Day 21: Crochet Ornaments

These little beauties are quick to crochet, and look lovely on a tree.

Group a few together and you've got a fantastic gift.


Details:
Pattern Name(s): Drops Extra 0-571 (Heart); Drops Extra 0-585 (snow stars)
Pattern Designer(s): Drops Design
Pattern Source: Garnstudio/Drops Design
Yarn: Crochet thread -- I don't have the details as I don't have the labels
Hook(s): Size 5 and US C

Yarrow Blouse

Maybe you've heard that Knit Picks has released some e books.  I was fortunate to be able to work on one of the patterns.

I knit the Yarrow Blouse, in the Oregon Coast Heather colorway of Shadow. 

Yep, the entire sweater is knit in laceweight yarn.

The pattern combined some basic and lace knitting techniques with some basic crochet, for an end result that works very well with the e book it's published in.

Okay, I admit it, this pattern does not suit my personal aesthetic, but it is well designed, and for someone whose aesthetic it does suit, it is a lovely sweater.

As always, the yarn is soft and lovely.  The depth of color in this colorway was also surprising, and very pleasing, to me.  In addition to the light brown, there are also notes of pink, gray, and green.  The heathers that Knit Picks puts out are always so lovely, with a greater than expected depth.

It also looks like the other patterns in the American Prairie eBook are lovely as well.  And for the price, it looks like a good purchase. 

Oddball Baby Blanket

The other baby blanket we're working on is based on the Oddball Blanket concept. Each of us will knit or crochet for a certain number of inches in whatever pattern we want using a worsted weight yarn. I didn't have worsted, so I did a sport and a fingering held together.

First section of the Oddball Baby Blanket

I worked my section using the large basket weave pattern using Bernat Softee Baby in Baby Pink Marl and Patons Beehive Baby in Baby Blue (I'm using a fingering weight which has apparently been discontinued). Originally the plan was to do an all pink blanket, but I decided to add a strand of baby blue to complement the pink. Also, that actually made it more a worsted. I'm pleased with how it came out, and I'm certain that the recipient will love the concept behind the blanket, and be able to laugh about the color if she ends up having another boy.

Baby Squares

A couple of my friends are currently pregnant, and so a group of us are making blankets for them. Not the usual baby blanket size blankets, but twin size personal blankets that can grow with the children.

The first blanket we are all working in primary colors using Caron Simply Soft in Red, Lemonade, and Dark Country Blue. We are each making squares that are approx. 12", and one lovely woman has volunteered to attach them all together. I did two squares.

My first square, I decided, was an excellent opportunity to try my hand at entrelac. I'd always been intrigued by the look of the fabric, but a little hesitant to believe it was really as easy as everyone said it was. You know, everyone was right.

Primary colors entrelac square

This was a technique that I really enjoyed doing. I love the way the fabric looks, and I will definitely be doing another project that uses entrelac at some point.

My second block I decided to go with a geometric intarsia pattern that I designed.

geometric blocks square

It turned out to be colorful, bright, cheerful, bold, modern - and I love it. It was fun to watch it come together as I was knitting it, and I'm very pleased with the finished product. It also moved me to figure out how to knit backwards, since turning with 5 active bobbins of yarn was a bit of a tangling nightmare.

And speaking of tangling nightmares, look at the lovely work you get when your puppy decides to help you with your knitting:

We were NOT amused. I swear it took me 5 hours to get that mess undone. What's worse, I apparently didn't learn my lesson very well because while I was cleaning this up, I had left my knitting bag on the floor, and my puppy stole a second ball of yarn to play with.

*Sigh* Here's hoping I finally figured out that I need to keep ALL of the knitting out of the puppy's reach ALL of the time.

Tree of Life Afghan - Reloaded

The Knitwits have been working on a KAL for the Tree of Life Afghan by Nicky Epstein (Ravelry link). I had already made this (also a Ravelry link), and wasn't going to make it again, but circumstances arose that caused me to part with the original, so I joined in.

Lovely cabled twin trees and bobble flowers


I love the beauty (or according to some - barrenness) of the trees.


I added a crocheted edging instead of sticking to the pattern, as I had before, but this time I made it just a little bit lacey.

Lace edging detail

I love to cuddle under the blanket on a cold morning or winter's day.

The completed blanket

Too bad it's summer and 100ºF or more.

Ah well, it's only 6 months 'til I can really use it.

The yarn is Mary Maxim Starlette in Med. Willow that was left over from the original blanket. Which makes a different edging the only way to tell the two apart. Good thing I loved the first one so much.

October/November Projects

A bath puff, using Priscilla Hewitt's Cotton Bath Puff pattern, crocheted with Knit Picks CotLin in Kholrabi. The yarn was from the Georgian sampler, and is lovely. Knit Picks recommends this yarn for (among other things) making dish cloths. I think it is much nicer that the dish cloth cottons I have used, and would highly recommend it.

These were started in December of 2006. I got the pattern from a Christmas KAL on the Knitting Help forums. I knit them using (I think) Red Heart Super Saver yarn, and have had these knit up for over 1 1/2 years, but had never gotten around to stuffing them or adding any finishing details. So, I finally got around to finishing them. I sewed up the edges and stuffed them with polyfil, ordered some sterling silver beads from Artbeads and stitched them on, and made hangers by twisting together some of the leftover yarn and stitching them in. I am pleased with the way they came out though I don't have any plans for them yet. But having a present stash on hand is a good thing.

I also knitted the La Luz Eye Mask from handkint Holidays, worked on the MS4 stole and the Galveston shawl, started the (slightly modified) Viking Socks, and am crocheting a kippah that one of the members of our homeschool group commissioned. I'll post pics and details of these later.