Oh, hey, it’s Wednesday!

How’d that happen? On Monday I took the boys and went to Walmart (although, thinking about it now, I don’t know why I didn’t just go to Joann’s. It’s only about ten minutes farther down the road) to pick up some fabric and supplies for a special project. You see, on Saturday I bought something:

Clover Takumi bamboo needles. (Also, possibly, 2 skeins of Patons Classic Merino in a nice chocolatey brown. $3.79 a skein, score!) They’re my first bamboo - in fact, my first non-metal - needles, and I am entranced. They’re so natural, and light, and pretty (and coughexpensivecough) that I decided they needed a proper case. I see people all over the internet popping out these cute little dpn rolls, and it looked well within my skills as the operator of a sewing machine. Yeah, despite my curtain-sewing prowess, I am somewhat…not inept, perhaps just less ept - differently epted? with cloth and a sewing machine than I am with yarn.

Still. As I mentioned, I picked up supplies on Monday. I wanted to use some fabric left over from a dress I altered (I hacked off the skirt and made it into a shirt) which is black with small red flowers. I didn’t bring it with me to the store - small mistake - but picked out another black fabric, some red bias tape, red ’shoelace’ ribbon, a small package of thin quilt batting, and a card of buttons. Then yesterday I spent a few hours in my closet. The result?

Reasonably satisfactory. It is not as far off of the square as it looks. It is slightly off square. And slightly wrinkled. And - well. Overall I am very pleased with it. See? You fold down the top bit -

and fold/roll it across.

It hasn’t quite got a proper fastening yet, and I need to take it back to the sewing closet and further divide some of the pockets so that they’re smaller compartments, but it’s both usable and pretty. I like it! I would do a few things differently if I ever made another one (for instance, you don’t need to turn over a seam you’re going to cover with bias tape) but it was fun. I should really sew more often.

Oh! Good news. I found my F hook, so I can finish the pink and yellow church baby afghan!

Getting some work done

I haven’t done much crafting for…oh…almost two weeks? I don’t really count the sponges, it takes less time to make one of those than is does to properly leaf through the Knit Picks catalog I got in the mail the other day. I think it started as that ‘between active projects’ lull - you know,  I finished the first Hedera, I made Max those socks, I finished that airplane. I tried to work on something else, but I’ve lost my hook for the church baby afghan, I can’t find anything to do yet with the Misti Alpaca that I like, Greg’s scarf is waiting for an untangle…and so I turned to other things that needed doing.

Now I’m sort of trying to see how much of that ‘other stuff’ I can get done before I can’t take it any more and start making coasters again just to make something. I don’t know that it makes for the most fascinating blogging, but look! I’ve released the Shooting Starf,  I’ve redone, written up, and released the Mini Stuffed Airplane. My Crochet Marketplace was disheveled for several hours yesterday as I switched it over to a sleeker, cleaner new look. Seriously, go look, I’m so proud.

Unfortunately for you, this doesn’t necessarily make for interesting blogging.  If I spent hours with a hook in my hand, I’d have something to show for it - when I spend several hours coding and uploading, you go over there and say, ‘Yeah, that looks nice. Was it different?’ Ah, well. Here, let me distract you with a picture that could be captioned, “Childhood is…”

Have a great weekend.

Busy Week

Prepare yourselves for a shock, ladies and gentlemen: we have another pattern. That’s right, I’ve written up the pattern for that little airplane I showed off a few weeks ago and it’s available for free over at Inner Child Crochet. I fixed the windows, and took some new pictures -

Max helped. You can find the pattern here, and I’d write more but Charlie says I really need to go.

It’s one of those rarest of events -

A pattern release! Will wonders never cease? Yes, that’s right, you can now get your very own copy of the Shooting Starf pattern over at Inner Child Crochet. I recommend it, really - such a fun scarf.

A few issues of Crochetme ago, they published an article talking about the relationship between hook size and the drape of your crocheted fabric. As it turns out, the ‘recommended hook size’ is often far too small for a fluid fabric. The yarn I used for the scarf is DK weight - lighter than worsted - but I used a J hook. Which is two sizes larger than I usually see recommended for worsted weight. (Um. Last time I checked. I just realized that I can’t remember the last time I actually checked the recommended hook size.) Anyway, if you take a look at the picture you can see that the larger hook size resulted in a beautiful drape, and the fabric is not gappy, either.

Go check out the pattern! If you haven’t been over to my page of sale patterns before,  you should check those out, too.

Putting the kitchen back in cotton

So, I finished Max’s socks. (A few days ago, actually. They have been worn up and down and all around this house, over several days, and are now crumpled in the laundry hamper, exhausted. He likes them.) Since then I’ve struggled with what to work on. First, I set out with the intention of reducing my works in progress - ahh, how they multiply - by working on Greg’s scarf. I made it into the third and final ball of the yarn when there was, without warning, a massive tangle. In boucle. I set it aside.

Taking that as a sign that I should do something fun, I pulled out my new Misti Alpaca Chunky and started swatching. I used several different needle sizes and still wasn’t pleased with the result. I’ve heard knitters remark on alpaca’s ‘lack of elasticity,’ but once again sometimes you have to see a thing before you really understand what it means. Many months ago, before I’d ever had the opportunity to do more than touch (and therefore fall in love with) alpaca yarn, I theorized that alpaca might be better suited to crocheting than knitting because crocheted stitches have more structure than knit stitches. I pulled out my hooks and discovered that - at least in this case - I was right. I was pleased with the fabric my swatch was producing. I just wanted to go up one hook size from the one I was using, and it would be lovely.

I was using an ‘I’ hook. No problem, I know I have a ‘J.’ However, I looked in my bag, and I couldn’t find it. I looked in my box. I didn’t see it. I remembered that I lent Wren a hook to work on something - perhaps that was my J. I went to go ask her for it (I’m pretty sure she doesn’t use it much).

Me: “Hey, are you using my J hook?”

Her: “No, I think it’s an I.”

Me: “An I? An I? I thought I was using an I downstairs…”

Her: “I’m pretty sure it’s an I.”

Me: “Would you check?”

Her: (checks) “Yup, it’s an I.”

Me: “It’s an I? But I’m sure I was using an I - why would I have two Is?”

Here her face sort of froze in a grin, one of her eyes twitched and after a two-beat pause she popped out an obvious, pun-based groaner. Thereby proving, once again, that she is in fact related to me. We are your children, Dad. We are what you made us.

Anyway, unable to locate my J, I listlessly swatched on other projects until bedtime. Today, though, I came across a really great pattern while browsing Crochet Pattern Central - Cotton Dish Sponges. They are simple genius. I made four. (The small one is for Max. He helps me clean.)

I could easily, happily, make many, many more of these. They’re very much ‘Zen crocheting,’ simple, memorable, fun and fast. I definitely want to go to Michael’s or Joann’s or something and pick up some more fun colors of cotton just so I can make some more of these. Um. Fortunately I have several people on my Christmas list that would politely accept homemade sponges should I chance to accidentally make more than my house can hold. Once again, here’s the link to the pattern. Follow it, but make sure you have some cotton on hand, for safety’s sake.

Simple Crochet for Cherished Babies

by Jane Davis. (Scroll down if you just want to see what’s in the book.) Billed as a book of “irresistible and classic designs for babies” and aimed at the confident beginner, it appears upon casual inspection to hit the mark. It includes a ‘how-to’ section at the beginning, consisting of directions for specialty stitches and verbiage used in the patterns, conversion charts for US and European crochet terminology, another one for converting between US and metric hook sizes, a baby sizing chart, and two pages on choosing (or substituting) the right yarn. It contains a good mix of blankets, toys, clothing items and accessories, ranging from the very simple (a basic ball) to the more complex (a long sleeved, footed sleeper with puppies on the toes).

Annoyances: leaving aside the designs that I simply didn’t like, at times the names are painfully unoriginal. There is a sense that the effort of naming them couldn’t be mustered. Over the course of the book we go from ‘Dainty Slippers’ to ‘Matching Booties’ to ‘Booties.’ Something else that bothered me was the giant pictures of props that took up space that could have been used to expand pattern directions that were slightly more abbreviated than I like them. Still, ‘Simple’ is what was advertised, and simple is what you get. What could be more basic (and useful) than a onesie or a t-shirt? The sundress and long-sleeved ‘Soft-As-A-Cloud Dress’ have clean lines that make them practical and straightforward.

Why you should pick up the book - frankly, despite its failings there is a good ratio of cute designs in here. Some are downright amazing - the Winter Wonderland Cabled Sweater, for instance (pictured below) introduces the crocheter to chain-stitch embroidery, (a technique I’m now going to try) which can produce cable-like embellishments without the use of post stitches. The Wild Rose Blanket (also pictured below) is simply beautiful, and the Wooly Lamb and Turtle are adorable. These four designs alone justify to me the purchase of the book. Especially if you bought it 50% off like I did…

Once you’ve bought the book, you’re sure to return to it sometime for patterns like the aforementioned Soft-As-A-Cloud Dress, the Acorn Hat, or the Tumbling Blocks Blanket (pretty darn cool in its own right).

A word of caution before the show and tell - I haven’t had the chance to make anything out of this book yet, so I looked up the reviews on Amazon. About half of the people (who had used it) gave glowing reviews, and the other half complained bitterly about typos, errors, faulty schematics and confusing directions. It might be a good idea to have a long sit with it to see if you understand the author’s style of pattern writing, or better yet borrow it from someone before you commit to it. For the price, though, if you like what you see you might as well get it. My verdict? It was a good buy.

This book contains 28 patterns. Let me break it down for you (click on pictures to see larger; click on selected patterns to see a picture):

Hats

• Sun Hat
• Acorn Hat
• Rascal Hat
• Winter Wonderland Cable Hat

Blankets

• Wild Rose Blanket
• Basic Blanket
• Tumbling Blocks Blanket
• Heirloom Blanket

Toys

• Baby’s First Ball
• Orange Slice Ball
• Wooly Lamb
• Turtle

Leg or Leg+Body Coverings

• Buttercup Footies
• Puppy Footed Onesie
• Hooded Baby Lounger
• Playful Overalls

Sweaters and Jackets

• Dusty Rose Sweater
• Winter Wonderland Cable Sweater
• Hooded Jacket with Frog Closure

Dresses

• Pretty in Pink Sundress
• Cool Cotton Sundress
• Soft-As-A-Cloud Dress

Booties

• Dainty Slippers
• Matching Booties
• Booties

Shirt(ish)

• Little Boy Blue Onesie
• Striped T-Shirt

Miscellaneous

• Bargello Pillow

Clearly, I don’t blog enough

…to detail all of my exploits. On Friday Greg and I went out to Barnes and Noble (yeah, baby). After we spent some time paging through the “Get Fuzzy” collections, poring through various motorsports publications, and a trip to the craft book section, I found a table full of knit and crochet books for 50% off. Nice books, too - “Simple Knits for Cherished Babies,” Nicky Epstein’s “Knitting On (and Over) the Edge,” the first two Vogue Stitchionarys, and others that I can’t remember. With only 5 minutes before the store closed, I grabbed one book off of the table and headed for the registers. I’ve talked before about what a sucker I am for titles that include words like “cherished” and “babies,”so naturally I couldn’t resist this one - not for the low, low price of seven dollars or so. I’m planning to do a fairly in-depth review of this book tomorrow, so stay tuned! By the way, word around the web is that these titles are on clearance at Barnes and Noble stores around the country, as well as online, so if you’ve ever waffled over these books, now is your chance to score. I’m thinking about going back for a few.

Then on Saturday, we swung once more by Yarnivore as we went about our errands. Greg and the kids went to the Whataburger as I browsed; always fun. I noticed for the first time that the benches and low table in the back held knitting needles and a large basket of yarn for yarn tasting - aaaah! Unfortunately I did NOT have time to sit down and play, or I would have, believe me. I now have a keen desire to make a special trip over there, by myself, when I can have some time to spend there and hang out. I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time actually in the store as of yet, but I hope I can arrange it. Anyway, as you can see from the picture, I picked up a ball of Misti Alpaca Chunky (just one, as they’re a bit pricey) which was absolutely love at first touch. Cushy, soft, pretty…tactile bliss.

Even Melanie commented as I was checking out on how much she loves to wind the Misti Alpaca. It’s nice. As she wound we chatted about the store, and upcoming events. Apparently Annie Modesitt will be making an appearance for two days in October, and Melanie voiced her hope that Cat Bordhi might be persuaded to come in sometime early next year. One of her customers, she confided, was a personal friend of Cat’s, and thought she could finagle it. I agreed that it was very exciting for the store, then asked a silly question about the Rowan Tapestry I was standing next to. She answered it very politely, and I half-tuned out for a moment as I imagined some point in the future when she might say to her customers, “You know, Melissa Mall used to be a regular here. Yeah, isn’t it crazy? She was something of a yarn idiot, haha!”

Then that night I started a new project (you knew I would).

The pattern is Cabled Toddler Socks, by Rosemary Waits from Quietish. They’re for Max, of course, I’ve said he was long overdue for a pair I made for him. They’re a fast, fun free pattern - during the course of a cheesy action flick we rented I got all the way from casting on to turning the heel! I finished it while watching cartoons with Max yesterday, and got to the heel of the second while watching another unbearably cheesy movie. Clearly, it’s my turn to pick the next movie. I think it’s funny, furthermore, that while I’ve made baby socks, striped socks, socks in fingering weight, and now my first Hedera, it’s these black, cabled, worsted weight socks that have made Greg say for the first time, “Wow - could you make me some socks?” I guess it’s true that most men prefer plain, dark, stockinette (with perhaps a cable or two) to all sorts of fancy yarn or patterns.

I’ll conclude today with (a link to) a picture for the grandparents: Max has decided that the layered look is ‘in.’ Here he is, pictured with three shirts and two pair of pants, all selected by him. (He had some help getting them on.) Have a great day, everyone!

And then, Suddenly

…as if from nowhere - SHAZAM!

Half-a-pair-o-Hedera! Yeah, that’s right. I’m posting because I finished one sock. It’s my first whole adult sock ever - and took more than two months for me to complete - so I think it merits it. It doesn’t fit very well; it’s a little snug, but check it out, there’s a ton of yarn left from my skein of Gloss.

‘Used’ ball on the left, new ball on the right. I think I might be able to get the second sock out of the first skein. I’m gonna go for it. But before I start the second sock, I think I’ll start a new project or something. I love to start new projects…

Oatmeal: Breakfast of Champions

Or at least: Breakfast of My Boys. I’ve always fed them oatmeal for breakfast in the interests of nutrition. Once Max outgrew baby oatmeal flakes, I used to buy those packets of instant oatmeal, since I only needed to make one bowl a day. (Neither Greg nor I prefer an oatmeal breakfast. Probably because we were so often forced to eat it in our childhoods. That’s right, baby! Keeping the tradition alive.) Now that my little Charlie-bear (sniffle) has decided that he’s too big for baby mush, it’s not as practical. Plus, that instant oatmeal is filled with sugar and other processed stuff, and I’m trying to get away from that. But since my oatmeal-making skills are pretty rusty (and, I’m still tired of it, Mom. That and spaghetti.) I’ve been looking for oatmeal-y breakfasts to make that let me mix things up a bit. First up: breakfast cookies.

The Last Cookie - caught on film. Shown pretty much actual size. Maybe a little smaller than actual size.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats (rolled/old fashioned)
• 3 tbsp + 1/4 cup wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp raisins
• 3 tbsp honey
• 3/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix oats, 1st flour, cinnamon, and baking powder in smallish mixing bowl. Add raisins, honey, and applesauce: mix together. Add 1/4 cup flour and mix in. Divide into three giant blobs and place on sprayed cookie sheet; bake 15-20 minutes until done. (Makes three palm-sized cookies.)

These are super fast, super easy to make, and really good. Really nutritious, too, not like some ‘breakfast cookie’ recipes I’ve seen. It multiplies well, and stores well (I once stuck one of these in a ziplock for 4 days, and it was still soft, chewy, and good when I pulled it out), and the boys love them. Once they’ve eaten theirs, they fight over who gets to mooch off of mine. Max thinks they’re real cookies. Haha. One of these days I need to just multiply the recipe by ten, bake ‘em all up, stick them away, and not have to worry about breakfast or snacks for like a week.

Second (and last, dang, this is a long post): Creamy Blueberry Oatmeal.

Max loves it and calls it ‘purple oatmeal,’ Charlie thinks it’s disgusting. Maybe he’s not quite ready for grown-up oatmeal, after all. Or he just hates purple. I don’t know.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup oats (rolled/old-fashioned)
• 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
• small amount brown sugar

In small saucepan, scald milk over medium/medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Once it has scalded, turn the heat up and (watching closely and stirring often) bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, immediately add oats and turn down heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add blueberries, cook for several minutes more until it looks done. Add sugar to taste. Makes three small or two ‘normal’ bowls of oatmeal.

Maybe I’m strange, but I really love being able to give my kids food with such a short ingredient list. Milk, blueberries, oats, sugar? Sounds like breakfast to me. Good times.

Aaaah, Summertime…

As the month of August draws to a close, I can think only one thing:

I hate summer.

We seem to have reached that point in the year where the constant burning swelter has broken my spirit and, also, sapped my will to live. Everything is covered in sweat. I’m sweating. When I hug my boys, they are covered in sweat. My hair appears to be sweating. And this is inside of my air-conditioned house (not that we can afford to set it to some crazy temperature…like 79…). Last night I was wearing a pair of cotton ankle socks, and I had to take them off because I felt so warm I was getting sick. I remember, in December we installed a fan in our living room. We turned it on to test it out, but quickly turned it off again in alarm as helicopter-force winds disarranged the room, actually lifting small objects from their places and moving them around. “Wow,” we said. “I don’t think we’re ever going to use that setting.” It just goes to show how wrong you can be about some things.

Any task requiring concentration - like this blog post, for instance - gets put off and in many cases forgotten by my heat-muddled mind. (I think it’s been two or three days since I started writing it.) We have reached the point where I can’t remember being chilly, and strain my brain though I might, the prospect of cooler weather in the future seems unlikely ever to occur. We are totally going to freeze when we go to Japan this February. Freeeeeeeeeeze.

Listen to that word, though. Just the word is refreshing. Freeeeeeeeze. Freeeeeeeee-ze. Free-zuh. Free. Greg and I are both just waiting to get out of here. He has a snowboard in the garage that has been collecting dust for three years, I have a love affair with sweaters and long-sleeved shirts that has been put on hold for the same amount of time. As a crocheter and a knitter (by the way, crocheters, check out the Interweave Crochet fall preview. Kim is working wonders over there!), I am nothing short of thrilled at the greater range it’s going to offer for my skills. Most of all, though, I look forward to being able to think comfortably again. Nothing keeps the mind alert like a healthy dose of cold weather!

I suppose the answer for now at least is to keep my goals small and manageable. Like this, for instance:

I made that for Max this week. Little tip, if you tell a three-year-old what you’re making for him before it’s finished, he’ll try to get it. Because, apparently, he doesn’t care if it doesn’t have wings, or a windshield. Good to know. The airplane is shown slightly larger than its actual size, I think it’s almost three inches long.