE coming from the Midwest. It will be the wonderful Melissa getting her first real paycheck in months!!) The wonderful Melissa and the fabulous April decided we should head over to Chix with Stix because they were having a great big sale moving out the winter yarns to bring in the summer yarns. So we headed over and there were signs for 10 - 20% off on almost every yarn in the store. And I bought...

nothing.

I'll wait until you get up off the floor.
I bought nothing. Not a skein. Not a half skein. Nothing. I walked out the store and hadn't purchased a thing. Not that there weren't some good deals - there were. But I didn't purchase anything for two reasons.

One - I don't really need the yarn. I mentioned that in the store to Miss April. I said to her while passing behind her, "We don't really need any yarn." The store owner heard me and she said, "Don't need yarn? That's like saying your don't need ice cream."

Point well taken. (But I don't need ice cream, either.)

I am trying to bust the stash and while I am fairly certain I don't actually have 4953 balls of yarn left - I am certain I have a great deal of it and I can see how it adds up because an acrylic ball of yarn with hundreds of yards can take a long time to become something else. For instance, a ball of red I Love This Yarn starts out as an almost full skein and took two days to become this: It's a cute pillow. I have entered a pillow phase. Don't ask why, I have an explanation, but just too tired to share. Suffice it to say, I will go through some balls of yarn and some sequins, beads and other cool stuff and there will be some matching afghans to go with them. It's a major stash bust. Wait, did I just explain?

I am off to go upstairs and look in one of the stash bins to find enough yarn to work the next pillow. The plan I have is to use some embellishment in the pillow then create an afghan or baby blanket to match. That's the plan. We'll see how that goes.

Oh, the second reason why I didn't buy anything. Cuz I know some of that good stuff will wind up in their clearance rack and that's 40% off - Ka-Ching!

Back on the Block - Stitch #20

The large bobble stitch was the last stitch and block I made for the wedding afghan. I wanted to end with something fun and I think this block really does that.
I cannot tell you how much fun the afghan is - now that it's done. I am looking for the proper 'container' for it. I would love to put it in one of those zippered plastic things sheet sets come in but I would need it to be slightly bigger and I have The Container store site coming up on another window so I can see what they have there. I want to make it easy for them to ship back home or carry with them. However they are getting all their loot home after the big day this Saturday.
Anyway, the bobble stitch was fun to do and that little block takes up a lot of yarn because of all the stitches that go into the making of a single bobble. Let's see: kf,b,f in one stitch (that's 3) turn knit 3 (6) turn purl 3 (9) turn knit 3 (12) turn sk2tog psso (13). Thirteen stitches in one bobble and there's a sml army of bobbles on that little square.
Here's a hint, crocheting blocks and strips together is sooooo much easier than getting out the needle. It makes a stronger edge, can be a decorative feature and just goes faster. I highly recommend it.

So, what's next? There's a wedding in October, but I am going to give myself a few days before I start getting into that so I am now halfway through with making a pillow. It uses wooden beads and it's going to be tres cute. I bought the pillow form today (yes, a pillow form. I am not doing my usual fiberfill.) I also purchased Vogue's Shawls, Too. It was on my Christmas List, but I don't think Mr. Honey got it for me. I can't find it on the shelves anyway, but I have a sneaky feeling that I do own it. (I mean, I now own two of them) I'll have to go back and check the post about the books I got for my birthday and Christmas. I hope I don't have it - except for the one I bought today - of course. I used my 40% coupon for it so I hope it's the only copy I have cuz then that would be quite a good deal!!

The Cushy Pillow

This is Amare and he is looking at my cushion. I don't think I've made a pillow quite this big and I must say I like it a great deal.

It's hard to believe we are about to leave this year and go into another one. I have lost friends and family this year and I have met new friends as well. Such is the cycle of life and we must all experience it.

The surprise of the year for me is how doing something like knitting can be a solitary and social thing. I hardly knit anything for myself and yet, make sure I knit every day because it has redemptive value for my soul. Through knitting I have made new friends in person and online (thanks to you all) and I have discovered a new way to serve my community and humanity.

I have also turned my house into a yarn barn...but that's a whole other entry.

So, I am looking forward to the new year with anticipation of where this craft/blessing/calling will take me. And I am curious to see where it will take you. There's inspiration out there and you have provided me with some. Knitting is art, music and sculpture all in one. We're lucky - you and I - to be possessed by it.

When Is an Afghan Not an Afghan.

Ok, so here's another pillow that started out as an afghan. I made about seven of these Aran cable squares and for whatever reason, didn't feel like finishing the remaining five squares I would need. So, I turned two of the squares into a pillow. Just like I did with the beach blanket. Unlike the beach blanket squares, the rest of the cable squares will go into an afghan. They are being used in Cai. Which I wanted to finish in time for the Ravelympics, but I won't be able to get it done -I'm just on the second of five strips. However, I am keen on finishing it as I am pulling stitch patterns from different sources to complete the 25 square afghan. The pillow will make its way to the November sale where it will sit with the beach blanket pillow. Hopefully someone will want to give it a nice home.

The Blanket That's Not a Blanket

So, when is a blanket not a blanket? When you make the squares and start to put them together and realize they don't match up well.
Then you're left with a handfull of 15x15 squares.

So, you pull out the old bag of fiberfill and make yourself some pillows. It's ok if the sides are slightly off because only one side really shows and when you want a little different look, you just change it to the other side. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it!)

These darling squares will now become funky pillows and they will be taken to the November Pancake Breakfast and Bazaar and they will go up for sale. I must say it probably isn't the best use of the yarn, but it is a use. I also have some cable aran squares that will make it to the pillow heap. They're supposed to be an afghan as well but what can one say?