Work space cleared. We aim to be productive.

A few weeks ago my sister came to town and took it upon herself to organize my craft room. Well, she offered and I took her up on it before she could change her mind. Here’s where I’d show you the evidence of the horrible, horrible mess at the beginning of the project in order for you to be amazed by the progress and the prettiness at the end. But those pictures have gone walk about (or maybe I burned them). So, instead I’m going to ask you to imagine a yarn/costume/fiber/bead/paper store had been attacked by terrible, terrible space monkeys*. 

Central to the problem of my craft room is storage. My great aunt gave me this fabulous wardrobe (sadly it does not lead to Narnia, but does have lots of yarn in it so a different sort of wonderland), but I couldn’t actually see where anything was. I also had clear plastic bins, clear plastic stackable drawers, and a wire frame elfa island – all of which were ugly and none of which were being used effectively. 

There's a lot of yarn here, but I can't find anything.  I should buy more yarn for my next project... wait.

My method up until now was pull all the bags out, pull all the yarn out of the bags, find that one ball I was looking for, then put all the yarn back in all the bags. This was also how I organized my art supplies, only they were in plastic bins. I didn’t always remember to put all the yarn, or paper, or pencils back… you see where the space monkeys come in. 

So after taking quite a few measurements of the wardrobe and a quick trip to the Container Store** we pulled everything out of the wardrobe and I started sorting.

 

Should I sort by fiber, color or thickness? Key question.

I decided that fiber/use was the way to organize. For example I’ve my hand-spun (for special TBD projects) in one place, the nice acrylics in a basket, the cotton of various colors and thicknesses in another, and wool in yet another. The blue denim yarn (too nice to toss, but what to do with 12 skeins?) goes in the basket on the top shelf, with the other random blue cotton I’ve acquired. When I find the project I need it for I’ll know where it is, but until then it won’t be in the way. 

Yarn organized so I can find what I'm looking for?! Brilliant!

Look, floor!

Look, more floor! And clothes on hangers, how novel!
My sister organized the closet, so I can't take credit for how awesome this looks.

For now, my craft room is done. There are still a few pieces that need cleaned up. My sister found a box full of paper and mementos not touched in probably five years. I want to finish organizing the closet so everything I regularly use is accessible. I'd like to get another bookcase. And I’ve still got a bag of yarn that’s ugly, scratchy acrylic that I’m having a hard time throwing away. 

I might need it. 

I mean, I don’t want to have to go out and BUY more construction-cone orange, dingy green, or eye-searing aqua. That would just be silly. Anyone need me to crochet a miniature life-preserver for them? Anyone? organization 

Next time: Steel and Steam, and Wildflowers. 

*Yes, I still miss Firefly. Just the other day I thought, “I’d love to see the second season of that… oh wait.” 

** After spending 6 hours online trying to figure out what would fit, the time spent at the Container Store was whittled down to a mere 3 hours.

Baby Shower and Drawings... not at the same time.

This past weekend I helped host a baby shower. The mommy to be was beautiful and glowing, the guests were lovely, and we had more than enough food. Party success! My co-hostess has already written an eloquent post, and you should read it there. She gave me way more credit than I deserve. And doesn’t mention all the reconnaissance she ran, finding a bunch of different possible venues, and dealing with the one we picked. She made sure we had tables, chairs, the linens, finding just the right plates (twice), made all the invitations… The girl is amazing. And she’s selling her stuff, you should check it out.

Other than party planning, I’ve been mostly just sketching. My knitting has taken a back seat, partly because it's so hot, and partly because I'd forgotten how much I love to draw and have thrown myself into it.

I took an Intro to Fashion Illustration class two weekends ago, and loved it! We worked on croquis (pronounced cro-key). It’s French for sketch, but used in English to mean the elongated figures that are used to show off clothing design.

The croquis are so different from how I’m used to sketching. They are elongated; a human being is about eight times the height of their head tall – croquis are at least nine. Also, croquis are drawn from point to point with straight lines (that you then go over and round out). I’m used to connecting circular shapes when drawing figures. Bottom line, my issue with croquis is that I am only drawing what is in my head, and I don’t have a real life model to look at if I get stuck. I know I’ll get better with practice, but I don’t want to spend time on the basics, I want to design now.

Fortunately Stephanie, who taught the class, handed out examples to use as bases, so we can create designs while we are still working on our own style. Her blog has examples of her work. I love her style of super elongated croquis, it makes the clothing pop. I’m looking forward to taking the second class in the series. It focuses on the skills needed to design knitwear. Right up my ally.

More like guidelines, really.

I’ve given up on writing the pattern (in the traditional sense) for the baby blanket that I designed. Instead, I've got some guidelines:
NOTE: What follows are the guidelines for how I made THIS blanket. Underneath I've written other guidelines should I do it again. You might want to check those before you cast on.

Cast on 102 stitches using the provisional method. (Even though the pattern calls for multiples of 4, plus 1. I added an extra stitch so that I could slip one on each side to make it easier to picking up stitches along the edge later.)
Knit using the center pattern Heatherbee's Honeycomb pattern for a lot of rows (probably 200).
Pick up stitches around the blanket such that you end up with 101 stitches on each side.
Knit 40 rounds, at the edges yo, knit, yo.
Ending with 181 stitches on each side. Don’t end at a corner. I ended 72 stitches in from the corner.

Cast on 17 stitches using the provisional method on a different needle. Knit the edging perpendicular to the blanket. For every one stitch on the blanket edge knit two rows of the edging.

WARNING THE FOLLOWING HAS NOT BEEN TESTED SINCE I WROTE IT OUT SO PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

The edging (based on No. 3. For Grace McGregor):
1 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
2 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
3 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 2
4 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
5 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k4, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 3
6 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
7 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 4
8 :bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
9 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k6, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
10:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
11:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k2
12:sl 1, p7, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
13:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k 3
14:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
15:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 4
16:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
17:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k4, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
18:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
19:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k6, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 2
20:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
21:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 12, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k3
22:sl1, p8, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
23:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 13, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k4
24:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
25:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 14, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
26:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
27:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 11, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k2
28:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
29:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 10, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k3
30:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
31:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 9, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k4
32:bind off 4, p 6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
33:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k8, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
34:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
35:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k7, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k2
36:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
37:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 8, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
38:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
39:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 9, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, k, yo, ssk, yo, k4
40:bind off 4, p 6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
41:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 10, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k1
42:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
43:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 11, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
44:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
45:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k13, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
46:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
47:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k12, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
48:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
49:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k11, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k
50:sl1, p6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
51:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k5, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
52:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
53:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
54:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
55:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
56:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
57:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k
58:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
59:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2to,yo, k2
60:sl1, p7, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
61:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 5, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
62:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
63:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 4, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
64:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
65:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k
66:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
67:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
68:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
69:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
70:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
71:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
72:bind off 4, p6,k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket

Except for the corners. I created a corner pattern to fit in with the edging.

SAME WARNING AS ABOVE.

The Corner pattern (based on No. 3. For Grace McGregor):
1 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
2 :sl 1, p 13, w/t, (you should have 3 sts on the right needle)
3 :sl 1, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
4 :sl1, p 15, w/t, (4 sts left on needle)
5 :sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k3
6 :sl 1, p 16, w/t
7 :sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k4
8 :bind off 4, k 14, w/t
9 :sl 1, p 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
10:sl1, p 13, w/t
11:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
12:sl 1, p 15, w/t
13:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k3
14:sl 1, p 16, w/t
15:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, yo, k, yo, k4
16:bind off 4, p 6, k, p 6 w/t
17:sl 1, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
18:sl1, p 13, w/t
19:sl1, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
20:sl1, p 16, pick up wrap and knit,
21:k, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
22:sl 1, p 16, pick up and knit,
23:k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
24:bind off 4, p 6, k, p 6, pick up and knit,
25:k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k,
26:sl1, p 13, pickup and k,
27:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
28:sl1, p 15, pick up and knit,
29:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
30:sl1, p 16, pickup and knit
31:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
32:bind off 4, p 13, pick up and knit
33:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k1
34:sl1, p 14, pick up and knit
35:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
36:sl1, p 15, pick up and knit,
37:yo, k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
38:sl1, p 17, yo, k2tog, k into blanket edge stitch,
39:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo,k4
40:bind off 4, p 5, k, p 7, yo, k2tog, purl into blanket

When I got back to where I started on the edging, I grafted the two ends together.

Then wash,

I like to use Soak, but any no rinse wool-wash will do.

block,

I got to use my blocking wires!

and take an artistic picture BEFORE you give it away. (It's really easy to forget the last part.)

I remembered to take this picture 15 minutes before I was supposed to give it away.

If I were to make this blanket again, I’d make the center square smaller and the stockinette part larger. I’d cast on 82 (20 repeats, plus 1, with an extra so that you can slip a stitch on each edge).
Knit the heatherbee’s honeycomb pattern for 160 rows.
Pick up 81 stitches per side, (a total of 324).
Increase using yo, k, yo on each corner until I got 181, 50 rounds, and do the edging pattern again.

I may eventually come up with charts. I've got them written out, but I haven't found the right charting program yet. If/when I should do so, then I'll think of a name for the pattern. For now it will just be "The baby blanket I designed."

I have decided to call the style: Modern Vintage. It is a style I'm interested in pursuing.

Instead...

I was going to finish writing up the bits of blanket pattern that I've talked about... But I went to this instead:

The Intergalactic Nemesis Book 2: Robot Planet Rising

I could do a poor job explaining it, or you could click on the link above where they'll explain it very well. It was playing at The Long Center, and the first book has toured at least 30 cities. It was fabulous, and if it comes to a town near you, you should jump at the chance to see it.

Extra pictures I took during intermission:

Sound effects table, and giant screen.

 

Microphone stands, where the voice actors would be.

  

The Age of Brass and Steam

I love this pattern.

 There are different kinds of knitters. There those are who knit to meditate, those who knit for the end product, and those who knit to learn a new process. There may be other types out there, but these are enough for our purposes. I'm a process knitter. I look at some knitting pattern and think “I want to make that.” The product knitters think “I want to have that.” I want to learn a new trick or technique with each new project. But I have found a pattern that I'm willing to make more than once. It’s The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief.

I was going on a trip and needed something simple to knit while talking to people. I ran across this pattern and thought it would suit my hand painted yarn. Trip knitting found. I cast on while on the flight there and bound off a few days later. It was as close to instant gratification as you get with knitting, not counting baby booties. So when, on a Tuesday, I realized I didn’t have a Mother’s day gift for that Sunday I bought pretty green skein of yarn and cast on. It was done and blocked by Saturday, but I’d blocked it crooked. So I reblocked it, and still had it done in time for Mother’s day.

It's fast, easy, but not boring. Perfect!

I’ve not blocked the hand painted one, yet. I’ve a while before I’ll see the friend for whom it’s intended. But, once I’ve given it away, I’ll be sure to post pictures.

I may end up knitting a bunch more of these. I’m so confused; I never want to make the same thing twice. Heck, I'm no stranger to the dreaded second sock syndrome (takes a week to make the first sock, takes a year to make the second, or maybe it never gets made). And now I’ve made two of these shawlettes and want to cast on another.

I think I have a bronze or silver colored yarn that would really bring out the steam punk inherent in the design. To the stash!

Dying to Dye

Instead of dyeing Easter eggs this year I thought I'd give yarn a try. I know, you're shocked. It was at Gauge, and taught by Doug from White Bear Fibers. I was rather excited about the class - there had been other yarn dyeing opportunities, but the timing had never worked out. I had taken the indigo class, but I hadn’t gotten to play with other colors. And so, when I learned I could bring my own yarn, I took time out of the baby blanket making (pictures coming) to spin up some white superwash merino. As with any crafting project that requires wearing rubber gloves, I was a bit sketchy on taking pictures.

The yarn has to be soaked in an acid bath* before you dye it.

What's in the buckets?

Spaghetti yarn!

The dyes are made up of very small particles that turn your lungs all sorts of different colors, and do nothing good for your health. So, Doug had an apprentice making up all the dyes for the class in a back room.

Dyerista?  No, no let's not call anybody that.

I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to make the dyes ourselves, but can’t argue much with safety. Not mixing the dyes meant that we could focus on color combinations and the different possible dyeing techniques.

The table before the dyeing.

Before the class I’d taken some pictures of the wildflowers as reference for a combination of colors for a skein.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any really good shots of the bluebells mixed in.

Hand painting was one of the techniques I wanted to try; I thought it would work best for the wildflower skein.

Almost finished. I added blue for the bluebonnets, even though they weren't in my photo.

If you are hand painting yarn, and using complimentary colors, you want to wrap up your yarn like a sausage. If the complementary colors mix, you get an icky brown - wrapping the yarn keeps the colors from touching.

Not the best lighting; the yarn is actually purple.

If your yarn colors aren't going to make an icky brown mess, then you don't need to wrap it.

Hand spun, hand dyed. Yeah, it's awesome.

Then you stick your bowl, or yarn sausage, in the microwave to set the dye. Use caution, people! According to Doug hot yarn is like hot noodles**, only worse.

Isn't this the coolest rack? When you are done you can slide the sticks back in for easy storage. The yarn is pretty cool too.

The yarns I dyed. Not that I'm proud of them at all. No sir, not me.

I love my wild flower yarn, especially after I reskeined it. It is not like anything I’d usually buy, but I can’t wait to knit it up. I’m dying to see how the color changes work together. I didn’t put as much planning into the other skeins. I dyed one in the dye and highlight technique. The other I dyed the dye and hand paint technique. Those turned out fine. I haven’t reskeined them, but I’m sure I’ll like them more once I do.

Of the three techniques, I preferred hand painting best. It took longer, and I had to remember to flip the skein, but I had more control.

Now the big question – what am I going to knit?

*No, Mr. Yarn, I expect you to dye.
**DH thinks Hot Noodles sounds like a J-pop band. I think of this NPR piece that has scared me away from ever eating instant cup o' noodles again.

The Knitting Nest (in Nevada)

We recently went skiing at Heavenly (a resort next to Lake Tahoe). 

It was well named.

While there, we just happened across* a cute little yarn store. There’s a Ravelry iPhone app called yarnphone; it’s been very helpful in discovering the nearest LYS. I do recommend calling the yarn stores first, as I don’t think the app is updated if a store closes down.

The store was a bit out of our way, on the Nevada side of the mountain.

It’s tucked in downstairs of a small, event venue. DH said the rest of the place was nice, I didn't make it that far.

The Knitting Nest, not to be confused with the one in Austin.

It was a two room little shop, but stuffed to the gills with all sorts of lovely yarn.

The view from the entrance.

The lady in the picture above is Lauren. She was sweet and helpful, even though we showed up 5 minutes before the shop was closing, in ski gear. 

I did not buy this book, because it was heavy and I didn’t want to weigh down my carry on. But, I will own it soon!

They had the required wall of needles. It included an afghan crochet hook that I snapped up.

There was a little book nook.

A spot to pick out patterns.

Look, shiny yarn. I love the cabled top.

Lauren had bought fiber for when she thought she was going to be spinning. She has been more focused on knitting, so was willing to sell me some.

I think this will spin up nicely. I had a hard time getting the right color.

Next time: Who needs eggs when you can dye yarn? 

*Read: I searched out and dragged DH and non-knitting friend with me.

Happy Mardi Gras!

I had a fabulous yoga session tonight. I'm wonderfully relaxed. And now DH and I are going out for pancakes!

Eating pancakes on Fat Tuesday is traditional because they are made up of all the tasty things people (used to) give up for Lent. No one I know, outside my immediate family, has ever heard of this tradition. When I tell people I'm having pancakes for Mardi Gras I get the weirdest looks. But! I've the Wikipedia article to back me up (I swear I didn't write it). So Kerbey Lane here we come!

I can't stop partying, partying...

Friday night we went downtown to see the Minor Mishap Marching Band. The doors were supposed to open at 9:30pm, Antone's didn't let us in until 10:30. Not a big deal, except that we were supposed to be at a different party at 11pm. So we didn’t get to see the band, but hanging out in the line was a lot of fun.

We left downtown to change into our superhero costumes, so didn’t make it to the party till midnight. We left early (3am), and then came home to crash. V&K spent the night, but we were asleep when they got in.

Saturday morning I ran around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. But I found my calm when I got to yoga just after 1. I basked in the calm for an hour and a half, and then returned home to hang with DH and V&K. Around 5 we decided it was time to eat. So we met up with some of the superheroes from the night before, and we all headed down to Driftwood to eat our weight in Barbeque at The Salt Lick. (If you haven't been you are missing out.)

On the way back we stopped in Goodwill so V could find a costume for the party that night. Then we headed home and zoned out, each in our own food coma. Once we shook off our stupor, we planned the rest of the evening. V&K would head to the costume party and DH and I would meet them up later as we had a previous engagement.

DH and I went to N’s to hang with some of our besties around a fire pit. Erin had made marshmallows (yes, she made them - they were delicious) and we roasted quite a few. I ate until I hurt, again. Then it was time to head over to that night’s costume party.

We got there a bit after midnight. The cops had already come and gone, so the bands were no longer playing outside. However, there were DJs inside spinning great music. I got my second (fourth) wind and danced till 2am.

Sunday I was sore; I hurt in places I haven’t hurt in years. So, aside from spinning and plying a bit, I did nothing productive. Most of the day was spent on the couch watching White Collar (my newest TV love). It was the perfect day for it - cold and dreary. I'm glad I had a day of down time to rest up for the week. I hope your weekend was as party-filled, or as chilled, as you wanted it to be.

Next time: Swatches!

Cunning hats.

Remember those Jayne hats I mentioned? Well, here they are minus pompoms.

They'd be more cunning if they had pompoms.

Should I ever decide to make a Jayne hat for myself this is absolutely the yarn I’m going to use for it.  (Lamb's Pride bulky in Autumn Harvest, Sunburst Gold and Rust.) It’s a perfect match, and it feels so much better than the acrylic* I used to make DH’s hat. Here’s a picture of his for comparison.

I'd make mine with a bigger pompom.

I made his in October of 2008. I really should get around to making one for myself.

If you are wondering what I'm talking about, check out this Firefly clip. And then go and watch the rest of the series. You're welcome.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. I’ve joined pinterest, and it’s proceeded to eat my brain.

*As long as you aren’t allergic to wool.

Next time: Getting back to my wheel, if my shoulder will allow.

In which we present a pattern.

First, here are some blurry pictures of the necklaces I made for friends for Christmas:

I took this with my phone right before a gave it away.

Same with this one.

I got the idea for these because I wanted to knit a couple of Chevettes, but I'd run out of time. So, I decided I could probably come up with something that was similar, only in crochet. And so the kind-of-like-Chevette-only-in-crochet was born. (It's a working title.)

This is my first official-like pattern. So, should you find any mistakes (and you probably will) please let me know.

Yarn: Not very important, I'd go with cotton for the choker part so it doesn't irritate the skin. For the pictures below I used this, but that's just what I happened to have near me at the time.
Hook: I used a G, but use whatever works with your yarn.

Choker:
Chain 5, sc in 3rd chain from hook, 2 sc, turn,
*Ch 2 (counts as first dc) skip first sc, 3 dc, turn
Ch 3 (counts as first tr) skip first dc, 3 tr, turn
Ch 1, skip 1, 3 sc, turn*

Repeat from * to * until long enough to just touch around your neck.
1 sl st, ch 7, sl st into the next stitch that is not a chain, fasten off. This will be your buttonhole.

If you have a button, sew it on to the other end and you are done with the choker part. If you are like me, and live in a button black hole, crochet your own thusly:

Magic loop, sc 4. 2 sc in each sc, (total of 8 sts)
sc, 2sc around, (total of 12 sts)
sc, dec around (total of 8 sts)
dec around (total of 4 sts)
dec around (total of 2 sts)
Fasten off.
You get something that looks like this:

I hope yours isn't as blurry as mine turned out.

Yes, it is kinda funky looking, not to worry. Take both the ends, thread them through a needle, and sew it on to the end of choker.  Weave the ends into the button.  You get this:

See? Much less blurry after you sew it on.

The choker, as modeled by two bottles of sparkling apple juice.

The flower:

Magic loop, sc 10, do not turn

Shell pattern:
Sc and hdc in the first stitch; dc, hdc, and sc in the next stitch.

Continue around until you get to the first shell. Sl st into the first shell, fasten off. Leave a 3 inch long tail.
 
Leaf (make two):
Chain 7, sc in 2nd chain from hook, hdc, dc, dc, hdc, sc. You should be back at the beginning. Turn,
chain 1, sc, hdc, dc, dc, hdc, sc, sl st, finish off.

Sew the leaves to the back of the flower.

Pretend there are two leaves here.

Find a button (I used a bead - button black hole, remember?), and sew it to the flower and two leaves. Then slip the button in any of the spaces created by the triple crochet, or double crochet depending on the size of your bead button.

There you go.

Tada!

Baby blanket pictures.

I know I promised the necklace pattern, but I needed to share this first. This past weekend I went to L's baby shower. So, now I can show you the pictures of the baby blanket I went on and on about before Christmas.

I wish you could feel how soft it is.

The pattern is Michelle's Baby Blanket. I used Berroco Vintage DK. I was really worried you wouldn't be able to tell that the fleur de lis were fleur de lis, but it blocked out beautifully. It is supposed to be washable*, so I didn't think it would block, but it worked.

See? It's a seed stitch fleur de lis.

I started this blanket August 15th, and finished it December 11th. And, now I'm off to finish cleaning up the necklace pattern from Christmas.


*I'm not going to give soon to be new parents anything that they have to hand wash.

Gingerbread! And lots of it.

The magic of the internet started working again. All hail the random gods of the internet. So you will now be subjected to many, many pictures of our gingerbread house.

Don't worry there's a bigger picture at the end.

How to make a gingerbread hobbit hole:

First assemble all your tools, preferably in someone else's much larger kitchen. (Thanks, Mom!)

Cover the board you are going to use to hold the completed house with parchment paper.

After having mixed the gingerbread the day before (it has to chill over night) roll it out on parchment paper.

Form the gingerbread to the bowl you've chosen as a mold. (You did grease it, right?)

Like so.

As it cooks, if you've made your gingerbread too thick, it will start to crack. Take it out of the oven and patch with not quite cooked gingerbread (try to keep from burning yourself), and then pop it back in.

We thought about greasing it, does that count? No?

Make another one.

And then a lot of work happens and you get to here:

Sorry for the blurry camera phone shot. I did the icicles.

I also made the shed and the shovel, all by myself. I'm quite proud.

Very proud, actually.

I think the trees are fabulous. I had no part in them.

The wood pile used to be a gate, but I may have broken it. Twice. (Sorry KW.)

And here it is again in all it's glory:

Next time: Christmas stuff I couldn't show you while I was working on it.