A Second Year of Projects: Update 1

A Ravelry Group

Note: As the Canadian Thanksgiving approaches, so do the first round of midterms for fall semester. My frequency of blog posts will be reduced until Monday, October 13th, but I'll also be releasing some special new content that week so keep your eyes peeled.

Mischievous Mittens

This week I was dead set on finishing a pair of mittens with James Brett's Marble DK, one of my favorite yarns to date. I planned on using these mittens to create an Etsy listing for made-to-order* mittens of varying sizes which would be ready to ship within a week of purchase. This pattern took a little trial and error because the pattern by Lionbrand calls for a bulky, 12 ply yarn and my Marble double knit yarn is only 8 ply. According to Ravelry's yarn database, that's a size difference of about 64%**.

I started my mittens using a mix of the two largest pattern sizes (adult medium and large) and, as you might imagine, I ended up with a beautiful but child-sized mitten. The second mitten of the pair will be finished this week now that I've settled on how to use the pattern and yarn combined, and shortly there-after will be listed on my Etsy shop. These are the most challenging items I've made to date, but they are so beautiful and so worth it!

I don't think I can time-efficiently edit the pattern to make the mittens actual adult sizes with this 8 ply yarn, so I will list these particular mittens as ready-to-ship instead of made-to-order. My made-to-order mittens will have to wait until I pick up some bulkier yarn.

A (W)holey Useful Stitch

The pattern also made use of the single crochet two together (sc2tog) stitch which was extremely easy to pick up; it just required a quick Google. While beginner patterns may not require much shaping, the stitch is simple enough for any beginner who can create a slip knot, chain (ch) stitch, single crochet (sc), and finish off their own work.

This is a stitch used for shaping, specifically to decrease the size of your row to make the item smaller. A problem I encountered from using this stitch was that it left large holes in comparison to any of the foundation stitches. I remedied this as much as possible by weaving in the tails at these locations (wrist, tip of thumb, tip of mitten) instead of using them to sew up the side like the pattern instructed.

YoP 14 - 15 List Updates

Most recent changes are highlighted

Accessories 0/5
Fingerless Gloves 0/1
Miomi Slouch Hat 0/1
Silk & Lace Purse 0/1
Mittens (Pattern one, pattern two) 0.5/2

New Techniques 1/10
Magic Ring
Single Crochet Foundation
Picot
Clusters Lover's Knot
Cables
V Stitch
Broomstick Lace
Cro-Hook
Crochet Button
Single Crochet Two Together (Sc2Tog)

Stats
Objects Started: 1
Objects Finished: 0
Objects on Original List: 14
Objects on Current List: 14

Techniques Started: 1
Techniques Finished: 1
Techniques on Original List: 9
Techniques on Current List: 10

My entire Year of Projects list for 2014 - 2015 can be found on this page.

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*Made-to-order is a term used to indicate that the product is not created until ordered by the customer, and therefore processing times include the time it requires to make the product. This is opposed to ready-to-ship items, which can be sent out immediately upon purchase because they are pre-made.

**Lionbrand Homespun gauges at 14 stitches for 4 inches. James Brett Marble DK gauges at 22 stitches for 4 inches. (14 stitches / 22 stitches) x 100% = 63.63%

The Scarf of Procrastination

Ahhh! Where has the week gone? I wish I could blame my lack of posts on flying home and spending time with family and friends, but I know what the real culprit is. It's The Scarf of Procrastination. Do you remember me telling you about that tangled ball of horrible?

Admittedly, after spending several hours untangling followed by my parents spending an hour untangling followed by hiding my yarn from the household smokers, I was kind of feeling a buzz kill for crochet. Although the pattern I'm using for this scarf isn't helping matters either. I've never been a big fan of making finer scarfs simply because they take so much repetition for so long in order to see real progress, but this one is worse.

I like this view, it looks like I have more done than I really do.

In order to make what I believe is a type of cluster stitch (4 dc into same stitch), I have to stop, take the hook out of the yarn, reinsert it a few stitches back, then grab the dropped loop again before I can continue. This slows the process down by approximately one million years. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I've really been struggling to enjoy this project. So I've decided I'm going to finish it this week so I can have it over with and start something fun, like a cowl or some fingerless gloves. Here is my progress for now, but I promise I can feel my addiction love for crochet coming back to swallow embrace me! I just have to keep thinking of all the fun things I get to make after this scarf, and how proud I will be when I see it listed on my Etsy shop for the very first time.

Then you realize it's not even the length of my pillow case.

Flying & Sirdar Knots

Yesterday I flew home to visit family for a month and a half while I'm on summer break, which is why there was no Round Up this week.

I brought a new project with me on the plane (and plenty more in my luggage). The pattern is Patons Lace Delicate Scarf and I'm using Sirdar Snuggly 3 ply in a baby blue and white.

But after I got two rows done, I found a huge knot in the middle of the skein.

The yarn was not only tangled up, but the individual threads got stuck together too, almost like the yarn got threaded through itself.

Even after hours (yes, hours plural) of untangling, then more untangling by my angelic mother and step father, my yarn was pilling from being in a knot and it hadn't even been made into anything yet.

This isn't cheap yarn so I'm a little disappointed. Once it was finally untangled, I wound it up into a ball to make sure I didn't have the same problem again. I decided I wanted to unravel the couple rows I had done and restart it, now that I had a better feel for the pattern, to make my stitches more even. But guess what? I couldn't, because the yarn snagged on itself.

Since I don't need all of the blue, I think I'll just cut it off and start over, but this yarn is horrible to work with! I have never been so disappointed with yarn, but I guess that's the trouble with working with a yarn this soft. 

I'm curious if it's all super-soft yarn that acts like this, or if it's just this Sirdar yarn I bought. Please share your thoughts!

WIP Up The Week: June 24

Here are my Works In Progress for the week! I have a couple other projects I'm not finished with yet, but I can't access them because I am moving Friday so they're all packed up in boxes! Boo.

Crocodile Dishcloth and Free Pattern

Last week I made a series of high-textured dishcloths, which you'll get to see in tomorrow's post, and I just knew the last one had to be the crocodile stitch. I've wanted to learn how to do this stitch since the first time I saw it, but through Google search and Ravelry, I couldn't find any dishcloth patterns made with it! So I went ahead and learned the stitch, and then unraveled it and started turning it into a dish cloth. I'll be sharing this pattern with you lovelies for free as soon as it's ready, so keep an eye out!

Workout Hat

This simple beanie is going to be my first sale ever! One of my boyfriend's workout buddies wanted a plain black beanie to work out in. I'm terrified it's going to be too large, I should have eyed up his hat size or even asking, instead of just guessing. It's basically done, it just needs to get finished off.







Sorry for the glowy phone-camera photos. That hat looks radioactive! Tell me what your WIPs are in the comments.

WIP Up The Week: June 10

Hey guys! As another weekend comes to a close, I'd like to introduce my weekly Monday series, WIP Up The Week. I'll share my WIPs, short for Works In Progress, both in the effort to keep this entity transparent and to keep myself inspired to always improve what is (or will be) in my Etsy shop. Here's what I started this week.

Roll-Up Star Hook Case

In all fairness, the crocheting is done for this piece. I'm going to pick up pins and possibly a spray bottle tomorrow to block it before I attach the chain tie. The first couple rows are a little uneven before I noticed the pattern was wrong. It's for personal use only.

Ruffle Scarf

I did this up quick in February but I think I need go back and add more ruffles, and I'm going to untie the ends and sew them properly shut so the scarf looks nice from all angles!

First Socks

I started these socks in early February-ish, but classes got hectic so I dropped crocheting for a while. Now it's time to finish them! These will be for personal use only, since they'll likely be less-than-perfect.

50s Inspired Evening Cape

This has been in the works since January when I first knew I wanted to open an Etsy shop. I finally drew up the designs and started making it along with a pattern that will be released some time after the product is for sale. I'll also be looking for pattern testers in the near future to help catch any mistakes or unclear writing. Since this is a yarn-intensive pattern, I will gladly give you the finalized copy of the pattern as well as a discount off anything in my shop.

Plarn Patio Rug

Spoiler! I'm going to make a rug for the back patio of our new town house out of plarn. I give you one guess what my next post is about.


To-Do Before Etsy Grand Opening

• Complete my Ravelry yarn stash
• Find Pattern Testers for 50s Cape
• Make Discount Code for Testers
• Basic Stitches Youtube tutorials (Ch, Sc, Dc, Tr)
• Make Fingerless Gloves
• Probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting because it's almost three in the morning
• Pick an offiial Grand Opening Date
• Choose items to reveal as the countdown to the Grand Opening
• Announce Etsy Grand Opening Countdown Event on personal social media accounts
• GRAND OPENING SALE - ALL ITEMS x% OFF FIRST WEEK (C'mon, that'd be a spoiler.)

I can't believe how much there is to do before I can so much as make a formal announcement! My other half is the only soul who knows what I'm planning, and even he doesn't know how all-out I'm going by setting up the social media, complete with a couple posts each, etc. It is going to be so worth it! I just hope I don't lose too much time with the impending move to another city.