Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Continue To Work on The Blue Shawl.

I have reached the point where, despite working for nearly 2.5 hours this week on the shawl, there's not a huge difference in what it looks like this week. I'll have to go hunting for one of my many and sundry rulers/measuring tapes in order to measure it out, but currently it's pretty darn wide but not very deep. I don't think it'll ever reach all the way down my back, which is too bad but not unexpected. These are the hazards of using up leftover yarn lol.

As for the total time spent on this shawl, we're at just over 17 hours now. And it doesn't quite reach my waist from my shoulders. *sigh* I should've known that something made of thread and a small hook would be an eternal slog, but boy, this one's kicking my butt.

I've started three side projects - one is blue, another is multicolored/brown, the last is white. That is all I shall say about them beyond this: I doubt at least one of them will be finished because my attention wavers like a timid twelve year old giving a monologue during a play they didn't want to perform in but was handed the lead role because no one else could do it.

I also have a few other projects I'll probably be starting, including something that will require.... cabbage. Of the fabric variety. Basically, I'm gonna look for scrap fabric around town (I'll see if anyone's left anything viable in the local fabric store's cabbage bin) and start teaching myself how to sew patchwork. Specifically French Seamed Patchwork.

Because I'm insane.

And also because it just seems fun! And cheaper than buying yardage...

Anywho, there's no picture of the shawl this week because it's only a couple of rows longer and I don't have a good background for it right now (I usually use my bed and my sheets are about the same color as the shawl lol).

I think I'll put my yarns away for the night now and start thinking about tomorrow's blog :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which Work Has Been Done!

Okay, I have been doing a lot of work on the shawl this week, even though it may not really look like it. Just bear in mind that this picture is of the shawl folded into 1/3 of its width and it's nearly as long as a twin mattress is wide.

Micron Pen for Scale

This whole shawl has now taken nearly 15 hours total work to make it. Bearing in mind that I have also had to detangle massive yarn barfs, am working with an inky-dinky hook and thread, and keep one eye on various videos, this isn't so bad :P

Speaking of said videos, this week's timing was about 2.5 hours of videos watched. I am hoping that the way I've been working (play a video and perform a task as it plays) continues to work out for this week's art.

I'll be a little behind tomorrow, though, because I'll be running some errands in the morning. You may ask yourself if you'll notice the difference.

Probably not, let's be real.

I'm the one who'll notice the difference because I'll be the one who can't sit down to crochet or write or draw in the morning lol.

Anywho, that'll do it from me - I've got to get some writing in before I conk out tonight!

I will keep crocheting the Blue Shawl until it's done, and then I'll start showing you some of my Experiments!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Have Progress!

It was my mom's birthday last week, so I made her a present, which took about 3.5 hours to make and came from this pattern.

It's about as tall as my hand is long and took almost 3.5 hours to make!

As for the blue shawl? I have hit the second shade of blue! I spent about an hour and 20 minutes this week on it, bringing my total time up to about 8.25 hours. It's... not very long, but it's quite wide. Maybe it'll be good for summer - that's what it's designed for after all!

It looks much longer than it is in this image

It Also looks longer than it is wide in this image, but...
It's pretty wide, bro

If anyone has any of this shawl-in-a-cake yarn they want to get rid of, I'll happily give it a home. Can you imagine these kinds of yarns made into lightweight hex cardigans?! Or a lightweight scarf?! This blue has a much better hand than the green stuff I used, because it doesn't unwind while you crochet with it.

I am given to understand the Lion Brand version of this yarn is discontinued (boo), but I really enjoyed it, so if I have an opportunity to grab more, I'm gonna have to take it. As for other lace weight yarns, you better believe I'm keeping an eye out. I also need to get on figuring out my drop spindle and gold mawata...

As pleased as I am with my progress (and I really am!), I need to start considering what the top of this shawl should look like. Should I leave it straight across? Should I do a row of shells somehow? And if I do the shells, should I figure out how much lace that takes? Ah, conundrums.

Well, I'm just going to have to keep working on the shawl in order to find out.

Also, I really want to make another hex cardigan or two - maybe even one with cuffed sleeves that reach my wrist?

And I still want to make a vest dangit...

Seems to me like I've got plenty of ideas to sustain me this year.

How are all of your projects doing?

That'll about do it for me - I'm getting distracted by my cold toes and need to go throw on new socks.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

At Last! Progress!
Just not on the Mushroom Bag...

A month or two ago, I started work on another iteration of the Downton Abbey Lady Sibyl Shrug, this time in a beige cotton thread, and I am excited to announce that....

The body is complete!

Now, before you ask, no this doesn't mean I'm anywhere close to being done with the orange/coral version. I... honestly am not sure where that project bag is. I do, however, now know that, without a doubt, it needs to be a bit wider for a linebacker-shouldered bird like me.

After trying this shrug on, even with the added width (I made my rectangle 17" long instead of the recommended 15"), it was a bit of a struggle to get on and off. Perhaps a 22"x17" (56cm x 43cm) would be better suited to me? Or perhaps it is merely the fact that I was trying it on with an unfinished border and a thick t-shirt, rather than a slipperier dress? I'm not changing into a tank or a dress to test that theory, and the border is... unique.

Why do a ch3, sc around into each chain space when the chain spaces are 4-5 chains each? Why was the foundation essentially 4 chains between sc? I don't understand so many choices with this piece, and I'm sure any errata I looked up could explain things, but...

I'm not in the mood to go looking things up, and honestly, I'm feeling too sludge-brained tonight to go hunting down explanations.

I may have had a fairly hectic day.

It may have involved my cat going on an ill-timed nautical adventure.

I may have pictures to share of this tomorrow.

Anyway, here's the first & second rounds of the border, which I've only got about... 30% finished around the body and have not even begun on the sleeves. How is this even going to work on the sleeves. I'll find out. Regardless, I have some work to finish, still, but this is real, visible progress!

I kind of like the 7dc shells, but...
Not sure how I feel about the rest.
We'll see.

Now, obviously, if I hate the edging, I can just frog it and start over. If you have any suggestions, feel free to @ me on Twitter or leave a comment on here.

Unrelated, but there's still time to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi and convince me to do art in a category of your choice (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Dedbert, Geometric, Word)!

I will be taking the rest of tonight to stare at a cursor blinking on a manuscript.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Have Speedy Little Updates

This week has been... a lot.

It hasn't been bad, don't get me wrong. I've been fairly productive by my standards and nothing tragic has befallen me, but boy has there been more activity than I'm used to.

I'll probably get more into it tomorrow, but for now I'll just say this:

Boiled frosting is hard to make.

Spiders don't care how hard it is for you to sleep when they're over your head.

Scrap Yarn is just another opportunity.

Gordian Knots can be unraveled without cutting them (or at least, I'm pretty sure they can)

Good friends are the best.

For today, however, I'll just talk about the Yarn and the Knot!

Behold The Goblin's Purse!

Last night, I was listening to some music and trying to avoid a spider on my ceiling, so I decided to use up a tiny amount of blue thread I had leftover from a long while ago! I started my pouch based off this Treasure Pouch Pattern by Pahavit's Universe, but I had misread what kind of thread they were using, and they were using a Size 3 thread for their 2.25mm hook and I was using the 2.25mm hook on a 10 weight thread.

This meant that when I reached the recommended stitch-count circumference, my pouch was... itty-bitty. We're talking "won't fit over an American Girl Doll's hand" small. The pouch I ended up with is small, make no mistake, but it's at least large enough to hold a small handful of coins, some shiny rocks, or whatever other minor detritus you might scoop up on a walk if you, like me, are a cross between a crow and a goblin creature, hence why I'm calling it The Goblin Purse.

R1: Make a magic ring, then sc 6 stitches into the ring, close it. Do not turn work, do not chain. Work in continuous spiral rounds. (6sc)

R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sc)

R3: (2sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around (18sc)

R4: (sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around (24sc)

R5: (2sc in next sc, sc in each of next 3 sc) around (30sc)

R6: (sc in each of next 2 sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in each of next 2 sc) around (36sc)

R7: (2sc in next sc, sc in each of next 5 sc) around (42sc)

R8: (sc in each of next 3 sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in each of next 3 sc) around (48sc)

R9: (2sc in next sc, sc in each of next 7 sc) around (54sc)

R10: (sc in each of next 4 sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in each of next 4 sc) around (60sc)

R11-25: sc in each sc around (60sc/round 900sc total)

At this point you can either continue adding rounds in 60sc increments or do what I did and finish it off. I chose to finish mine in a crab stitch, which is, as best as I can describe, a single crochet, but backwards? There are other people who can describe how to do this stitch. I am not one of them. You can finish it however you like! Remember to weave in your tails!

To make the bag cinch shut, you take two strands of thread or cord and sew them through the top of the bag to make a drawstring. Then tie the ends. I put my threads over two stitches and then under two stitches around.

After you have your drawstring in, if you want to add the little wrist strap that I have on there, you just find the opposite side of your bag from where the drawstring comes out, and put your hook through the holes to either side of an sc. Then attach your thread and chain as many chains as it takes to get your hand through, slip stitching back into the same stitch you chose. If my instructions aren't clear enough, I 100% understand, and it's absolutely fine to, say, make a loop of chain stitches that your hand fits through, and then sew that to the back of the bag. You can even add a cute button or bead to hide your sewing!

At this point, you have a fun little goblin bag to take out adventuring with you! If you make one of these, feel free to @ me on Twitter with pics of the bag and any trinkets you collect in it! I'm hoping to take it out for a spin maybe tomorrow or Wednesday :)





Now, as for the Gordian Knot I mentioned...

You see, I have a tangle of yarn that has become a bit of a recurring character here on the blog, and its name is Gordon. Gordon is a large quantity of what I think is a DK weight acrylic yarn. I have had it for years and never have I ever been able to detangle it.

This week, however, I've really been working hard on him and...

I think we're getting close!

Gordon has gone from being a pile of yarn that pooled to a width that dangled over my tv tray or totally filled a 12" cube to a ball the size of a very large cantaloupe, a tangle the size of a grapefruit, and after finally locating his other end, a small pile of spaghetti in a paper bag.

Not a particularly overlarge paper bag, either.

So I'm thinking that this is Gordon's last week as a mess. Next week, he'll be one ball. And after that? Well... I don't know, but he's kinda scratchy, so maybe he's not going to become anything that'd touch skin. I would like to use my 3.75mm hook on him, so I'll go hunting on Ravelry or elsewhere on the interwebs. If you have any suggestions for what appears to be approximately an entire mile of primary blue yarn in about a DK weight, I'd love to hear from ya!

I think that'll about do it from me tonight. I'm tuckered out, and I hope you appreciated the linked and free patterns!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC