crochet clamshell blanket: begin!

April 7, 2015 by 13 Comments

Finally, something crochet to share with you!  I’ve started a blanket using the clamshell tutorial from Cherry Hart (click here for free pattern).  This has been on the to-do list literally for years!

clamshell blanket beginnings
So far, so good.  I changed a couple things in the pattern: I did a foundation sc rather than a chain and row of sc, and I’m using a different stitch when the pattern says to ch 3 at the beginning of a row, just to make it look neater.  The pattern is not hard to memorize and is easy to work.

Here’s the color palette I’m working with:
clamshell blanket palette
It’s KnitPicks’ Brava Sport yarn, which is really soft. I think the dark purple will be for a border.

Well that’s all for now.  There’ll be an update soon!  Thanks for stopping by!

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book review: “Easter Knits” by Arne & Carlos

April 4, 2015 by 1 Comment

arne & carlos easter knits book review

This book has been on my shelf for a while, and the eggs aren’t newly made, either.  There’s a post about them from over a year ago, but I wanted to revisit this book in the spirit of Easter!

Inside, there are patterns for a variety of eggs, balls, and bunny plushies, all of which are adorable, and none of them look TOO difficult to make.  The patterns are clear and include easy-to-follow charts.  Once you get the basic structure of the eggs and balls down, you could even invent your own colorwork patterns if you’re feeling adventurous!

Working on DPNs can be a pain and some people avoid them at all costs, but these were easier than other things I’ve used DPNs for, somehow.  The eggs worked up relatively quickly, considering the ungainly nature of DPNs.  I suppose you could use the magic loop method if you wanted to use circulars instead.

Easter Knits by Arne & Carlos book review

I used DK weight acrylic yarn, but I’m sure you could adapt the patterns to make bigger or smaller eggs if you so desire.  An easter egg/ball cushion would be really cool!

Do a Google search for “Arne & Carlos” and you’ll come up with a few places to purchase this book (as well as their other books, which are also great!), so the price may be different depending on what country you’re in, but it’s not gonna break the bank.  I recommend it!

Thanks for stopping by!  I have some crochet stuff coming up, I promise!  The yarn for a couple of projects is in the mail headed to me right now!

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Star Anise hat ta-da!

March 28, 2015 by 4 Comments

Not quite like I expected but I’m happy.

Star Anise knit hat

This was made with 131 yards of Arroyo yarn by Malabrigo (100% merino, sport weight) in the Coffee Toffee colorway, which is one of those colors that’s oddly difficult to photograph accurately.  The yarn is so soft — I’d had it forever and forgotten about it, and I love it!  Have to get some more sometime.

Despite my love of the yarn, the needles called for (US 3 & 4) were not quite right — my hat is not slouchy or loose at all like the ones in the pictures on the pattern page.  Of course, maybe that’s my fault — I could have been knitting way too tightly, and I didn’t make a gauge swatch.  Even so, I like the hat:

Star Anise hatIt turns out it’s hard to take pictures of the top of your own head.  Well, the KBLs that go up the whole thing are a little wonky — maybe because I didn’t block it — but I’m hoping it will all straighten out with wear.

The cast on was difficult because it was my first [successful] long tail tubular cast on, but I love how it turned out!  Might start using it for things that don’t even call for  it.

Star Anise hat knitted

Anyway, I think the pattern is worth the $6.  It was enjoyable to make and I do like the end result.  Let me know what you think, and if you’ve made it, how did yours turn out?

Well, that’s all for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

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crochet tutorials

March 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Did you know that there are many crochet (and knitting) tutorials here on NYAC?  Check out the menu bar for the full selection.  A few have had photo updates!  Click the photo to be taken to the tutorial.

squares and rectangles:

example of simple crochet square

circles:

how to crochet circles

granny squares:

example of a crochet granny square

 

And last but not least, the shell stitch:

example of the crochet shell stitch

Check out the menu bar for more basic shapes and many more decorative stitches to try!

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top 4 yarns of winter ’14/’15

March 17, 2015 by 9 Comments

top 4 yarns of winter

There are a few wooly faves for this past season, and since the last day of winter is in 2 days I thought it’d be a good time to share what I very happily used.  In no particular order, my top 4 are as follows:

KnitPicks Hawthorne Fingering in Ladds Addition colorway:

Gentille cowl - lacy chevron sectionThis yarn is absolutely gorgeous (both the colors themselves and the way it made a pretty zigzag pattern in my Gentille cowl).  Soft to work with and wear next to the skin.  It is a fingering weight/4 ply yarn made up of 80% wool, 20% nylon and comes in skeins of 357 yds/100 g.  Pick it up from KnitPicks for a really good price.

DyeForYarn Fingering Merino/Babycamel in Dyeing Rose colorway:

Closeup of Phoenicia shawl/wrap on NotYourAverageCrochet.comThis super-soft fingering single ply yarn is made of 55% merino, 45% camel and comes in skeins of 525 yds/100 g.  I’d say it’s really more of a light fingering.  Very strong for a single ply yarn!  It made a great Phoenicia crescent shawl (and a Plume beanie from last year), and while this colorway is no longer available you can pick up a gorgeous array of colorways at the DyeForWool Etsy shop.

Berroco Vintage in 5176 colorway (a heathery autumn orange):

Gothic Lace Cowl

The Gothic Lace Cowl I made was pretty quick to work up using this  worsted weight 10 ply yarn.  Made up of 50% acrylic, 40% wool, and 10% nylon, it is soft enough to wear against the skin and can be washed in a machine (if you want to slightly felt your work it will do so if you use hot water and put it in the dryer, too — this is an advantage when you make blankets that dog claws might snag and you want to avoid that problem).  It comes in skeins of 217 yds/100 g.  This was purchased at a yarn store in North Carolina.

Malabrigo Yarn Arroyo in Coffee Toffee colorway:

nara mitts

These Nara mitts were made in 2013 but I’ve made something with the leftovers this winter that will be posted next week.  Made of 100% merino, this sport weight 5 ply yarn is very soft and comes in skeins of 335 yds/100 g.  The Coffee Toffee colorway is hard to capture properly in photos — it’s a purplish brown with a hand dyed look and is very beautiful!  I purchased this also at a yarn shop in North Carolina.

So that’s it, my top 4 yarns of this winter!  I’d recommend them all.  All beautiful, all soft, all fun to work with!  Thanks so much for stopping by, see you soon!

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