Friday, February 26, 2010

More crocheting

Olympic update: the Scandinavian hat is done (I think*), and I'm 80% done with the scarf. Then I'm starting a hat for an aunt who's having a recurrence of breast cancer. She was admiring El Burrito's earflap hats and wants one of her own, so I'm shooting to have it done by the end of next week. The scarf may be done tonight, depending on how exciting the curling matches are. :)

* I think I finished it before I sent it off. I may have forgotten to seam the inside lining of the hat, but I'll have to wait to find out. Oopsie.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Olympic crocheting

I didn't manage to get organized in time to sign up for any crocheting Olympics, but I have done some.

The Scandinavian Hat #1 is finished. It was my first hat that wasn't worked in rounds, and came out fairly well. I did have issues with the cross-stitching done for decoration, since I had to drop some rows because I couldn't make gauge for love or money. The X design on the brim came out a bit off, since there was a different number of stitches than the pattern needed.

Then I started what will probably be called the Curling Scarf, since that's 95% of what we've watched this Olympics. It's a pattern from Crochet.about.com, done in long rows with fringe (so no weaving-in). I'm using Naturally Caron's Country, a merino/acrylic blend, in two shades of purple, plus a winter white. This is my first shot at treble/triple crochet and spike/long stitches.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Crochet: the Scandinavian Hat(s)

True to form, I started a new crochet project before the last three (ha!) are officially finished. (The tan/brown/rust hat for El Burrito needs a pompom, maybe. The wool blue & purple hat for me needs a pompom and longer strings, and the wool hat Version 1.0 for El Burrito needs a pompom, maybe.)

Last weekend, I started on another hat, this one for my brother's girlfriend/fiance. It's the Scandinavian Hat pattern from Red Heart, which we saw in a Crochet Today magazine ad. I couldn't find the Red Heart Soft yarn at Hobby Lobby, so I ended up with Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" store brand. The hat is mostly black, which I swore off after doing a scarf for my sister in black and iris Microspun. Turns out most of the problem there was that Microspun is a really loose twist, and splitty as all heck. I Love This Yarn doesn't have that problem. It's easy to work with so far, in spite of using a dark color and having the crappiest indoor lighting ever.

This is the first hat I've done that was seamed instead of worked in the round. My big issue so far is that I could not make the pattern's gauge for anything. I started over three times, ending up with a hook 2 sizes smaller than listed, and still wasn't hitting gauge. So I got a measuring tape and dropped a dozen or so stitches off the foundation chain in order to hit the 22-inch length I needed. I also had to drop a couple of rows out of the pattern, which meant winging it on the decreases at the top. Seems to be working out so far, I'm doing the border right now and will start on the lining when that's done.

After I get Future Sister-in-Law's hat done, I'm doing one for myself. I may need another skein of black, but I'll have plenty of red and tons of white left over.

The other nice thing about HL's I Love This Yarn is that they make the center-pull end so easy to find. Lovely, so I don't have to spend an hour unrolling the skein and rolling it back into a center-pull ball.

Sickness & infection

I spent my day, or most of it, trapped on the couch with a sickly young man. What fun, because he insisted on watching "little boy shows" (i.e. the PBS Kids daytime lineup) and on having me right there with him. I did get some crocheting done, but not much else.

For the morning, we waited for a call-back from the pediatrician's office, then went in for a visit, and stopped at the pharmacy on the way home. Turns out El Burrito has an ear infection with a side order of possible strep, and, oh yeah, have we noticed any ear drainage, because Dr. P wasn't sure, but that ear looked a little moist and the eardrum may have ruptured recently, it's hard to tell, and anyway it's healing already if it did happen.

Which is why I spent the rest of the afternoon pinned to the couch by an unhappy and clingy young man. So much fun. I did get to read a bit (awkwardly, since he was draped over my lap), and after he finally dozed off, did some crocheting (a hat for my brother's girlfriend/fiance) and watched The Good Wife.

I really hope the amoxicillin works fast, because our couch is actually a love seat, and is definitely not suited for an all-day camp-out. Doesn't help that it's old and sags in places, either.