New Yarn=New Projects!

I was so excited to get my new yarn this week!

I took a bit of a chance ordering these. I have worked with the multi-colored yarn before, so I knew what I was getting with that. I've worked with cotton only yarn before as well, so I felt pretty confident trying those. The red stuff though? I hate that stuff, and I don't think I'll be using that very much!

I was hoping to make some circular scrubbies, but I'll be honest, guys: it's just not working out. I can't tell you how many times I started, tore out, and started over. I want whatever I finish to be something I can be KIND OF proud of, and those scrubbies were just not it. 

So, I found a different pattern and came up with these:

They are dishcloths, and I combined two different fibers on all of them. I like them, BUT I'm not sure how to finish them off. The pattern says fold it over and single crochet it together, but I can't figure out how to do that, or even why you would want to? I'm not sure how I am going to finish these, but that's something to think about in the next day or two.

This is my last blog post, because our presentations are NEXT WEEK! How is yours coming along?

Out of Yarn...So It's Time to "Practice"

I have some new yarn ordered, but until it gets here, I don't have enough to make a "real project." I thought I did, so I tried a "real project," but I ran out of yarn right before I got to the end, and it didn't look very good anyway. So here are some things I've been working on! 

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This is treble crochet, but it doesn't look very good. I need to figure out how to get it to lay flat and not curl. Diane Harmon, crochet master, says this could be a tension issue. 

This is the "project" I was trying. My daughter kept asking "what is it?" on the above picture, and I kept saying "it's practice!" She suggested I make a headband/ear warmer, and I thought I probably had enough yarn to do that, but as it turns out, I didn't. Again, it probably shouldn't be curling like that. It's supposed to be a straight line. 

Then I decided I would start working on some of the fancier stitches! 

This would be great if I were trying to make one of those Victorian collar things, but again, this is supposed to be in a straight line, so I'm not sure where it all went wrong here, but I'll try again another time.

I actually think this is pretty good/close to what it's "supposed" to look like, even though you can't really see my sample all that well. It's definitely something I need to practice more on, but I felt at least moderately successful working on this.

 I am pretty pleased with these double crochet and half double crochet samples. They are laying flat (as they should), but these are stitches I have worked on before. Just trying to "perfect" them now. They don't really come naturally to me yet. When I see them in a pattern, I do have to think back about how to do them, or even sometimes go look at instructions for it.

I can't wait until my new yarn arrives! It's a new kind of scrubby yarn. I hope I like it and I hope it works well, because I don't have enough yarn to finish all the hotpads I had planned on, so some of you are getting scrubbies. No one is getting a headband/ear warmer, though! :)

Have you had to make any modifications on your project due to supply limitations?

Once I figured it out, I just couldn't stop making them! 

Again, I'm not SUPER thrilled with these, but they aren't bad. They are still curling a little at the edges, and I've tried to relax my stitches, but I still end up with the "curl" no matter what. Our good friend Mrs. Harmon says I do need to loosen the stitches, so I'm working on it.

I love this yarn combination and wish I could get more, but it is sold out at Hobby Lobby. There are some similar items at Michaels, but I have a hard time purchasing without actually feeling the yarn myself, so I am reluctant to buy online. Plus, there's a three skein minimum, so I think I'll just wait until I can get into a store. I probably have enough for one more scrubbie. I gave two away over the weekend. 

This is a simple project that doesn't take long at all! I do have to concentrate and count, though, so it's not really something I can do while I watch TV. I can't multi-task with this one! 

Next up: I'd like to make a beanie, but I don't know if I have enough yarn. I think I can at least get it started, and of course, that would be the hardest part.

Presentations are coming up soon! Hopefully you are getting to the point where you have something to show us! 

Keep On Keepin' On

This won't come as a surprise to any of you, but I'm still working on my scrubbies.

However, I finally found something new that helps this make a lot more sense to me.

One of my crochet pals, Clarissa (who, you might remember, attended Fiber Space with me) loaned me a book and I finally sat down today to look at it.

Turns out, it was really helpful in understanding how to crochet in the round.

One of the things I have learned in this process (and hope my students have, too) is how I learn best. I thought it was videos when I first started, and they have been helpful, but something about the way this was written made a lot of sense to me. I actually started thinking about this in a mathematical way (which you KNOW is not my strong suit), but that helps me keep track in my counting. 

Now: no, I'm not particularly proud of this. No, it's not finished. Yes, it's starting to look a little hexagonal and it's not supposed to, and yes, my ultimate goal is to add another type of yarn in with this, but that yarn is incredibly difficult to work with. BUT. It's a start and it actually DOES make sense to me now where it did not before.

An update on my hotpads: I have a lot of those in various stages of "done-ness," but I'm out of yarn and I'm not sure how to get more! I originally bought my yarn at Hobby Lobby and need matching skeins to finish, but I can't find them to order on the HL website. I haven't found them at amazon either, or the actual brand website, so I'm not sure what to do! Once we can go back out, I'll be able to get the rest and it won't take long to finish them, but for now, I have to work on the scrubbies and other projects that use this grittier "yarn" (the word "yarn" isn't even correct because it doesn't feel like wool or cotton and is not suitable for every project. I wouldn't use it to make handwarmers, for instance). 

Tell me what's going on with your projects!

You're not going to learn how to crochet from these videos, that's for sure, but I thought I would try a time-lapse video so you could see how my projects start and what the process is. This is the first time-lapse video I've ever made, for anything, and I had quite the set up!

I like this project because you only have to count one time: 42 chains at the beginning. That's what you'll see here. I made 42 chains and then started working down the right side. I think most people (right-handed people) would go down the left side first, but because I'm left-handed, I like to go down the right side first. I got about 3/4 of the way down on this one and then quit, so obviously, this project is just getting started and has several more hours in it.

Here is a video of the same pattern that is almost done. I'm concerned about this, though, because I'm afraid I'm going to run out of yarn. I have at least one more of these that I ran out of yarn on, and I'm not sure when I can get back to the store to get more of these! 

Here's what I've done so far!