when you wake in the morning you'll be satisfied

96!!!!

That's how many crochet octagon flowers there are in that pile. It's actually a disappointingly small pile, considering how long it took to make 96 of them...and how big that number seemed in my head. Oh well.

Here's the beginning of assembly, when the pile is arranged into neat, orderly rows. There are four different color schemes (B, D, C, A above, from L to R), and the schematic to assemble the whole thing is a bit daunting. You have to sew them all together, then fill in the open spaces with a new crochet pattern (I dread this a bit, considering how long it took me to get the octagons right), and finally you finish the whole thing off with a nice crochet edging. This is ridiculous.

I'm still hoping the final result is as amazing as I've built it up to be in my mind...

watch out for the paraphrase

A split post, mostly a quick check-in with a couple works-in-progress! Above is a new sock, now in its second version...I started the first one and wasn't happy with how the ribbing flowed into the cabling. This pattern stitch is adapted from the book Alt Fiber by Shannon Okey. I'm going to wing the rest of the sock, but needed a good example of a cabled sock. (It's a cool book, you should check it out!) The yarn is Cascade Heritage Sock, color chosen by my father (who will be the recipient once I get my act together and get these done). I love working with the yarn- the colors are just phenomenal. Very subtle! One of the Yay!Knitters just bought another color of the same yarn, so it'll be interesting to see how hers works out.

And finally, an update on my crochet blanket odyssey...it's coming! This picture was taken at an early stage, Bob Cat making a guest appearance. These are the first 24 centers (out of 96, each octagon with 3 tiers), some of which have their second tier crocheted...there are so many to be done! More progress to come. Crocheting (now that I've figured it out) is fun!

we will be victorious

I did it! I have succesfully crocheted the main motif for this ridiculous blanket. Please note the adorable picot edging (equally adorable in both knit and crochet, which guarantees that everything I make from now on will be edged this way) that has the correct number (8!) of picot points. Also, the crochet is not all bunched up from my clutching, pulling technique, but is instead lying flat, with even tension. I AM SO EXCITED!

Next: colors. My bedroom is a jade green, and I think yellow is a really pretty accent. I'm worried about making this too loud, so the colors are going to have to be a little toned down. I like the combination above, but I just don't think it will work with my decor. Then again, I'm a renter and somewhat itinerant, so does it matter if it matches? Especially when I might have moved twice by the time I finish this, like I did with my last afghan?

Let's go yarn shopping!

every day's a different warning

Moderate success! It's still not right, but it's an improvement. I ended up using a more appropriately sized hook and yarn that didn't split so much, so yay progress! Next step is to actually pick the yarn and colors I'll end up using, find a new crochet hook, and start assembling the 96 pieces this blanket requires. I might be crazy...

Now if I can only figure out how to end up with 8 picot edges instead of 4 on the last round, I'll know I'm golden.

the balance is chasing after

Finally, finally I knit a flower for these leaves! I knitted them so long ago...a year ago tomorrow, in fact, judging by the dates on the photographs.

They worked really well as embellishments for a gift...attached to a safety pin, this could be re-used, worn on a coat or something. My responsibility for this object's creative use ended after the gift was wrapped!


And of course, a button! They make everything better. I'm pretty sure my button obsession is getting out of hand, but they're inexpensive, quirky ways to make things look really cute. I'm still regretting the jar of buttons I left at a rummage sale years ago. NEVER pass up an opportunity to expand your button collection!

c'mon look me in the eye

Over the summer I had an idea for a neckwarmer (why I think of these things in the 90-degree heat I do not know). It was during the period that Kniterary Club was meeting, so I had time to mull over yarn combinations, buttons, and the like. I came up with a very autumnal color set, but never started the actual knitting. (I guess the weather- and more pressing projects- got some sense through my head.)

Now the cool weather's here to stay, and with all the trees changing and a chilly breeze blowing around, I really want this neckwarmer to be done. Sitting right next to me is the ball of brown yarn, and the moment I'm done typing I will begin knitting! Hopefully my concept will become reality...I want a ruffled button band ornamented with flowers in yellow silk and leaves out of Ultra Alpaca Fine (as above, and below). I feel very Project-Runway-esque, except on a much smaller scale and with lots more time. Besides, I don't think Michael Kors or Nina Garcia will be critiquing my look....

A clearer picture below:

Are those buttons not fabulous?

pretty baby sweater

Here's the second baby sweater! I'm very pleased with it, finally...let me tell you, this sweater got more angst put into its design than was really necessary. It all started with me thinking I was all clever and could figure out any edging after the fact, so I just knit the basic sweater without any button bands, collar, etc. I thought it would be easy to pick out a contrast edging and knit something cute. At KNITERARY CLUB we tried (I swear) every single color edging, every single possible button...nothing looked good. And I mean nothing.

I left that day with a plan: I was going to knit a ruffle using a periwinkle contrast, then use orange buttons. (See below.) Seems like an okay idea, right? Well...if you edge the entire sweater in a ruffle it will look like a clown suit. I ripped out the ruffle edge and tried to knit a ribbed cuff...it looked so retro and so awful. So it was back to the drawing board. (I even got angry at the sweater for a couple days and stuffed it in my knitting bag and couldn't look at it.)

But then I was inspired, and came up with what I still credit as a genius idea: minimal edging (just one row of single crochet around the collar and down the front), and a cute flower sewn into the center with one button as the closure. And that was the winning idea!