Christmas knitting, Rd. 1
1) I never actually got to my yarn therapy last night, because I couldn't make up my mind. I have some sportweight yarn in my cart to re-knit those black mitts with the double ruffle at the wrist, but that's a "business purchase". *snort* I've decided that I'd like to knit the Butterfly Dress by Jennie Atkinson*, only not in kid mohair, because mohair makes me want to rip my skin off when I wear it. It's that itchy. So, I'm thinking Peruvian Baby Lace Merino from Elann, because it's merino and baby alpaca and therefore soft. It also won't shed as badly as mohair.
The only issue is that I can't pick a color. I'm leaning toward 1418 Merlot, 1297 Admiral Blue, or 0419 Dark Chocolate. I really like the teal used on the Knitpicks site, but my wardrobe has a serious teal overload right now. Does anyone want to weigh in on this and guide my hand? The only colors I'm really opposed to are the Banana Cream and Cafe Au Lait, because they're really close to the same color as my skin.
2) I started the doily for my grandma's Christmas present tonight. (Yes, I gave her a doily last year, but the woman loves doilies! She used to crochet them, but her eyes aren't good enough anymore to do it.) It's the one at the bottom of this page, the Wheat and Grape Doily.
IT'S REALLY PRETTY, GUYS.
Size 20 thread, size 9 steel hook. It's about six inches across now, so I think 16 inches is going to be the rough finished size. Maybe a little smaller.
I got halfway through round 11 before my hands cried, "Enough!" Crochet really makes my hands hurt in a way that knitting does not. There's a lot more movement with it for me, whereas with knitting, it's pretty stationary. My knitting movements are very conservative. I think I'm going to have invest in some of those big squishy ergonomic crochet hooks if I keep this up much longer, because my knuckles and wrists really hurt me when I crochet.
Anyway, there are 24 rounds in the smaller doily, which is the one shown on the page linked. That means I'm already about halfway done, and I got this far while watching Sky High** on The Disney Channel tonight. So, what? Two hours or so of crocheting? There are only 30 rounds for the larger version, so I think I might aim for the smaller version, see how big it is and how much thread I have left, and then make a decision.
3) Agh! Celt's Vintage Crochet closed! From the Rav thread:
Due to personel problems and my whole site being sold on ebay by a bunch of money grubbers, I have decided to close Celt’s Vintage Crochet. I spent hundreds a year in fees and thousands buying vintage books in an attempt to preserve all the wonderful vintage patterns out there. Too bad some people are more interested in making a buck off someone else’s site then in saving these precious patterns. Thank you to all those who supported me in this project..you are most appreciated. Celty
That's really sad. There were literally hundreds of vintage crochet patterns there, in the public domain, and now they're gone because jerks had to go and sell them and piss her off. Fortunately, the site is still available on Web Archive for a bit, so take a look and download anything you'd like to crochet from there in case it disappears again.
*Didn't I start off looking for DK yarn to knit some fair isle? I seriously love fair isle knitting, but I guess I love lace more? Or maybe I'm feeling really body positive right now and I'm longing for spring. I think that last one's most likely.
**I'm semi-embarrassed to admit I loved it, though I really think that Layla should have ended up with Warren Peace. Really. Vastly more appealing than what's-his-face.
The only issue is that I can't pick a color. I'm leaning toward 1418 Merlot, 1297 Admiral Blue, or 0419 Dark Chocolate. I really like the teal used on the Knitpicks site, but my wardrobe has a serious teal overload right now. Does anyone want to weigh in on this and guide my hand? The only colors I'm really opposed to are the Banana Cream and Cafe Au Lait, because they're really close to the same color as my skin.
2) I started the doily for my grandma's Christmas present tonight. (Yes, I gave her a doily last year, but the woman loves doilies! She used to crochet them, but her eyes aren't good enough anymore to do it.) It's the one at the bottom of this page, the Wheat and Grape Doily.
IT'S REALLY PRETTY, GUYS.
Size 20 thread, size 9 steel hook. It's about six inches across now, so I think 16 inches is going to be the rough finished size. Maybe a little smaller.
I got halfway through round 11 before my hands cried, "Enough!" Crochet really makes my hands hurt in a way that knitting does not. There's a lot more movement with it for me, whereas with knitting, it's pretty stationary. My knitting movements are very conservative. I think I'm going to have invest in some of those big squishy ergonomic crochet hooks if I keep this up much longer, because my knuckles and wrists really hurt me when I crochet.
Anyway, there are 24 rounds in the smaller doily, which is the one shown on the page linked. That means I'm already about halfway done, and I got this far while watching Sky High** on The Disney Channel tonight. So, what? Two hours or so of crocheting? There are only 30 rounds for the larger version, so I think I might aim for the smaller version, see how big it is and how much thread I have left, and then make a decision.
3) Agh! Celt's Vintage Crochet closed! From the Rav thread:
Due to personel problems and my whole site being sold on ebay by a bunch of money grubbers, I have decided to close Celt’s Vintage Crochet. I spent hundreds a year in fees and thousands buying vintage books in an attempt to preserve all the wonderful vintage patterns out there. Too bad some people are more interested in making a buck off someone else’s site then in saving these precious patterns. Thank you to all those who supported me in this project..you are most appreciated. Celty
That's really sad. There were literally hundreds of vintage crochet patterns there, in the public domain, and now they're gone because jerks had to go and sell them and piss her off. Fortunately, the site is still available on Web Archive for a bit, so take a look and download anything you'd like to crochet from there in case it disappears again.
*Didn't I start off looking for DK yarn to knit some fair isle? I seriously love fair isle knitting, but I guess I love lace more? Or maybe I'm feeling really body positive right now and I'm longing for spring. I think that last one's most likely.
**I'm semi-embarrassed to admit I loved it, though I really think that Layla should have ended up with Warren Peace. Really. Vastly more appealing than what's-his-face.