The Penguin crochets now too!*

*more accurately, the Penguin CAN crochet, though she definitely still prefers to knit.

 

 

One of the programs we have at our library is a knitting and crocheting program.  Knitters meet in the evenings on 1st Tuesdays, crocheters on the 3rd.  Mostly basic learn-the-craft type instructions, but that's all good too.  Everyone has to start somewhere, right?  And no, I actually don't run them. My shifts are usually during the day, because of my own programs and duties, and we have another knitter on staff who leads these groups.

 

Last month, it looked like there'd be a night where I actually did have to lead the group, though.  And of course, it wasn't the knitting night.  It was the crocheting.  So I had to brush the rust off and fill in some gaps in my crafting knowledge.  It's only a beginning group, like I said, but I still need to be able to answer questions, right?  The way things turned out that week, I didn't need to cover the group's meeting after all, but that wasn't before I'd already knocked out two and a half dishcloths relearning the crochet stitches!

 

Not wasted time and effort though, since I might have to cover one or the other group again in the future (the only other needlecrafter on staff), and it gave me the motivation to actually figure out crocheting.  I've known the basics (in theory, not in practice) for a few years now.  I am comfortable making a chain, and using crocheting to edge my knitting or to seam it or to add tassels or something.  But an actual crocheted object?  Not until now...

 

 

One of the biggest hurdles was the act itself, not just making the stitch.  You hold a crochet hook usually one of two ways: like a pencil or like a butter knife.  This is INCREDIBLY awkward for a lefty holding a hook in her right hand.  It took a good bit of repetition to just feel remotely comfortable doing that motion alone!  Why don't I just use my left hand, you ask?  Because as I'm re-teaching myself, I'm depending on images and videos online or in magazines; I don't have someone I can easily ask in person.  And there are many, many more righty directions than lefty.  So, to make my movements match the directions, I have to use my right hand (easier to do than trying to mirror everything while still learning).  Plus, whenever I feel brave enough to try a crochet pattern, that'll be written for someone using their right hand.  I've learned to transpose my knitting directions as needed, but I'm not quite ready to do that crocheting!

 

So what did I actually make? 

 

 

I ended up making 5 dishcloths (4 shown above - the 5th is just another round one like the 4th).  For the first three, I chained about 20-25 stitches, then worked a stitch until the piece was dishcloth-sized.  Left to right below (and above, actually), we have a single crochet square dishcloth, a double crochet, and a treble (triple) crochet. The single and treble crochet squares actually came out pretty neatly.  I don't know what happened to the double crocheted one, coming out wonky like that.  I mean, I know it's because my stitch count changed between rows, but why I was not tracking... a mystery for the ages.  Probably got too absorbed in the episode of whatever I was watching!  :)  Still, very good practice and it's perfectly functional as a dishcloth.

 

   
 

The last two were ones worked in the round.  I found a basic diagram and just worked it in single crochet until, again, it was dishcloth-sized.  I'd provide the link, like I always try to, but I probably couldn't find it again if I tried.  It's a pretty basic crochet-in-the-round circle, though, nothing too fancy.  And like I said, I made two round ones.

 

 

Overall, yes, I do definitely prefer knitting.  My hands got more tired crocheting than they do with knitting.  When I knit, I don't turn my work; I'm always looking at the right side.  This is a little unusual, but it also means that I'm not ALWAYS doing the same movement.  Gives my hands a little bit of a break, which means that I can keep going longer without getting sore or stiff.  In practical terms, I can knit through a whole movie without feeling cramped or stiff, not just a TV episode (standard units of measuring time, right?).  Crochet uses the same motion all the time, and always with my right hand.  And I probably grip my hook a little tightly too.  A consequence of still learning and being a bit unsure of what I'm doing.  Perfectly understandable, but it is more tiring on the hand.  It's like writing really long essays by hand, if you remember those days in school.  Your hand just gets tight and stiff and a little sore if you keep pushing it.  That's how crocheting was for me.

And in general, I like the knit stitch and it's resulting fabrics better than I like the crocheted equivalents.  Not that there aren't cute or pretty crocheted pieces.  Just in general, I prefer the look of knitted fabrics.  Personal preference, so just take it for the quirk it is!

 

 

Still, crocheting is very fast, and can use up a lot of yarn very quickly (the crochet stitch uses more yarn per stitch than the knit or purl stitch does).  Perfect for gifts or for using up craft acrylic or dishcloth cotton!  And it is always nice to have another crafting skill under my belt, just in case I want to make that super cute amigurumi...

Requisite kitty-crafting picture, you ask?  Take a look at the very first picture.  Yes, those are kitten toes at the edge of the frame.  Scruffy has to investigate anytime I'm taking pictures of my crafting stuff, but I was able to snap the shot before he decided he wanted to sit on it to gain my attention. :)

Challenge Complete!

Finished my last dishcloths! (Yeah, work's still veeeeeery quiet - at least they'll be fixing my server at work on Monday, though... only 3 weeks after it went out...)
So, here you go, to finish up the year:

October mid-month - Autumn's Country Quilt.

There's an allover diamond pattern in this one. Hard to see the diamonds in there with the business of the variegated yarn, but they're there! Have several quilting friends, and Zach and I each have a quilting relative, so I can see this pattern being used again in one form or another. :)

November - Native American.

Reminds me a lot of a high school mascot near where I grew up (that's why it's in light blue - KHS colors are blue & red)

December - Grandma's Favorite Snowman.

I made this one twice, since the written directions had an error or two in there - ended up looking like my snowman was melting! Very frustrating. The green one was made looking at the chart, though, and came out very nicely.

December mid-month - Doily-style Poinsettia.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. Have actually already made a second one of these, and it's blocking now. Course I'm a sucker for spirally lace projects :) The second picture is me holding it up to the window, all nice and backlit, so you can see the lace pattern in it - yes, I was playing - yay for negative space! ;)

You can see all of my dishcloths from this year here at the Monthly Challenge blog. Be forewarned though - if you click on the main blog page over there, it'll take a while to load (LOTS of pictures).

Massive Knitting Update :)

I've been knitting like crazy recently. Have a lot of dishcloths to catch up on by New Year's Eve, am trying to finish Abrazo, and I'm still plodding away on the baby blanket (why do those things take so LONG??) It's worked out really nicely, actually, that I've had knitting time at work too, since the snow kept everyone at home for a while, besides knocking out my Internet and e-mail at work, and almost the entire post population is out of town for the holidays (seriously, who'd stick around here over Christmas if you didn't have to!?). The result is a very quiet work place, with plenty of time to knit in the afternoon after my day's work is done. So, here you go, the results of my hard labor:

From left to right:
Love to Knit (July), Redbud Leaf (August), and Elvish Leaves (mid-August).

Ironically, I didn't like the Love to Knit dishcloth at all. The pattern took too much focusing, besides taking extra concentration to make sure lefty-me didn't get it backwards. And it was just a HUGE dishcloth. I think it's the widest one we've done this year. (That's why it's striped - I ran out of the color I was working in). I like Redbud Leaf a lot. I'm not usually a fan of the picture dishcloths (like Love to Knit). I prefer the all-over pattern ones - much easier mindless knitting, good for TV watching. If every line is changing each time, you're spending more time counting stitches. Redbud Leaf was a good one, though. Nice and simple pattern, and a pretty, clean design at the end. Speaking of allover patterns, I like Elvish Leaves too. Not exactly mindless, with all the arcs, but still enough repetition within the rows to make it more relaxing. And it's pretty when it's done too :)

And again, from left to right:

Schoolhouse (September), Woven Cables (mid-September), and Frankenstein's Monster (October).

Schoolhouse is cute - could definitely see making it for some teacher friends I know. I really liked Woven Cables. I like cables anyways, and as a dishcloth, this one will be nice and scrubby (good texture). Frankenstein's Monster is actually pretty cute. He even has little stitches (took me a few moments looking at the final picture to figure out what those extra lines were!).

One more time, left to right ... well, there's only one on this row :)
Illusion Candy Cane (mid-November). I like illusion patterns, I'm finding. Fun stuff.

And Abrazo, which is all in one piece and off the needles, but awaiting all those finishing touches, like weaving in ends and the crochet trim around the edges. Should have all that done, and hopefully some pictures taken by this time next week:

No new pictures of the baby blanket, as it looks much the same as it did when I last posted about it :\ Still, it's coming along, though!

WIP Wednesday!

Long time no knitting, but here you go!

Still OTN - the baby blanket. Getting bigger, and I'm knitting away at it furiously (have a lot of repairs going on at our building at work, so have a LOT of down time there right now - good knitting time!)

Also OTN - Abrazo, by Knitty (Fall 08). Cute chunky-knit sweater vest. Needed some instant gratification knitting, with those tiny stitches on the baby blanket taking so long! I'm very pleased with this project so far. I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease T&Q, which I've had good luck with before, and the vest is coming along quite well. I'm through most of the body, and almost at the point where you stop knitting in the round and divide for the arm-holes. (note: It IS a very close-fitting vest, but t's not really as tiny as it looks in this picture - the stitches are all bunched up on the needle)

Also, the standard dishcloth knitting, though no pictures at the moment. I'm a bit behind on the dishcloth KAL at the moment, but we're not travelling anywhere for Christmas (Zach has to work - yay Army) so I'll have some very quiet days around here as the rest of post leaves for the holidays and we stick around. I WILL be caught up by the end of the year!!

WIP Wednesday! (well, Thursday, then...)

Long time no WIPS (well, at least not posted!) but here you are!

A couple dishcloths are done, so technically are FOs and no longer WIPs. The dishcloth KAL however, is still a WIP. I'm still not close to catching up, but I'm getting there. I'm determined to at least finish the year on time!! I like Summer Breeze (the one on the right) much better than Lacy Waterfalls (the one on the left). It knit up much more quickly, and took less pattern-following (better TV-watching knitting!) I actually finished it (Summer Breeze) in a single movie - and I'm not the world's fastest knitter, or even anywhere close! Can't see why it's called Summer Breeze however. Maybe because it's a breeze to knit up?

I've been slogging along on the baby blanket. I should have doubled the yarn, I think, but I think it still would have been many many tiny stitches to make a blanket. Since it's a nice gift, I wanted it to be really nice, so I'm just toughing it out, so to speak. It'll probably be a baby's-first-Christmas gift, since I didn't get as much knitting done this summer as I expected (crazy work schedule). Still, the little one will only be a few months old, so will still have plenty of time to enjoy it :)

Finally, I don't think I ever posted this project: my Liesel scarf. This was one of my Ravelympics projects. I finished it in time (my Ravelympics 'medal' is here too!) I then decided to rework the ends of the scarf, to add in some beading so that it would better match Odessa. So, I've new pictures as I re-block it. :) See all the little beads at the end?

PS - I did both Odessa and Liesel in TLC's Cara Mia, which I really like, actually. It's an angora/polyester/rayon blend. Surprisingly nice to work with! I'm very picky about my acrylic blends, and this one was one I wouldn't mind working with again :)

WIP Wednesday!

Hey, I actually remembered this week! :)

Three projects to talk about this week, all in different stages of progress:

Finished the first June dishcloth (I seem to be running about a dishcloth behind, but I'm kinda keeping up!) It is a palm tree, good summery image, but all I could do was laugh. Amy, this one's for us!! After living in SC, you either love or hate the palm tree. Why, you may ask. Well, the state tree/mascot/iconic image is the palmetto. It's EVERYWHERE!!!!!!! Every 3rd car has a palmetto & moon sticker of some sort (and, in the Upstate where I used to live, also about 6 pieces of Clemson paraphernalia). You can't escape it, and odds are (especially for non-native South Carolinians like Amy and myself) you will get sick of it. As soon as I saw the pattern, I decided to send it to Julie with the baby blanket, as a baby's washcloth. They live in FL, so they'll appreciate the palm tree, and they just moved there, so they aren't sick of it yet :)

Speaking of the baby blanket, MY YARN CAME!!! :) I'm casting on tonight, so it will officially be a WIP by the time I go to bed today!

Finally, one project still on the needles, Square Cake has another handle done (I'm on number 3 now). I hope it will be done next week by the time I post again (at least the knitting part - no guarantee on the lining part), but I think that might be a little optimistic. With the holiday weekend (We're going camping! In the desert!) and the excitement over the new project, Square Cake might need to wait a little longer before it's finished :)

Look! Actual knitting content!

Yeah, it has been a long time, hasn't it?? Almost forgot it's called the KNITTING Penguin, didn't you?? Well, it's almost time for a WIP-Wednesday anyway, so wait no longer, I have knitting updates :) Let's see what I've been working on...

For starters, I've just about all caught up with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL. On the top row, from left to right, we have the April cloth ("In the Meadow") and the mid-April cloth ("Dots within Stripes"). On the next row, again from left to right, we have the May and mid-May cloths ("Wedding Hearts" and "Any Day, Everyday"). The first June cloth is currently OTN ('on the needles,' for those unfamiliar with knitting abbreviations).

"In the Meadow" was OK. I liked having an excuse to learn to bobble (seeing as I'm NEVER going to have them on a sweater unless I absolutely LOVE the effect - simply not a fan of how it looks on sweaters). It was the same designer as the March cloth ("The Empty Tomb") and she rather likes those pictures with the rays - the sunshine, the rays from the tomb. She likes them... I don't. Personally, I think it's a little obnoxious during the knitting, for an effect that just isn't worth it. But that's just my opinion. Still - I know how to bobble now!

"Dots within Stripes" was also just OK. It was a similar effect as "Finders Keepers" (from February) but took longer to get into my hands. Had to watch my rows more carefully, and that just defeated the purpose of using the dishcloths as nice mindless knitting. If I'm making another dishcloth and want this effect, I'll do "Finders Keepers" again - heck, that was the pattern I started in the DMV line! :)

"Wedding Hearts" was alright, might make it for a gift for a friend at some point, with kitchen gifts or something for their wedding, but not really my aesthetic. Not obnoxious, like the sun rays, but I just am so over the hearts-and-wedding themes. My own wedding was only 6 months ago - ask anyone who went - not a heart in sight! :)

"Any Day, Everyday" I reeeally like, though! It's a nice dishcloth, a good and bumpy cloth that will be good for scrubbing, and it's a very easy pattern. It's a variation on a basic lace grid, some changes on "yo, k2tog" alternating across rows. If you're not a knitter, don't worry; you're not supposed to understand that :) Anyway, it's very easy to get into your hands, so it's easy to remember and then just fly through the project. A good instant gratification project. Two thumbs up, as far as dishcloths go :) I'm not sure if I like this one or "Finders Keepers" better yet, though. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring!

In non-dishcloth related knitting news, I've almost finished Square Cake! I've got one handle piece (of 4) all finished, and I'm about halfway up the second one. It'll be all off the needles soon, with any luck, and then all that's left is to line it!

And finally, in upcoming knitting news, I've been commissioned for a baby blanket!! My best friend in high school (Ben) has a little sister my own sister's age, and Julie (his sister) got married about 3 months before I did. Yes, she is old enough to be getting married, but it still makes me feel old - I've known her since she was in middle school after all!! ;) Anyway, Julie and her new husband are expecting their first in Oct! Very exciting! They know it'll be a boy, and Ben and Julie's mom (the grandmother-to-be) saw my shrug from the wedding and commissioned a baby blanket for the little one on the way! I'm so excited!!

I've already picked out the pattern I'm going to use, and ordered the yarn. For the pattern, I'm going with a little bit more unusual pattern, a blanket knit in the round. It looks really neat when it's all done (side note: Thank you, Ravelry - you made looking for a pattern so much easier!!) For the yarn, I'm going with Tofutsies, nice and warm and washable, but the cotton and chitin will make it not swelteringly warm in the FL summers. The color I'm looking at is this one, called Foot in the Door, variegated blues and greens and yellows. Julie is looking at pale blue and pale green and yellow for the baby colors. I thought this would be a nice yarn to use, still fitting in with the color scheme, but bright enough that he can still use it as a toddler play-blanket or something without it screaming "BABY," the way pastels often do. I've already ordered the yarn - had to special order it, but it's nice to have connections (i.e. a sister who works at a yarn shop - thank you Anne!!). Soon it will be forwarded on to me, in time to have a nice big blanket knit up for the little guy by his arrival in Oct. Did I mention I'm excited?

So how was YOUR day today?

Mine was rough. Productive, but rough.

Had to go to my drug test for the new job. No waiting at all! They were ready for me in about as much time as it took me to sit down and pull out my book! I was so surprised. When I had to go in SC, I waited nearly an hour - my bladder was about to burst!! Here, I just walked right in! Hey, maybe being in a small town does have some advantages ;)

But then, the DMV.... For the new job, I have to have a CA driver's license. Fine, no problem. The DMV however had the HUGEST line! I waited for nearly 1 1/2 hrs just to get INSIDE!! Overall, it took me over 2 1/2 hrs (close to 3!!) to go through the line and get my license. The way the office was set up, it moved rather quickly once you were inside, but it just took forever to get inside. Apparently yesterday was a state holiday (Cesar Chavez day, I think someone said??), so the state offices were closed. Which means everyone came in today to get their licenses or registrations or whatever else they needed taken care of. I'm glad I didn't drive 'into town' yesterday. I'd've been very frustrated to drive 40 minutes into Barstow and find out the office I needed was closed. Still, there were people in line around me who'd come up from Apple Valley. They'd been to the office in Victorville first this morning, and said that that line was even worse than the one in Barstow!! Still, I did get everything done and my new license should be arriving soon (don't know why CA mails it out to you, but they do).

I think I've been spoiled by the DMV back in VA. The one near our house there was one of the newer ones. People didn't think to go there, so it was never packed. And there were plenty of counters (being new and all) - the whole range of counters weren't always open, but they were there. I have actually seen really busy days when most of them were open - was very surprised. I remember talking with one of the guys in my office in SC who had lived in VA near where I grew up. He and I agreed that the DMV offices there were pretty efficient, especially compared to the SC ones which were HORRIBLE! The CA one was bad, in that it had a long wait, but it went pretty smoothly - just needed twice as many people working the counters today. SC would have long waits, and still be inefficient.

(sigh) The DMV.... a necessary evil, I guess. But! At least I'm done with them for a while now! I'm a California girl now! Or something like that...

Oh, and if you're still having a hard time visualizing just how long I was waiting in line there, here's what I was working on:

I cast on a few minutes after I joined the line, and worked on it until I reached the head of the line. It's almost done. Just a dishcloth, but it's still almost done. It's the Finder's Keepers Pattern (mid-Feb from the KAL), but worked in a light blue and a light blue ombre. You can't always see the slip-stitch pattern, but it was an easy pattern I remembered off-hand there in line (something besides garter stitch!) and I think it has an interesting look to it, so I'm not totally displeased :)

WIP Wednesday!

So, now that we're actually in an apartment, and it's starting to get organized (only starting, though, keep in mind), I've actually had some time to knit. Yay! So, I've been busy catching up on the monthly dishcloth-along. And even better, I've some FOs too! Feels like it's been a while since I've finished anything... Was DETERMINED to not get too far behind with my dishclothes - set the goal for myself that I would be caught up by April. And so, I've unpacking a couple boxes, knit a couple rows, etc. And I'm all caught up. Here are the finished ones (from left, mid-Feb, March, and mid-March).

And my one still OTN. This one is another version of the mid-March one, just reversing the colors.

It's an illusion cloth. Illusion knitting creates a really cool effect without tons of work. From straight on, like the in picture below on the left, it just looks striped. From an angle, like in the center picture below, you see a picture in one color, bordered by the other color. (You can see what the image is supposed to be, too, from the Wrong Side, like in the picture below on the right).

It's actually a lot simpler than it looks. The knit stitch lies 'flatter' than the purl stitch, which sits up like a little bump. So the pattern is designed to play on this - the image (in this case, the bunny) is knit in purls in Color A, while the rest of the row is in knit stitches, while Color B is the opposite. Makes Color A visible in the center, and B on the outside. There are better explanations online, too - check out Wikipedia, MagKnits (a DNA illusion scarf!), and all these sites here. Vivian Hoxbro even has a full book on it. Lots of possibilities to play with. :)

As for other WIPs? Well, the biggest one would have to be the one I'm living in :) Back to unpacking!

Belated FO Friday

So, I didn't finish this 'til this afternoon, but it's still close enough that I can still call it a Friday FO, can't I? At anyrate, Dishcloth #3 is finished! Honestly couldn't tell what this one was at first. Could tell I'd followed the pattern correctly and that it was supposed to be something; I just couldn't tell what. It was like looking at a Magic Eye :) I looked on the Dishcloth KAL page, though, and everyone was referring to it as the Candybox, and then I saw it. It's a heartshape, with the bow tied in the middle, like a candbox! 'Course it didn't help that I was looking at it on the 'wrong' side (where the picture didn't 'pop' quite as strongly).

But it's done, and I've kept up nicely with the KAL so far this year. I am determined to finish all 24! I've plenty of cotton, and will be needing both dishclothes and washclothes (however I decide to use them), so it's not like I'm making something totally useless, right? :) I just want to follow through and keep up with it, y'know? It helps if I've got some way to check myself, and in this case, it's electronically! Between Ravelry and the blogs, I can see that I'm following through :)

WIP Wednesday

Thought I'd forgotten again, didn't you? Last Wednesday was too rough a day (heck, last week was bad, not just last Wednesday) and I forgot to post on knitting either on Monday or Friday. I know, I know. But hey - I remembered this week!

This is the latest dishcloth in the KAL. I'm only about 1/2-way through. And I can't tell what it is!! An anchor? An arrow? It's driving me nuts! But in a good way... It's like Christmas - the anticipation, what's it gonna be?? Fun! :)

Also OTN (only the active ones, of course):

• Square Cake - a little white purse, using some of the leftover white cotton from I Do - been working on this one since New Year's, and it's not a hard pattern, but I just go so slowly with DPNs...
• The red ripple scarf that I've been working on since Fall (the VT-W&M football game!) - almost done with it though!
• A shrug with the bright ladder yarn pictured below; no pictures of the work itself yet - I'll try and get some more done on the shrug by next Wednesday and post pictures of it then - basically, yet another light shrug to wear with LBD :) My evening dress-up clothes are mostly black and sleeveless, so I like having all the options for wraps and shrugs to bring in some color to the outfit!

And finally, I leave you with a picture of Piglet, because here today, we had a very blustery day as well. That big ol' storm front rolled through today, brought tons of rain (which we need) and cooled the place off, and brought some strong winds in as well. Explains why my knees were aching all day. Stupid arthritic knees! I've got Old Man Weather Knees, and I'm only 25!!! Anyway, as they say, It's Wiiiiiindsday today!

Two FO!

I really am trying to do the FO Friday, but my FOs haven't lined up with Fridays yet. Well, at least I'm trying, and having the Friday goal to have a FO to post is actually helping me work through a lot of the UFOs lying around my apartment hibernating. So, I guess it all works out in the end :)

The shrug I actually did have finished on Friday, but it was still blocking, so no pictures for a post then. But, Zach came into town for the weekend and the shrug finished drying, and here are pictures!

This sweater came about because I needed a short-sleeve white cardigan since my old one was ‘well-worn’ (i.e. stretched shapeless through years of wear). I really like this pattern, and this was a perfect opportunity to use it. I began working with 2 strands Jiffy held together to give gauge, but decided that was too thick a fabric, so frogged and re-worked with 1 strand on smaller needles. This yarn is nice and wears pretty well without being too expensive, but it's very fuzzy and sticks to itself like glue - the frogging was a NIGHTMARE! The finished project, though, I love! It's a nice simple pattern without being boring, and I'd definitely make it again in another color.

I did make a few changes, using a smaller gauge, added garter stitch borders at hem and sleeve cuffs instead of ribbing, sleeve length closer to 3/4 than the original cap sleeves, decreased a little on the sleeves to keep them fitted. The next time I make it, I'll make a wider garter stitch borders along sides of front panels, as it tends to curl a little as-is (possibly because of the smaller yarn I used) so maybe 3-4 stitch wide border instead.

My other FO this week was the mid-January dishcloth KAL. I love the yarn this is in - so ridiculously bright! Like a tropical fish exploded! I've got similar yarn in a pink-orange-yellow colorway, which is equally bright. Dishclothes from that yarn will be coming eventually :)