1. Kim Werker’s latest, Crochet Me: THE BOOK, is coming out this fall! Check out those sweaters on the cover! And those stockings!
2. Amie at NexStitch has just released her latest pattern, the Hawaiian Motif Crochet Handbag. Be sure to read her blog post about the process and get a little peek at her pattern layout (it’s so very user-friendly!).
Stitch Diva pattern: Goddess, size large
Elann Peruvian Highland Silk, Celadon 2117
Wednesday night, I remeasured my gauge swatches and found that I get gauge with US #5 needles, so my concerns about drape have been alleviated. This is still not going to be as slinky as the Louet Opal called for in the pattern, which is fine by me. I didn’t use the tubular cast-on instructions from the pattern (I prefer to start with a crocheted chain provisional cast-on) and worked a few rows of the neckline pattern stitch and then packed up my commuter project bag:
Marked-up printout of pattern, scratch paper, pen, yarn, stitch markers, project on needles – must remember to add nail clippers
Thursday, I took the bus to work and it was wonderful. Air-conditioning that really works, no need to pay attention to the road, a fully-charged iPod (currently holding several podcasts worth of Car Talk, Fresh Air, and This American Life), and a knitting project. I was a little miffed at having to pause when it was time to transfer buses. After work, I knit on the bus to the dentist’s office ("healing beautifully") and knit in the waiting room. After running some errands and browsing the craft book section at the big-chain bookstore, I headed over to Mocha Java early so that I could get dinner out of the way before the Aloha Knitters meeting. And I knit some more, and continued to knit during the meeting, which is kind of unusual for me (I will drink lots of tea and chatter, yes, but knit?). I did put the knitting down to dive into the bag of sock yarn that Keohininani brought, and to squee over the maneki neko stitch markers Barb gave me in exchange for some yarn I’d given her (no good photos of those items yet). Vron spun up some pretty purple yarn on a pretty purple drop-spindle, and I kept knitting.
Today I knit some more on the way home (I drove to work but carpooled home because The Teen needed the car), and now I have…
…decided that it’s a good thing I’m not planning on wearing this until October. I’ve gotten through one ball of yarn so far and I’m currently about 1/4 of the way through the armhole shaping section.
Anapaulaoli pattern, "Owl Purse", purchased as a .pdf through her Etsy shop.
Yarns:
Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, Red Maple 87M2 (head and wings)
Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, Harvest Heather 0744 (eyes)
Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, Bisque 0201 (around the eyes)
Peace Fleece worsted weight, Antarctica White (body)
Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, Poppy 601 (beak)
Random yarn scraps used for the center of the eye. I thought I could maybe just embroider it, but it didn’t look right. I had only one black dome 3/8" button left at the time, but I bought more yesterday.
The pattern does not give specific yarn amounts. I’m guessing I used 50 – 60 yards of the Red Maple for the head and wings.
The zipper I dug out of my stash is almost the right length! If I make another one, I’ll skip another stitch or two so that the zipper will fit exactly. It’s one that I bought at Michael Levine’s when I was in LA (October 2005).
Looking at the photos of the back, I was thinking about adjusting the pattern to make smaller armholes. Then, while swatching, I was thinking about the wool/silk blend I chose and how it might be a little silly for me to have a sleeveless sweater in this blend. A better choice for a warm weather top would be something like bamboo, rayon, or cotton. It would also be nice to have something warm that would also be a little dressy. I was wearing my enormous hooded sweatshirt at the time (it’s been raining a lot and has been cool but not cold), and while a big baggy sweatshirt is fine for much of my life, it would be nice to have something I could wear going out. So, to make a warmer top (that would still be not too warm for Hawai’i) and not have to make alterations to the fit, I’m thinking about doing sleeves. 3/4 length at most. I’m debating as to whether the sleeves should be done as a tube, or split open on the top in keeping with the chiton-inspired look of the top. I could leave the sleeve tops open from the shoulder to the hem of the sleeve, possibly putting in decorative closures so the sleeves could be worn closed or open. I’ve ordered 5 more balls of yarn for it (I had to order more yarn for the NAOSS anyway…more on that later).
I’ve also been working on a second swatch using #3, #4, and #5 needles, to see if I get a drapier fabric that I like better. This will mean reworking the pattern if I do change the gauge. The fun never ends here!
I’m home today because I had some dental work done yesterday, and was prepared for more than what actually happened (I’m fine and even stopped taking the otc painkiller this morning). My most recent Elann order arrived today (the yarn for the Goddess sweater and the Not-An-Orenburg-Style-Scarf), but I realized I still have some money knocking around in my Paypal account, so I decided it was time for me to buy a couple of items I had favorited on Etsy – crochet patterns by anapaulaoli.
One of my sisters renewed my Interweave Knits subscription for my birthday, and IK gave her a free pattern. She finally got around to showing it to me:
photo: Interweave Press, Chris Hartlove
The Orenburg-Style Scarf by Susan Sternlieb. You can get the pattern as a free download from Interweave Knits (scroll down this page to Staff Scarves Fall 2004).
On Sunday I said NO. I am working on saying NO more often to my siblings. I said I would teach her to knit and she could knit her own scarf.
Her: "It’s so pretty! And it’s PINK!"
Me: I am NOT knitting that for you.
Her: "Pink!"
Me: You don’t need a scarf.
Her: "Business trip in April!"
Me: …[how does one explain to a muggle that I am NOT knitting her an Orenburg-Style Scarf in two weeks?]
On Monday, while purchasing yarn* for the Stitch Diva Goddess sweater, I may have had a wee yarn accident and somehow knocked 2 skeins of Elann Super Kydd yarn, color Pink Pearl, into my basket. Probably while I was reaching for the last two balls of Diamond Desire (75% silk, 25% cashmere) in charcoal and antique silver gray. Two skeins of Super Kydd is not enough for the Orenburg-Style Scarf! I CANNOT and WILL NOT knit the Orenburg-Style Scarf!
But I could totally knit Branching Out, or Arches & Columns, or Maple Leaves Lace, or Leaf and Acorn Lace, or I could crochet something lacy and fluffy, or…
^ see? see? it’s the same shade of pink, it’s a laceweight mohair blend, and it’s $4.48 for 259 yards, as compared to the Douceur et Soie
called for in the pattern, which is $11 for 225 yds. On the other
hand, Super Kydd is mohair/nylon, and Douceur et Soie is baby
mohair/silk.
*8 balls of Elann Peruvian Highland Silk in 2117 Celadon – $32, not bad for a sweater!
Norah Gaughan, author of Knitting Nature, became the Design Director for Berroco Yarns in the spring of 2006. In the same KnitBits newsletter that heralded her arrival, the free pattern was Brea, a knit handbag that has Norah’s design fingerprints all over it. 
photo: Berroco
Innovative construction (hexagons knit from the outside in), unusual cable design (see the lotus blossom?), yarn choice that shows off the cables to best advantage…a fabulous pattern to let Berroco fans know what caliber of pattern support to expect in the future. I’ve just spent a good chunk of time browsing through the free patterns and pattern previews on the site and I’m really liking the looks of things over there. I don’t think their core group of knitters/crocheters will feel abandoned – the direction is not dramatically different – but I think that Ms. Gaughan’s touch will bring new fans to Berroco. I hope this is a fruitful partnership, and I’m looking forward to seeing more.
More about Ms. Gaughan:
Q & A with Norah Gaughan, by Cindy Young Forrest
photo: Stitch Diva, Goddess
I am impatiently waiting for the charge to go through so that I can download the latest Stitch Diva pattern: Goddess. I am going to be late for work, and it’s not like I can cast on and start knitting it today anyway, so I know I’m being silly. I’ve already checked out what’s available at Elann for yarn I could use to knit this, and I’m liking the Peruvian Baby Silk and Baby Cashmere. I know the top looks quite baggy on the model, but I’m much broader in the chest and shoulders than she is and I’m also likely to make some changes to the pattern (I’m like that).
Susan Beal has just posted her instructions for how to turn a piece of felted sweater material into a Year of the Pig iPod cozy – it’s quick, simple, and she’s included step-by-step photos. Because she was inspired by the Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation Mobile Monsters pattern, you’ll see a family resemblance. I love the colors she used, and I may just have to felt a sweater to make my own!
For the annual Glitter scarf drive, I crocheted a One Skein Scarf (pattern in Stitch N’ Bitch Nation: The Happy Hooker). This is how much I did while waiting at the clinic so a doctor could shine a light into my left ear and say “Yep, that’s infected”:
I finished it up later that night.
I didn’t follow the pattern exactly; I didn’t have the book with me, but I’d crocheted one earlier this year and it’s a simple pattern. I wound up using a little bit more than one skein of Cascade Sierra. It helped pass the time and I had a couple of conversations with people in the waiting room; one woman was there with her pregnant daughter and was telling me about the baby blanket she was going to crochet for her grandbaby, and a man told me his wife used to crochet a lot before the arthritis set it, but now his daughters crochet and recently made them a beautiful afghan.
My ear is fine now, btw – this was all weeks ago and the infection has cleared right up. I tell you, I know why kids with earaches are so cranky! It felt like half my head was a giant zit!
