Voilà! Mermaid Tears Purse

Just a quick post this evening to share with you a handbag that I made for my wonderful Mother in Law for Mother's Day.  I made this bag with Red Heart With Love (I simply ADORE this yarn!) the main color being Peacock, and the flower in White.  The trim is done in Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in the color Chocolate.  The white is VERY bright and so I had trouble getting a good picture of the flower, but I got one a little closer up.  The pattern can be found here.  If the Crocodile Stitch is new to you or if you struggle reading patterns, I highly suggest you check out the video tutorial done by Mikey from The Crochet Crowd.  The video will walk you through the purse from start to finish. I made the handles as per the pattern, but both my husband and I thought they looked messy in comparison with the rest of the project, so I scrapped them and used plastic instead.

A Hooker Has To Hook

What would a hooker be without their hook?  Whoever heard of a hookless hooker?  I've been playing around with a lot of different hooks lately, and since I'm currently mid-project and needed a break, I thought I'd share some of my adventures in Hookerland with you.

You may remember a couple of weeks ago I tried to make my own Polymer clay hooks.  I see such beautiful hooks all over the web, and I was feeling like my plain old hooks needed a pick me up.  So I decided to look at a few different YouTube videos, and as usual, the people doing it make it look so easy!  I could totally do those myself right?!  WRONG!  I am not a sculptor for many reasons.  My hooks didn't turn out too bad (okay, the first one didn't go well, but it was the first, so I don't count that), but not how I envisioned them at all.  Three of them I was fairly pleased with and use on a regular basis. Of the ones I made, the hook below is my favorite.  I am a sucker for the polka dots.

They are just so simple and happy.  This is my favorite hook to use when working with cotton yarns such as Lily Sugar 'N Cream.  The brand is called Unique, and I have only found them at a little local craft store called Crafts n' More I've visited a few times in Steveston, BC (where Once Upon A Time was filmed!).  I tried finding them online, but Googling "unique crochet hook" didn't exactly get me where I was looking to go.

 So while I am not all that adept at making clay hooks, I did "meet" someone who is.  We met in a crochet group on Facebook.  Her store is called Panda Crafts, and you should really check out her beautiful (and reasonably priced) hooks.  She has hooks with mermaids, and flower vines, and hooks that look like magic wands.  But my favorite?  This little guy over here to the right!  How Cute is he?!  And he's far enough down the hook that I would still be able to use the hook.  She also has a give away going on on her Facebook page, so you should check it out and possibly win a free hook!

I also picked up some plastic handled hooks on ebay a few months ago for a ridiculously low amount.  They shipped from China (but arrived pretty quickly), and for the price, I really wasn't expecting much.  However, I have been amazed at how much I find myself using them!  I really enjoy the plastic handle, and I notice my elbow doesn't hurt as quickly when I'm on a long stretch of crocheting when I use these (which makes me REALLY want to try the Addi Swing Hooks but I haven't taken that leap yet).

The other hook I've recently tried is The Crochet Lite.  It really is nice in the car at night.... but it squeaks.  Maybe it is just mine, maybe it was the yarn I was using, but it sounded like I was butchering mice when I was working with it.  So when I do use it, I pop my earbuds on and listen to my iPod.  I've also found it helpful when working in poor lighting or with dark colored yarn.  It certainly has pros and cons.  I got a new hook for Mother's Day, and I'm itching to get to use it, but I'll save that for another post.  Happy hooking!

Voilà! Afghan Complete!

It feels like it took forever to finish this afghan, but in reality it was only slightly more than two weeks.  Not too bad considering I had lost a few days due to being sick, as well as a pretty busy schedule. 

 Here it is while I'm working away on it.  I'm glad I decided to change the colors.  The colors I had before were just too distracting, and it really took away from the beauty of the stitches.  The colors I decided to use Red Heart Soft in Light Gray Heather, Lilac, Berry, and Grape.  I know the grape is kind of hard to see in some of the pictures.  My apologies.  All of our furniture is dark, so it made photographing a bit tricksy.  The stitch pattern isn't as hard as you might think after you get the hang of it.  It's getting the basic concept at the beginning that is the biggest struggle.  After I saw how it works out in the first few rounds, it wasn't hard at all.  Time (and yarn) consuming, but not hard.  I've heard these blankets referred to as "Wool Eaters" before.  That's a pretty accurate name.

  
Here it is all finished!  I would make another one of these.  Several people who saw me working on this project said they had tried to make this or something similar but just couldn't get the concept from the written pattern, got frustrated and gave up.  I'd be willing to make a photo tutorial if there was some interest in it and post here.  So if you'd like to see that, drop me a line and I'll make one.

The pattern (which is a free pattern, and can be found here) called for the edge to be finished with a crab stitch.  I started working it that way, and I found it to be very distracting to the eye.  In the end I decided a simple border would be best so as not to distract from the rest of the blanket.  All in all I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I'm hoping my friend also likes it, and that it fetches a good price for his silent auction.

Local Crafty Goodness

Well, I had been hoping to be able to present the afghan that I have been hooking away on for a silent auction for a friend by now.  I'm nearly done, but I'll hold off sharing pictures until I am, which should be sometime tomorrow since I just started on the first round of the border about ten minutes ago.  In the meantime, I wanted to share a few things that I am really excited about!

There are a couple of things happening locally that I have found out about, and I'm very anxious to take part in them!  The first is happening June 7 at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) in Vancouver.  At the Vancouver mini Maker Faire, there will be an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously crocheting.  How cool is that?!  I never would have thought I'd get the opportunity to break a world record of anything, let alone doing something I love with my hook and yarn!  If you are interested in participating, there is information here.

 
The other event is Knit City, and it is Vancouver's biggest fibre festival.  I've never been to one, and I'm so excited to see it.  Just as exciting, Knit City has been asked to do a yarn installation at the PNE fairgrounds!  They are looking for several things.  They want bunting flags, but the pattern they have requested people to use is for knitters.  My knitting is still in its early infancy stages.  My fabulous Mother in Law is teaching me, but I have so many crochet projects going on right now that I haven't been able to get over for a knitting lesson since this last Autumn.  So what I have been working on from their requested list are stripes that are 5' long for some large trees, crocheted rocks, and flower garlands.  I'll have more posts on those as I get further into them.  If you are interested in donating items for the yarn installation, you can find information on that here. 

I'm really looking forward to being able to get out and be around other people who share in my love of craftiness!

***EDIT May 29, 2014***
I received an email this morning saying that the Guinness World Record attempt at the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire has been cancelled :(.  I had already registered and bought a ticket, so I guess I will go Saturday and see what the faire is all about.

The Macho Taco

I haven't gotten much further on the blanket I'm working on for the auction as I've been fighting off a nasty stomach bug the last couple of days.  But this morning I felt the need to be crafty.  I didn't want to follow a pattern for anything.  I just wanted to sit down with my stash and see what happened.  I felt like making something with no practical use, but was still fun and cute.  A green ball of yarn literally jumped out of my stash basket and became my first volunteer.  I poked through the rest of my basket and inspiration struck.  I'd like you to meet The Macho Taco!

 He was fun to make!  He wasn't quite as easy to photograph though.  So my darling husband helped me out a bit.

 

I have no idea what he's going to do in the long run.  For now he's just hanging out next to my monitor.  He's made being sick today feel a little better.  There's never a bad time for a taco!

 

A Change of Mind

A friend of mine was looking for donations for a silent auction and I said I would crochet something for him.  Since I am trying to appeal to a broad range of potential bidders, I decided to not go with my usual quirky style, and decided on an afghan.  The original pattern called for a varigated yarn and three solids.  I picked three colors out of the varigated yarn and thought they looked nice together.  As I started working, I became more and more unsure of the color combination.

I didn't frog it, but I put it away for now.  If someone is going to pay good money for something and I am going to put my name on it, I want to be sure about it.  I might be feeling these colors more in the fall or something.  So I restarted in new colors. I also decided that instead of a varigated yarn to go with a heathered grey in effort to not make the colors not so distracting. This blanket is made with Red Heart Soft in  Heather Grey, Lilac, Berry, and Grape on a 5mm hook.  The original pattern can be found here.

So far it is coming along nicely, and I think these colors are a little easier on the eye (pardon the shadows my tree is casting in this picture).  I'm taking my time on this, and I'm enjoying the silky softness of the yarn.  I'm hoping to be done within the week, but we'll see.

Adrift on a sea of WIPs

I swear I'm going to do better at updating my blog!  I'm still a little discouraged by a lack of finished things to display.  There are so many things on my hooks these days!  My ADD is in full swing, and not currently being treated, so I'm sure that's not helping.  There are a couple of projects that I do have to share.

The first being a purple hedgehog that my daughter wanted for her 7th birthday.  I had made another hedgehog for a family friend a couple of months ago, and she loved it so much that she wanted one of her own.

 

You will have to pardon the quailty of the pictures, as my phone needs an attitude adjustment (AKA trip to the Apple store).  She's very happy with the finished product, and has decided to name her Lilac.

Whatelse have I been up to?  Well, I keep seeing all these wonderful crochet hooks all over the internet dressed up in polymer clay.  What do I tell myself?  Hey, it's just clay, I could totally do that too!  The reality is, I am not an artist, and I am impatient.  I forget this from time to time, and usually remember somewhere around 40% completion of something I never should have started in the first place.  This project was no exception.  They didn't turn out BAD, but they didn't turn out exactly how I'd imagined them either.  For now, I'm going to let others work their magic making beautiful hooks, and I'll focus on hooking.

I also gave tapestry crochet a wingding.  I spent a lot of time drawing out my pattern and was quite pleased with it.  I was somewhat less pleased with the results.  I decided to put it away for now, and I'll try again some other time.

  I started making a dress for my new baby niece (which I haven't taken a photo of yet and is currently in the trunk of hubby's car), which was coming along quite nicely (but holy cow does it ever have a TON of triple crochets in it!)  I had 5 rows left to go when I came across a mistake that forced me to do a TON of frogging.  I got frustrated and put it away for a little bit.  I'm hoping to finish it this week.  Needing a break from all those triple crochets (which is not my favourite stitch), I decided to try something else that was new.  I've been seeing a lot of Corner to Corner (C2C) blankets come to life lately, and so I decided to give one a try.  I'm so happy that I did!  It's a rather fun stitch pattern that is just engaging enough to keep me from getting bored, but repetitive enough that my mind can wander a bit while I do it.  So instead of stopping with the swatch I'd planned on making, I kept going, and I now have a good portion of a new afghan for my daughter completed.

And all of that wasn't enough, so when a friend asked for donations for a silent auction, I said I would crochet something for him.  So I have started another afghan.  I'm kind of iffy on it and so asked ona facebook group for opinions, and most people said it looked good and to keep going.  Some people didn't care for the colors, and some people said they would change the layout some.  Everyone is always going to have their own opinion, bt sunce most people liked it, I'm going to keep going and see how it looks at the end of the week before I make any decisions on it.  What do YOU think? (the red isn't really as bright as it seems in the picture, just bad lighting)