Friday 28 November 2008

Gift projects a go-go

First of all I must thank those of you who have commented on other entries. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tell evil Yahoo mail, the replies always get chucked in the spam folder. Grrr. It also still annoys me that Blogger doesn't allow replies to replies so a conversation builds up. One of the major bad points of Blogger IMO.

Anyway, I've been working away feverishly on various projects. A few weeks ago I was told that my aunt had been diagnosed with cancer. On hearing that she was to have chemotherapy, my first thought was "she's having chemotherapy? During a New York winter? I must make a hat!" Well, the hat became a hat, handwarmers and scarf set made from Fyberspates Squishy Alpaca/BFL:

Margaretset
margaretscarf margarethat margarethandwarmers


And so my uncle doesn't feel left out, I made him a cabled scarf from some Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran in my stash:
cabled2


I was already working on an idea for a Christmas present for my aunt and uncle; a little felted cushion made from New Lanark yarn. I finished that too, but I'm not entirely satisfied as I was hoping it would shrink more lengthwise than widthwise and become squarer than it did. I was also going to adorn the corners with pompoms and bells but I was underwhelmed by the pompom maker I bought, and frankly I'm too lazy to make pompoms the old fashioned way. I present my funny little overstuffed cushion:
minicushion


A ribbed scarf for my partner's Dad for Christmas:
stripyribbed scarf

That's Patons Shadow Tweed, which is self-striping and works perfectly with the crocheted ribs. I'm tempted to make one for myself, in a different colour - I don't think orange/green/red stripes are really 'me.'

I finished the experimental cardigan I talked about in my last entry. It's a slightly odd shape (haven't quite mastered the art of modifications yet) and is a little too big, but on the whole I'm pleased. I might straighten out those buttons though. Photos pre-washing:

bluecardigan
bluecardiganpattern2 bluecardiganbuttons bluecardiganpattern


My latest experiments are in crocheting snowflakes from thread... lesson one: do not attempt to block snowflakes after wine consumption.

Monday 3 November 2008

Progress

Over the weekend I finished two projects. This is the first Christmas scarf done:

zigzagscarf2
zigzagscarf

That turned out to be a £5 project. The yarn is Wendy Fusion in Cardaman (3.5 balls). The photos really don't do this justice - it looks so washed out, and what looks brown is actually a lovely auberginey-purple, and the creamy looking bits are actually pale purple. However I'm also not in the mood to photoshop the colours back to a more realistic representation.

Second project: One row lace cowl in Rowan Classic Baby Alpaca DK:
alpaca cowl
alpaca cowl2

I got a bit carried away with this and used about 1.6 balls of yarn. I've sent my partner to John Lewis to get more so I can make handwarmers and a beanie/beret to match. This is definitely not a £10 project. And after using cheaper yarns recently (after some gritting of teeth before admitting they weren't so bad after all), this baby alpaca yarn feels like the softest yarn in the world... unfortunately it's also led me down the road to temptation.

As a counterpoint to my low-cost projects I am majorly lusting after some Qiviut (musk ox) yarn. For Christmas maybe. *dreams*

It was frosty here over the weekend. We saw this friendly chap round the corner from our flat:
pumpkinbollard


And we have to have the obligatory frosty leaf photo:
smallfrostyleaf


I'm planning non-strenuous days today and tomorrow as I'm hoping to have a long night in front of the TV tomorrow night watching the US election coverage. I am considering an election night project - starting something early in the evening and seeing how far I get during the night. Of course, given how many mistakes I make when I'm tired this might be a bad plan...