Project Storage 101

If you frequent the internet (blogs, in particular), you'll notice that quite a lot of things are perfect. Perfect hair styles, perfect houses, perfect organization, perfect project rooms.
Yeah.
Since I have a blog, but I'm not a "blogger" (I do not update regularly, nor do I have sponsors), I thought I'd share a bit of the real life with you all.

Project Storage 101

Step 1: Buy excessive amounts of yarn.

Step 2: Stick it in a bag. Out of bags? A box will do nicely...

That's it! Project Storage in the real world for all B-Types and Right-Brainers.

My mantra is "good enough!"

;)

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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purplechaircrochet.etsy.com

facebook.com/PurpleChairCrochet

pinterest.com/purplechair

Knit Picks is the BEST

Whenever someone asks me

'who has the best yarn?'

I always-always answer:

Knit Picks!!

Beautiful colors,

beautiful textures,

beautiful results.

 Fingering weight merino/cashmere blend. Another hat for myself.
"Another hat?" my charming husband echoed.
"Yes, another. It's not like you can have too many," I replied. I thought that much was obvious.

 Some colors I was wanting to see in person. They may or may not become a gift for a very special person. Not a word more from me on that subject!!

 Okay, so their "Golden Heather" was a Goodbye item. Call me crazy, but I have a general yarn policy that if you find a good yellow you buy it up. Because, for some reason, yarny yellows are lacking in general. Too buttery, too orangey, too acidic. Just one big sweeping "miss".

 Mhm, yellow! I have a cardigan pattern that may be perfect for this....

This is "Planetarium" - it's the base of a baby boy blanket I'll be working over the next couple of weeks in anticipation of a new arrival (my cousins, not my own). I love baby blankets, so full of joy and hope and excitement. And then you wrap newbie up and they spit up and drool and their diaper explodes all over the precious handmade blanket, and you sigh with relief that it's washable.

Hope you enjoyed your look at my new yarn!

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

***

purplechaircrochet.etsy.com

facebook.com/PurpleChairCrochet

pinterest.com/purplechair

Lacy Slouch Hat (Charity/WIP)

Thanks to the magical world of Pinterest, I came across a very-gorgeous-indeed lacy slouch hat.

Image courtesy of: Linda Permann via Ravelry

Smitten, enamored, gaga, call it what you will, this hat stuck with me for a month or two despite our summer of Hades. I'm talking 100+ degree days here with no AC. That's some hat. So when I narrowed the next charity project down to scarves, pins, earrings and hats I zoomed right back to Pinterest which took me to Ravelry and a few clicks later this pattern was m i n e!

Did I happy dance? Of course. Wouldn't you?

I jumped right into the gauge. I only had fingering weight yarn, so I gave it a whirl (and a yarn over or two) on my hook. After a tedious hour or so (yeah...) I realized that I needed to buy new yarn. 

Naturally, I didn't waste any time.

 

Lace Weight Yarn, fresh from KnitPicks

Since they were hanks (a hank is not a skein, by the by), I had to wind them into balls. By hand. Which, initially I didn't really consider, but then it dawned on me... 440 yards x 4 hanks = 1,760yards. 1 yard = 3 feet and so 1,760 yards = 5,280 feet. And I wound it all. In one day. With wobbly arms, I lay my yarn balls aside and went to bed. No crocheting. Just rest. Sweet rest.

The next day I was back at it! Once I got the gauge correct and mastered  wonky crocheted through the Foundation Double Crochet stitch (nope, never used it before, but I'm a believer now!) the pattern worked up like a breeze! I love how gorgeous and simple the repeat is.

The approach is fairly nontraditional (in my experience) for a hat, in that it's worked from the brim toward the top. You know... you work bottom up rather than top down. Uh, I don't know how else to explain this.... you decrease your stitches to shape the tube into a hat rather than increasing your stitches to shape your sphere into a dome. Wow, that sounded more complex the my original statement. How 'bout I just say this: it's great. You'll love it.

How about a sunshiney yellow hat? Yes? Sold! This pattern calls for 1 hank/skein per hat, which leaves me feeling a little queasy with recklessness. Seriously: what if I run out of yarn!?? I ordered this online, I can't, I just *can't* reorder it! And yet I must continue on, and constantly check my little purple ball of yarn to be sure it's not unraveling into a hat too quickly.

How about a gorgeous, grassy green? A neutral tan (officially called "Oregon Coast", which is such a delightfully nonsensical name for a color)? Yes to all? Perfect. :)

I've been eyeing real yarn bowls on Etsy, but then what would I do with my collection of Pyrex?

I am in lilac, lace weight, merino-and-silk blend, puff stitch LOVE!





To Summarize: I'm incredibly antsy to show you the finished hat, but that's a ways off. These things take time, you understand. At some point it'll be ready for display, and after that its 3 siblings (Sunshine, Grass and Oregon). You'll just have to follow along. :)

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

***

purplechaircrochet.etsy.com

facebook.com/PurpleChairCrochet

pinterest.com/purplechair

Meal-a-Day Fund of the Americas (Charity)

 

In the beginning of this long and crazy (and oft tedious) summer, I wrote a little post entitled: Give Love. At the time I needed to work out how to incorporate charity, giving, and love into my crochet work. I stay at home with my two beautiful sons (a young-2 and an old-3) and while I believe this work is deeply important and is shaping a future generation, there is a drive and desire in me to help others outside my core family now.

I struggled with how to give through crocheting. My charming husband suggested I crochet hats and scarves for the homeless or hats for preemies. A noble idea, and one that I do love, but I know myself and that's not something I can see doing long term. Perhaps that would be a great way to introduce crocheting to others, but I get too bored making the same thing. Plus, this may be due to an unhealthy emotional attachment to the things I make, but I want whoever receives something from my hands to be a thing that person *loves*.

And so, enter Meal-a-Day.

Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund of the Americas was an easy charity choice for me. I know the chairman, secretary, treasurer and director. Several of my good friends have gone on missions trips with Meal-a-Day. I wanted to help with the work somehow, even in a small way, to make me feel like my days were dedicated to my husband, my kids and others.  Plus, in their "Ideas for Giving" section of the website, #1 is: "Use your talent to make a handicraft or paint a picture or ??, sell it and donate the money". 








On a whim, I dedicated a week or two to crocheting items to sell. Most were smallish: $20-$30 items. Garlands, bunting, pins, earrings. Little things, easily transported from hither to yon. There were a few decorative pillow covers in the mix. I decided that my time and materials were free. I priced the items and sent them to a bible school (after a brief attempt at Etsy, but there's way too much competition on Etsy for this sort of thing) to be sold as a donation for Meal a Day. And ooo-de-lolli! About half of the items I made sold for a donation somewhere in the realm of $500. Not a ton of money, but more than I could have just given otherwise. Those buying the crochet support a good cause and get a beautiful item to tell the story ("Oh, where'd you get your earrings?"). Meal-a-Day gets money to go towards projects. The people on the receiving end of Meal-a-Day's efforts get education, food, shelter, hygiene, essentials. I get joy knowing that I'm helping a bigger picture. It's win-win-win-win.

The summer bible school is over, so now I'm focusing on a winter gathering. Winter and crochet = very ideal!

I narrowed it down to scarves (ruffle!), hats (lacy slouch!) and more earrings & pins.

I went to KnitPicks. They are absolutely my favoritesterest place to buy yarn! I got over excited at the "Free Shipping On Orders Over $50!" option and took advantage. This is, after all, for Charity. ;)
I ordered.
I waited.

And then: New Yarn!

Oh, and a book. Whaaat, I needed free shipping-- and those flowers will make gorgeous pins and embellishments to hats! It was 40% off. I'm not gonna explain myself anymore- quit judging me. =P

I'm so-so delighted I looked for an opportunity to help. The plan is to do this as long as I can (or as long as it works, I guess) and hope others (like you, you crafty crocheter!) will consider giving some of your love to Meal-a-Day!

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

***

purplechaircrochet.etsy.com

facebook.com/PurpleChairCrochet

pinterest.com/purplechair

Birthday Bunting (Free!)

Last Wednesday (the 30th of May), I celebrated my 26th birthday. It was completely perfect.
My Charming Husband took off work.
He came with me to a yoga class.
The boys were *good* that day (hurray!).
The house ended up being clean with minimal effort (love when that happens).
Friends came over and played with our children while Charming and I ventured off to Carytown, a little strip of shopping, eats, and fun things in Richmond.
I snagged some vibrantly colored yarn from The Yarn Lounge.
Food was consumed. Gifts (for myself and others) were purchased.
The day began drizzly and cloudy, but soon cleared to a beautiful expanse of azure.
See? Perfect. :)

But, you're here for the yarn. ;)
So, here it is. And a something that I made from it, too. Oh, and my "helper" made an appearance as well. Gets a tad bossy too, but I suppose he gets that from his parents.

"Take a picture of my pooh-bear! Can I see???"

"This one, this orange one. Yep, that one's my favorite."

Ta-dah! A sweet little bunting for my door.

I have a bunch of bunting available in my Etsy shop, but not for long. I've just arranged to sell all the completed items for the Meal-a-Day Fund. Just a way to incorporate Love and Service and Sharing into my crafting, something I've been wanting to do since I was pregnant with the 2nd boy.

But, here's something for you.

*********************************************
Granny Bunting How-To....

Granny Triangle: 

Any size hook with an appropriate yarn-weight. Or any yarn-weight with an appropriate hook. ;)
(Sorry, newbies. Uh, go for a 4mm hook and a sport weight yarn. Should do the trick!)
Begin by: Chain 4, join with sl st to first ch.
Round 1: Chain 2 (counts as first dc) 3dc in chain loop. *Ch 3, 4dc in chain loop. * 2x around. Ch 3, join with sl st to first dc.
Round 2: Sl st across dc cluster and into ch sp. Ch2 (counts as first dc), 3dc in ch sp. Ch3, 4dc in same space (corner formed). *Ch1, in next chain loop form another corner by 4dc, ch3, 3dc *. Repeat around, and slip st into first dc.
Round 3: Sl st across dc cluster and into corner. *Form a corner (4dc, ch3, 4dc), ch1; in ch1 sp of prev round work 4dc, ch1 * repeating around. Join with sl st to first dc.
Repeat Round 3 until the triangle is to the size you like. Fasten off.
Create as many as you like, in colors of your choice. Change colors for each round for a festive look.

Bunting:
Chain 10 (or 15, your preference), join with sl st to first ch. Chain 5 (or 10, 15, or preference), sl st across bunting. Repeat across with as many triangles as you like!

Easy-peasy. Now get to work!

***

Have a lovely day!

***

www.purplechaircrochet.etsy.com

www.facebook.com/purplechaircrochet

pinterest.com/purplechair

An Easy Choice (Yarn)

New Yarn! 

(happy dance!)

This is the easiest skein of yarn I have *ever* purchased.

Why, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you.

I went (for the first time) to our local foods market and the first thing I see (besides a little girl who wants to be our best friends... my 3 year old turned into Bambi and suddenly retreated right beneath my feet) is a basket with 5 or 6 skeins of yarn. 

This shop is all local, so of course I was going to buy local yarn. $10 a skein, not cheap, but hey, it's not about the price. 

They offered 2 (undyed) colors: Ecru or Khaki.

Duh, ecru! 

And here it is, it's internet debut...

I'm goober laughing at these pictures.
I just threw it atop a blanket,
but it looks like this yarn is from a professional photo shoot in the 80s.

Yards per Skein unknown, but it's quite a bit, as you see. 

I like the twisted parts. :)

Now what to make of it? Uhh...

The funny thing is, I wouldn't have picked this skein in a million years in a yarn shop. It's not very soft, it's "just" ecru, et cetera go the strikes against it. But because I had very limited choice and I wanted to get it (for various reasons), it was an easy choice and one that I'm immensely happy with.

Funny, less is still more, even when it comes to choice.

So "Yay!" for new yarn! And "Yay!" for an easy choice! And "Yay!" for local goods!

***

www.purplechaircrochet.etsy.com

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Now What? (Yarn)

Humm....

So,

I got this Avocado Yarn a couple of months ago. It was 

completely impulsive of me

....which, is kinda nice and different. 

I'm the type to write a list of the yarn I need for the projects I must complete

lose that list,

go to the store anyway

and get only half of what I needed 

because

I forgot what I initially wrote.

Anyway.

I bought this yarn.

And I had wanted it for a very large center piece for my dining room.

I still do.

I was going to take the Ruffled Granny Rug pattern 

with this slighter yarn

and a smaller hook

and create a beautiful table top mandala. 

What's the hang up? 

I have 2 small boys.

Ages:

3 years, 4.5 months

&

1 year, 7 months

And I noticed a horribly natural tendency among them to...

...dump out entire bowls full of cereal-

...smear yogurt drips as if that was making them better

...topple drinks

...suddenly make an attempt to climb upon the table

...grab the current center placemat and use it to wipe up the table, wipe their nose, smack their brother, throw on the floor (sometimes in succession)

ETC.

(Yes, I am working on their table manners, but these things take time.)

In the mean time, I don't want

 my beautiful, impulsive yarn 

to be destined for

destruction and ruin.

So... now what?

It's very light weight yarn, I'd say somewhere between fingering and sport. I've found quite a few slouchy hats that I like (I actually bought a pattern for a GoRgEoUs one!). But, I don't know if I truly have enough yarn or if I even want a color changing hat. That could be a disaster. I don't want my beautiful, impulsive yarn to be a disaster.

I also considered making it into a bag... it's 100% cotton so I'm positive it'd hold up just fine in the real world. I have some bamboo handles lying around... waiting... 

So that's where I'm at. I'll let you know where this goes!

I hope you all have a *lovely* day!

***

(Find me on facebook! 

I share "Good Finds", free patterns from various sources, 

and hum & haw about yarn and designs 

all 

day 

long. 

See you there!)

Avocado Yarn (Yarn!)

A couple days ago

I received a skein of

New Yarn!!

Yeeeees!!

And of course I celebrated the

yarn arrival with a 

HaPpY DaNcE

....but only after I was sure the postman was out of sight. 

=D

 I don't know about you, 

but I tend to get into a yarn rut. 

I buy the same ol' yarns,

in the same ol' colors,

from the same ol' store.

So, I was perusing Etsy and happened upon 

this 

beautiful

skein

of

yarn.

At first I was going to put it in a treasury.

But then I realized....

someone might buy it.

Someone else.

And I wanted it.

It (obviously) didn't make it in the treasury.

It's mine. 

=D

I can't wait to get to working with it!

I have to finish that floor mat (so close!).

I should probably finish the mystery project.

I need to keep working on my Bed of Roses blanket.

But in the midst of all this I will

surely

most definitely

make something 

beautiful 

with my Avocado Yarn. 

Sigh.

This yarn is 

so very gorgeous.

I like to keep it in view, 

despite being at least a couple weeks away

from working with it.

See more from this seller by following this link:
needleclicksEtc

It just doesn't seem right to 

hide it away in my stash bag.

Yarny yarny goodness.

=)

Ok.

Enough of that...

And now:

a little about the shop I got it from...

needleclicksEtc

She has another skein like this but with *more* yardage (450 yards, oh yeah!).

She offers yarn, 

kits, 

project bags, 

patterns (how cute are these sheep?!

 Love them so much! Makes me wish I could knit),

and more!

***

Hope you all have a delightful weekend!!

The Coffee House Cowl (New!)

Introducing:

The Coffee House Cowl!

I'm thrilled to be designing again! And I'm smitten with this cowl- I LoVe that it's not bulky and hugs in snug to my neck. It keeps out of the way and stays stylishly put. And, hello, did you notice those buttons!! :) I've been hoarding them for nearly a year now. Pretty yellow sunshiney buttons!! And the brown ones (made from coconut, so they say) with the medallion etching? Oh, yes, I love buttons. But I digress....

What was I talking about again?

Oh yes,

The Cowl!!

Love.