October 22, 2004
Fibery Friday
Little Jack sez have a howlin' good Friday and a wonderful weekend!
October 21, 2004
Blipping
You know what is cool about crochet? When you make a mistake, you can rip it out without a lot of bother. It's not at all like ripping knitting, so I think of it as blipping. You pull the working thread and blip! blip! blip! blip! you are back to the point where you made the mistake! The chain-like nature of the work really lends itself to being blipped, I must say, and I've had a lot of practice blipping back. I'm working on a little purse from Decorative Crocheting, and while I've got changing colors down pretty well now, accidental increases and decreases are still a challenging part of tapestry crochet.
The pups are curious about the crochet, because they can tell there is only one small hook at work rather than two slightly dangerous looking pointy things. The only thing more challenging than accidental increases and decreases is trying to make even stitches while three dachshunds try to help :-)
Jack is feeling a lot better today; he had an infection that was getting him down, but he's back on top again.
We hope you are on top of your world today! Happy Thursday, and happy knitting!
October 20, 2004
Just a Note
Hiho, we are running like mad here. It's a school day and a work day and Little Jack is feeling a Little Under the Weather. He's been to the vet, though, and he'll be fine. We're just stopping by to wish you a wonderful Wednesday!
Happy day, and happy knitting!
October 19, 2004
You're Too Kind (and we appreciate it)
Hey! You are a sweet knit-blog audience! Thank you for the tips, links, and encouragement you left in the comments on Monday. I'm emboldened to make one of those fancy little bags next before embarking on the mittens. Tapestry crochet has so many possibilities...very intriguing. I'll be following (to the best of my limited crochet ability) the pattern in the Decorative Crocheting book that I've been raving about for nearly a week now. If you look at The Urban Spinner's blog entry of 21 September, you'll see a gorgeous little purse. Gorgeous! Crocheted! Who knew?
Surprised!
I had the loveliest surprise in the mail Monday afternoon! I love packages! I especially love suprise packages! This package had a two-ounce, 2-ply hank of pure unadulterated Cormo inside, as well as a photo of that charming Calendar Girl Bunny, and boy! Was I surprised! Thank you, Miss Peaches and thank you, Miss Peaches' person! I've never knit with Cormo before; it's so soft! and there's a perfect amount for a pair of softy-soft gloves. Rescue Rabbits Rule!
Why Didn't We Think of This?
Booga Bag and Fuzzy Feet felters! Cynthia the Art Links Goddess of my universe has found something completely indispensible for you. Mille grazi, Cynthia!
Pups
Action Della goes and goes. It's hot here again, so we'll have another series of pups-with-tongues-hanging-out photos. Are we lucky or what?
Happy Tuesday! Today is my nephew's birthday, so I can give him the secret birthday knitting! Happy day, happy knitting!
October 18, 2004
Tapestry Crochet
Ordinarily, I wouldn't show you a really ugly bit of needlework that I had created. But this time, since I was blathering on and on about tapestry crochet last week, I thought I'd share. I'd like to be able to make a Korsnäs sweater from Decorative Crochet, or at least the fabulous red mittens in the book. This weekend I mostly followed the directions in the book Tapestry Crochet, and here is the ugly result blocking on a bottle of water. The instructions are very good, by the way. I just couldn't execute them well.
Those blobby things on top of the triangles are supposed to be llamas, but I didn't understand exactly when I was supposed to change the colors (it's different than knitting), so instead the blobby things look rather like mutant rhinos. Humbling! But, I now know how to do the thing, and how to decrease and increase and shape and work upwards in a sculptural manner. It was a great exercise, even if I was doing it badly :-)
I found it a difficult technique, and I think that tapestry crochet must require a different set of muscles than knitting. My hands were very sore! Also, I had to look at it constantly so that I could carry the not-in-use wool correctly. I almost never look at my knitting anymore except to admire it ;-) so that aspect of tapestry crochet was hard. Maybe if I practice more and more, I'll be able to do it without looking. Staying on gauge, and not accidentally decreasing or increasing on a round was hard. But! I got through it, and I feel as if I could make some Korsnäs mittens now. I think it's worth the difficulty in learning how-to because it is a very interesting technique and a very clever way to add decorative elements to a garment without having floats.
I think that Mihoko-san has tried this method, and also visited the museum in Finland. You can see her work here toward the bottom of the page, and it's beautiful! I was much more ashamed of my initial tapestry crochet attempt after seeing Mihoko-san's cuff! If you look at her lace page, you'll absolutely swoon over her crocheted lace sweater and gloves. Crocheted medallions, lacy bits—really gorgeous work!
Pups
Once again, the little whiners are not ready for it to be Monday. Oh wait, that's me whining, not them. The pups always have their sunny side up.
Monday. Keep your sunny side up!