I already had the yarn out. The stuffing was right there. And I hadn’t been able – for weeks – to shake the thought: “That would be so easy to do.” When I walked by a shelf this morning and spied a crochet hook just lying there, I couldn’t resist. Please allow me to present –
The Golden Snitch. I’ve written up the pattern and stuck it on my site: you can find it here. I’ve also been working on moving over those last few pesky patterns from my blog, but I’m really tired of doing that right now. So I hope you like the snitch, everybody! Those little suckers are fast.
Since, it appears, I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to more grown-up projects, I decided to start a fun little project I’ve been eyeing for a while: Puss in Boots from Jean Greenhowe’s Knitted Animals. I think Jean Greenhowe is something of a design genius: look around her site and you’ll see what I mean. Take, for instance, the Topsy-Turvy Cinderella doll, her knitted paint, or the beautifulvariety of dolls she’s designed. See what I mean? Genius. So I’ve been meaning to try one of her patterns for a while now. I’m glad I did, too. It’s proving to be really fun and going very quickly. It took a surprisingly short time to go from a stubby, amorphous blob:
to something that was recognizable as an unfinished version of the project I’m making.
I’ve never knit a toy from a pattern before, but you can color me impressed. I predict that it won’t be very long before this little kitty is all finished.
You may remember that before my other blog crashed, I was talking about a crocheting project that I’d finished but hadn’t managed to get a proper picture of. (To be honest, half the delay was because I hadn’t bothered ironing it yet…) After about half an hour of fiddling with the self-timer setting on my shiny new camera, I got a useable photo. It’s a starf! I mean, it’s a scarf, shaped like a shooting star – a shooting starf.
I used Knit Picks Merino Style, and it is just gorgeous. I’ve heard a lot about how pilly merino wool is, but it wears like iron compared to the Main Line I used for my cloche. (At least, so far. I haven’t exactly been tobogganing in it or anything, but it’s not fuzzy yet, which is more than I can say for the Main Line.) I’m pretty sure this is the first project I’ve ever done that was made with nice, new wool, and now I understand what people mean when they say that wool is ‘springy.’ That’s the perfect word to describe it. As far as this specific yarn goes, (if you’re looking for a review) Merino Style is very soft. I have no qualms about wrapping it around my neck. The stitch definition is great – I used crocheted ribbing, which can look very flat in the wrong yarn or gauge, and it looks beautiful. This would probably look very nice with a cables. I like the colors: they’re strong and saturated without looking like a box of markers. Would I use it again? Oh my, yes. Lovely, soft, warm, rather inexpensive – I can absolutely foresee myself purchasing this yarn for another project.
Getting back to the starf, I made it short enough that it only goes around the neck once, but wide enough that it scrunches to provide nice, cozy warmth. A loop on the back of the star secures the end, which reappears out from under it like the tail of a shooting star! It’s a simple design, but I really like it. The concept has been loitering in my design file for years. Another one down! Unfortunately, it’s much faster to think of these things than to execute them. I have a feeling I may never get to all of them.
In other news, it’s been raining here. A lot. For a long time. Texas is flooding. And while it does keep the temperature down (a bit) and saves me having to water my grass, I have to wonder what nasty bug or disease or wild animal is going to appear on the scene, that only comes out when you get rain several times a week for a month or two. Any guesses?
