Victorian Shoulderette is Done!

I'll have to post pictures later after I give Connie the office lady her shoulderette. After figuring out the pattern with the help of my friend Sandra, it was easy to knit. Apparently I couldn't read the pattern and knit at the same time. Sandra read the directionsto me s-l-o-w-l-y while I knit what she directed me to knit.

I had to do 14 repeats of the 24 rows. I was click-clacking along so well. Grrr!! Until I was just about done with repeat 9, that is. I ran out of yarn!! I called Alpaca Outfitters in Elkhart where I purchased the yarn to see if they had anymore. I was so lucky. They have discontinued carrying the yarn but the woman who answered the phone had two hanks already wound up into cakes. She sold them to me for $10 including shipping. I finished the shoulderette on Saturday the 19th. I'll have to thank her when I return to Elkhart in August.

I think I'll try and find a pretty pin for the shawl before I give it to Connie. Now I have to find soemthing to make for Pat the other office lady. She's a little harder to read, but I'm thinking a nice purse or maybe another shawl would be nice for her. Ooh! Maybe some gloves or a scarf. I'll figure it all out.

Crap!

I purchased this pattern this afternoon. I thought I'd do something nice for Connie the office secretary at school and make her a shawl. When she gets cold, which is frequently, she wears her jacket wrapped around her shoulders. As I was browsing the many, many patterns on Ravelry, I ran across the Victorian Shoulderette pattern and thought it would be perfect for Connie. That baby was knitting up fast! I got through over half of it this evening. I just finished the first three rows of the lace panel and counted my stitches since when I ended the repeats, I didn't have the number of stitches the pattern said I should have. It appears that I may have neglected three YOs somewhere and now I'm three stitches short. Crap! Now I have to go back three rows and figure out what the hell I did and where I did it.

I hate to undo knitting work. There are so many stitches that can get lost or dropped. It's not like crochet. In crochet there's only one loop on the hook at a time, not like the 173 (or 170, in my case) I have to undo three times on this shoulderette. Ugh! I'll fix it, but for tonight I tossed it aside on the couch and refuse to touch it again until tomorrow.

I thought about walking over to the park and knitting tomorrow, but we're expecting scattered thundestorms and a high temp of 86 degrees. I'm rethinking that idea. Perhaps, I'll go to Borders, purchase an iced tea and maybe a pretzel, and stitch in the cafe. Or I could walk over to the park in the morning before the rain or the rising temperatures.

Arachne's Tears Scarf

I decided to make the Arachne's Tears Scarf from Interweave Crochet's Spring 2008 issue. I'm using some yarn I bought last year at Loopy Yarns.

Here's the scarf from the magazine.
Is it me or does the model resemble Melissa Etheridge?

The yarn is Farmhouse Yarns Silk Blend in purple. It's 350 yards of a dk blend of 34% silk, 33% cotton, and 33% American Crown lamb's wool. Soo soft.




This scarf is going to be wonderful. I need to take it with me to the store and find beads to match. I don't think I'll put beads in the scarf just on the fringe. I've been reading other people's notes on Ravelry about the scarf and the prevailing opinion is that the beaded fringe helps with the drape. I just started it and this is how it's looking so far.


I don't think this is going to take very long. It should go from WIP to FO in no time.

A Little Poetry


I purchased a magnetic poetry kit from Interweave Press several months ago. Here's what I composed with it. Hope you like it.

Purse Exchange

I took part in a Purse Exchange at Knit Knack over on Ravelry. My partner was cabbie911. I made her the Fashion First Aid purse from the Stitch 'N Bitch Happy Hooker book. Here it is. She says she's already got a project in the bag to take with her to work on the ambulance.



I received this purse and goodies from jewls in San Diego.



I used the yarn to make a hat for one of my co-workers on the way to Bloomington. Alas, I didn't take pictures of the three hats I made for Lisa, Josie, and Heather.

Naughty Girl Stuff

Over at Ravelry I belong to (among 23) a group called Knit Knack. Knit Knack was born on MySpace as an alternative to the Stitch 'N Bitch group that kept getting spammed. Eventually some trolls began spamming Knit Knack something fierce. Skyolim, the founder, disbanded the group. The Knit Knackers from MySpace found their way, one by one, over to Ravelry and the group was reformed. Yippee!! Okay, then, there's the history.

Here's the naughty girl stuff! We recently had our Pasties Exchange. I'd never made pasties before, but figured what the heck? I had so much fun! I made two pairs for my exchange partner cerditovolador. I called them the (De)Flower Me Pasties and the Pirate Booty Call Dress Up Kit. Here are the pics and the patterns. Have at it. Make some pasties!

*****************************************

Pirate Booty Call Dress Up Kit

Materials and Equipment

About 2 - 2 ½ oz worsted weight cotton yarn in colors A and B
Crochet hook size H
2 skull buttons
Elastic thread

Gauge: each pasty is approx. 4” diameter

NOTE: The bag is not included in the pattern. It is the skullholders pattern from the Stitch 'N Bitch Happy Hooker book with the skull chart from Hello Yarn's Felted Knitting Tote. I simply striped the back side of the bag and worked one row of single crochet around three sides of the front and back to close and worked one round of single crochet around the top of the bag.

PASTIES

Directions:
Form loop with end of thread with color A.
Round 1: Ch 1, 8 sc in loop. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. Pull end of thread to close hole in center. 8 sc.
Round 2: Ch 1, sc in each sc. With color B, sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 16 sc.
Round 3: Continue with color B. Ch 1, [sc (2 sc in next sc)] around. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 24 sc.
Round 4: Ch 1, [2 sc (2 sc in next sc)] around. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 32 sc.
Round 5: Ch 1, [3 sc (2 sc in next sc)] around. With color A, sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 40 sc.
Round 6: Continue with color A. Ch 1, [4 sc (2 sc in next sc)] around. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 48 sc.

Cut yarn and weave in all loose ends. Sew skull buttons to center of pasties.

EYEPATCH

Directions:
Patch
Row 1: With black yarn, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 2 ch, 5 sc in last ch. Continue on other side of beginning ch, work sc in other side of next 3 ch.
Row 2: Ch 1, 4 sc, (2 sc in next sc) 3 times, 4 sc.
Row 3: Ch 1, 5 sc, (2 sc in next sc) 4 times, 5 sc.
Row 4: Ch 1, 6 sc, (2 sc in next sc) 6 times, 6 sc.
Row 5: Ch 1, 9 sc, (2 sc in next sc) 2 times, 2 sc, (2 sc in next sc) 2 times, 9 sc. Do not cut yarn. Continue with strap.

Strap:
Ch 60 and sl st to other side of patch.
Round 1: Ch 1, sc in each ch and across top of patch working 1 sc in end of each row. Sl st to 1st sc to close.
Round 2: Ch 1, sc in each sc around. Sl st to 1st sc to close.

Weave in all loose ends. Measure the elastic thread so that it fits around your head comfortably when stretched slightly. Run the elastic through the back of round 2 of strap and tie or sew closed.

*****************************************

(De)Flower Me Pasties

Materials and Equipment

About 1 oz of worsted weight cotton yarn each in pink and green
Crochet hook size H
Letter beads D, O, M, E
Sewing thread

Gauge: each flower approx. 4” diameter

Directions:
Form loop with end of thread using pink yarn.
Round 1: Ch 1, 8 sc in loop. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. Pull end of thread to close hole in center. 8 sc.
Round 2: Ch 1, sc in each sc. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 16 sc.
Round 3: Ch 1, [sc (2 sc in next sc)] around. Sl st to top of 1st sc to close. 24 sc.
Round 4: Ch 1, sc in first sc, ch 2, [sk 2 sc, sc around next sc by wrapping hook from back to front and back again (wrapped sc), ch 2] around. 8 sc and 8 ch 2 loops.
Round 5: Sl st to ch 2 loop. Work (sc, 3 dc, sc) in each ch 2 loop. With green yarn sl st to top of 1st sc in round to close. 8 petals worked.
Round 6: Continue with green yarn. Sl st through any 2 threads on back side of first wrapped sc from round 4, ch 4. (sl st through any 2 threads on back side of next wrapped sc from round 4, ch 4) around. 8 ch 4 loops.
Round 7: Sl st to ch 4 loop. Work (sc, 5 dc, sc) in each ch 4 loop. Sl st to top of 1st sc in round to close. 8 petals worked.

Cut yarn and weave in loose ends. Sew on beads to read “DO” on one flower and “ME” on the other.

*****************************************

These are the ones I received from wildcherry in Alaska. I have always wanted to visit Alaska since I watched Northern Exposure. Marilyn, Dr. Joel's secretary on the show, was an avid knitter. I miss that show. Ahhh, nostalgia... Back to the blog. Here are the pasties received.

The pasties in the top row, black and red ones, are sparkly and give the illusion of pierced nipples without the pain. The pasties in the bottom row are crocheted. The flower to the right is a hair clip. One of my fellow Knit Knackers thought for a moment that I had three nipples. Not so. I turned one of the flower pasties upside down so the crocheted part could be seen.

Gotta Update This Thing

I haven't posted anything her in ages, but I have been busy with the stitching. So without further ado, I give you a slideshow of my projects since last November (eek!).