Friday, August 31, 2012

Friday Review: Waverly for Bernat

Waverly Yarn Review

So Fridays I thought I would do a nice review of crochet (or maybe sometimes knitting) accouterments. I couldn't think of a snazzy name, but maybe it's better that way. Anyway, let's get started!

yarn

As much time as I spend with yarn I haven't yet gotten to the point of buying fancy natural fibers... for one very acceptable reason: I haven't got the cash for it. Sad, I know, but that's ok. Also, I think I'm a bit allergic to wool. Wool is probably the cheapest natural fiber yarn you can get, and I think it's really lovely, but working with it too much makes my fingers hurt. Is that common?

yarn

Waverly for Bernat is probably one of my favorite acrylic yarns. It has a very plush feel to it and a nice soft look. This color that I have is called "Birch White", which you can also see in use in my previous post. That post will also show you the colors "Greek Sea" (darker) and "Aqua Frost" (lighter). It comes in several other colors, but not as many as I would like and they're mostly in a subdued pallet. They mostly all compliment each other though so that's really nice. Plus, it's from Turkey and I think that's pretty cool.

yarn

I hope that was helpful! Feel free to ask me any questions about this yarn or suggest ways in which I can give a better review!

-merely

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

WIP Wednesday: Granny Stripe Scrap Blanket

granny stripe

For those who don't know, WIP stands for "work in progress". My most recent and largest WIP is a queen size blanket made from scrap yarn. Well, scrap yarn and yarn I bought but never used. I started this blanket last Wednesday and it is actually what inspired me to start this blog.

Granny Stripe

So far I'm a bit unimpressed with it. The colors don't really go together, which I guess is to be expected when your selection is made based on the fact that you're not using them. I'm in a bit of a dilemma also because some yarn is running out before others and the OCD in me can't let the stripes be uneven... But if I go buy yarn to even it out, it's really defeating the purpose.

Granny Stripe

The "granny stripe" is exactly like a granny square, just done back and forth instead of round and round. It's a pretty straight forward pattern, but I'll tell you how I'm doing mine. I'm using the 'J' hook, even though not all the yarn is that size. I started with a chain that was about 199, but it was one too many so maybe start with 198. then I turned, skipped one and then did a single stitch all the way back. Next, turn and chain three, do a double crochet into the base of your three chains and then chain one more. Skip three stitches and double crochet three times into one stitch and then chain one. Repeat till the end except in the last one, only double crochet twice. Turn and chain four. Next you'll be grouping your double crochets into the space between the last ones instead of actually into a stitch and when you get to the end of the row you'll only double crochet once.

That's it, you just repeat the last two rows till you get to the end, which I haven't done yet. I suspect I will finish it off with a row of single crochets and then put a border on it. Next time I write about this blanket I'll try to have a proper pattern for you. Now let's take a minute to talk about the number one thing I absolutely HATE about crocheting:

ENDS!!!

I hate the ends! Stupid, little, dangley things that take forever to weave in and get rid of! I try to avoid stripes because I hate this step so much, which is a shame because I actually love stripes. If anyone has some tips about these, I would love to hear them.

That's all for now, see you Friday!

-merely

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Motif Monday: Fisherman's Ring

Photobucket

So because I enjoy alliteration Mondays and Wednesdays have cool names (Wednesday will be WIP Wednesday). I haven't thought of one for Friday yet, but I think for now I'm just going to be posting three times a week, unless I can come up with some more interesting stuff to share.

Every Monday I'm going to make a new motif, such as a square, hexagon or applique, that I've found on Pinterest (I love Pinterest, sigh...). Today's is the Fisherman's Ring. This is one that I actually made prior to this blog, so it's got a few granny squares around it which, in future, probably won't be the case.

Fisherman's Ring

Close Up

Here's a link to the pattern I used. If you read my last post you might remember that I said I don't use patterns, well... I forgot about motifs. For those I always use patterns. What I don't use patterns for is anything that's kind of sculptural; things that need stuffing.

Also in the future I will try to get some shots of the work in progress so I can point out the tricky steps. The texture of this was new to me so it may be confusing for some newbies. Feel free to ask me for help and I'll try my best to make it clearer. This pattern calls for a 'G' hook, but I think I used an 'I' or 'J' and it still turned out nice, so feel free to change it up! Just make sure you change your yarn accordingly. :)

-merely

A Brief History

I thought I should start from the beginning (a very good place to start). I was first taught to crochet by a friend in high school. I think that I was about seventeen, so as it happens, I've been crocheting on and off for about a decade. The first thing I made was a sadly misshapen scarf that I unfortunately don't have a picture of and have since lost track of. Everything I've learned since then has been either guess work, youtube video, or, on rare occasion, an actual pattern. I'm not good at patterns, mostly because my mind tends to wonder and I almost always pick up in the wrong place. This would be frustrating if I cared to follow patterns, but I don't. I much prefer to find a picture of something already made and try to copy it just by looking at it. I like this because mine will always turn out slightly, or extremely different. i don't like everything looking exactly the same. I've never made the same thing twice, even if it was the same thing.

I thought I would share a few pictures of things I've made previous to this blog. Some are really old and some are fairly recent, but these are the only ones I could find pictures of on my computer! :P

Baby Blanket

Kyo the Cat

Birdie

Mushroom Bag

Mother's Day Octopus

Pterodactyl

Teddy

Pink Bunny

Plaid Scarf

White Bunny

Hello Kitty Beanie (and my sister!)

Christmas Bunny

So there you go. It'll be nice to have this post to compare my progress to. :)

-merely

Begin Again

Hello.

I'll start by saying... this is not my first blog. Having been an internet resident for the last fifteen years, I've had my share of all kinds of blogs (and other webby things that assist in projecting my "self" into the Ethernet). But this is the first time I've had a reason for posting anything. A subject matter; a theme. Which will be... *drumroll* CROCHET!!

I know, "what makes you think the internet needs another blog about yarn?" Well, nothing. This blog really is for my own sort of record or timeline. I wanna keep track of what I'm learning and the things I make. So if you're reading this... Welcome. I make no promise of education or entertainment, but if you like what you see, come back any time.

-merely