Plarn Gift Bag - Valentines 2008

Plarn: Yarn made from plastic bags.

I finally got around to making and crocheting with plarn. The push to try it came while I was writing a paper for a consumer textiles class about using yarn from recycled materials. Plarn has been around for awhile and been made from newspaper and bread bags but the real explosion of its use came with plastic grocery bags.

Making plarn is pretty straight forward and easy. I followed the instructions over at Marlo's Crochet Corner for cutting the bags and once I had a few nice sized balls I started experimenting. I've been working on a design for another bag project (details to come!) and so this small bag just evolved. Personally, I think it's one of the cutest things I seen or done and the timing was perfect to be this years Valentine!

Plarn Gift Bag Pattern

#31 Jeff Burton

Here is my latest Nascar associated project. It's a washcloth with the #31 of my sister's (the source of my assimilation into the racing world) favorite driver --Jeff Burton.

This pattern is from Woodhill Design Knits and patterns for most numbers of the different drivers are available.

Specs:
#7 needles
Lily's Sugar'n Cream - Hot Orange

That's it!! It's an easy, fast, fun and no hassles pattern.

My other Nascar related projects have been beaded bracelets in the colors of our favorite drivers and a checkered flag afghan.

BTW - My sister is a league bowler and uses this as a wipe cloth for her bowling ball. Other bowlers have noticed and and admired it. Can't ask for more than that.

My Ravelry project page for #31 Jeff Burton.

One Skein Scarf

Writing up journal and blog entries just doesn't seem to produce the same feeling of satisfaction or sense of accomplishment that creating and making things does so I'm trying to catch up my blog about a lot of projects I've finished the past few months but haven't written about.

This is another skinny scarf for my daughter Sarah's collection (see: *K2, P2 *across, K1, Skinny Scarf - Boucle and Skinny Scarf - Homespun

An easy peasy, pattern from the book Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. Unfortunately, that's the only pattern from the book that really caught my eye.

I worked the scarf in TLC Amore yarn. I LOVE this yarn! I designed my wristwarmers and a hat (patterns I haven't written up or posted yet -- but coming!!) using this yarn and I try to use it when ever I can. It's on my list of projects to work up a Heart Silhouettes square with this yarn and see how that works.

My Ravelry project page for One Skein Scarf.

Glittens

Glitten: A fingerless glove with a retractable mitten, as worn by anyone who wants to stay warm and still grab stuff. (www.urbandictionary.com)

Yep, that's me! My favorite glitten pattern is from Sirdar's pattern leaflet #9445. There are patterns for two needle mittens, gloves. fingerless gloves and glittens in sizes for children, women and men -- a choice of everything in one leaflet!

I've just finished making two pairs. One pair (the grey) for me and one pair (the turquoise) for my daughter Sarah. I splurged on yarn and bought Jo Sharp's Silkroad DK Tweed (85% wool, 10% silk, 5% cashmere)

Here are my notes:

1) The pattern makes the glittens by adjusting the fingerless glove pattern. However I wanted full mittens when the flap was over the fingers and this pattern didn't close the thumb so I adjusted the pattern by following the full glove pattern for knitting a thumb.

2) I like long cuffs so I added 2 rows to the wrist between the cuff and the thumb gusset. This worked well for Sarah's glittens but I think the next time I make them for me I'll add at least 4 more rows between the cuff and thumb gusset and an additional 1/2" on the cuff.

3) These patterns are worked with two needles so there are seams. However, I did not follow the instructions by binding the mitt top off and sewing a seam. Instead I grafted the final row to make a smooth top to the mitten. I purled two stitches together in the final row of the mitt(to get down to an even # of stitches) and divided the stitches onto two needles and grafted. A very nice top for the mitten!

4) I have had 100% success from the great grafting instructions found in the book Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee.

My Ravelry project page for Glittens.

Towel Topper

I don't do a lot of designing. I find it a difficult and painful process. I'm a builder, I love the process of making things -- useful projects, good materials and excellent techniques. When I do design it's mostly to improve upon someone else's design but occasionally I'll write a pattern to meet my needs and aesthetics.



Towel topper patterns can be found by the hundreds but somehow the vast majority of them have long skinny necks or cutesy faces and flowers and I was looking to make something quick and easy with a short neck. I had to write it myself! It's now a family favorite and is regularly requested.

Towel Topper Pattern

Heart Silhouettes

A pattern from:
Vanna's Favorite Gift Afghans
by Vanna White and Susan Frantz Wiles

I fell in love with this pattern because of the heart motif but I now love it for the simplicity of the pattern and the ease of putting it together. I will be working this pattern again and experimenting with different types of yarns.

Here are my details:

Finished size: 51½" x 65"

Hook size: J

Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus (I bought 15 skeins and used 13.5) I loved working with this yarn and I love that it's 51% cotton. Such a different feel then wool or acrylic. I'm hoping the 49% acrylic blend helps the dimensional stability.

I easily memorized the pattern for this but I kept working the last round wrong. I would forget the 2 holes toward the corners (which make the square motifs when the squares were joined. I discovered my errors when I was stitching the motifs together so not only was I having to frog back a round of crocheting but I had to undo the sewing. Remember to watch out for this next time!!

MAJOR PATTERN ADJUSTMENT: I made a VERY important aesthetic pattern correction by changing where the rounds start & end. As written, the pattern rows end and start in the middle of one of the four hearts (you can clearly see this in the picture from the book). I moved the start of rows 2 thru 7 by slip stitching to the corner. From row 8 -11 I didn't slip stitch to the corner but started the row where I was and followed the pattern. It wasn't a difficult adjustment to make and it looks 1000% better.



My Ravelry project page - Heart Silhouettes

Why I blog

I never had the chance to share my love of crochet with my grandmother. She died when I was 11 and that was well before my enthusiasm and passion for the craft emerged. I have a few things she crocheted and I admire the detail, fineness and perfection of her work. I also inherited her crochet books. Her work and the books are the only crocheting memory I have of her.

I wish she had written notes, made comments or kept a diary of her projects. I wish I knew what her favorite things to make were and the problems she had making them. I wish I had known her as a crocheter. So that is why I blog, because maybe someday a daughter, a granddaughter or great-granddaughter will find a passion for crochet or knitting and make a connection to me and my grandmother.

I'm not real keen on pictures of myself and I've finally gotten around to working out an "avatar". I've scanned a motif my grandmother crocheted called Crinoline Lady. It was originally done to decorate a corner on a woman's handkerchief. The pattern is in a book I inherited from her titled Crinoline Lady in Crochet - Book No. 262 - Copyright 1949 by The Spool Cotton Company. Since my user name is ladynthread it is a perfect match.