yarns and musings

Musings, but no yarn

2012-03-05T13:52:00.002-05:00

I've been telling myself since last week to get this blog post done, had it written up in my head, but just sitting down and actually doing it, that is another story. You see, I haven't been doing much crocheting, which is mainly what this site is about. Well, that and other fiber arts, but mainly about crocheting. The reason I haven't blogged is because, well for me, January and February are

I should be designing, but ...

2012-01-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

I should be sketching, working out the pattern and reading up on Modular Crochet, however, I'm not. One good thing, as of yesterday, I changed the whole design in my head and am geared up to writing and working it out. Here's my problem; I joined Pinterest. Before that, I bought this terrific pattern I wanted to make as a gift for someone for Christmas, but never got to it and I want to make

The Anatomy of a Crocheted Felted Hat

2011-12-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

How many of you have felted or fulled (and why do these terms confuse me so?) an item? The pattern I bought from Fiber Trends calls it a Crocheted Felt hat, yet other have said when you felt wool, it's fulled. In any case, felting is a bit of a fun way to play around with wool and also make a wonderful fabric using crocheting or knitting. As you may know, I haven't been crocheting much,

2011-12-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

Some fiber art, but not with a hook

2011-12-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

Again, I admit, I haven't been hooking much, although I did make a few chemo caps, have two bigger project queue. From not crocheting much, one of the projects I did, using a large hook/bulk yarn (My chunky winter brimmed hat)and hurt my hand and ended up wearing a support brace for a few days. My punishment for abandoning the hook! However, I have been doing other fiber arts. My latest phase

Let's talk pattern writing, multiples and yarns substitiution/hook changes

2011-11-06T15:40:00.002-05:00

This morning when I woke up and logged online, I was startled to see how many "hits" my site had already and tracked it back to Craftsy.com and my Bubbles Blanket. The person who posted it did link it to my site, but kinda (IMHO) made it seem like her design, but that's neither here nor there. The pattern is available for quick download right at the top bar of this post and it will open to a

I DO have a blog, but have been remiss in actually blogging-MY CHALLENGE TO YOU

2011-10-12T09:45:00.004-04:00

(Sigh) I received an email today from Vik. It was the sweetest scolding I ever received. "Where ARE you?" was basically what it said. She also went on to tell me she was sure I was still creating and unfortunately, that part was wrong. As my last post mentioned, I really lost my "ummph", but with winter around the corner, I wanna get it back and add more to my repertoire. Andy wrote two

Long time, no blog

2011-09-05T13:33:00.001-04:00

I apologize for promising to blog more and then not, but now that school will be starting tomorrow and all our summer activities are coming to a screeching halt, I will be back to some crafting and definitely blogging again. Besides, I have become addicted to my Kindle and have been reading so much lately, which is handy on the beach! Things I plan to do: Sun dye wool roving, tie-dye silk

"Forced" back into crafting fully inspired

2011-07-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

I admit, I've been a slacker. I haven't do anything, and I do mean anything fiber related or even craft related since I finished the pattern for Hippie Chick Shawl (and a shout out to KnitPicks for putting the pattern in their catalog for July/August-sales are booming). I really thought I would get into the rug hooking, find some great projects to do this summer, but apparently I burned out.

Blog subscriptions now available through your Kindle Reader

2011-07-21T09:52:00.001-04:00

Link to subscribe Amazon and Kindle are offering, through a BETA program, for people to be able to get various blog subscriptions delivered wirelessly via Amazon Whispernetand updated throughout the day to their Kindles for a monthly subscription fee. Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when you're not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which

Hookin' Up Project: - Crazy Crochet Blog

2011-07-14T07:00:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Kathryn, author of the blog Crochet Concupiscence for taking having the initiative and creating the Hookin' Up Crochet Blog Project. Since Facebook has become so popular, blogging seems to have been tossed to the sidelines, yet there are so many great blogs out there, but how do you find them? Kathryn decided to dedicate July as Hookin' Up month and everyday someone will post about

And the winner is.......HEIKE

2011-07-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

Using the random number generator from Random.org, comment number 1 was the winner, Heike! by Marie-Noelle Bayard (click link to take you to Amazon page) I'll contact you through Ravelry for your info to forward to Tara of Soho Publishing! Congrats!

BOOK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY- "Crochet! Techniques•Stitches•Patterns"

2011-06-28T22:34:00.003-04:00

When Tara from Soho Publishing (aka Sixth & Spring Books) asked if I would do a review on the book, I was thrilled. Then she offered a blog giveaway and she will personally send a copy to the winner. I love crochet reference books and admittedly can't resist any of the really good ones. Well, in my opinion, this is a REALLY "MUST HAVE" reference book. by Marie-Noelle Bayard (click link to

"Little Crochet-Modern Designs for babies and toddlers"-BOOK REVIEW

2011-06-16T11:32:00.000-04:00

Little Crochet: Modern Designs for Babies and Toddlers by Linda Permann is a book that anyone who crochets for babies and toddlers will love. Let me say first off, there aren't many patterns out their for boys for those of us who crochet, but Linda made sure to include plenty for boys, as well as little girls. There are several sections in this book broken down by "Getting started" with a

Holy Toledo!

2011-05-06T16:03:00.000-04:00

On Ravelry, on average, the Bubbles Baby Blanket gets about 10 downloads daily for the pattern. Some days much more and other days less, but at least a few each day, hence I averaged it out to about 10 a day. On Thursday, April 28th there were 48!?! Is there a CAL I don't know about????? This doesn't include the ones from CPC and this site...someone clue me in (if you know) because I'd love to

Hippie Chick Shawl now available at Knit Picks

2011-04-28T18:50:00.002-04:00

Yay, finally the Hippie Chick Shawl pattern is available on the Knit Picks website and available for download for $2.99. Just click one of the pictures of it on the sidebar to take you right to their site and the pattern. They are also selling the complete kit including the pattern and choice of yarn colorway in the Chroma worsted. Perfect for every tree-hugging, peace-loving hippie chick.

Hippie Chick Shawl now available

2011-04-25T22:18:00.007-04:00

The Hippie Chick Shawl is now available on Ravelry. It won't be up on Knit Picks until at least mid-May (ETA-it's up now!), so I uploaded it to Ravelry tonight. I adore the colorways of Knit Picks Chroma yarn and this is a pattern I have wanted to do for so long and was thrilled when Knit Picks came out with the Chroma (which made it much more affordable than using Noro Kureyon). I'll have it

Voila! Crocheted Felted Hat

2011-04-20T16:51:00.001-04:00

I felted it, decided not to wait. Lesson learned: I initially felted it, in a lingerie bag, on normal cycle with heavy duty spin and hot water with soap. I tossed an old pair of jeans in for agitation. I took it out and it was still a bit big (IMHO) and the rim didn't turn up enough (amazing how the brim made itself), so I tossed it back in on quick cycle and hot water, no added soap. Now it

Metamorphis or Will the hat felt down to the correct size?

2011-04-20T12:51:00.001-04:00

I started this hat a few weeks ago and it started like this: Well, I finished up the hat today and it looks like this: Mind you, I haven't felted it yet. It is enormous. So big, when I put it on my head, the brim is on my shoulders. I didn't use heavy worsted, as the pattern suggested, but medium worsted and was right on gauge. I did use Patons SWS in Crimson and am curious how much it will

1,500 posts

2011-04-07T19:45:00.000-04:00

I just realized my last post was post 1,500 (which makes this post 1,501)-I signed in to find pictures of something and realized it tonight. That Knit and Crochet blog week worked, I have officially done a blog post for today, which counts as blogging more often and so what if it is a tidbit of useless information, at least I blogged!

Crochet/Fiber time [2KCBWDAY7]

2011-04-03T16:33:00.002-04:00

After not blogging on the regular basis, I have to admit, this was a tough week. Maybe in part it is because I had specific topics I adhered to as part of Eskimimi Knits 2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. I do want to thank her for hosting this, as it allowed me to find new bloggers and new bloggers found me. THANK YOU. I will try to blog more often, will not be daily, but will try to

Something to aspire to [2KCBWDAY6]

2011-04-02T15:30:00.000-04:00

Today's post is about a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope of tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Crochet wise: Two words TAPESTRY CROCHET. Call it what you will; intarsia, fair isle, whatever. Carol Ventura is the Master of this

Experimental Blogging Day [2KCBWDAY5]

2011-04-01T09:04:00.002-04:00

The point behind this post is to get people thinking about using their blogs in different ways and pushing the boundaries of what they use their blogging platform for. But trying to find it,

Where are they now? [2KCBWDAY4]

2011-03-31T11:14:00.000-04:00

This is about the fate of past projects? Where are they now? So many projects I completely forget about even making. I rarely make anything for myself. A lot of times I make items just for the sake of making them and trying a pattern-sometimes I am happy, other times disappointed and happy I didn't spend the $120 in yarn the original pattern called for. I had to go through my Ravelry

Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches [2KCBKDAY3]

2011-03-30T09:34:00.005-04:00

In a word, ORGANIZATION. I love when I peruse blogs and see the rooms with the tidy little shelves like in yarn stores, all yarn tagged, arranged by weight, color, fiber content. Please, if I had room and time for that, nothing would ever get done. I did, however, go out and get baskets to try to organize the area where I crochet. I do have a favorite chair, Ott lite set up for darker yarn,