Christmas gifts part 2

Thanks to some quality knitting time during chorus and a late night gabfest with a friend, I finished Meghan's turtle over the weekend!

in the end, i gave up on the last little bit of the shell pattern, but it isn't noticeable, really. it was an extra "icord" around the bottom of the shell where the dark and light parts meet. and when i tried to do that, the directions defeated me. Besides, that part of the shell isn't really all that visible.

So - without further ado, here is Sheldon!

Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup 2010

i thought i was dropping out of the HPKCHC as of this term.  it has mushroomed in size and the busy threads started to remind me of leaky lounge post-HBP; i couldn't keep up! i felt the group had lost that little home-away-from-home feel i was first attracted to.  however, to be honest, i couldn't keep up project-wise either. RL kind of sucked this autumn with a big re-org at work threatening my livelihood and friends losing jobs all around me.

the sign-up form went up yesterday for the jan/feb/mar term and in the end, i just couldn't resist.  after all, their challenges have been so well thought out and fun to work around!  

so, stay tuned for more HP silliness in 2010.  ~snakey

  

Christmas gifts

When I was a kid, I was never really one for handmade gifts, giving or receiving them. I tried to be polite about it, but the scarves and hats were scratchy or didn't fit well, and the gloves were simply a pain. I HATED all those pieces of thread inside. they caught on everything - my fingers, any jewelry I was wearing (rare though it was), band-aids....

So what am I doing?

Knitting presents for my niece and nephew. Duh!

The difference is - first off, I checked first with my 8yo nephew and let him pick out the stuffie he wanted, and he has seen a bit of the progress on it. (pics of that will come later) As for my 4yo niece? Well, first I was going to make her some stackable cats, cuz she loves cats, Then I was going to make her the chicken-and-egg, because i loved dolls that inversed like that when i was little. She may still get that one for Easter.

But then i remembered this pattern.

And it can be dressed up later....

Dang. i may need to make MYSELF one of these!

Here is how far I am so far:

a win/lose situation

Well, I signed up for quidditch last term. They divided us into 7-player teams and made us come up with background and goals for charity knitting. Our team ("team Chance") chose to knit 3 items each, for a total of 21 items. We could each donate to the charity of our choice. We had 2 1/2 months to knit our 3 items; the term started Sept 1 and ended yesterday, but we had to have our pictures in to our Seeker in mid-Nov.

I originally chose Knit for Kids, an organization that sends knitted sweaters to children in need both internationally and here in america. The pattern was dead-easy and came in sized from toddler to pre-teen.

then i encountered a long string of setbacks. the first project, easy as it was, took 2 weeks to knit the first half of the toddler sized sweater. oops! so i abandoned that project (although i plan to finish the sweater sometime) and cast about for smaller endeavors.

At the beginning of October, i decided to knit newborn caps, as one of my teammates had done that and had already finished 3. So i ordered appropriate weight yarn and needles and got to work....only to discover that i had chosen a really complex pattern that did not knit up easily - and worse yet, you couldn't even tell when i was finished that i had done anything fancy to it at all. (see the preemie cap in the middle) that little preemie cap took me over 2 weeks to make. So I abandoned that pattern in favor of a different one. Unfortunately, the next one i chose also was time/labor intensive, as it called for 3 colors of yarn in a dropstitch pattern. the result (the larger striped one on the right) looks AWESOME and it is stretchy, thanks to some better sock yarn. But between the flu and the length of time it took to knit that, it was now well into November and i still had one more hat to do.

the third pattern i chose turned out to be the simplest of all and the fastest to make. the hat also probably will be the easiest for newborns to wear, it is soft and stretchy without being binding. i love the vertical stitch pattern it made like lazy wide ribs. (see hat on the left.)

i finished it....just before thanksgiving. if i had been able to take its pic and post before i left for my folks, MAYBE i could have helped my team. as it was, today was the first day i could even upload the pics i took at mom and dad's, where this shot was taken. So - EPIC fail for my quidditch team. I am so embarrassed i haven't even been on ravelry to see what happened with them.

also, i don't yet know where i am going to donate these caps. i haven't gotten organized enough to call the local children's hospitals and i didn't find anywhere online that looked like a good, legit prospect.

anyone know of a place that might want 3 cleveland-colored newborn hats?

snagged a half-price book

you know, as much as i love the process of crochet, as often as not, crochet produces what i would consider sad results. i have tried to outrun that reality by turning to amigurumi or hiding the crochet stitches in more complicated combos like the scallop, but then i found a felted crochet book and my little snakey-heart leaped!

felting ERASES crochet sadness by blurring it into chenille. this book had simple projects that looked so soft and velvety, so fuzzy and simple, i ran out and bought some nice new wool and started a sample square last night. :D

so, put felting on the list along with the beading thing.

FACT: i need more knit-lunches per week!

--

oh, btw...enjoy this.

i need this skill!

i didn't make this...but i like this necklace.
i think i might need to try some bead crochet...and soon!

i am back to working on this scarf.

firenze - classic sagittarius!

Firenze

Firenze is a centaur with white-blond hair, palomino body, and blue eyes (PS15). He trusts humans more than the rest of the centaurs; he let Harry ride on his back in order to bring him to a safe place and helped him understand that Voldemort was lurking in the Forbidden Forest and planning to get the Philosopher's Stone (PS15). At Dumbledore's request, he also agreed to come to Hogwarts and replace Sybill Trelawney as the Divination teacher, an act that caused the other centaurs to consider him a traitor and banish him from their herd. Hagrid stopped the centaurs from killing Firenze, and in exchange, he tried to warn Hagrid that his attempt to teach Grawp was not working (OP27, OP30). Firenze remained at Hogwarts as a Divination teacher, together with Prof. Trelawney, much to the latter's displeasure (OP38). - Anna L. Black, ed. ~ HP Lexicon

here is my amigurumi version of our dear firenze, seen here representing the astrological sun sign of sagittarius (november 22 - december 21) for the HPKCHC divination class assignment. (see earlier post!) not only is firenze a centaur hottie, but he is such a classic sag:

Sagittarius, the ninth Sign of the Zodiac, is the home of the wanderers of the Zodiac. It's not a mindless ramble for these folks, either. Sagittarians are truth-seekers, and the best way for them to do this is to hit the road, talk to others and get some answers. Knowledge is key to these folks, since it fuels their broad-minded approach to life. The Sagittarian-born are keenly interested in philosophy and religion, and they find that these disciplines aid their internal quest. At the end of the day, what Sagittarians want most is to know the meaning of life, and if they accomplish this while feeling free and easy, all the better. ~ astrology.com

this is a smiling firenze on a happy-go-lucky evening, when mars is behind a cloud and his friends are not busy kicking him in the chest.

i actually handed in some homework!

man. the past 2 months have not been my best. i have about had it with real life!

however, i did manage to pull it together long enough to hand in my Transfiguration homework in the HPKCHC for this month. Here's what i posted:

Addreamy of Slytherin here, signing up and turning in my transfiguration homework.

I chose option 2.

2) Taking an object or image from real life and Transfigure it with fiber. This can be done in any way you choose - e.g. spinning yarn to represent the colors of fall, making a knitted version of your cat, making a hat just like one seen on tv (Jayne Hat, anyone?). You are welcome to use a pattern, but you MUST post a picture (or detailed description, if it is from a book) of the object that inspired you - what you are Transfiguring, along with your completed assignment. CLARIFICATION: “Real Life” just means non-knitted. Fictional realms, characters, etc are welcome!

my real life object is a wizard hat. This can best be seen in the following still (I borrowed a muggle camera in order to provide clear evidence that wizard hats are not knit)




I adapted a pattern found in Charmed Knits in order to appropriately clothe Sydney in Hogwarts attire. As you can see, she would now make a good student - or she will in several years. She is only 7 at the moment!



I hope this meets with your approval!

hpkchc update

i have not been around the cup much. in fact, the note i got from my head of house wondering "where are you?"-- i just opened it up tonight and she sent it 2 weeks ago. not sure why the cup was not grabbing my attention like it did the first time around, but the last two weeks? well, they went down the toilet due to the re-org at work.

however, i am working on something now. it is for divination.
can you guess what it is going to be? :D

........

i did not finish the "shiny gold galleons" scarf i was struggling with last month. i used that ribbon i showed you and it did crochet up easy enough, but the sheen pretty much disappeared in the process.


plus...i was running out fast and it was not cheap.

so, i turned to gold cord.


ugh. true, it is shiny as can be, but it is stiff and cruddy for making circles. in the end, i tried just straight chains and intended to coil them up and sew them into flat shiny coins. it looked okay enough...but then time ran out. i threw out all my efforts.

as to crocheting with gold cord?
no.
just no.

niffler leg warmer

i, too, chose to tackle care of magical creatures this past month. my original hope had been to get an early start on my dog's halloween costume. alas, things didn't turn out quite as planned.

Here's what I posted on Ravelry:

Addreamy of Slytherin, here, signing up and handing in my homework.

My Niffler (who refused to come consistently when called, so never did acquire a working name other than HEY!) sustained an injury very early on in the month. I consulted with Hagrid, who claimed that long nasty scrapes were common in Nifflers, but due to the property of their blood, could not be healed magically. Therefore, he cleaned and bandaged the wound, but charged me with the task of keeping the Niffler from licking or removing the bandage.

Have you ever tried to keep an animal from mucking with a bandage? i tried several methods, including a bubble-headed charm (which interfered with the Niffler’s finding function and made it depressed), an impedimenta spell (which i have never managed properly and succeeded only in a series of low brick walls), and even a nasty-smelling potion. That was a disaster. ‘Nuff said.

Finally, i hit on making a “leg warmer” cover for the entire leg. This worked like a charm.


Having now returned my Niffler, i forgot to get a picture of her wearing it, tho, so my long-suffering springer, Sydney, was volunteered to stand in. Unfortunately, her paws are much bigger than the nifflers, so we could only get it on half-way!


The whole thing so traumatized my girl that she then had to take a nap….

working with something new

for the niffler challenge in care of magical creatures, i have chosen this golden "intermezzo" ribbon-yarn from trendsetters. the plan i have is to create a scarf out of golden coins.

so far it is challenging to crochet with since the 5/8" ribbon has its own little holes, but i have made two little circles so far. it might just work. :D

classes posted!

YAY!
HPKCHC classes have been posted today and they all look so interesting, i am not sure what to do. they have a bumper crop of students this go round and i was sorely tempted to get more involved in leadership there. *smacks head*

so for classes, we have

herbology: research project
"Your yarn must be 50% or more from plant origin, ie. bamboo, cotton, hemp, corn. Post must contain brand and fiber content, picture of finished object, and a description of what it was like to work with and how it affects the project. Points awarded based on complexity of project, wit, originality, and evilness. (Trying to bring the evilness into Herbology. Not as easy as it seems, folks, short of having everyone knit with Devil’s Snare…)"

charms: augamenti
"a) create something water-related, be it colours, waves etc. -or -
b) create something a little more literal like a goblet, something that imitates the jets of water or a fire hose (firemen optional but welcome and yes the professor knows where some minds will take this one and that is also fine :D)"

transfiguration: blocking
"Blocking is a form of alchemical Transfiguration, that takes your knitting and crocheted items from mundane to ethereal. Your assignment this month is to knit or crochet an item, and then transfigure it, through blocking, into a work of art."

potions: common cold prevention
"Pepperup Potion - Cures the common cold. You can identify someone who has recently taken this potion by the distinctive steam coming out of their ears for several hours after drinking it. But demand has been heavier than usual this year, and supplies of Pepperup Potion are short. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Knit, crochet, or sew something to keep somebody warm."

defense against the dark arts: “What I Fought On My Summer Holidays” -
"It’s September! The month for the traditional back-to-school essay about what you did on your summer holidays. Explain and show an example of which spell you practiced, creepy creature you fought, or scary Death Eater plot you unraveled over the summer holidays. Extra points for house colors, making the prof laugh, or being especially awesome."

not sure what the quidditch challenges will be...and OWLs...well, they are still out of my league, i think.


:D

todd paschall

mair and i just stumbled onto this dude and the photos he renders in crochet!

todd paschall's site

take a look and see if your mind doesn't start flowing with ideas.
if you could get as much image control as a cross stitcher, what would YOU render?
hmmmmmmm!

the nautilus challenge

there is a nautilus knitting pattern out there, but since i am not really much of a knitter as much as crochet ninja and since i am determined to become fluent in crochet, i am working out my own pattern.  this is my third try.   

the approach i am using this time was to use the fibonacci numeral sequence that i was introduced to during a challenge at the HPKCHC on the very first row, then to just enlarge very gently from there, turning at the top--one stitch in each stitch. (i am farther along than this scan shows.) after i make aobut 8 rows of single crochet, i will proceed back down the other side the the original chain, reversing the fibonacci in decreases.  if it works out, i will go on to add tentacles and friendly little eyes!

cross your tentacles for my success!

Sign Ups Are Open!

sign ups are open over at Ravelry.com for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup!

mair and i are in.

are YOU? :D

slytherWIN!

at ravelry's harry potter knit/crochet house cup, the last day of term was august 31st and we SLYTHERINS nailed that house cup like it was a snake on the gaunt's front door! woot! i especially enjoy the natural team spirit that makes it easy for slytherins to pull together strategies for winning. a good example was the slytherin quidditch team gathering themselves together for a knit/crochet-along of scarves for potions class! boo on people who think we all just cheat! FIRST, we simply look to see if the rules suggest any good legal "work-arounds". so there!

secondly, i was so excited to find i was nominated for a prize for july for "zeh kee! she flies!" i don't think i had a chance to win, but i did garner 50 "loves".

---------------------------------<:>~

zeh kee!

The July Potions Class Assignment for HPKCHC:
"A small project (no larger than your fist) that is golden, metallic or sparkly
A coin purse, gold socks (rolled up), fingerless gloves with sparkly cuffs, etc."

a snitch was toooooo obvious, so i did a nice flying key!

switching yarns saved my sanity. this is Vanna Glamour Yarn in Topaz and Diamond. i am using a blue version right now for another project. i wish you could really see the sparkle, but alas, it is not very photogenic.

cool (abandoned) blog

a dead blog, but an awesome collection of textile art.
wool and tea

my metallic yarn project

i hate the yarn i picked. hate, hate, hate it. i brought it to the theater for HBP, thinking i would crochet waiting for the midnight showing, but i pulled the project out and the whole damn thing was knotted beyond belief. that was not the first time i had to spend long useless amounts of time trying to control this yarn. so, i tried another today. absolutely horrid. far worse than the first. now i am switching to vanna's glamour yarn which is really just cream shot with gold. it does not look golden enough to work for my project.

the frustrations i have had with this project have made me nearly abandon it. hiss.

---

the other project i am working on is a little doll made of that crazy eyelash yarn that was all the rage a few years ago. i had the body sorted after 2 tries, and whipped up little arms and legs, but putting them on made me realize i needed to do things in a different order. alas. i must redo it. more hiss.

---

oh, and i FINALLY got a call about my superwash cascade yarn for my snakey scale scarf. WTF? it took 2 months to show up. i still haven't picked it up, however.

---

precious metals

first experiments with crocheting gold and silver threads.
it is kind of a pain, actually. the results are scratchy, too.

a quick knit project in the midst of the big cleanup

My parents were here all last week, helping me with a huge house cleanout project. In the midst of the very intense week, i remembered that i still needed to make my dad's Father's Day present. so - in 2 (rather long) nights, I whipped this thing together from a pattern I found on the Internet:

Soap On A Rope!



My dad likes Coast Soap, so I slipped a bar of that into the soapbag.


Here it is just before I tied it in place - I gave it to him the next morning!


He seemed pleased. Soap on a Rope was something I traditionally bought him for Father's Day when i was a kid - so it may just have been nostalgia on his part!

11th hour project!

Using the incantation “Yarnio!” transfigure something that is NOT yarn into a useful knitting/crocheting material, and then knit/crochet it up into something.

this was a fun assignment and people really ran with it, knitting all sorts of things from thread, to wire, to trash bags, to ramen noodles!!!



literally in the last hour of the june class, i crocheted this bowl out of torn cloth and posted the following:

anguinea from Slytherin here with a wee rag bowl crocheted from Yarnio’d sheets that only appear to be those from the Slytherin dormitories, because no one would be so foolish as to destroy school property just to get last minute points for their house.

squiddy's tentacle!

When harvesting their gillweed students should pay close attention to they way bubbles of oxygen cling to its roots. This month we will be working on some new techniques for harnessing these bubbles.

Knitters and crocheters should show off some bobbles or nupps, and spinners try your hand at a slub yarn.



i posted this over at the HPKCHC in Herbology with this post:

Good evening. Professor. anguinea from Slytherin here, hoping my classwork submission will be acceptable.

After spending a full day slogging in the shallows of the lake, I found plenty of leeches (mostly on my ankles), but could not locate any gillyweed whatsoever. However, with the assistance of “a friend” who was able to move out a bit deeper into the water, I was able to locate and study the plant properly.

June's Herbology Homework

Herbology in June focused on the study of Gillyweed. Specifically, the fact that air bubbles cling to the plant, giving it a distinguishing characteristing. We were to create something with "bobbles" - a specific knitting/crochet technique (also called "popcorn") that makes a little ball-like protrusion in the fabric.

I felt it was the perfect time to blend two of my long-term series obsessions.

The following is what i submitted as my homework:
--------------------------------
Addreamy of Slytherin, signing up for Herbology and handing in my homework.

Recently, I came across a manuscript of a little-known legend pertaining to Hogwarts Lake. I cannot vouch for its veracity; I simply report here what was written there. I will say that the handwriting was rather spidery. What this might mean, I could not say. I apologize for its length, but I thought it best to reproduce it exactly:

Merchieftainess Mercus swished her tail agitatedly. “I cannot tell you, Professor Dumbledore, how important it is to remove that…..thing from the cave. Several times now, it has attempted to harpoon one of my people with its fire of light and we cannot get close enough to tend our crops properly. It is scaring the farmers to death!”

“I understand,” Dumbledore said gravely. “Has it actually hurt anyone yet?”

“No, but its mere presence is disturbing us all. I feel strongly that this sort of magic simply cannot be tolerated. Please remove it at once!” replied Mercus.

“Certainly, Merchieftainess. I will see what I can do.” And with that, Dumbledore swam off toward the deepest underground cave in the lake. If he had calculated right, he should have just enough time to surface in the air pocket before the gillyweed wore off.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore hauled himself out of the water onto a slab of well-worn rock. He quietly coughed twice as the gills on his neck receded. A quick flick of his wand produced a very soft, shielded glow – just enough to allow him to see without giving his own position away. Sure enough, he caught a glimpse of something metallic at the far end of the cavern.

Without leaving his shielded position on the slab, Dumbledore called out cheerfully, “Hello there! I must compliment you on your choice of accommodations. Quite a nice place for a retreat. However, as headmaster, I am duty-bound to welcome all visitors to Hogwarts. Don’t be shy. Come, introduce yourself!”

A whirring sound ensued, and an extremely large, ornate salt shaker glided toward him. It had odd knobbly bits on the lower half of its body, two tubes which passed for arms of a sort, and a rather stalky-looking piece on top, which swiveled around, searching for the source of the voice.

“Explain,” it said in a high-pitched, tinny voice with no inflection whatsoever.

Taking a chance, Dumbledore stood up. “I believe introductions are in order. My name is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School, the grounds….well, undergrounds…..of which we are currently inhabiting. And you are….?” he asked.

The stalky stem appeared to scan Dumbledore up and down. “You are human,” it intoned. “You are interfering with Dalek preparations. You will be exterminated.” With that, it raised one of its appendages and pointed it straight at the headmaster.

Dumbledore flicked his wand a second time. His shield spell snapped into place just as a bolt of energy shot from the Dalek. Suddenly, the energy beam faltered, then flickered out.

“So sorry, murmured Dumbledore. “Did I neglect to mention that the magic here at Hogwarts interferes dreadfully with electronic and energy devices? I expect you are having trouble moving around, too. How careless of me to have forgotten that detail. I do hope this does not inconvenience you terribly. However, I must insist that you retreat farther back in the cavern to engage in your meditation; you are currently scaring the merpeople.”

Dispatching the Dalek into an isolated corner of the cavern, Dumbledore secured it in place and then studied the Dalek gravely. “I would hate to have you suffer unduly at our expense,” he said. “I do believe this situation calls for a Doctor. But………which doctor? Or….should I say, Doctor Who?”

Smiling slightly, Dumbledore pulled out a fresh handful of gillyweed from his robes and began chewing.

greenie mcwashcloth

i never crocheted with cotton before and it was much easier than i expected! this is a free washcloth pattern by kawano that i made in no time at all. i used lily's sugar-n-cream solid and a j sized hook. unfortunately, i messed up the pattern 2 inches from the end and didn't notice until i finished the loop. i decided to throw it in with the working washcloths where his "little problem" would go unnoticed.

go, little handi-capable greenie!

muggle fellytone cozy

i submitted this as a muggle studies project at HPKCHC. my kid picked his favorite yarn and i came up with a simple design alternating double crochet and single crochet rows. i sewed it up the side so the the stripes ran vertically. the flap was added starting with two rows of single crochet on the back and then repeating the alternating rows.

this was the first time i tried hobby lobby's "i love this yarn" brand. although, i am not a big fan of acrylic, it was cheap and doesn't split at all. (something like 8-10 strands worsted together!)

woohoo! points are in!

anguinea - 15 + 5 + 10 (you really captured the mandrake spirit) = 30

those bookmarks

for Defense Against the Dark Arts, we learned Protego - the protection spell. Therefore, I knitted a set of 4 double-knitted bookmarks to protect the user against losing their place in the book. Before you get too excited, no, i did not create the design/pattern myself, i was just copying somebody else's handiwork. They came out pretty well, tho, I think (although, as their creator I can see all the mistakes i made - and there are a fair few!)

here's the front:


And here's the back:

wrist warmers

finished a set of wrist warmers for the HPKCHC quidditch challenge. after 3 different approaches, i finally went to finish on these amigurumi striped ones. for the record, amigurumi single crochet has super stripe control...but NO stretch! LOL

p.s. if something seems askew with that pic, it is because they were upside down on the scanner and the thumbs are facing OUT! looks odd, doesn't it? like i am holding hands with myself!

colicky mandrake!

i just turned in "colicky mandrake" for herbology class over at ravelry.
he is my own design, based on that drawing i showed you a few posts ago!
i love how he turned out.

mandrake = due next sunday!

i finally figured out how to get the head shape i wanted. it took 3 tries and the turning point was working with the rag rug i started this week. somehow, crocheting that spiral, ripping and trying again helped me get a handle on increases. or it could have been luck! either way, i have a lovely ovoid sphere waiting to be stuffed and i am now working on his little body.

here i am starting my rag rug. hardly rags, actually. i spent a chunk of change on this fabric! doh!


here is a picture of a finished rug by our instructor, maria. isn't it lovely?!

(both of these photos were taken by renée andriani)
i will post more pictures soon!

mandrake in progress

after creating and stuffing a lovely free-hand amigurumi egg shape, i decided to abandon it and totally redesign my mandrake.
here is the new sketch:


so far, i have two leaves done:

the yarn i am using for leaves is a caron super soft shadows in a nice slytherin green with coloured flecks.

it makes a super soft little floppy leaf!

Ravelry Harry Potter House Cup

we both joined the challenge as members of slytherin and i must say the folk i have met over there so far are both charming and hilarious! the classes have begun, but i only signed up for the herbology class, so far. the challenge is to create a mandrake or mandrake inspired piece...or a baby blanket for a mandrake! the little mandrakes i saw turned in so far have been very cute!

i printed off a bunch of basic amigurumi shape patterns from this blog hoping it will help me designing my mandrake. i admit, the quality over at ravelry is a bit intimidating for a n00b like myself!

obsession du jour

I'm currently on vacation at my parents' winter home in Englewood, Florida. I've not been slacking, though! I have 2 knitting projects underway.

This first one is the outside part of a wallet, requested by a chorus friend of mine. I'm doubling up 2 different strands of cotton yarn, partly to meet the gauge of the pattern and partly because it is a really cool combo. Makes it kinda thick, tho. We'll see how it comes out. The stitch i am using is called a "linen stitch" and is easy to do but looks really cool and woven.


This second project is to be a circular lace scarf. the pattern is intricate and cool, the yarn is threadlike and delicate, and i was really proud that i was able to start it on double-pointed needles all by myself on only the second try. however, as you can see, it doesn't look a whole lot like the pattern at this point......more like a tangled mess.



Here, stretched out some, you can almost see a pattern in it. whether it is the same pattern as the pic only time and blocking will tell!


Back later in the week with updates...

scaley scarf: in progress

coming up next

well, i was all set to start this waikiki scarf pattern.
i first attempted it in leftover blue purple yarn.
unfortunately, as much as i love the colour,
stitches are so hard to sort out with a such
wiggly-chunky yarn, that i decided to forgo
it and try something else.

i went to the studio and bought a variegated red violet
version of Cascade's 220 Superwash Paints wool,
but after i crocheted the first 8 rows, i realized:
the yarn is better, but omg, i hate this pattern now.

last night, i came upon a simple little crochet
pattern that might show off the yarn much better.
it is teresa's "shell pattern scarf". as i started working on it,
i realized: "hey! these are not shells--they are SCALES!" LOL

snakiness: more than a just a theme...it is a lifestyle!

FI-NAL-LY!!!

It feels like I have been working on this potholder forever instead of just a couple of weeks. Having said that, it was a fun pattern to do, and despite some clear "issues" with tension, I wouldn't mind revisiting the pattern again at some later date. But for now, I think I am potholdered out!

Here's how it turned out:

Side "A"


and side "B"!

I labeled them A and B because to say there is a front and back side is a bit silly - depends on which view you like better which side is the front!

Now - on to choosing the next project........something i can do on the plane and during a week of vacation. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

redone & rejoicing

this is the finished snakish scarf all redone. it was designed using persian tiles afghan squares. it still rolls, but now i that it is soft, i find it charming.

here was the first attempt in acrylic