Work-in-Progress Phriday 11/30/12

This week I've finished another skein on the Motivated Heretic.

Motivated Heretic - row 31

I also began a Christmas stocking for my nephew, which matches the ones I did for his parents two years ago. :-)

Christmas stocking, complete through heel

Crochet Project: Dog Bow Ties

Quite a while ago I came across a cute crochet pattern for a Doggie Bow Tie and knew I would have to make one or two someday soon because... "Bow ties are cool!". ;-)

I was originally going to make them as holiday gifts for my Mom's little dog, Riley and my boy Jack. When I first chose the bit of left-over worsted weight yarn (I'm not sure what brand it is) to use on this project though, I thought it had more of a reddish hue. However, when looking at the yarn again in better light later on I discovered that it was actually a nice Autumn rusty-orange color. So, now I'm thinking Jack may wear his new bow tie to Thanksgiving dinner with my family this weekend.

For Riley's bow tie (sorry, I don't have a photo of the little guy wearing his yet, but his is the one shown in the photo above), I just worked the pattern as written, using a size G hook - except I only used one color of yarn instead of two. However, I may have to go back and modify the neck band a little by adding a button closure, to make it easier to put the bow tie on him, because Riley is not always so comfortable with having things put on him over his head.

For Jack's bow tie I modified the original pattern slightly in order to achieve something more appropriately sized for a large breed dog. Again I used a size G hook and just one color of yarn, but I worked the Bow section both longer (50 stitches instead of 35) and wider (10 rows instead of 8), the Neck Band a little wider (6 stitches instead of 4), and the middle section a little wider (3 rows instead of 2).

I'm not sure either dog is terribly excited by their new bow tie gift, but I love them. :-) These were very fun little projects that were quick and easy to make.

Work-in-Progress Phriday 11/9/12

I've made good progress on my Motivated Heretic these last couple of weeks. I added in the second skein and it's almost time for the third skein now. I love the way the colors are changing.

Motivated Heretic, Row 17

Work-in-Progress Phriday 10/26/12

This week I've made good progress on my Motivated Heretic, but I still haven't found the pattern for my Infinity Wrap, so that one is still on hold.

Motivated Heretic, Row 7 complete

Crochet Project: Rose Valley Cardigan

It took less than a month to complete this project - the Rose Valley Cardigan. It would have been done even more quickly if I'd had more free time to crochet. I finished it with 4 days to spare before the work event I was making it for. The free pattern is in Caron Connections e-newsletter #185. I used 3.5 skeins of Simply Soft Light in the Hawaiian Sky colorway, and an I hook. After I got about 2 repeats into the pattern, I realized I've done projects with this stitch pattern before. I enjoyed learning a new seaming technique, used on the back of the cardigan.

Completed Rose Valley Cardigan - Front

Completed Rose Valley cardigan - Back

Rose Valley Cardigan - Stitches closeup

Work-in-Progress Phriday 10/19/12

Sorry for the disappearing act the last several weeks, but we were moving. We're still settling into and unpacking in our new place. Unfortunately, this means I haven't found my current WIPs yet :-( so I started a new project :-). This is a Tunisian entrelac shawl that I'm making for myself. It's interesting because I adore the technique, but using the slightly fuzzy yarn adds a new challenge to the project. For yarn with some halo/fuzz to it, this yarn has amazing stitch definition.

Motivated Heretic Shawl - Row 2

Crochet Project: Colorful Plaid Scarf

I've been busy crocheting holiday gifts over the last several months that I can't blog about yet, but this week I took a quick break from them to make something for me. Every autumn I love to crochet myself a new scarf (and sometimes matching hat and gloves) for the upcoming winter, and this year I knew I wanted to use this neat Noro Plaid scarf pattern.

I used a size G hook and various colorways of soft, fingering weight Knit Picks Chroma yarn that I “recycled” from a project I made last year and didn’t end up liking/using. I’m not sure of the exact amounts (less than half a skein of each), but for the mesh I used some “Roller Skate” and “Prism”, and for the woven chains I used a bit of “Lollipop”.

I needed a slightly narrower scarf than this pattern yields, so for the mesh, I used a base chain of 35 to yield 16 spaces across (working my first dc in the 4th chain from the hook). I also wanted a much longer scarf than this pattern makes, so I ended up working the mesh - until I ran out of yarn - to 193 spaces in length. And for the weaving, I just made one extremely long row of chains.

I completed the last couple of rows of weaving tonight, and I absolutely LOVE how this fun, colorful scarf turned out - it just might be one of my most favorite crochet projects, ever! It was easy to make (and easy to feel - a wonderful pattern for blind crocheters), but it looks complex. And the Chroma yarn makes it SO pretty! (I know my photos don’t totally do the variety of colors in this scarf justice.) I will definitely be putting this light-weight but very warm scarf to good use, since the weather has already gotten quite chilly where I live.

Work-in-Progress Phriday 9/28/12

We've had several roller coaster weeks, which is why I didn't post last week. I have made good progress on my Rose Valley Cardigan, finishing the second panel and finishing the first sleeve. I decided to make the sleeves elbow length, thinking they'll be more like 3/4 length after I block the cardigan, since this particular stitch pattern really opens up with blocking. Note to my blind readers: since Blogger forced the new blog style upon us again, I'll add alt tags once I find them in the new HTML layout. Sorry :-(

Rose Valley Cardigan - First sleeve compete

Rose Valley Cardigan - Second panel done

Work-in-Progress Phriday 9/14/12

Made good progress on my Rose Valley Cardigan this week, and I'm enjoying the Grand Picots scarf as well. :-)

SC stitches - Grand Picots Scarf

Grand Picots Scarf, 3.5 loops done

Rose Valley Cardigan, 11 rows of first side done

Work-in-Progress Phriday 9/7/12

I decided to start a couple new projects this week, as if the two already in progress (the chunky scarf and Infinity Wrap) weren't enough. I finally tackled a ruffle yarn, and it took some getting used to, but I like it so far. I also started a cardigan that I hope to have finished in time for a work event in early October.

Grand Picots Scarf, 2 loops done

Rose Valley Cardigan, swatch