So Blocking Does Work

Hiya from a.,

So generally in my crochet I've avoided blocking whenever I could.  This was for a few reasons - main among them was that we didn't really have the space for me to lay out stuff for blocking.  I didn't have anything to block on and no way to keep a certain feline away from it.  But now I have easy access to a washing room, those foam squares from the dollar store and a door to keep the b. out (you'll see why that is integral in a sec). 
This was also a project that required serious blocking.  I decided to go blind (well blinder) and and work with lace weight yarn.  We are talking seriously skinny - Noro lace weight.  At times it was so thin, it was like thread.  It was a triangle shawl from the new Interweave Accessories issue.  Often when something calls for lace I'll step it up to fingering to make my life easier - but I just fell in love with the blues in this Noro that I had to try.  I will say that this was one of the harder projects I've done, as the yarn was so delicate and the hook small.  We're talking watching all of the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings only completed about 1/2 of it.
Anyways, here is a photo of the shawl pre-blocking:

Man, you can always count that four legged fella to walk through the frame.  I then soaked the whole thing and then rolled the shawl in a towel and pinned it out.
Here are the results:

I have to admit, that I knew blocking would open up the lace work, but I didn't expect it to do so much.  You can now really see the striping that the Noro does and the different stitches used.  I do believe that this experience has taught me that blocking is a good thing for certain projects, and definitely worth the effort.

See you space cowboy....

My Library

Hiya from a.,

I don't have anything finished to show you this week (well I do, but it is taking forever to dry, so you'll get to see it later), so I thought I would show you something else instead.  I took photos of my personal crafting library.  This is my collection of sewing, crochet, and cross-stitch books.  It wasn't until I had laid them out on the bed that I realized that I actually have a decent collection.

As you see it is a solid collection - nothing compared to our comic book collection (but hey what can compare to that?) - but it gives me a lot of ideas and techniques to play with.  Note that this doesn't include my magazines, just the books.  I've acquired these in a bunch of different ways: gifts, people streamlining their own library, online, used stores, with the help of coupons, etc.
Here are some closer photos that show the books better and some notes about the books:

Okay so this photo is here because a certain feline has to poke his nose into stuff and insists that the blog must regularly include his adorable form.  He is though standing on a great book.  It doesn't have a huge amount of technical/instructional information but Sweater Surgery is a great idea book for what to do with sweaters that have become to worn out to donate and you don't want to throw them out because you love the colour or texture.  The book gives you idea on how to turn them into bags, scarves, mittens, and is just really fun to flip through.  The other two I want to highlight in this section are Sew What Skirts and Zombie Cross Stitch.  The skirt book is just one that I constantly go back to as it is all about using your own measurements to make the pattern.  They are simple construction with detailed instructions and ideas and I love this book.  And who wouldn't enjoy being able to cross stitch zombies?

In this photo there are some repeats from the one above but here I want you to focus on the bottom and the right.  I picked up the book Applique Your Way  really cheap at a used store in Minneapolis, mainly because it was really cheap, but I find it very useful.  Anytime I've done an embellishment on a bag to date have been done based on the techniques outline in this book.  It is also just a cheery and pretty book to flip through.  Like the skirt book Sew What Bags is a book I couldn't live without (thanks n for the great gift of it).  Again it is all about simple detailed construction that turns out amazing.  The other great one here is Modern Basics as it is a quilting book that is all about straight lines and mostly rectangles and squares.  This is great for me who is just learning the basics of quilting.

Here you can see more of my crochet books (and looking at these photos I realize that although I crochet more, my sewing books far out number the crochet ones).   Highlights are Creepy Cute Crochet it was one of my earliest books and still always makes me happy to flip through (I also have a book called Crobots from l. but it isn't pictured and is also completely adorable).  Crochet Fabric is a great reference tool for playing with gauge and learning what different yarns can do.  I'm not a fan of the patterns it has, but as an overall resource it is great.  One of my favourites is more to the top and is Blueprint Crochet.  It has great patterns and I love that everything is fully charted out and has complete written instructions.  One Yard Wonders is a handy book to have as sometimes you buy a crazy expensive fabric in small quantity and this book will help you figure out what to do with it. 

At the top there Manga Cross Stitch is actually where I have found the best charted alphabets for stitching and then there is World of Geekcraft.  I want to be clear it is not all great stuff - a few of the projects are incredibly lame (felt Wii remote holsters) but overall the book is seriously awesome.  Any book that shows you have to make jewelry from 12-20 sided dice and how to build Star Wars terrariums has to be a winner.
I would say overall I don't have any real lemons in my library.  There are ones that collect more dust than others, but I can't say I regret having any of these.
I know that this was a long post, but I think that it gives you a better idea of where my work is coming from and what it is being informed by.

see you space cowboy....

A Practical and A Pretty

Hiya from a.,

Today I have two items for you to enjoy.  This first is a practical thing, but practical doesn't have to mean boring and not cute.  We exist right  now in a small space and will continue to do so for a few more months.  This means that if you are on the computer, the computer chair is in a main walk through hallway area that can be a little dark.  It is not the most comfortable situation for if you want to watch Doctor Who episodes you've downloaded (legally at that, because we are giant rule following nerds).  That means bringing the laptop over to the bed so that you can stretch out and get cozy.  The problem with this is that the laptop really sinks into the blankets, gets warm and if you move it bounces around.  The solution - a laptop board:

One of the advantages to where we currently live is the amount of scrap wood and tools that are easily at hand.  I went to the wood pile found a piece that would work and just had to cut it down a bit.  I then cut a couple pieces of this adorable fabric that e. from the flbs had got for me and used spray glue to stick it on.  I then went around with tacky glue and trimmed the edges with green ribbon.  Here is a closer look at the fabric:

It isn't an exciting project, but it was a useful one and you might as well make it adorable while you are at it.
The second project I have to show you is a necklace that I crocheted:

I am pleased with how this turned out.  It is just a bunch of chain crocheted rows with a different amount of stitches and a different beading pattern.  To add strength and stability on either side it is just plain single crochet ends:

I then used a bead and a loop for the back closure of the piece.  It was my first time playing with crochet thread and I like the results.  It is definitely small tight work and I wouldn't want all of my work to be with the crochet thread, but I will experiment with it more.

see you space cowboy...

Hat

Hiya from a.,

I just have a quick little thing to show you today.  I made a winter hat.  This is nothing new or super exciting, but it is done with a technique I hadn't tried before and I am pleased with the results.  The hat was done in all vertical slip stitch rows.  This ended up creating a denser fabric that more closely resembles a knit item.  It was fun to try something a little bit different.  Here are the end results:

Yes I know that it is a rather bright pink - but are you really that surprised by the colour?  This is all slip stitch in the back loop which while it is a dense fabric it is also a very stretchy fabric:

That is my foot holding down the one side while I pulled the other.  When you look at the two photos you can see just how much give the fabric ended up with.

Finally here is a picture of it on:

I didn't intend to frame the photo like this but it amuses me to no end that in the background beside the super pink hat you can see the day of the dead hello kitty that r painted for me for my birthday.

see you space cowboy....