WIP: Granny Square Vest

Making this vest reminds me how much I dislike joining small crocheted pieces together. I love the look that these vests have but if only my mother lived close enough to do this for me -- like she doesn't have her own projects to take care of!!!

The yarn is Caron One Pound Midnight Blue #546 and a Susan Bates hook G (4.25mm).

Anyway, I need 56 squares about 3.5-4 inches each and I have just over 30 finished. THEN they need to be blocked; THEN they need to be joined; THEN the vest will need to be edged...

FO: Caron Jewel Box Drawstring Bag

This is the first purse/bag I have ever crocheted and it came out extremely well! My husband was even impressed and played with the pulls a couple times. An old CD will fit perfectly in the bottom to give it support.

This pattern came from the Caron yarn site and can be found in the free pattern area. Two changes were made to the pattern once I got started: 1. I added another round to the bottom and 2. the top row was done in half-double crochet just for a change. The pattern was very easy to follow and I finished it in about 4-5 hours over 2 days.

Rather than using the thread suggested at the Caron site, I used 2 threads of Lion Brand 'Pound of Love' white #100 from my stash and my favorite red Boye J hook (6.00mm). After weaving in the loose threads on the pulls, it will be ready to use! Now, which CD should go in the bottom... software? music? computer game?

WIP: It's red!; FO: 8/10/2006

This WIP is going to be a shawl. The yarn is Homespun Candy Apple #375 and the hook I'm using is a plastic Susan Bates N (10mm); the stitch is a single crochet (sc). The Homespun is difficult enough to work with that I choose a large hook and a simple stitch. The color just glows!

It will be long enough to toss each end over my shoulders. This will cover my arms but leave my hands free enough to crochet or read. All that's left to finish is a few more inches of shawl plus some fringe.

Update on 8/10/2006: Finally finished and it is warm and just right! The fringe is just long strands of the Homespun tied onto the edge. Each end has a knot in it because this yarn will fray!

WIP: Yarns don't match!

You can see my WIP started below. I have gotten far enough along that I'm ready to tie on a new skein -- but they don't match! The label on the Caron pounder says "No dye lot" (in 3 languages!) but the new yarn doesn't have the same sheen as the current yarn. None of the Caron Soft Sage at Joann's matches, either!

What if the yarn I have already used is the mis-match! Hope this doesn't become another frogging project!

Update on 6/26/2006: Joann's had a new batch of Caron Soft Sage and today I found one that seems to match the original yarn. Thank goodness! I was ready to SIU (see acronyms at right) and frog it. Now I can get back and finish it!

Update on 7/4/2006: Nope! Not a match at all when I finally joined the two colors. Bought a third one which really seemed to match in the store but the light must be really bad at Joann's. So the project is back on hold.

Update on 9/20/2006: Wrote to Caron and explained the situation (folks on Crochet Partners recommended this) and they sent me three (count them -- 3!) skeins of matching Soft Sage yarn. Customer service is still alive and well in America! Haven't frogged the original afghan, yet, or started on a new one with the matching yarn but it won'd be long!

Essential Book

When I started crocheting again in my adult years, I had forgotten quite a bit of what I'd learned as a child from my mom and grandmother. I am left-handed and most examples I could find were for right-handers.

A book that saved my mind and lots of time is "Left-handed Crochet" by Regina Hurlburt (ISBN: 0-42-23590-9). My copy was published (and probably purchased) in 1979 and I use it several times a year.

Let's see, do I pull the yarn through all the loops or just the first two... ?