Thursday, February 28, 2013

Snow, snow, snow

We've been getting a lot of snow lately.
This is only the beginning.
Thick, heavy, wet snow.
Many, many more inches fell. It's a joy being so close to the lake!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A scarf gift

A few weeks ago, a friend gave me a free tear-off pattern she had found at a craft store. She mostly knits (with the occasional crocheted edging), but she thought the scarf was so pretty that she'd hang onto it for me. It certainly was very elegant! I'd never worked with Patons Lace yarn before, so what a fun opportunity to whip something together, try out a new yarn, and share it with her!

This yarn is beautiful!!! The pattern calls for 2 colors--one neutral and one variegated. The variegated one was not in stock at our Michael's, so I replaced it with another one that seemed to have a similar look.

Final product:
OK, a little explanation is in order. I was about to rush out the door to deliver this when I realized I hadn't taken a photo! Bad blogger!! So I threw it on really quickly and had hubby snap a shot before I flew out of the house. I delivered the gift, she loved it, I got home and realized I should have flipped that part around my neck so that you could see the colors better. Oh well, haste makes waste, right?

Notice how the gradient of color is very gradual, and it highlights the dark/light tones at one end and the mid-range tones at the other end of the scarf. It's also done in two layers; that's why you see the ivory spiraling around the grays. So you start with 222 ch, then sc across. Then you do 2 trc in the back loop only and continue your rows. Once that's complete, you take the other color and do 2 trc in the remaining free loop of the first row of sc then continue with the rest of the rows. Even though this is a very thin yarn, the double layer makes it plenty warm without being too heavy.

The pattern can be found here at the bottom of the links.
Colors were Antique and Patina. Less than one skein of each.
Size G hook.

I'll definitely use this yarn again! Maybe Bonfire or Sachet... But first, another friend admired this so much before I gave it away that maybe I'll have to use my leftovers to make one for her. =)

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Beautiful Yarn and Temperature Scarf Progress

Well, I'm just about caught up with everyone else's blog posts that I've missed... 'almost' being a relative term. There's one other Temperature Scarf that I've seen, or at least the mention of a plan to make one.

I'm ridiculously excited and positively giddy that my colors are now decided, and the yarn has been purchased.

How pretty is this?
...and I haven't even started yet!

There's a scarf (gift) sitting in my 'Crocheting Corner' and another small project that I've assigned due dates. Once those are completed, 2013 Scarf, here I come!

My assigned colors, in case anyone is interested:
100*+: Simply Soft, Autumn Red
90*-99*: Red Heart Soft, Really Red
80*-89*: Simply Soft, Persimmon
70*-79*: Simply Soft, Sunshine
58-69*: Simply Soft, Soft Green
46*-57*: Simply Soft, Sage
33*-45*: Simply Soft, Lt. Country Blue
21*-32*: Simply Soft, Blue Mint
10*-20*: Simply Soft, Pagoda
0*-9*: Simply Soft, Blackberry
Below 0*: Yarn Bee...uhh, dark purple with a silver strand running through it.

These temperature chunk cut-offs are pretty arbitrary, so small adjustments may be needed as the year progresses.

I'm still thinking that I will add some 'extreme weather' conditions to some days, i.e. white curly yarn with sparkle for blizzard/snow, gray for extremely high winds, and maybe even a black for severe thunderstorms (I'm hoping I won't need to add any brown for a tornado...). At this point, I can't decide if it will detract from the color gradient I've already created. Any thoughts?

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Post-sledding Fun

Here's a quick picture from some sledding fun this weekend.


mmmmm...what's better than a thermos full of cocoa waiting for you in the car to warm you up a bit? Remember playing outside so long that your cheeks were this rosy and cold? Ah, the sheer joy of childhood fun!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Temperature Scarf

It's taking a bit of time to get caught up with blogs again, so maybe I'm a little slow in catching on to some popular projects. But once the idea of this one entered my mind, I can't stop thinking about it!




Source
It's a scarf that has one row (or more) every day according to the weather. You choose your location (where you live or a place you wish you lived or a city you'd love to visit) and keep track of the average temperature of each day. Then you choose your colors according to those temperatures. The 'or more' of each day's row comes in if there are notable weather conditions (like a blizzard, high winds, thunderstorms, tornado, etc.).

Basically, you will end up with a scarf that is over 365 rows and a beautiful transition of warm and cool colors!

Initially, I thought that this project should wait a little while since I've recently started my third Ugly Blanket (a newly created pattern, too!). But since the idea just keeps brewing in my head, I've decided on this: I will keep track of our weather (going back to January 1) and start a list in a notebook. I will gather scraps of yarn that I need for the various temperatures and pick up a skein here and there of colors I don't yet have. That way, I'm not going to end up buying a whole ton of yarn all at once, but I'll still have all that I'll need to make this project.

Now I just need to decide what kind of yarn I'll use. Red Heart or I Love This Yarn are good choices because of the variety of colors, but Caron Simply Soft would be nice and light-weight for something that could potentially end up with a lot of length and weight. Obviously, Bernat suggests their own brand, Bernat Satin; however, I don't have any of that on hand.

I'm really excited about this being a project that won't be too warm to work on in the summer, too! Is anyone else making this project this year? Or have you done it in the past?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

A picture

A friend just sent this to me. It's a pretty good depiction of my life!

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=4c6ba7a4df&view=att&th=13cb02e6f688e631&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hcunex860&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8tvEli5eSIKH5kjs7IfIdo&sadet=1360165757316&sads=qp7g268EBj6lLOL5SESIB4VNv-g&sadssc=1

Perhaps if this was accepted for my driver's license picture, it would be more recognizable as being me. Seriously, I've had to 'reintroduce' myself over email to people as 'the crocheter' so they know who I am when they don't remember my name.

I love everything about this.

Now where can I buy those socks?