More Mini Granny Squares

I thought I would take a few quite moments to share with you all that despite the new job I have still been crafting. Maybe not as much as I would like to but I am keeping true to my roots.
Anyway I have been working on the mini granny square project. I still don't know what it is going to be when it is grown up but I feel I will know it when it gets there. The top picture is of the new addition to the project. I went to the yarn store in search of more yarn for this crazy project (I know that kinda defeats the whole purpose of making something to use up yarn, but I used up all that yarn and needed more...) I added two new and somewhat darker colors. I am not sure what I think but I will keep you posted.

Little Beasts Everywhere!

I know we all thought the beast was over and done with but like a bad horror movie it’s back…well the yarn is. You may remember I finished the beast awhile back and I finally managed to take a photo of it and in all it’s spender for you. I have been looking for something to make with all the little bits of yarn I had left over. I really love making granny squares but I have never really loved the way they look, but I thought maybe my aversion was that they are usually made in acrylic yarn in shades of lime green and pink. So I played with them a bit. It turns out I don’t like multicolored granny squares, and I don’t really like big granny squares. The solution mini granny squares! Maybe that makes them mommy squares.


I found I like them just fine if they are a little smaller (just two rounds) and one color. My plan is to make a whole bunch and then randomly sew them together. It was a perfect project for the plan because they let me take a crochet hook and all the yarn I could carry. I made a bunch more during the debate last night so I now have a pile of squares; of course I also have a pile of ends to be sewed in. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Modular Crochet Sweater

Have I told you all the tale of the modular sweater? This all goes back to the great Rev. Callie or as I like to think of her the goddess of crochet. Many moons ago someone lent her this great book on modular crochet and she made herself the yummiest sweater ever. Several of us have been drooling over this sweater for many years. Unfortunately the book is out of print and used copies cost a bit more then any of us were willing to pay. A plan was hatched, we all chipped in and bought the book and decided we would each make a sweater, meeting over the winter to help each other along.

At first I was clearly lagging behind as they all diligently worked on the first few pieces. I didn’t want to start another big crochet project with the beast still needing work. But then, I admit it, I was shamed into starting. And then in my truly obsessive style I made the body a long weekend, that’s a lot of half double crochets. I worked on it so much I ended up aggravating my wrists and had to stop.

All that is left is the arms but somehow that proved more then my brain or hands could make work. I tried a couple false starts to get the arms started but they never seemed right and were always lumpy in the underarm. If it were knitting, I would have more options in my arsenal but I am more timid with crochet. I thought about just knitting the sleeves but thought it might look funny.

Finally I packed it up and took it to a craft night were in mere minutes my friend Katy, who knows way more about crochet then I do, declared I needed to shorten my stitches under the arm and all would be fine. Such a simple solution with such big results; I am happy to report that the arms now lay flat and I am back on track. I will have to get my guy to take a picture of it on me cause it is far less square when worn.

I would also like to point out that I am now far ahead of all those who shamed me into to starting. They seem to have moved on to shinier projects. Of course it may also have to do with the fact that very few people are crazy enough to work with large bits of wool in humid 80 degree weather. What can I say; it takes a special breed of craft-o-holic.

How Long Is Long Enough?

I am a bit under the weather so last night I curled up on the couch to watch bad tv and I even managed to pull out the Beast for a little late night crocheting. Pulling the Beast out is a job in itself these days which brings me to today’s topic: how long is long enough? The Beast is now 5’6” x 4’8”, in other words a real beast. And as you can see it now pretty much fits on my full size bed.

Four plus years ago I fell prey to one of the all time craft ploys of taking on a very large project after just learning to crochet. As a knitter I have tisked my self half to death at beginner knitters biting off more then they can chew, but of course I thought I was different. And in all fairness I think I should get a round of applause for sticking to it this long. The big dilemma now is when do I stop? Having already fallen into craft ploy number one (working on very large project before knowing not too) I don’t want to fall into craft ploy number two: the Short Scarf Syndrome.
The Short Scarf Syndrome or SSS is when a beginner knitter or crocheter decides to make a scarf as their first project. After working very hard on it for quite some time they realize that scarves are very boring to knit and decide it is long enough, this results in folks wearing very short scarves that are obviously handmade and barely wrap around their necks. They tell their friends that they really like a shorter scarf but I guarantee that the next one they make is longer.

So when do I stop? I have enough yarn to do one more repeat of the pattern. Do I keep going until I am out of yarn or stop now? I know what you’re all thinking, “it’s crochet if it is too short go back later and add on”, well let me just make this clear, once all those ends are sewn in there will be no going back and making more ends, you hear me!

Craft Neglect

The thing about writing a craft blog is you can really get away with a lot of unfinished business. First, you can present yourself as all types of impressive for finishing projects left and right. Second, most people don’t mind progress shots. What you all don’t know is the stash of half finished projects hidden around my house: behind the couch, tucked in a basket, sitting in plain sight on my craft table.

A few years ago I took part in a Church of Craft exhibit on unfinished projects. We all hung a couple never-ending projects on the wall and then wrote a little bit about why we hadn’t finished them. Well I must confess, those two projects are still hidden away.

This morning I was reading one of my favorite craft bloggers, the Blather Magather, she like many crafters has a couple of larger projects languishing. She suggested that the Department of Neglected Crafts (DNC) was going to come beat down her door. I confess this sent a shiver down my spine when I thought of all those projects I have been neglecting for newer shinier ideas.

So in the spirit of full disclosure I thought I might share my top 10 abandon projects. Maybe if I talk about them I will remember how much fun they were and maybe the DNC will go easier on me…

Here it is my top 10 recently forgotten craft projects (mind you there are more, some so forgotten I can’t remember them):

1. The Beast. Whom you have all meet. And with all those ends to sew in I say chances are slim for a fast finish.
2. Brown Sweater. This is one of the sweaters from loop-d-loop. The sad part is it is really almost done. A mere few inches left till done, but I can’t remember what needles I used and then removed for another project so I need to rip out half the sweater and start again.
3. Hyperbolic Baby Pants. See now the problem with this project was that it was really about the challenge of the knitting concept. I needed to see if the pattern making an odd tube could be turned into baby pants. Once I knit them and discovered with a little tweaking they could become baby pants I lost interest.
4. Top Secret Sewing Project #1. This is a present for a faithful reader so lets just say this: there is some carefully picked out fabric, there was some cutting even some sewing but since an initial burst of energy there is sits, and it kinda has a deadline.
5. Fused Bags. If I really showed you all the plastic bags I have around here categorized by color and weight you would ship me off to plastic bags anonymous.
6. Green Mittens. I knit them over a day and a half. All that’s left is one thumb and some end sewing. I made them over a month ago and they have not moved from their last resting place since. And hey its spring right?
7. Green Modular Crochet Sweater. This is a newer project. I started it this winter after chipping in with friends to buy this great Modular Crochet book. All the work on this sweater was done in about a week. I stopped because my wrists hurt and now it sits on top of my bookcase.
8. Placemats. I made one, started a second but alas the second sits on top of my craft corner.
9. Fingerless Gloves. I started these for a friend who lived in a really cold trailer. She no longer lives in a cold trailer-sigh.
10. I-pod Case. This might be my worst offense yet. This is a project for my guy, my very patient, not frustrated that his apartment has been taken over with plastic bags guy. I ran out of the right kind of bag and despite him buying more yummy things that come in those bags I have not finished, or even really thought about it.

Okay, I admit I feel a bit dirty with this admission of craft neglect. Perhaps the worst part of my craft neglect is all those confessed to today have been ignored in the last year. In other words this is a mere sampling of years of craft neglect. So here’s the deal, I promise to finish at least one project on the list before starting the next. And you all have to periodically remind me that there are many lovely projects already started for me to work on.

And so it begins...

After spending the last several months threatening to create a craft blog I have taken the leap. I just left a job that I was very good at but wasn’t so good for me. My solution: quit and buy a Bernina. Here you will find the tales of a girl and her sewing machine, which incidentally I named Tim Gunn, and any other craft project that caught my eye recently. I am also a ferocious knitter which I try to keep in check so that my wrists and I can remain friends.

Picking my first project to post is harder then I thought. I realize that there has been a progression and a big learning curve to many of my projects. I am also someone that needs to have a couple projects going at once in case one gets frustrating or tedious.

With that in mind I give you the beast.

I have been working on and off and off again on the beast for over 4 years now. But I feel we are finally in the home stretch. Of course once the crocheting is done the real work begins as I procrastinate sewing in all those ends. I might as well state this right up front, I hate finishing projects. I hate sewing in ends and blocking knitting. I have been known to let a small and large quilting projects languish for months or years as I put off the actual finishing. I am hoping that having a blog will encourage me to finish some of this finishing I have hidden in the closet.