Toadstool

the perfect pedestal for a bluepixie, and my first crochet design:














tbp.x

Happy Hooker Scarf

Got the scarf to match my hat finished and photgraphed. Super cosy and super long: it finished up at 2 metres 30. I've put a close up of the stitch pattern below, its a combination of double crochet and chain stitches and produces a stretchy grid of triangles.












I've also bit the bullet and unwound (frogged) a scarf I knitted out of yarn cut from tesco plastic bags. My hope had been that with use/heat/detergent the plastic knit would soften but this never happened, huge shame because the scarf looked pretty cool. However now I have all the yarn I made to re-use and I'm torn about what to do, I'm tempted to knit or crochet it back into a bag but that seems a bit cliched. I've also been thinking about knitting a cosy for my flask to stop coffee drips staining my (white) bag but not sure non-absorbant yarn is the thing for that. Hmmmm.....

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First Crochet

The yarn for the owl jumper was on sale but only if you bought bulk so I was left with a load of (lovely) red wool. What to do? What to do?

I've recently been teaching myself to crochet using the stitch 'n' bitch crochet book ("Happy Hooker" Stoller, D). Used up a couple of balls of really cheap acrylic practicing the various stitches/techniques and I've really come to love it, even though as a knitter it feels all wrong to be dropping stitches all over the place! The huge advantage of crochet is that I can do it on the train without poking the person next to me with knitting needles. Stoller's book is really excellent, I picked up the basic idea immediately and there is a nice balance in the book between suggested projects and information/stitch patterns - the history of crochet at the start is a nice touch. Unlike when I learnt to knit the instructions in the book are really clear AND well illustrated, with knitting I couldn't even work out how to cast on from a book.

Anyway, to come back to my owl-jumper surplus. I decided to try one of the projects in Stoller's book and thought it would be a good opportunity to use up some stashed yarn. I chose in the end a lovely open-grid hat (in pic) and scarf. The pattern has contrasting trims on both hat and scarf with the scarf being inverse colours to the hat but I decided on a plainer version. I also made the scarf wider and longer than the pattern suggested; skinny scarfs are not my dish. The hat in particular is great because the openness means your head doesn't get too hot when walking about. On the other hand the book suggests wearing them in spring yet it kept me perfectly warm in sub-zero January. Guess it wouldn't be so good if you were standing around though. I'll snap a picture of the scarf and put it up later.

tbp.x

Owl Jumper

I've had a life long thing about owls and over the years have somewhat accidently built up a large stash of owl-related possessions. Not sure how any of this began but hey, here we are, I saw a post about this jumper on craftycrafty (or was it craftster?) and couldn't resist. Only this was my first big knitting project. I'd knitted small things and a scarf or two but the owl jumper represents the first time that I'd be seriously upset if it went wrong and that the costs of time/yarn were pretty high. Well the yarn was on sale, but you know what I mean.

The pattern is Kate Davies' of Needled. You can download the pdf either at Needled or on Ravelry for £1.50, the procedes I believe are going to Medicines Sans Frontieres. Even when I was an utter beginner I managed to follow her directions without too much difficulty. Also, check out some of her other patterns, they're fantastic. I've since knitted the "Doll Heid" hat but it was a gift for a friend and I never got a chance to take a picture.

P.