You all remember D, the crochet fanatic in my class from a previous post...

I took D to a yarn tasting at Loopy Yarns and blogged about it. I bought him some Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca DK in baby blue. He started crocheting a pillow with it as soon as we boarded the South Shore to come home. Well, everyone, here is the FO. The yarn is perfect for the pillow since it's soooo soft. He's so proud of his pillow. ...and he should be.

Two Bags and a Potholder

I finished one skull tote bag and one fat-bottomed bag (from the Stitch 'N Bitch Happy Hooker book) for the girlfriends of two nephews. They both have birthdays in May. Then I finished a stained glass flower potholder for the May Flowers-along at get Stitchy! and the Lake County Fair. I'm really liking the stained glass colors. I'm thinking that a fat-bottomed bag in stained glass colors would be just dandy for summer. Hmmmm...something to think about. Well, without further fanfare, here are the latest FO's.

Week 3 - Question (from the Spring Felted Bag Exchange)

Where's your favorite place to knit or crochet? Describe (or show!) us where you sit and how you most enjoy your craft!

My first response is EVERYWHERE! But, in all honesty, I prefer to knit/crochet in my living room on my couch. I sit in the same spot (as evidenced by the imprint on the cushion) right by the lamp to illuminate my work. I keep my stitching notions in a small pouch inside a plastic box that doubles as a sewing box or footstool since it's always by my side. My crochet hooks are handy and easily within reach in a pretty mug on my coffee table. I keep my straight knitting needles in two vases. They're really for decoration now that I've been using my Denise needles, Addi Turbos, and some bamboo circulars. I realize that I'm no longer a fan of straight needles. I think I'll give some to D since he's now learning to knit. My second favorite place to knit/crochet is at Bean Counters Coffee House in Highland. I meet with Rachelle and Sandra on Tuesdays (used to be on Mondays). I usually get an iced tea and set myself up at the table in the Gathering Place at the coffee house. The plasma TV is usually set to some rerun of a long-cancelled network series. I get so caught up in my stitching that I don't really pay attention to it. Sometimes the TV is set to a news channel. The three of us sit around the table and talk about our projects or yarn or whatever is on our minds. We're usually there from 5:30 until closing at 7:00. We seem to always be the last ones out the door. They have a new owner. Nice guy. Friendly. Doesn't rush us out the door at closing. I like that. Finally, I sometimes enjoy knitting/crocheting at Borders. I don't go there as often as I'd like. I have also been known to knit/crochet in Barnes & Noble and Washington Park by my home. I like to sit on a bench along the walkway entrance to the park. Tomorrow we are going on a field trip to see the Railcats play. I'm going to be making another dream swatch headband for Lyd and a Juliet cap for our class production of Romeo and Juliet. Thank goodness I have a class of responsible students who will behave so well that I'll probably be able to finish at least one of those two projects. Whew! Short question and a long-winded answer. I think I'll take pics of these places and blog about them in more detail at a later date.

A Yarn Tasting Event at Loopy Yarns

I had no idea what a yarn tasting event was until Friday night. Loopy Yarns on State Street in Chicago hosted one that night. In a few words, the new yarns are placed into courses (like a fancy meal) and those in attendance receive about a yard's worth to try out. The hostess describes the yarn and suggested patterns. I had a great time. It was especially fun because I brought along D, the crochet fiend in my classroom. I took a few pictures to chronicle the day. I'm not sure exactly where D gets his yarn, but I believe he gets it at Walmart and from the stash I keep in the classroom. I thought he might enjoy trying out some good quality yarns so I invited him to join me. Here's the story...

I picked him up at about 4:15 PM so we'd have ample time to find a parking space and wait for the 4:47 PM South Shore train to Chicago. He brought along his ever-present yarntainer with two balls of yarn. However, he forgot his crochet hooks at school. The email from Loopy Yarns listed the knitting needles we should bring. I brought along my Denise interchangeables and two bamboo crochet hooks for D. I eventually let him keep them since he liked them so much. As soon as we boarded the train, he tried out the bamboo J hook on his yarn.


We decided to eat dinner next door to Loopy Yarns at a place called Pizza-Ria. D ordered sausage pizza.


I ordered a garbage salad that had at least 10 different items in it. We shared some boneless chicken wings.


While I finished my salad, D checked out the jukebox. Here he is with his yarntainer in hand.


We had some time to kill so I taught him how to crochet a bobble stitch and make a granny square.

We walked next door just before 7:00 PM and browsed around while the earlier group finished tasting the yarns. D was in heaven. He said, "I think I need to come here more often!" We seated ourselves and I figured D would bust out the bamboo hooks to try the yarns; however, he said, "I think I want to learn knitting now." I let him borrow some size 8 needles from the Denise set and showed him how to do a cable cast on and the knit stitch. That boy got it within five minutes! He started stitching with the first two yarns he received. I got to try out the yarns without coaching him anymore.


Before we left I told him I"d treat him to some yarns. He opted for a skein of Checkenheaton Merino in red, a skein of of Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca DK in baby blue, and two skeins of Berroco Bonsai (a yarn we "tasted") in white and some rust color. He said he was going to use the Bonsai to make something for the Lake County Fair. Here's his haul. In all, it only cost about $20. Not bad since I've been known to drop four times that amount on myself.


On the train ride back, D couldn't wait to try out some of his yarn. He took out the K hook and started making a pillow with the Baby Alpaca.


He fell asleep with hook in his hand and I had to wake him when the train arrived at our destination. He said he had a good time. I told him that maybe we could go back on some other Friday for their open stitching night. He'd like that. I also told him to bring his yarn to school on Monday and I'll bring my yarn winder so we can wind the Bonsai before he uses it. I'll put a reminder on the bathroom mirror so I don't forget.

Week 2 - Question (from the Spring Felted Bag Exchange)

Where you live, what signifies the beginning of Spring? A favorite flower blooming? Snowmelt? Pollen (Cough cough, gak, here in ATL, thanks) Post something up describing how you knew 'Spring had Sprung' for you!

One of the first signs of spring in Northwest Indiana are the political sign "weeds" that crop up overnight on people's lawns. Another sign of spring is the fidgety behavior of my 6th graders. And yet another sign is the beginning of construction on the local highways. But in all seriousness, the first signs I notice are the appearance of buds on the trees and the birds that sing outside my window. I don't suffer from allergies so pollen and stuff like that doesn't affect me. I also notice all the kids in the neighborhood out on bikes and walking around. I happen to live a block away from a park and right next-door to McDonald's so all the people out enjoying the rising temps find their way to my neck of the woods. But the biggest sign for me that spring has sprung is my own need to go outside for recess to get out into the warm air.

More for the FO Pile

I finished Lisa's cable footies a couple of weeks back. Here's a picture of one of them on my hand.



I hated doing the Kitchener stitch to finish them. The toes came out a little pointy. When I make these again, I'm going to finish them several rows before so I won't have such pointy toes.

For Mothers' Day, I plan on knitting shower puffs for my three sisters who are mothers. The pattern is in the book One Skein. The cable footies pattern is in the same book. I kinda like the puff now, but that Himalaya Aloo yarn was hurting my finger before. I think I just got a stubborn skein because the second puff is working up really fast. I started it yesterday and I'm about three quarters of the way done. The puff just seems like the perfect companion for oatmeal soap. Here's what they'll look like before I pair them up with a bar of oatmeal soap.

Interesting News for Designers out There

The good people that publish the Knitting Pattern-a-Day and the Crochet Pattern-a-Day calendars will be publishing a few (three, I think) of my patterns in their crochet calendar for 2008. They've just announced a pattern contest for their 2009 calendars. Check out the flyer here (pdf format).

A- Maiz-ing!

I bought some SWTC A-maizing yarn from The Yarn Grove, one of Get Stitchy!'s sponsors. I only got one spool because I had no idea what to make, but I knew I just had to play with the yarn. I love this stuff. It's like a very skinny tube of even tinier knit stitches. Since a few people at Get Stitchy! made the Dream Swatch wrap, I decided that's what my corn yarn wanted to be. I don't really care to wear anything on my head for fear of squashing my paltry 2" of hair, but this actually looks kinda cute on my head. Go figure!

Here it is.

This Week's Question (from the Spring Felted Bag Exchange)

How did you get interested in felting? Did you learn it from someone, see a bag you liked? Just want to try something new? If you have a picture of your first project, please include it!

My friend Lisa told me about a bag she'd seen someone sporting at Stitches Midwest last summer. I wanted to make that skull bag that she'd seen, but I'd never felted before. I decided to try something simpler in case I screwed it up royally. I crocheted a simple gray granny square bag from Reynold'd Lopi yarn I purchased at Stitch by Stitch in Highland. I blogged about it here.