yarn tootin'

Wider than a Scarf

      Since returning to Big Texas, I've made some progress on my Ripple Afghan.  I didn't bring it with me to Colorado and beyond because it's too big and it requires its own bag and too many different balls of yarn.  I picked it up again last weekend and I was relieved to find that I remembered how to croshay.  I even remembered the pattern.   The blanket is now officially too wide to be declared a scarf and abandoned, and I think that someday it might be a real blanket.

     Croshay tends to be a little hard on my wrist, so I have to limit my croshaying to one or two stripes a day.  You'd be surprised how long this can take.  I'd love to be croshaying right now, but I'm out of excellent DVDs.  I wish our mail would get here earlier in the day.  It is sometimes 5:00 p.m. before the mail shows up.  I'm expecting the next Big Love disc to arrive today along with the latest Rockin' Sock Club yarn.  Of course, the mail is extra slow today.

     Yesterday I went to Austin for some Symphony related business and after that, I got together with my new friend Grace and her mom, my old friend Amanda.  I made this sweater for Grace last spring and she was kind enough to model it for me.  She's pretty wiggly, so it was hard to get a good shot of the sweater, but you get the idea.   Her dad also took some pictures and I bet that his are better.  I was glad to see that the sweater is still too big.  Hopefully by the time it gets chilly in Big Texas, it will fit just right.

Rippley

     I've finally gotten around to starting my very own ripple afghan.   It took a couple of tries, but after a few helpful hints from the gals at the Ripple Along, I think I've got the hang of it.  Due to my overwhelming sadness over the cancellation and subsequent series finale of my beloved Gilmore Girls, I've spent a good amount of the last week with my croshay hook and season 1 of the Gilmores.  Seasons 2 and 3 are on their way from Amazon (the early seasons are very affordable right now, so if you're interested, run, don't walk, to amazon.com).  Not since the end of my all time favorite program, Felicity,  have I been this bereft over a television program.  Don't tell Felicity that I said this, but in spite of the fact that Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore) is, at best,  a mediocre actress and her utter milquetoastinesss can be very irritating to watch, I think that the Gilmore Girls might be the better show.  I love Stars Hollow and all of its quirky townies.  I mean, really, does it get any better than Miss Patty?   

     This afghan is meant to be a couch/nap afghan and not a bed afghan.  It's 54 inches wide and I'm going to keep working on it until it's long enough to cover my feet and my shoulders while lying on the couch.  I realize that this may take a very long time, as it has taken me three attempts and a week to get this far.  Hopefully I'll get faster as I get more comfortable with croshay.
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease
Pattern: Soft Waves from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns.  I'm not going to link the book because the pattern is confusing and a lot of people have had trouble with it.  The book is very pretty, but as far as I'm concerned, that's about it.

Double Croshay

     I hate croshay.  I want to love croshay.  I want to be good at croshay, but croshay is still very tricky.  After mastering the single croshay, I thought I had it all figured out.  While browsing in Michael's on Friday afternoon, I came across a display of Lion Brand (new) Cotton Ease.  I had been looking at this very yarn online ever since the folks at Lion Brand sent me their fancy new catalog back in February.  I thought that (new) Cotton Ease looked pretty good, but I wanted to touch it before buying it.  In person, it's quite nice.  It's a teensy bit acrylic-y, but for the most part it's soft and tightly spun and it comes in very nice, mod colors.  I couldn't resist and I bought twelve (12) skeins of Lion Brand (new) Cotton Ease (at a very good price) with the intention of croshaying a beautiful Ripple Afghan.

     On Saturday, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing and that I was going to have to get the book.  Fortunately, they had it at my local Borders and I reserved it (just in case) and went and picked it up last night.  The book makes it all look so easy.  This afternoon, I sat down to try a little swatch in the soft waves pattern, which requires a person to execute a dc (double crochet).  Double crochet is hard.  You can't just whip your hook through those loops.  It's all tricky and temperamental.  Maybe I'll get better at it.  Maybe, like purling, double crochet is something that takes some getting used to.  I hope so, because I have all this yarn, and I'd really like to make a pretty blanket.

     I have one question about the book.  When it says that a particular stitch pattern is for 12+3 chains, do they mean an multiple of 12 plus 3, like 27 or 51, or do they mean a multiple of 15?  I tried my swatch with 27 chain stitches and it did not work at all.  It might be me, but this seems very confusing.  At least I can still knit.  I finished my RPM socks the other day.  They're quite nice.  I have chosen to photograph them with what I think are the world's best shoes for a sock knitter.  I am quite certain that Danskos and hand knit socks are BFF, and I'm glad I have three pairs.  Eff croshay.

Croshay

     I know that's not how it's spelled, but there's just something unsavory about crochet.  I can't like it, so I either have to spell it wrong or say crotch-it like my good friend Kitty (click on Kitty for a picture of a very cute little boy holding some croshay and brief explanation of crotch-it).  Because of my delicate Midwestern sensibilities, I think I'll go with croshay.  So, I'm trying to teach myself to croshay.  I have been tempted by the numerous pretty blankets on this website and now I must learn.  I have two books on the subject, The Happy Hooker and Cozy Crochet.  I more or less taught myself to knit using a book, so I'm thinking that croshay will be no problem.  Except, it is a problem. Croshay is hard.

     This isn't the first time I've tried to learn to croshay.  Back in September when I went to Buffalo to hang out with the ladies, Kitty tried to teach me and I couldn't do it.  I threw down my hook in frustration and decided not to croshay.  Unfortunately, my desire to croshay just never went away so I'm giving it another shot.    After a couple of sad attempts using the directions in Cozy Crochet, this is what I had to show for efforts...these are supposed to be squares.

     I think that part of my problem was that I was forgetting to add a chain stitch at the end of each row.  I'm also struggling with the left handedness of croshay.  You have to old the yarn in your left hand and since I knit English style (yarn in my right hand) this seems very foreign.  It reminds me of the time I tried to play field hockey at Oberlin.  I grew up with two hockey playing brothers, and any time I picked up a hockey stick, I used my left hand as my dominant hand.  In field hockey, this is against the rules.  Everyone has to hold the stick right handed which doesn't seem fair.  The stick is also super short so you have to run around all hunched over, and for a gal who is long of leg, this is no fun.  Stupid field hockey.

     When I learned to knit, I tried over and over again to make a perfect little square swatch like they tell you to in the Stitch 'n Bitch book.  After many failures, I had my perfect little square and I still carry it around in my knitting bag.  I figured that I would do the same thing with croshay.  Late last night, I decided that I was going to make a single croshay square once and for all, and by this afternoon, I had done it.  Like my early knitting, it's a little tight, but I'm sure I'll get over that.  I think these are single croshays, but I'm still working on the terminology.  During tonight's programming, I will attempt to croshay a circle.

      One note on croshay hooks: Kitty told me early on that not all croshay hooks are the same.  She reccomended that I try the kind with the big handle (pictured on the left).  She was absolutely right.  Not only is this hook easier to hold, but the loops don't slide all over the place because they can't go any further than the handle.  I went to Michael's today and picked up a few more of this type of hook.  One costs as much as five of the other kind, but if you're in the market for a croshay hook with training wheels, I'd get this kind.  You won't be sorry.