I blabbed to everyone that I was learning to knit. It was going to be a practice piece. I will swear on a stack of bibles that it is riddled with mistakes. But I kept slogging along, and it became a little easier each time I picked it up.
Then before you know it I couldn't put it down. There was a certain rhythm to it. And it didn't seem to take a lot of effort to 'make fabric'. I was working on it in the yarn group on Wednesday's. Then going to work on the bus. Then on the bus home from work. Then instead of reading before going to bed. On an airplane. In cars. Instead of blogging. It was crazy.
Somewhere along the way, the Sweetie decided he liked it. He didn't have to. After all it was a practice piece. Full of errors. So a scarf for Sweetie it became. I didn't finish in time for his birthday, but within a couple of days.
I thought it might go nicely with this knit jacket he already owns.
Eco Duo is an undyed variegated yarn. The colors are in longer runs than dyed yarns which provided for nice wide stripes fading into one another.
Of course, it is alpaca. It has a lovely drape. Perfect for this project. And super soft.
I gave it to the Sweetie right after I finished weaving in the ends. He wore it around the house for about an hour - in June. Must be true love... or extra points in heaven.
I took this off the blocking board a couple days ago. All I needed was some great pictures. Alas, it has been gray and rainy all week. It looks like the kind of weather where a person might still need a warm scarf like this.
All around town the purple leaved plums are blooming. They come out before the cherry trees. The blooms are pink, the new leaves starting to come out out a dark, dark, purple, and the sky in Seattle is gray. Perhaps this is the perfect scarf for this time of year!
The little flower. It's it sweet?
The larger flowers.
I think it turned out very nicely. Very soft and snuggly.
I am so happy! I finally have pictures of the finished scarf! I posted them to Ravelry - which is an awesome site for all sorts of yarney people - but, alas, not here, yet.
The colors remind me of the water in Puget Sound, reflecting the grayish overtones of our winter skies in the Northwest. Not like the bright colors of the ocean in Hawaii, but lovely nonetheless.
I took it off the blocking board yesterday.
More about the blocking board... People use all sorts of methods to block finished yarney projects. I was one of them. I have pinned items to the carpet - not really carpet - area rugs. To towels on on the carpet. Lots of ways. Yarney projects take up a lot of real estate on the floor. For a long time. There's the walking around them. Vacuuming beforehand (y'all know of my love affair with vacuuming - not!).
The Sweetie is very particular about our hardwood floors which live under the area rugs. It was going to be a matter of time, before he saw me spraying water on a rug and give me the raised eyebrow whammy. Now, he is not in charge of me. Although he thinks he is. But I know when I am treading on a hot button point. We have been together for a long time and I have discovered a few along the way. We all have them (my list is long). And the floor, for whatever reason, is one of his. For me, it's cats on the kitchen counters - yuck! Love 'em, but not on the counters.
Enough ramblin'...
So, I broke down and bought a real blocking board. Yes, I know... they are not inexpensive. Quite the opposite is true. But I gotta tell you, I love it. It has grid lines (which is great for the mohair granny square project currently on the board. Pins stay put. It's portable. I can put the board, complete with attached project on a bed (not when people are in bed, of course), so it's up, off the floor. It folds away into a closet when not it use. I love it. I picked it up at my favorite yarn store with a gift certificate I received for my birthday. Super duper happy.
Oops, more rambling... The kidlet comes home for Spring Break this evening. That means I lose my office/project room and it becomes a guest room for a week. But it will be very nice to see him again. It's been since Christmas break. He's not a great communicator, so we have only heard from him a couple times since he's been back to school. We've loaded up the fridge so I think we are ready (I can hear the floor joists groaning under the weight). Now if he would only tell us if we need to pick him up at the train station or if he has a ride...
I've blogged about finishing my Japanese Flower Scarf while I was away. I could have taken pictures of it while we were in Maui but alpaca and sandy beaches just didn't seem to go together very well.
I could have taken pictures over the weekend, but it poured rain and the lighting seemed dark. Today while it was raining, I took a quick break and decided to block it. Even with all the pins it looks so much better.
So what do you think happens? The clouds clear late afternoon, early evening and the sun comes out. I mean the real sun. The kind that leaves shadows. The kind that feels warm on your skin. D'oh! I could have blocked it over the weekend when it was yucky and I would've been ready to capture the perfect pic when the sun peaked out. We will all just have to wait I guess.
When I finished the blue one, I started another. This time in grey, dusty pink, and dusty purple. Same delish alpaca yarn. It is a super fun pattern and comes together so quickly.
I decided on a different layout for this one. Instead of nesting the flowers together I placed them side by side. Which leaves a good sized hole in the center of each 4 flower grouping. I filled the hole with another smaller, layered flower. And if I don't say so myself, I think it's pretty darn cute.
Here's a close up of the little flower. Pretty and sweet.
And the bigger flower. This will definitely need to be blocked, but right now it is relaxed, drapey goodness. I have been much better about weaving in the tails as I go. It looks much cleaner as I work on it and the task at the end is only a few ends rather than what feels like a gazillion.
And the Unusually Helpful Helper - Max. Helping.
Max thinks yarn is the best thing... ever. See how helpful he is?
With all of this help I decided to wrap up the photo session a little early. I went into my office/guest room/project room to download my new pics. And my Unusually Helpful Helper decides to lie on the un-pinned portion of the blue scarf!
Dude! You've already had loads of pets and snuggles today.
Thank goodness I am not paying for this kind of assistance.
There's a cute crochet pattern that's recently caught fire with the crochet crowd. It's been around for awhile, but you know how it is. A couple of key people catch wind and suddenly there's a buzz.
Awhile back I was in the fabric store looking for small sharp scissors for applique work. I know, I can't understand why I didn't have any either. My small scissors have the rounded ends of children's safety scissors. Great for cutting thread and yarn ends but not much else.
Anyhoo, the store had a yarn section so I thought I would do a quick tour. I mean, just you never know.
Buying yarn is a tactile thing for me. It must be soft. Most wool is itchy to me, even merino. I lean toward silk, alpaca, mohair, cashmere blends. I'm a huge natural fibers fan when it comes to yarn. I try to avoid acrylics and stuff like that. Odd really, considering the amount of fleece we wear in our house, which is about a unnatural as you can get.
So there I am, wandering through the couple isles, touching yarns that have promise and I find it. Debbie Bliss Andes. An alpaca, mulberry silk blend. Oh my gosh. It was so soft I rubbed it against my cheek. Oh my gosh it felt good. Oops I already said that. I just had to have it. So I bought a few skeins. No project in mind. Just to add to my stash. Just in case. Something might just come along. Just sayin'.
Later I am wasting time in blog land and I find these gorgeous images on the Attic 24 site. Lucy had found a fabulous pattern using the same yarn I had purchased. I love her stuff although our color palette is very different. There it was. I had a project. Me and about a million other people on Ravelry.
Oh wait, I already have a couple of crochet projects in the works. I had intended to finish those up first. I work a little on weaving in the ends on a purple scarf - that's all that remains on that project. And I work on the mohair scarf project for awhile. And I work on some quilts.
When I run low on the white mohair, I head to my go-to yarn shop, Acorn Street Shop. They have Debbie Bliss in different colors. I pick up a few more to add to my stash. When I get home I start playing around with color combinations. Before you know it I am off to the races with my newest project.
Here's the name of the book where the pattern can be found: MOTIF BOOK VOL 4 - Japanese Crochet Book, which can be found on eBay and Esty sites. It's in Japanese, but if you can read crochet diagrams you will be on your way in no time. In my opinion (like noses, everybody has one) diagrams are easier to follow than the crochet shorthand and abbreviations found in most crochet patterns.
The pattern works up very quickly. Especially the first two colors. The image is in focus, it's just a soft, fuzzy yarn, with a beautiful sheen.
I also found some tutorials on something called the Magic Circle, which eliminates the donut hole in the very center of the project. It's easy and super cool. Love this tutorial.
The third color takes a little longer, but you connect the flowers as you go so there won't be a big project at the end. I've also tried to be better about weaving in the ends as I go.
I hope to be able to show the finished project soon. I have added considerably to the length since I began the project a couple of evenings ago.
