A tale of two cowls

In the beginning of February I wrote a post about how I had started to crochet and was embarking on my first big crochet project.  Well, to say that I just started to crochet isn't entirely accurate.  I knew some crochet before, but it wasn't a part of my normal crafting routine.  Now I can officially say that it is part of my crafting routine.  I've jumped in and there is no turning back now!

My first big project was the crochet along at the store on the Tornado Twist pattern by Elizabeth Trantham.  This pattern is available on Ravelry here as well as a leaflet available at your LYS (though maybe call ahead if it's a far drive and you want to be sure they have it).  Spud & Chloe has it listed here as well as a link to locate a local retailer.  Park Avenue Yarns has copies, so that is where I picked mine up from.  Let me just say that this pattern is a lot of fun.  I mean it, fun.  

If you know even a little bit of crochet, then you can do this pattern.  It really helped me become familiar with the different crochet stitches - single crochet (sc), half double crochet (hdc) and double crochet (dc).  The hardest part of the whole thing was making the beginning chain (you have to make a reeeaaaaaalllllyyyy long chain) and then joining it in the round without twisting.  The second hardest part was keeping track of your last stitch of the previous round as well as the first stitch of the current round.  I solved that problem by using locking stitch markers to mark each, respectively. Really, that is all there is to this cowl.  

My first cowl was done using the following colors, which made a cowl very similar to the one pictured in the pattern:
Ravelry project page: Tornado Twist
A - Sidewalk
B - Wildberries
C - Lipstick
D - Dolphin
E - Green Bean

At the end of the cowl, I figured out how much of each yarn was used/left remaining and got together with a friend/fellow crocheter, Cyndi, who knit a purple version of the cowl and we switched colors.  We didn't quite have quite enough to do a one for one swap, but needed to purchase an additional gray color (Sidewalk).  The biggest difference was then my purple cowl would have a cream color & a gray color and no periwinkle (Dolphin) color.  Her cowl ended up with all the periwinkle (Dolphin) color, which she would use at the main color.

Here are my colors for the second version aka the purple version:
Ravelry project page: Tornado Twist Take 2
A - Sidewalk
B - Wildberries
C - Dragonfly
D - Snorkel
E - Popcorn

Cyndi ended up ahead of me while crocheting the second one (even though I had started before her - she's a really fast/awesome crocheter!!), so she was the first to figure out that the swap wasn't going to work exactly as we planned.  We were both going to run short on some colors.  I ended up omitting quite a few rnds as follows: Rnds 21, 27, 29, 38 & 39.  The only other modification was a change in Rnd 23.  That rnd called for half double crochet, but I did single crochet instead.  Despite these changes, the overall finished dimensions of both weren't that far off.  My first cowl had a diameter of 29.5" and a width of ~10.5".  The second cowl (purple cowl) had a diameter of 28.5" and a width of ~9.5".

I love this pattern so much that I'm even considering doing a third!  How crazy is that!  I just love how simple it is and really love the result.  I wore my first one almost everyday after I blocked it.  It was getting to be embarrassing - I started telling people to expect me in it because I just could not stop wearing it.  I had planned on giving this second one to my sister, her favorite color is purple after all, but I'm not sure I can part with it.  

Vacation

Last week I was out of town on a vacation with Mr. Spiderkate and another couple that we are friends with.  We left on Saturday 3/23 and returned on Saturday 3/30.  We spent the week at a resort in Cozumel, Mexico and it was amazing!  Just really good to get away and relax.  It was also nice to sleep without cats bothering me in the middle of the night.  

I didn't get as much knitting/crocheting done as I would have liked, but that's okay.  I brought three projects with me, so I was being pretty optimistic at to what I would get done.  I did end up finishing up my second Tornado Twist (it's currently blocking and will get its own post soon) AND I started the Texelle Shawl towards the end of the trip.  The Texelle shawl is one that's been in my queue for awhile now, so it was good to get it started.  Anyhow, I'll leave you with some photos from the trip!

Arthur was glad we came home; he needed a lap to sleep on! 

It's all in the details

Okay, here are the details regarding my Springtime Bandit Shawl & a  couple of photos:

Pattern: Springtime Bandit Shawl

Yarn: The Fibre Company Terra (40% Merino, 40% Alpaca, 20% Silk)

Colorway: Copper Pennies

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm) needles; I used Addi Click Lace interchangeable needles with the 32"/80 cm cord.  I probably would have been more comfortable if I used the 40"/100 cm cord, but I wanted to stick with the 32".

Ravelry Project Page: Springtime Bandit

Actual amount of yarn used: Every last drop of all four skeins.  Prior to starting the shawl, I had done some research regarding how much yarn the shawl would actually use and found that most people came close to using the full amount of yarn.  One person wrote in their project notes that they came down to the wire only have 14 grams of yarn left after binding off.  Another project page that I came across said they had 36" of yarn left.  Well, I knew that I would more than likely end up like the person left with only 36" of yarn left, so I was careful when joining each skein.  Essentially I tried to leave as little of a yarn tail as possible at the joins.  That really paid off because as I predicted, I was closer to the person with 36" of yarn left since I ended up with 28" of yarn left.  

My advice regarding yarn? If you are nervous about having enough yarn, then definitely have a 5th skein as back up.  I had a 5th skein myself and didn't end up needing it.  Though being that close to the end, I probably wouldn't have used a 5th skein of yarn just to bind off.  I put in a lifeline after Row 33 and if I hadn't had enough yarn, then I would have ripped back to the lifeline and bound off on a WS (purl) row.  

Errata: There isn't any errata listed for this pattern, but through my research regarding the actual amount of yarn used, I came across several project pages that noted an error in Row 27 & Row 29 of the edging chart.  Really the error is in Row 27 of the edging chart, but if you didn't catch it there, then it creates a problem in Row 29 that has to be fixed as a result.  I've posted a picture here along with what I did to fix Row 27.  I changed the two circled yarn overs into knit stitches and the rest of the edging chart worked out fine.

Overall impressions: This is a great pattern that knits up fast!  Between the time I cast on and cast off, the pattern took just over 2 weeks.  During that time I even had company visiting and didn't really get to spend a lot of time on it, just worked a couple of rows in the morning and at night.  I also really loved this yarn.  Very soft and easy to work with.  

On the blocking boards

Okay, so in case it's not apparent by now - I love taking pictures of knitted items blocking. Love it. Today I took 60+ pictures of my finished shawl including both pre blocking pictures and during blocking pictures.  Of course I don't have any finished(post) blocking photos yet, but those will come. What shawl am I talking about? Why I'm talking about my Springtime Bandit shawl!  You might recall that this month PAY is doing a KAL featuring the Springtime Bandit shawl, which is a free pattern on Ravelry available here.  I just finished it this morning including the binding off, weaving in ends & blocking.  

This guy just slept through all the binding off drama

The bind off had me sweating a bit.  Late last night I finished knitting the shawl according to the chart, but was running low on yarn.  In fact it was looking so low that I decided it would be best to put in a lifeline after Row 33 of the chart in case I had to rip back and bind off on Row 34 instead of after Row 34.  I wake up this morning, get my morning cup of coffee and almost immediately start the bind off. This is when the sweating commenced.  Prior to starting the bind off, I knew that I had approx. 7 grams of yarn (14 yards) to complete the bind off.  About half way through the bind off, I was tempted to weigh my remaining yarn, but decided against it.  It was either going to work or not work and there was only one way to find out and that was to keep on going.  Well, it ended up working out, leaving me with ~28" of yarn to spare.  I'm not sure I've ever come that close at the end, but I was just relieved to not need to rip back to that pesky lifeline.

My 28" of yarn left; the white yarn is the lifeline still in place

Now on to the blocking photos.  I've tried to take some so that you can see where I place my pins during blocking as well as some of the shawl itself.  I'll post again with more details regarding finished dimensions and some action shots of the shawl once it's dry.  

Mi Corazon

It's about time!  I was provided with some yarn by the lovely Lizzy Inman of Vice Yarns in her (then) new neon colorway.  I choose the Neon Yellow one or as I like to refer to it, Highlighter Yellow, and got designing away.  A big thank you to Lizzy Inman of Vice Yarns for her generous support!

Design process photo

Vice Paradigm Neon Yellow (Highlighter Yellow)

The result of that designing session is a shawl called Mi Corazon.  Mi Corazon is knit using just one skein of Vice Paradigm yarn (80% Merino, 20% Nylon) with US size 6 (4.0 mm) needles.  I knit mine on 40"/100 cm circular needles, however since it is a smaller shawl, I think you could get away with 32"/80 cm circular needles.  The pattern includes both charted and written instructions.  The best part? It's currently on shawl sale for $4 until the end of the month!  (Can you tell I have shawls on the brain???)  No coupon code required!  The regular price will be $6 starting on April 1st.  

This shawl was named for the tiny hearts created from the stitch pattern.  I must admit though - I didn't see the hearts at first until a fellow knitter & friend pointed out the heart pattern to me.  But from that point forward it was all I could see when I looked at the shawl.    It was a joy to both design & knit this shawl; I hope that you enjoy it as well!

A week in pictures 3/8-3/14

Magic Loop

My sister and her boyfriend recently visited me & Mr. SpiderKate here in TX.  And by recently I mean they just left today (arrived this past Friday).  I was scheduled to teach a class on Magic Loop at Park Avenue Yarns on Saturday morning and with my sister being a knitter, I signed her up!  Now, while she does knit, she doesn't knit like I do - which is to say that she doesn't knit as much as I do (in fact when I last saw her, she brought me a knitting project to fix).  

I decided that it would be a good idea to give her a little preview of what Magic Loop was the night before the class.  So, Friday night I did a demonstration and she goes "that's going to take 2 hrs to teach? You just did that in 5 mins!".  Yes, I did do it 5 mins, but she was also just watching and not actually trying out the technique.  I made it look easy because I Magic Loop all the time.  Fast forward to Saturday morning and she understood why the class was 2 hrs long.  I was a little nervous that she wasn't going to get it, but by the end of the class she (and all the students!) were magic looping like pros!  I was one proud sister!

Mary's magic loop baby hat!!

Spring is in the air

As someone who knits a lot of lace, well, I haven't been knitting a lot of lace.  This has made me a little bit sad because I really love knitting lace.  Love it.  How has this happened?  Well, I'm going to blame my new obsession with crochet.  I am crazy about crochet and keep trying to find new projects to start. In fact, I'm resisting starting a new crochet project tonight, but that's for another post.  I'm getting back on the lace bandwagon with the Springtime Bandit.  Park Avenue Yarns is doing this shawl as the KAL for March, which I had a hand in picking out!  I won't lie that I was hoping to do a shawl for a KAL because I know it's just the kick in the butt I need to get my lace mojo back.

The Fibre Company Terra - Copper Pennies (828)

I'm knitting mine using The Fibre Company's Terra yarn, which is a lovely Baby Alpaca, Wool, & Silk blend.  This yarn is heavenly to knit with.  Heavenly!  This is my first time knitting with any yarn from The Fibre Company and I can say for certain that it won't be my last.  I really love the color - Copper Pennies (828) - because it just screams Spring!  It may also be that I just love this teal/blue/green color since my primary knitting bag is the same color.

Set-Up & Rows 1-9 of Body Chart completed!

I cast on yesterday during the morning knit group and got through the Set-Up chart and Rows 1-9 of the Body Chart.  I've worked a little bit on it today and am thisclose to having two repeats of the Body Chart done.  I'm knitting on US 9 (5.5 mm) circular knitting needles, though I don't know the exact cord length - it's from my interchangeable set and seems long enough for now.  There seems to be some conflicting information regarding what needle size to use - Ravelry lists a US 8 (5.0 mm), but the pattern listed a US 9 (5.5 mm).  I ended up going with the US 9 because I knit a little on the tight side....that and my US 8 needles are tied up in another project at the moment.

It's all in the family :o)

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before (Feb 8th to Feb 12th) I took a quick trip to visit my family in Kansas.  My sister (who lives in Virginia) also flew in to visit over the same time.  Prior to this trip, my sister and I discussed teaching my mom how to crochet.   We came armed with our crochet projects and a couple of crochet hooks for her to try out.  I even bought another hook from her local yarn store, The Yarn Barn, as a third candidate for her to try.  

Mom's first attempt at crochet!

The crochet got off to a little bit of a bumpy start.  Somehow, I'm still not sure how, her crochet ended up going in a circular but at the same time not going in a circle.  Instead of having the tail of the yarn at the bottom corner of the dishcloth, the tail ended up in the middle.  Mary and I had no idea what happened, but she was being a little bit crazy while learning.  And by crazy I mean not really listening...  In the photo you can see how she's using it as some sort of top of bottle warmer.

My mom's second attempt at crochet

She decided not to keep the bottle warmer, pulled it out, and started again.  Her second attempt went much better and she was crocheting away.  We all worked on a dishcloth using single crochet.  I started mine by chaining approx. 20-22 stitches.  I'm pretty sure my mom started with a similar amount of stitches, but my sister started with a lot more.  Either that or she is a very loose crocheter.  All of her dishcloths turned out very wide, much wider than mine or my mom's.  

Mine is the yellow one; Mary's is the orange

We all got a dishcloth done during the course of the visit.  Mary decided to leave her's with my mom and I ended up doing the same.  It was hard to part with the yellow dishcloth, as it is my favorite color despite what my sister will try to tell you (she claims my favorite color is orange), but I'm glad it went to a good home.  The second one I started there was with half double crochet (hdc).  I tried to convince my mom and sister to learn hdc, but both refused.  Hopefully I can convince them to learn it someday.

I'll end of a series of shots of my sister crocheting that I think are pretty cool:

I can crochet!

I can no longer say that I don't know how to crochet.  January saw a lot of raining days down here in Houston, which I took advantage of on one particularly rainy and dreary afternoon.  I taught myself to crochet!  I started by following the directions for a sample granny square in the book Granny Square Love by Sarah London.  I used scrap yarn leftover from my potato chip scarf and a size G (4.0 mm) hook.  It was somewhat frustrating at first because, well, I was learning something new.  

Next up I crocheted a dishcloth using some really old stash yarn.  The yarn is Tahki Cotton Classic and the stitch is half double crochet (hdc).  The pattern was from the Granny Square Love book and is simply called a dishcloth.  I'd link to the pattern but it's not listed on Ravelry or anywhere else that I can find.  I've put the dishcloth to use since making it and while I love the look of the stitch pattern, the yarn isn't that absorbent of a cotton yarn.  I think it would make a better washcloth or scrubby towel.

I can honestly say that I am enjoying crochet.  Enjoying it enough that I'm jumping all the way in and am crocheting a cowl.  Yes, I am crocheting a cowl as part of the shop's (Park Avenue Yarns) first CAL of the year.  It's been a little bumpy crocheting the cowl, but I'm making progress and trying not to worry too much about my mistakes.  The hardest part so far has been joining in the right spot at the end of each round.  I may have accidentally decreased stitches, but I'm considering it all part of the learning process!  And until I get an in progress photo of the cowl, my project bag will have to do :o