Crocheting seams
A quick answer for Belinda, who asked:
"I saw your comment on YarnPirate's blog and was wondering how you seam the clothes together using a crochet hook? Is it a single crochet that goes through both pieces?"Hee -- I'm not even sure if what I do is actually crocheting. But I do it with a crochet hook. I'll try to get a demo with pics up on the site soon. Basically, what I do is pull a single loop through both pieces that I'm seaming together (I like to go between the first and second stitches, just for stability's sake) at the first row (or last row, depending on which direction you prefer to travel. Doesn't really matter.). I leave that loop on the hook, lift it up, grab the yarn from the other side of the seam and pull it through the original loop. I still have only a single loop on the hook. With that loop still on the hook, go up to the next row, stick the hook through both pieces, and pull the yarn through both pieces and the loop. Lift the loop, reach across the seam, pull the yarn through the loop. Continue on until you're done. You should only ever have one loop on the hook. When you're done, just cut the yarn and pull it through the last loop and weave the end in. Presto! Seam finished.
You can actually even leave out the bit about pulling the yarn over the seam and through the loop and just do a single loop per row when you pull through, but I find that second loop gives the seam a little more finish and stability.
HTH -- let me know if it's confusing. As I said, I'll try to get a picture tutorial up on the site soonish (I haven't anything to seam together right at the moment, but should in the next week or so).
And I'll also post about other stuff in the next day or two, like sock heels and why I still love my afterthought heels best, a name change for The Player to be Named Later, maybe some spinning, maybe some knitting...you never know.
Fall down go boom
Okay, first and foremost, let's talk about who gets yarn. The name we have tenatively decided on is Malcolm (middle name Zachary). So, nobody submitted that one. However,
trek submitted a name I liked very much -- Aidan. So trek gets the Schaeffer Anne. I'm also going to award a prize for "submission that made me spew coffee onto my keyboard" to NJStacie for "Juicebox," which she threw in with a list of perfectly normal names. Not sure yet what the prize will be, but it will definitely be some yarny goodness. So, if you two could please contact me at lauraDOTyonaATgmailDOTcom (changing DOT and AT appropriately)with your mailing addresses, I'll be happy to get your prizes out to you.
Moving on. Remember a few posts ago I said I was on a bit of a yarn diet and I promised to explain later and then I never did (because I forgot to -- c'mon, you know how I roll). The yarn diet, which was definitely a diet and not a fast, which is what I feel like a lot of people do when they say they're going on a "yarn diet," the yarn diet was so I could save up my money for
this. Isn't it purty? I have a Babe, and I really do love spinning, even though I don't have much time to do so right now (I swear, if anyone had told me how much time and energy a toddler requires I'd've just gotten a cat), so I decided I want to treat myself to a really nice wheel someday. It will require a lot of penny saving, so that's what I've been doing, mostly. I bought a little bit of yarn a couple of weeks ago from
SuperCrafty (her infant son just had brain surgery. Dude. I cannot even imagine.), but that was really okay (except that I forgot what I was going to make with everything and then they had it packaged up so it was all lined up
and now I'm going to make
this (only, you know, in purples) with the addition of some other odds and ends I have lying around).
Oh, and also I bought a couple of skeins of
STR after they announced that one of my favorite colorways would be "resting" for an unknown period of time. But that was okay, too, because it really was just a couple of skeins, and as I said, this is a yarn diet, not a yarn fast.
And then it all went right to hell. You know how I love the Cider Moon? How I would snuggle with it all day long if I could? How sometimes I just open my yarn closet and rub it on my face? Well, I got scared that there may never be any more of it. The other day,
this post showed up on their blog, and their store is down and I really, really hope that whatever the trouble is they get through it okay and get back to making the
pretty yarns. But just in case...I bought several skeins last night when
Sheri did her Sneak Up (oh, the damage that would've been done if I had seen the email three hours earlier when it went out) and then I popped over to
Knitters Mercantile and bought up a lot of their remaining stock. Basically, I bought a skein of every color I liked that anyone had in stock (unless I already had it). Which pretty much wiped out my wheel fund. Sigh. Oh well. Not like I'll really have time to spin much for the next few years anyhow.
Here's why:
I suppose if I could figure out a way to get her to stay in the box, I'd be able to spin a lot more.
In other knitting news, I've made progress on the Campanulas (I'm up to the first heel and deciding what I want to do here -- short row as instructed or wimp out and stick with my easy afterthought heel)
and totally fell in love with Brittany Birch DPNs. I just ordered some
Harmony needles from Knit Picks (again with the purty) and am hoping they give me the same warm fuzzies. I was
going to order more Brittanies, but the only place I found that had them in stock was
Halcyon, and they wanted to charge me $10.95 to ship a few sets of needles! I think not.
I'm also just about done with the first Infloresence -- just figuring out how I want to incorporate the ribbing now. And I'm making nice progress on the hooded kaftan for Becky as well as the lacey sweater thingie for me. Not as much knitting for Mal, except to keep throwing a few rows on a blanket square every now and again.
And just to show you that I can take pictures of things without either children or yarn in them:
I took a picture almost exactly like this when we first moved into the house, but lost it when my hard drive died a few years ago. I was so excited when I went outside the other day and the light was just right and the roses were in just the right spot. This particular rose blooms from early spring until late fall -- it's really lovely.
Come play with me! (and maybe win some yarn)
Hi -- I wanted post an invite to this really cool thing I do every fall called
Otherworld. Before I even start, I do want to clarify that I'm on staff at this event now and there is a fee to participate. But I get nothing if you sign up (expect the love and adulation of the other staff), so I really am just posting this because I think anyone who chooses to go will have a great time.
Otherworld is a one-off event that happens every year in Connecticut, and it's really a lot like a murder mystery weekend, except Otherworld is set in a fictional world with magic and other familiar-to-RPGers type stuff -- but you can come even if you're not an RPGer -- I wasn't when I was a participant. Participants are divided into 8 groups, and each group has a "quest." You pick from the 6 available classes -- each group has one of each -- which are pretty basic fighters and magic users. You're not trying to gain XP, and it's not about combat (though there IS combat with foam swords and it's totally fun), but more about problem solving.
I just wanted to post this here because it's one of the most fun things I've ever been involved with. To give you an idea how much fun it is, remember I said before I'm on staff now? I actually pay to work there. All staff does, and there are more staff members than participants. It's a really great, fun weekend, and pretty cheap considering lodging and meals are included. For more info, check out
www.otherworld.org. This year's event is Oct. 5-7 (it starts Friday evening). I really hope to see some of you there. Knitters and Otherworlders are the two awsomest groups of people I know, and I love to see them come together.
To that end, I am offering (in addition to the Ridiculously Over-confident 200% refund if you don't have a great time that Otherworld already offers) a prize of yarny goodness. I will give away my most recent Rockin' Sock Club yarn and pattern (the Flower Power colorway everyone's raving about + the accompanying pattern -- see both
here) to someone who registers and pays after seeing this post. Just let me know you've done it and you'll be entered into the drawing for the yarn. If you're already a sock club member and/or hate the yarn, I will arrange for a different color of STR light or medium weight to be made available to you. You will receive one drawing entry for each person you register and pay for (yes, it's okay if the other person pays for him/herself, so long as the registration is completed because of your influence). If you can't go this year for whatever reason but you show the site to someone else and they sign up, that counts as an entry for you. I'll give you two weeks from today to get signed up and let me know that you've done so.
(I haven't talked to my mom yet, so won't be announcing the name yet. If I don't talk to her by tomorrow, I'll announce the prize winner(s) anyhow.)
What a week (and then some)!
(And then some more -- I started this post last Saturday and here it is already Friday again. Gah.Holy fright! Things have just been super crazy insane at work the past week or so. The only silver lining is that I got the opportunity to learn a bunch of Access stuff, and I got to build a thingie that really I had no business building, and it's beautiful. Really. I'm incredibly proud of it. I have discovered a more elegant way to do one of the major things, and I may go back into the backend and implement it someday soon (if I ever have any spare time at work, which doesn't look likely any time in the near future). But that's why I haven't been telling you about all of the exciting things happening here at Chez Knot.
Like that I decided that I don't like the finished MS3. See, not keeping up with the pack has benefits sometimes. I was able to see several picure of the finished garmet, and I just don't like it for me. It's actually quite beautiful, but totally not me. So I went on the
designer's website and bought
this pattern to use with the yarn I bought for MS3 (I think this was MS2, actually). I think I'll be able to use the beads, even. Plus, it comes with a free sock pattern.
I also have a completely unsuccessful FO:
Cute, right? I made the 24 month size because Becky is off the charts for height and in the 95% for weight. It's the right length, maybe even a little short (hence the crochet border), but about twice as big around as it should be. It's unwearable. I was going to frog it and have been putting it off because of all the crochet I did on the border, but then realized that it's too late to reknit it for this year anyhow, so I might as well wait until next year to see if it fits her then. I think it'll be cute as a little croppy thing, so I'm not so worried about the length. And if she doesn't fill it out next summer, then I'll frog it and reknit it.
The two pair of socks I'm working on -- Infloresence and Campanula for the Cure -- are coming along nicely (pics next time). I'm itching to cast on some plain stocking stitch socks, but have promised myself that I will finish at least one of each pair before casting on. And also I want to try magic loop and socks on two circs, and I don't have needles for either of those yet.
I also need to get to knitting again on the knitted caftan I'm making for the Beckster, as well as the baby blanket and sweater I'm making for The Player to be Named Later (we actually just decided on a name, but I got yelled at for revealing the sex here before I told my folks, so I'm going to tell them the name this weekend and then I'll tell y'all next week. I'll reveal the winner(s) of the name contest then, too, and of course, this means entries are closed).
Speaking of Little Miss Becky, aka the cutest, sweetest baby EVER, here are some pics to close this post.
I'm officially published! Squee!
The Puss' Magical Boots pattern is up! Check it out -- it's available free at
Purlesence. Check out her awesome selection of knitting accessories, too -- gorgeous needles and bags and notions, etc.
