Kim's Crochet Blog

Christmas has come and gone with a touch of handmade gifts of all varieties. Knitted and crocheted gifts included:

• Valley Yarns purple mobius cowl for my SIL- knit
• Wavy scarf for my MIL- knit
• Mushroom fingerless mitts for my nephew- knit
• Gold fingerless mitts for a friend- crochet
• Gold headband for the same friend- crochet
• White sparkley unicorn for my niece- crochet
• Tunisian diamonds scarf for a friend- tunisian crochet

There were several adventures along the way of most some of the projects.  Starting with the Valley Yarn mobius, that one I knitted twice!  It was a revisit of the mobius pattern I’ve previously made for myself.  I am completely in love with this cowl and during the fall and winter I’m nearly always wearing it.  I wear it out with my coat and inside to take some of the bite out of the air.   I find that it is so versatile for indoor/outdoor wear.  Since I can wear it double or single around my neck I also get two levels of warmth without looking silly wearing a scarf inside.  I had a couple skeins of Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky made of wool and alpaca left over from my purple sweater project.  From the couple times I’ve worn the finished sweater I’ve discovered the yarn is fantastically warm!  My SIL works from home and her studio can be pretty darn cold so I thought that a snuggly cowl would probably fit the bill nicely.  After knitting it the first time I cast off too tight and it wouldn’t go around my head to wear it doubled.  I recast it with about 10 to 15 more stitches than it called for and also made sure to cast off nice a loosely.  That worked out nicely.

The fingerless mitts for my nephew were the next installment in his collection of knitted/crocheted Super Mario themed gifts from me (starting with the Super Mario Blanket that started this blog!).  I had never knit gloves before so I knew it would have a bit of a learning curve.  I thought I could easily turn the fingerless mitt pattern found at Vickie Howell’s blog into mittens, but after finishing off the top of the mittens and having added the mushrooms to each mitt I realized I don’t know the slightest thing about knitting a thumb!  I decided to just crochet a thumb but it was a bit obvious I didn’t really know what I was doing.  Since it is winter there are several drives in the area for scarves, gloves and hats so I just donated them.  Second try I decided to just stick with the pattern with only one minor adjustment of shortening the wrist portion.  This project was my first time using a duplicate stitch method to create an image on a knitted fabric.  My nephew loved them!

The other Christmas projects went off without a hitch for the most part.  The Wavy scarf was a project that came about when I had one of those extreme itches to knit or crochet something, anything.   I had the project added to my queue at Rav for nearly a year and decided it was high time to cast on.  I went to Joann’s with this project in mind and purchased 2 yarns, Lion Brand Tweed Stripes, only to get home and realize I needed 3 yarns!  Luckily I had a random skein of purple acrylic, Loops & Threads Impeccable, I had purchased previously that was nearly the same weight.  I hadn’t gotten my Knit Picks interchangable needle set yet which was a problem when I discovered that I didn’t have the right size needles.  I was determined to start this project regardless.  The needles were one size smaller than they should have been and unless you’re a knitter you probably can’t tell.  It’s a fun pattern and you get the hang of it quickly.  Some nice variegated yarns are perfect for it or just 3 different colors to really emphasize the waving.

I’m currently on bed rest to avoid some issues in my pregnancy.  The baby is doing great at 4 pounds which is right on target for where I am in the pregnancy.  I’ve had several issues with episodes of strong Braxton Hicks contractions, which are like practice contractions.  I’ve had a couple trips to labor and delivery to have my contractions monitored.  After my first visit to the hospital for dehydration while having a cold I’ve seriously upped my water intake from maybe a cup or two all the way to eight to fourteen cups a day.  One of my bed rest issues is low amniotic fluid so I’m now going to try and drink even more water!  I used to hate drinking water and now I feel odd when I don’t have a glass in reach.  Another upset in what was an easy pregnancy was a diagnosis of gestational diabetes.  I’ve been monitoring my blood glucose level 4 times a day for 2 weeks now and it seems like the diagnosis isn’t one I need to be too concerned about.  I’m managing it very, very well with diet and can’t wait to talk with the nutritionist this upcoming Wednesday.  Thanks to my mom and several friends my GD diet has been easy to make and keeps me full.  I’ve also been tracking all my meals using a website called Babyfit.com so my nutritionist will get a very detailed report of the diet I’ve created for myself.  Hopefully only a couple tweaks are necessary.  One perk of bed rest is the opportunity to update my blog (oh so long overdue) and knitting and crocheting more stuff!  I’m currently done with 3 projects and am on the hunt for new ones.

It has been too long since my last post.  I just browsed through my photos to get an idea of what to write and where to start.  I suppose most logically speaking I’ll start at Christmas since the gift giving involved my crochet work.

My nephew loved the Liugi/Goomba pillow.  He sleeps with it every night.  Apparently he tried to use it as a regular pillow but since it’s so big he ends up just sitting up when he tries to lay down.  I’m not sure how it’s all been figured out now, I’m just happy to know that he is enjoying it as much as I’d like.  He also liked the 1Up Mushroom very much.  I have a great video of his stunned face as he squeezed it the first time.  I’ll have to see about posting it after asking my SIL (sister-in-law) if that’s ok.  I have video of myself talking about the mushroom so at the very least that should make its way on here.  I visited sometime before Christmas and got some pictures of the Mario blanket, last year’s present, to show how it is faring.  It is well loved as they say.  My nephew sleeps with it every night as well.  If I were to make the Mario blanket again I would do it differently for sure.  For my niece I whipped up a crochet scarf using yarn she dyed before it made its way to me.  I crocheted alternating rows of single and double holding two strands at a time.  I initially wanted to just do double crochet all the way so it would go faster but I wanted to put a wee bit more effort and thought into it.  The yarn was a mess when I received it, ends everywhere!  I spent 2 days untangling it into many small balls of yarn.  I used a bunch of the balls of yarn for the scarf and love how the variegated colors moved about.  Photos!

Other creative endeavors recently include a set of 8 wine glass charms for my MIL (mother-in-law).  For the last 5 years we’ve always had to clarify which margarita glass was whose.  I finally sat down and figured out how to make some wine glass charms using small bracelet size memory wire.  They were fun and quick to make which made it nice to make a set of 8.  Originally I was considering a set of 4 or 6 maybe but that changed quickly.  It’s a fun way to highlight a pretty bead as a pendant for the ring and then embellish using seed beads.  I used a crimp bead to try and keep the beads from flying off the wire.  Some crimp beads stayed put while others still managed to slide around.  They shouldn’t go anywhere though, and if they do I’m more than glad to make or repair something.  We used them Christmas Day for dinner.  Another item made for my MIL is a necklace and earring set using Swarovski crystals and glass beads.  It was for my BIL’s wedding on January first.  This was nice to do as I hadn’t made any jewelry in a while.   Photos!  I’m including a photo of the ‘wrapping paper’ for my nephew’s pillow.  I took a black garbage bag and used a silver Sharpie to draw snowflakes all over it.  That was a blast in itself!

Back to yarn.  I’ve crocheted 2 Snuggles using a diagonal box stitch.  This stitch is my new favorite.  It looks great and works up quite quickly!  For January one of the Snuggle themes suggested in the Ravelry Snuggles Project group is scraps.  I had a great time using 19 different scrap balls of yarn for a diagonal box stitch Snuggle.  Another project was a crochet cloche (hat) to go with my new red winter coat.  I wanted to make a felted hat and found a great pattern on good old Ravelry called Beacon Street Cloche.  I used Patons Classic Wool from my stash.  After photographing me wearing the large hat I washed it twice in the washing machine with some jeans so it would felt up.  The hat turned out quite nicely and has gotten me quite a few compliments.  It is also fabulously warm, which is great right now in Connecticut.  Yarn photos!

As I just mentioned I am in Connecticut so now I’ll share some photos of our snow.  We had about 8 inches on January 7th (1st photo), then 18 more on January 12th (2nd photo, table was cleared before new snow came) and right now it’s rain on top of 2 more inches of snow.  Yesterday we knocked some 3 foot ice sickles off the front of our house and then I ended up playing with them in the front yard arranging them in the snow.  I took photos with my new Canon PowerShot, tripod and night time exposures using a flashlight.  Enjoy!

All the photos are thumbnails in this post so click them for the full effect!

The Luigi & Goomba pillow had its last few stitches this evening.  After some size checking I bought a 27 inch pillow and couldn’t wait to get to stuffing it into the pillow case.  I briefly thought about blocking the panels but I don’t think it would have done much since it is acrylic yarn.  I started crocheting the panels together yesterday after trimming the tree.  I triple checked that I had them the same direction because I could totally see myself getting half way around and then realizing they were facing the wrong way.  I sewed them inside out so that the seam would be on the inside for the most part.  For the last side I also made sure to remind myself not to just crochet the whole thing closed without stuffing the pillow in, another big possibility.  I crocheted a quarter of the way from each corner and then my husband and I stuffed the pillow in.  It was a 2 person job for sure!  After that I squished it around a bit before sewing the rest of the seam with a tapestry needle and more black yarn.  The pillow is very inviting for sitting or leaning on.  I ended up skipping the sound device in the corners just because I was too excited about finishing and I didn’t have a good source for purchasing them yet either.  Maybe the 1Up mushroom will have one.

In the meantime I don’t have anything for my niece and there are only 12 days left before Christmas.  Eeep!

After I worked my way around the blanket attaching the squares I then went back and sewed together the other seams.  This went rather quickly since there was no need to stop and make more squares.  The lack of need to stop also made it easy to sit and work for 3 or 4 hours at a time.  I worked a lot on it Thursday before Thanksgiving dinner and then on Friday.  When all the seams were completed I did a single crochet border around the blue squares with blue to even the edges.  Before doing that I had started adding the black border but noticed some uneven edges where squares met at the corners hence the decision to single crochet a blue edge.  After completing the blue edge I added two rows of double crochet in black with a last row of single crochet in black.  Then it was complete!

Not quite.  I went over the whole blanket meticulously and redid 2 or 3 seams between reds and a couple of peach in the face.  I also pulled out a couple tails that were unraveling and hid them better.  I definitely see an improvement in my work from the beginning of his face to the blue background.  When I give the blanket I will probably include some long bits of yarn of each color in case there is some unraveling after playing with the blanket though I doubt it will be necessary.

The blanket has a bit of an identity crisis in my eyes.  Now that I’m complete it’s a bit smaller than I was thinking so really it would be more appropriately named a throw; like something you use while sitting on the couch watching TV.  Also the squares are small and kind of tight so it’s not a very soft flexible throw so now it could almost be considered a mat or even something to hang on the wall.  The peach yarn dictated the size of yarn to be used in the whole project as it was very difficult to find something suitable.  In retrospect I could probably have used a larger hook for a little bit more looseness in the stitches.

Super Mario Blanket Stats

• 22 working days
• 35.5inches x 45.5inches
• 20 x 30 squares = 600 total
• 4 colors
• Channels watched: TLC, USA, AE

I’ve made a video/slide show of the Mario photos using Picasa 3.  I’ve never used their video feature and it looked ok in the program now I’m just waiting for Youtube to process it for viewing.  I’ll post a link as soon as I can.  Now that I’m done with this project it’s time to think about my next project.  The school I’m working at is collecting hats, scarves and mittens so I will take a stab at making those.

I can’t wait for Christmas morning.  *grin*

[EDIT] Here’s the link to the video at Youtube:  Mario Video

More blue squares and the edges have now been evened out.  It’s looking really nice with the blue background.  I decided on a buffer of 2 squares from Mario to the edge.   I am looking forward to finishing up the blues and then put on a black border.  I have one more row to attach at the bottom.  For fun I’ve also taken a photo of the blue Pound of Love skein as I’ve pulled the yarn out the middle while working.  There’s a nice large hole in the middle, which is actually considerably larger since I took the photo.  I have the blanket laying on the floor right now for photos and Kes, the cat, it having a grand ol’ time laying on it.  Of course, she’s the type to lay with or on anything that’s on the floor.

I’ve gotten a lot of work done since my last post.  I had one minor set back though, but it’s been repaired.  I crocheted a bunch of squares while watching Star Trek with my husband and he likes to help by cutting off the tails.  One cut was apparently a bit too close and cut some important loops off.  Sadly I didn’t realize this until I had already attached the square on one side to the blanket and started attaching more to the other side of it.  I pulled my needle through and it all just fell apart.  I had to detach the square and a couple others, take it apart and reattach what was removed.  The whole thing probably took 20 to 25 minutes.  Oi.   When I told him about what happened he said that he knew he had cut one too close but didn’t want to tell me.  I still let him cut off the tails but I made sure to let him know how close he can cut.

I really like how the blue is turning out.  My skill of attaching the squares and hiding the tails has improved and I almost wish that I had done a better job with the face.  I can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s done.   My cat Onyx keeps on wanting to sit on the blanket but her nails get stuck in everything and I don’t want her to pull out the fibers of the yarn.  I always try to make some space for her to sit on my lap under Mario which she is happy for.  The blanket it getting big enough that it gets in her way though.

I didn’t do much crocheting on Saturday but instead my husband and I played the new Mario game for the Wii at his parents’ house.  We had a great time with the two player game and we are equally bad.  We played for a couple hours and then had to stop because we kept dying at a particular part in a final level.  Can’t wait to play some more this Thursday after eating some turkey!

I’ve been making blue squares like crazy.  I’ve used a lot of the blue yarn skein already but I still have more to go, I don’t think I’ll need another.  I’m slowly evening out the edges so I can just go around in rows/columns without zigzagging my way through.  The blue background is definitely looking good for Mario.  I would like to have gotten more done today but I’m not feeling so great so I’m slow.  I love seeing the progress in the photos.  I’ll probably do some kind of time lapse progression video when it’s all said and done.

The ocean of blue has begun.  I am probably not going to post as often with updates regarding the blue but at least every 2 days or so.  The blue so far is looking pretty good bringing out the other colors.  I had a whopping headache tonight and just relaxing while crocheting squares was a good remedy.  I made about 20 squares tonight and attached them all.  I have yet to decide how big I want to make the blue background for now I’m going to make at least a one square border and see how that works.  At the moment I’m just working on fleshing out the shape to make it even all around.  I’m still considering making a ground but haven’t actually put any thought into it.  Ha.

I decided to time how long it takes to make a square from start to finish.  It takes 2 minutes and 25 seconds to make the magic ring and cut off the tails.  That’ll give me a rough estimate of time for the blanket although it doesn’t include the time to attach them all.  I have yet to time that.

OMG!  He’s done.  I’m done.  Wow!  Not even more than 10 work days to get it done.  I’ve had a blast and although I’m not done just yet I’m thinking about my next project. I’ve posted a photo of Mario with my pattern.  I have yet to start working on the blue squares and then I’ll have to put some consideration on a border for the blanket.  Originally I thought to just have Mario floating in a sea of blue but I’ve also thought about adding ground for him to walk on and maybe some clouds.  This may be more difficult to figure out though.  I’ll have to take some time and plan it out or go the easy way and keep it blue.

I had a few days that I just couldn’t get to the project which made me pretty sad, I missed Mario.  This meant that I did a lot of work on it to make up for the missed time.  Black squares galore.  I did my usual routine of crocheting a bunch of squares before joining but after adding them on I couldn’t’ stop there.  So I crocheted a bunch more and   then of course I have to add them on too.  Now is the time for counting again and making sure I don’t make too many squares.  I think I have 2 extra reds and a found a couple extra peach that must have fallen off the couch when I wasn’t looking.  I’m getting down to 20 or so black squares and finishing touches.  Next I’ll be crocheting blue squares until I can’t see straight, lol.

I downloaded the photo of Kes helping out with the yarn.  I really need to get a photo of Onyx on the blog, poor kitty getting excluded.