Purple Chair Crochet: Work in Progress

Monday, August 26, 2013

Two of Ten (Work in Progress)

I suspect my queen size granny square blanket is going to be one of those makes that is much more beautiful and impressive in person than it photographs. Oh well, what can you do. :)

Here's what progress looks like:

My favorite square. ^ ^ ^

I got a ton more yarn- hopefully enough to get me halfway done. But I won't get ahead of myself: I'm taking this blanket one row at a time.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Left Overs (Work in Progress)

'Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without.'

I like to think of myself as a bit of a minimalist. Or at least, I aspire to minimalism and truly believe the old cliches: "less is more" and "waste not, want not". Jaded by our consumer driven society, my charming husband and I decided long ago that we'd make what we could, fix what we could, buy thrift when we could, and buy new only things that were really made to last.

This mentality carries over into my crochet stash, where I'm keen to use up my random yarn and not let it go to waste. It's been a year and a half since I finished my Not-That-Ugly Scrappy Granny Blanket and I recently noticed the yarn bits were multiplying again. Time for some stash busting with the left overs!

This go 'round I stuck with just two rounds of granny. It makes the squares fast and fun, makes weaving in ends feel faster, and when the whole thing is finished it'll have a great retro granny feel (especially if I circle it in black). It's awesome how different granny squares can look.

L O V E

Mini stack of mini grannies.

My project within the project came into being from the surprise bits of yarn that don't have enough length to form even one round of a granny square. I'm taking those and knotting them together and winding them into a ball of their own. When I have 3 or 4, I'll make a little multi-colored floor mat for entrance to my house from the porch.

Minimalist living is surprisingly colorful.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Monday, August 5, 2013

End of Summer (Work in Progress)

If you've been around this blog, you may remember The Circus Sweater was a recent make of mine (here's a link to the Sedge Stitch Tutorial, if you want to recreate it!)

Well, since this is my most favorite-est time of year (the end of summer!) and we're looking ahead to autumn but not even there yet (a good 6 weeks before I even think about actually wearing the sweaters I'm making), I thought it was the perfect time to start on another sweater while we wait for autumn.

Initially, I started on this lovely, simple pull over...

Gorgeous, right? Yeah, it's not gonna work. I began the first row of this sweater 5 times (5!) and had to frog it. I wonder if there's something amiss in the pattern, because what I was creating just wasn't adding up with the instructions. There was an actual chart, but since I've never made a top-down sweater before, it wasn't much of a help (I'm actually not much of a visual learner- I need words).

Scratch that.

I then decided to base my next sweater off my circus sweater, but to use a stitch that was a bit airier, to make the sweater a bit looser, and the sleeves a bit longer.
It took a few days of internet searching and book perusing, but I've finally settled on (what I think) is the perfect stitch.... The Petal Cluster

I had to alter the stitch a bit so it would work out with straight edges, but it was a pretty simple adjustment.

It meets all my nit-picky criteria: interesting stitch without being too complicated, a tad flowery without being too feminine, airy without being entirely made of a chain stitch. Oh yes, I have high hopes for this stitch. I just have to order a bit more yarn, because I don't think I have enough of my jade green on hand.

Time to get started.
Happy Monday, all! And happy end of summer!

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

One of Ten (Work in Progress!)

Here it is!
Row One of Ten of my first ever *queen sized* granny square blanket!

I really did try to find something different than the granny square. Really, I looked all over the interwebs. But nothing seemed as timelessly funky as the granny square. Everything was either too trendy or too lacy or too ruffly or too plain. I'm a granny square girl.

As you can see, I've limited the blanket to 3 colors, but to make it more interesting (visually and to crochet), I've completely mixed up the color repetitions of each square. Initially I'd tried to bring in oranges and yellows, but not only are they impossible to find in a good shade that worked every which way, it also made my blanket look way too specific to the room that it's intended for (my grey, white, orange, yellow and black bedroom).

I read that a queen sized blanket is 86" (inches) x 86". Each of these squares is 8.5", making my first row 85" deep. 9 more of these, plus a border (a nice sized border, hopefully) and we'll be good to go! Just in time for autumn, most likely, although this blanket is intended to be our summer blanket (duvets are just too much in the summer!).

I'm using regular ol' cotton yarn, and a 5.5mm hook (my usual blanket hook). 7 rounds per granny, joining as I go, on and on, yada yada. Isn't it pretty! Notice that wasn't really a question. ;)

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Come Together Riiiight Now, Over Me (Work in Progress)

Thisclose to being done with my version of the Circus Sweater. (View my progress here and here).
I need to weave in ends,
block it,
then it will,
come together, right now, over me! Well, over my head. 'Cause it's a pullover. Anyway, something you should maybe know about me is I've had a case of Beatle Mania since my teen years and I show no signs of recovery. I can make a n y t h i n g a Beatle reference. Including, it seems, crocheted sweaters.
Moving on...

The downside of stripes is the ends to weave in. The upside of stripes is the stripes. Stripey goodness!

I haven't forgotten to write the sedge-stitch tutorial. I think that may be after the Finished! post for this project, and *that* post isn't far off. Not at all.

After working on this sweater I've decided that one of the nicest things in the world is fingering weight yarn on a 4mm hook. There's something so incredibly perfect about it. I've also decided that all my sweaters will be with fingering weight yarn when possible. Crochet works into thicker stitches than knitting does, so using a thin yarn really makes what you're making more garment-like, rather than blanket-like. Mhm.

Other musings: I must be the only person I know on this side of the equator making a wool sweater in the middle of June. Ah, well, I've always been colder than average.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Another Summer, Another Sale (Charity)

I'm not quite finished prepping for my Summer Charity Sale, but it's all coming together, and that's a good, good thing. Here's a sneak peek of some of my items this year...

An assortment of hair clips.

A mystery item (I really need to finish this and write the blogpost for it!).

I ~heart~ sunflowers.

This blue with this red. A favorite.

I hope you didn't miss the Sunflower Tutorial....? :)

Produce bags in an assortment of colors (greens and blues).

Maaaaybe some doilies (who doesn't love a doily?!). I'd need to remake it into something fresh and new. Maybe a simple little bowl shape from a doily? Trinket-basket like?

And, of course, earrings. Swoon!!

I have other stuff not shown here: another octopus (maybe I'll make a pair), wash rags (for the uber practical types out there), coffee cup cozies (they say 'Love', I'm quite happy with how they turned out- definitely need to get pictures of that!), and a few left overs from last winter's sale (Coffee House Cowls, doily art, etc).

Oh look, another mascot.
This is Calcifer, a rescue kitty that we were just supposed to be fostering, until my 4 year and 2 year old fell in love with him. That only took a day and a half. So, I guess he's ours. I didn't see that coming, but it seems everyone else did. ;) Worst foster parents ever.

Less than a month until the sale! Sheesh, where did half the year go?

Better get to work on that mystery item. :)

Have a Lovely Day!

~Jess

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Circus Sweater (Work in Progress)

My 4-year-old son opened the door to the porch.
"Are you gonna crochet all day?"
....maybe. :)

Check out the progress I've made on my Circus Sweater!

We're not there yet, but we're on our way. LOTS of blocking needed, otherwise this is gonna be one snug sweater. Fortunately, my yarn is wool (and bamboo, but mostly wool) so it should ease up nicely. Blocking always strikes me as miraculous.

You can find the original Circus Sweater pattern here (via Genuine Mudpie). I've altered the original by using a sedge-stitch, which I'll be writing a tutorial for, oh, any day now. It'll be listed on the Right side of the screen when it's ready!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Next Perfect Garment (Work in Progress)

I've been scouring the internet looking for the next perfect garment to make. In the process I've come across some LoVeLY designer's blogs. First up: Abigailology ~ she's got a wedding dress in the works! and the sweaters she makes look amazingly cozy! and check out that yoga mat bag! I purchased her pattern on Etsy and I can't wait to get started! So! Many! Exclamation! Points! Ha!

Moving on to Genuine MudPie, another stellar find! Her crocheted coral have made me all swoony, and I love the personality and charm in her amigurumi creatures. She has adorable belt patterns (a must for me, since I like the idea of belts but can't seem to be bothered to actually purchase them),I particularly like her style of dress- nothing fussy.

My basic criteria for my Next Perfect Garment was only that I did not want to purchase more yarn. Pretty reasonable, since I have a ton and some of it has been sitting around for, uh, well, if I'm honest, a couple of um, years. Yarn hoarder sounds a bit extreme, I like to think of myself as a yarn conservationist.

Anyway, Genuine MudPie happened to have a particularly cute and super simple pattern available. She calls it the Circus Sweater, and generously offered the details on the sweater's construction on her blog. And so, I got to work...

So, my personalization of the pattern are as follows:
First, I'm using a 4mm hook with fingering weight yarn ("Bamboo & Ewe" which I ~~hoarded~~ conserved for these past nearly 3 years). My secondary colors for the top are a creamy white and a soft, lilac purple ~ not shown.

Secondly, I'm working a sedge stitch for some visual interest and texture. Sedge-stitching is easy, and creates a gorgeous, dense fabric with lots of texture. Maybe I'll create a tutorial for the stitch in a future blog post.

Thirdly... I mean, I don't have a 3rd customization... I just prefer things listed in odd numbers.

Awkward segue into my new Yarn Bowl! Isn't it dreamy? I purchased it from a local pottery artist, who is a friend of a friend. It's super delightful! I may have taken to carrying it around the house with me and scowling at small children who approach it too closely with their kicky little fit. I said "may have".

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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