how the CAL will work

May 21, 2013 by 17 Comments

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to give some specifics on how the crochet-along will go down, since we’re only 11 days away!

Firstly, to give good instructions and make sure everything is just right, I’m going to be a week ahead of everyone else.  I didn’t want to do it that way, but it works best since there’s no written pattern yet.  This way I can show you exactly how to do what I’ve done by posting instructions and pictures.  Also, since the blanket will be made up as we go along, that will give me the chance to make sure everything is just right before passing it on to you!

And, as you know, this is the yarn I will be using:

my yarn

my paletteIt’s Stylecraft Special DK, a soft acrylic yarn.  I will be using an H/8/5mm hook with it.  The pattern will be the same for everyone, regardless of your yarn choice or hook size or blanket size, because I’ve done the maths correctly and the beginnings and ends of all of our rows will be exactly the same!

I’ve decided to make a throw blanket 50″ or 127cm wide and about 76″ or 193cm long.  That’s basically the size of a twin/single bed blanket, just not quite as long.  Check out the chart on this site to see standard mattress and blanket measurements for all mattress sizes.

There  will be a weekly post with instructions for the next few rows sometime every Saturday (beginning on June 1).  Most of you were happy to do even more than 6 rows a week, but a few people won’t have quite the time for so many (especially those making very large blankets), so we’re going to go for just 4 to 6 a week (depending on the pattern).  The weeks with difficult stitches will have fewer rows, at least at first.  If that is too fast for you for any reason, please go at your own pace!  I don’t want to rush anyone and the instructions will still be there in the CAL category for you whenever you find the time.  In fact, when the CAL is over, I will compile all the posts with the instructions and pictures into one permanent pattern page that will be available in the menu bar for easy access.

Is there anything I’ve forgotten to mention?  Any questions you have?  Oh, I’m so excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

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buttons, the CAL, and more

May 15, 2013 by 21 Comments

I haven’t been working on any projects this week other than tidying up the apartment.  It’s gotten SO BAD — I’d be embarrassed to have people over.  With tidying comes yarn organizing, too, of course.

giveaway binThis new bin is full of projects to give away.  It’s full but can be squished down to add more.  Now that these items are in this bin and not in my yarn drawers, I have room in the drawers for the yarn that’s been in bags on the floor.  Now I just need a place for this bin…

 

 

 

As you might also not be able to see if you’re using your phone, the countdown widget says we have 17 days to go until we start the CAL!  I hope you’ve ordered any yarn that needs to be shipped to you by now, just to make sure you get it in time!  This is very exciting, and I’m 95% sure I’ll be making a throw sized blanket.  This way I’ll actually have a blanket for my couch that isn’t super-huge, and I’ll have extra yarn for any other projects I might want to make later.  If you’re planning on making a bigger blanket, never fear — we’ll still only be going a small number of rows per week.

That’s a good question to ask you all, actually.  How many rows would you like to do per week?  It’ll obviously have to be more than 1 if we want to finish any time this year, but I hesitate to go over 6 since I know some of you will be making bigger blankets and that will take more time.  6 would mean you could just work 1 row a day and have 1 day off each week, if that makes it easier.  What do you think would be a good number?  I’ll try to average your responses so that everybody is at least comfortable.

There are more topics to write about but this post is long enough, so they’ll have to wait.  Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you check out some of those button links!  And don’t forget to let me know how many rows you want to do per week!

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a new app and some projects

May 10, 2013 by 4 Comments

the app

For those knitters with iPhones (and maybe other smartphones too), there is an app that takes your specific measurements, yarn, preferred design elements, and gauge and comes up with a customized raglan sweater pattern.  Here are some screenshots from my phone:

raglanify screenshots

Pretty neat, huh?  It’s a lot of information to put in, sure, but I bet it would be worth it for a perfect fitting sweater!  The app, “Raglanify,” is $0.99 in the app store, which is great for what it does, I think.

the new project

After thinking about my last post, wondering whether or not to attempt the Wonder Woman sweater (which I would alter), I decided against it.  Can’t afford the yarn right now in anything but acrylic (and I don’t want an acrylic sweater), and our CAL is coming up so I’ll be plenty busy without a sweater!  However, I do happen to have some rather patriotic themed yarn in my stash:

spaceinvadersyarnMan, it’s hard to get good  coloring in my pictures lately!  I swear that’s navy in the back, and a true red as well.  This is Berroco Vintage, a worsted wool blend that has been gracing my stash for years.  THIS is what I’d make a sweater with, but that would be expensive.  Anyway, instead of a sweater, I’m going to use this yarn to make a few hats with the space invaders pattern by Arne & Carlos that I also mentioned in my last post.  Wish me luck — they’re for some boys with large heads (literally) and since my head is small, the size will be a guesstimate.

the finished project

And speaking of Arne & Carlos, I made the first Christmas ball in the book:

ornament1*sigh*  It’s a real red, not magenta.  Cute though, right?  I plan on going through the whole book, making almost all of them (some are a little weird, like the outhouse one, but I’ll definitely be making the pig one, hehe).  These will be Christmas presents and I can’t wait to give them away!  I’m thinking of getting some cigar boxes and wrapping them in pretty contact paper, then putting 4 (maybe 6) ornaments inside.  The ornaments are a bit large, though, so I might have to think of another solution… I can’t remember exactly how large cigar boxes are.  Anyway, the ball is a bit lumpy, and I’m not sure why.  I tried to leave plenty of give in the stranding on the back to keep it from puckering, so it’s probably uneven stuffing.  Next time I’ll try smaller bits of stuffing instead of using a few big pieces.  That should help, right?

other stuff…

On another topic, I’m going to Pineville/Charlotte tomorrow to apply for jobs at a couple of malls.  I’m getting no bites for counseling positions, and I’m still refusing to apply to anything that involves doing intensive in-home work (that’s where you go to a kid’s house by yourself and try to counsel them there with their family and pets and TVs and bugs and nasty smells all around you the whole time).  Doesn’t sound fun or safe or very effective.  Tomorrow I’ll be certain to hit up Aerie, Barnes & Noble, and Sephora, amongst other stores, and maybe even a few at the fancy-pants mall where all the rich people shop.  Hmmm…  If I apply at the frozen yogurt place do you think I’ll get free yummies?  Hehe.

I’ve started reading “A Game of Thrones” again.  Last time I only got a few chapters in and all the characters got so confusing that I put down the book in frustration.  After marathoning the whole 2 1/2 seasons of the TV show in 4 days, I understand and am going back to read the book.  It’s weird knowing the ending already.  After watching the first episode on TV, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue, to be honest — it’s an HBO show and therefore full of very explicit things — but following through I found that the story is very good.  I can thank Yoona for inspiring me to give it another go… it might have been due to all those good looking guys she mentioned.  Now I’m obsessed too.

Well that’s all for today — this post is long!  Thanks for stopping by!

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my CAL yarn

May 8, 2013 by 17 Comments

My CAL yarn came in the other day!

my yarn

 

There are more skeins than this but this represents every color I purchased.  The colors are a little off in the picture as well — the hot pink at the top is actually not that “hot,” and the red doesn’t glow like that, haha.  Anyway, here’s the way I keep track of colors:

my palette

 

You can see that I marked the Pale Rose shade as the border shade, just so I don’t forget and accidentally use it for a stripe or something (I only got 1 skein of it, and 2 of all the others).  In this photo, the apricot and candyfloss colors are a little duller than they actually are in real life.  With these little tags it’s easy to keep track of how many times I’ve used each color (I put the tag to the side when I’ve used the color in the blanket so that I use every color once before using any color again).

So, participants, have you been practicing any difficult stitches?  Have you received your yarn?  I can’t wait to get started!

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finished just in time

May 7, 2013 by 22 Comments

In my last post I told you that I was making a cowl for a friend visiting from England, but that there were only 3 days in which to make it.  The deadline was met!

cowl1

Yep, I finished it in the car on the way to see her.  It’s not as thick as I would have liked but I simply ran out of time.  Good thing I used the crocheted linen stitch instead of trying to do the knit linen stitch, which would have taken much longer!

cowl5

 

Since the strips of color in the yarn weren’t very long, it looks more like a rainbow camouflage than I had hoped, but it is still very pretty and my friend loved it!

And, since she’s from England, my chef boyfriend Chris decided to do a Southern dinner for her!  We started off with mini crab cakes with jumbo lump crab meat and a dill sauce (no picture for those).  Then we had a low country boil.  Now I should explain a bit about this Southern tradition:  the low country boil is, I believe, unique to the coastal area (aka “low country”) of South Carolina and traditionally includes corn, red potatoes, some kind of sausage, and shrimp.  These ingredients are all boiled together in one pot (often outdoors over a propane burner) with bay leaves or bay seasoning of some sort, strained, and then dumped right onto the PVC coated table cloth.  Well, we did ours inside and didn’t dump everything on the table, but here’s what it looks like (after 6 servings have been taken out):

low country boil

 

It’s a messy meal because the shrimp aren’t peeled yet and you eat everything with your fingers, but it’s very, very tasty!  Chris also made some homemade butter (with some herbs I can’t remember mixed in) for the corn and potatoes.

Then he made dessert: mini apple pie tarts!  But these were no ordinary tarts: the crust was puff pastry, the apple pie mixture was fresh apples, apple sauce, and bourbon, and there were two unusual additions.  A baked cheese cracker was added, along with candied bacon that Chris made his own rub for.  It was AMAZING:

bacon apple tart

 

I must say it looked better in real life — you know, I’m sure, that it’s hard to photograph food.  But it was very delicious and I was so proud of Chris!  Everyone loved all of it!

Hopefully we’ll get to see our visiting friend again before she leaves, but she’s headed to the mountains for a few days with the person she’s staying with, so we’ll see.

Well, that’s all for today.  There’s another post lined up but it can wait until later tonight/tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

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