Mini Death Star

I was stumped for something to make for dh's cousin for his birthday. I know he's a big Star Wars fan, but the only Star Wars thing I've done the afghan. No way. I only had one day!!! Well, in a mad search through patterns, I came across a hackey sack pattern, done in thread that I had originally intended to be a golden snitch. Well, done in worsted weight yarn instead of #10 thread made it about the size of a softball. I added details in black done with a back stitch and Voila!!!! A miniature Death Star. I sure wish I could get some of these ideas to George Lucas and get permission to use these designs to sell and stuff.

Now I just have to find a box to wrap this thing in.

Baby Girl's Bikini Top

I have had a skein of Red Heart's Bikini yarn for about a month. I haven't been able to decide on anything to make with it. Well, Baby Girl is always trying to take off with my foundation garments so I decided to make her one of her own. I spent a lot of time frogging, but I finally hit on a look I liked, at least for the triangles. Now to put them together. That entailed more time trying it on and taking it back off, frogging and redoing. She was getting very impatient. I finally got it done and on it went. She strutted around the house feeling all grown up. I'm rather proud of it. I'm trying to practice getting a picture in my head to go from there into the hook and translated into yarn. Man, that's a lot of work, not mention frustrating. My next idea is a full length cloak. I don't know if I want a hood on it or not, but probably. I'm going to save that for after the holidays.

Crocheted Runes

It is amazing that no matter what I"m reading, when the word "crochet" is there it immediately draws my attention. I was reading an article on runes and seeing the word "crochet" stopped where I was reading and my eyes went straight to that word and started reading from there. It was directions on how to make a set of crocheted runes using size 10 thread. Well, I thought I'd give it try. Boy, was that square tiny. And you had to make 2 of them and slip stitch them together?! There was no way I could do that; they were just too small. Well, about a year or so later I'm sitting here trying to find something new to crochet and happened to remember the directions for the runes. So I dig through the yarn that I inherited from my mother-in-law and lo and behold I found a misty sort of blue. I tried out the square and TA-DA!! I had a size I liked as well as a color. Instead of making 2 separate squares though, I did a row of back loop only into the last row of the square and then completed the second square from there. That gave me both squares connected by a sort of hinge that I could use to just fold the thing in half. I used a sunny yellow to back stitch the design on one half of the rectangle, folded it in half and slip stitched the 3 sides closed. I'm looking forward to having a whole set made (along with a bag to put them in, of course!) :) I'll post pictures of the whole set as soon as I get them done.

Working With Variegated Yarns

A message was posted to the CP list about working with variegated yarns. This got me to thinking. Why have I always loved variegated yarns? This is what I finally decided on. All those colors at one time, knowing that the colors are going to change at regular, measured intervals but at the same time not knowing when or how that change is going to take place depending on the stitch/pattern that is being used. For example, I have made granny squares that have each round a different color. My sweater I made, had the same color repeat for every other row, so that when I did the pattern rows, the sequence gave a rainbow effect. I also made a snake with camoflage yarn and it turned out to have the darker colors on one side (which I used as the top when I sewed on the eyes) and the lighter colors on the other side. Completely unplanned on my part, yet anticipated once I notice it. (it also looks like I planned it that way to the average Joe on the street LOL therefore making me look extra smart with a hook and yarn ).

On the other hand I made a baby afghan with Homespun in Blue Ridge where I wanted to let the yarn do the talking rather than a fancy pattern. I did it in nothing but straight rows of double crochet with a row single crochet and then reverse single crochet around the edge. I didn't get pictures of it, unfortunately before it was sent to the expectant mother, but the effect was stunning. Even though that color is a pretty even mix of blue and gold, the afghan looked like a clear night sky: all midnight blue with specks of gold.

When AC Moore had a two-fer sale on their Red Heart Super Saver yarn, did I take advantage to get yarn for the various holiday projects I have on the board? No. I went through grabbing up different colors of variegated yarn that I wanted to try out. Don't get me wrong, I love solids. I did that same sweater pattern in soft white for my mother-in-law last year for Christmas and enjoyed every stitch, and have actually done a lot (if not most) of my recent projects in solid colors, but my first love will probably always be variegated.

Stash Inheritance

I inherited MIL's yarn/thread stash and got it home yesterday. Bless her, she could not keep yarn from tangling and knotting up. So, I spent the most of the afternoon and all evening yesterday untangling and rerolling just about every bit of yarn in the bunch. One color (Red Heart Raspberry) was so bad, that she had gotten frustrated with it and started cutting it every time she came to a big knot. So now I have all these little balls and bunches not even long enough to make into a ball. As we used to crochet together all the time, it was the hardest thing I believe I have ever had to do. I did find a bag of purple Red Heart Plush that she had bought to make me an afghan for Christmas. I'll be starting on that as soon as I get caught up on some of my other stuff.
I am going to have to wash just about all of it, since her and FIL were heavy smokers. Whew is it strong! At least I won't have to throw out the stockings full of snags and runs. I'll just use them to keep the yarn neat in the washer and dryer.