Sick Crochet

Not sick as in cool, but sick as in ill.
I got sick last week; second time in two weeks. Spent several days mostly hanging out in bed. The plus side? I finished a hat - which I have dubbed the "Blue and Bluer Cloche." The skeins of yarn I was using are so huge (Red Heart Super Saver) that it wasn't a project I could tote around, so it was good to be a homebody for a while.

The week before last I also finished another debate project - a neckwarmer/cowl. I'm also working on the second lace glove, and still chugging away at the scarf for my mom.

Also just bought my first yarn from someone's Ravelry stash. Should be headed my way tomorrow. It's fingering weight, and I'm excited - I'm planning to make a lace scarf.

Updates!

Last night I went to a little gathering at a friend's place to watch the presidential debate. I spent the whole thing crocheting (otherwise I think I would've fallen asleep; I was exhausted last night). I got a lot of compliments on my work, which made me feel really nice. I've gotten attention crocheting before, but this was the first time I got that "wow, I could never do that, that's amazing!" I think it owed a lot to what I'm working on right now; both of the projects look really pretty and complex. For the first half of the debate it was working on the Queen Anne's Lace Scarf I'm making on a present. It's not complex at all, but it looks complicated. Halfway through the debate my first skein of yarn for the scarf ran out and to shake it up a bit I moved on to my Afternoon Tea Fingerless Gloves. I started the gloves as an experiment in working with fingerling yarns, and with working crochet lace... and because the pattern looked really pretty. I finished the bulk of the first glove (which had been a WIP for days) by the end of the debate. I need to buy buttons for the wrist before I go any further; I'll probably cut off the first glove with plenty of extra yarn then start on the second, so both will be ready for buttons when I finally get some.

I really have to learn how to block and steam my work. The gloves require it, and I think the scarf could use it - the motifs curl up on the edges and I'd prefer if they lay flat.

On my past projects: The pixie hood is done, and I really love it; I've been wearing it a lot. I decided not to add the fringe-ends to it, so it's just a hood with very little scarf associated (it does have ends that wrap around my neck). I need to buy or find a brooch to keep the two ends together, and thereby keep it on my head - it sits quite far back and I'm constantly in fear that it was fall off. It's super cute, though. I'll have pictures soon. I wish I had got one of my (male) friend weairng it last night during the debate.
The amigurumi octopus is still a WIP - sewing on the feet is sort of a pain. He only has 2 right now. I think I may work on those as soon as I save this entry and make myself another cup of tea. It's a rainy sort of day, I'm still in bed, and I think doing crochet sounds nicer than studying.

I want to make more pixie hoods.
Also, I want to learn to knit socks. It looks like a lot of fun.
I need to figure out what my next project will be... the scarf will be done in the next few days and while I'd like having something else to do along with the gloves - something I can do while reading / while in lectures.

Photo: Grey Mask

Here's the mask.
I'd post a picture of me wearing it, but it looks weird and out-of context when I wear it with normal clothes. If I ever wear it for an event, I'll post pictures.

First Post - A Catch-All

I've set up this blog so I can link it to my Ravelry, and rant about crochet... which I've begun to do all the time. It's become much like reading was for me when I was younger - under the desk in class, in bed at night (much later than I should be up), in the car (not while driving), and even while walking.

I just finished two projects - well, they'd been basically finished for days, but I've been too lazy to weave in the ends (I tend to leave a little pile of things that need ends woven in and then do them all at once).

first project was a scarf for my mom, for Christmas (no photos posted here in case she finds this blog), but here's the Ravelry page for it. While I love this pattern - Robyn Chachula's Zen and the Art of Stash Diving - and I will probably make more stuff using it, I have some issues with the yarn I used. If it hadn't been a yarn my mom picked out specifically, I would've stopped and used soemthing else. The dye job, while pretty, made one end, maybe 1/6 of the scarf, comepletely purple, while the rest of it is a pretty, variated salmon. It just looks weird.

I feel bad for having given her a pretty ugly scarf the Christmas when I was just starting to crochet, so I'm going to give her this and then also make her something that will hopefully be prettier and more like what she said she wanted.

The second project was a mask shaped much like the typical, masquerade-style eye covering. I found the pattern and just had to try it, and it looks pretty cool! It ate into part of my scrap yarn collection as well.
Given, it looks weird over my glasses, but all masks do. This one has the advantage of stretching over my glasses, so I can see out of it, and that's pretty great.
I just now - as I was writing this - realized I could block the eyeholes with a semi-sheer lace. I would still be able to see out, but it would mask the glasses weirdness. Next time I'm somewhere that sells spools of lace ribbon, I may buy one and try it out.
Photos of that project, and the finished scarf, soon.

I'm currently working on my on-going afghan project, the lacey afghan-square scarf that will be a Christmas present for Michelle (my step-mom), and a 1940s "pixie hood" that I am making for myself. I am very excited for the hood - firstly because it's 1. vintage and 2. a pixie scarf! - secondly because it's the most ambitious thing I've tried so far (some assembly and gauge required), so it's a bit of an adventure.