Winter is over!

I finished the Snowflakes!  I guess that means the snow can melt and spring can officially begin.  Sorry to all those of you who have had unseasonably cold weather :p.

All 24

Pinapple Tree Topper

Snowflake by American Thread Company

Snowflake by American Thread Company

Cut-Glass Snowflake ( reduced slightly in size by me)

                  

Flower (improvised)

Irish Crochet Snowflake

Of Seven and Three (My first published pattern)

Old Fashioned Lace (mine)

Pineapple Basket (mine)

SnowFlower  (Mine-not yet published)

Snowflake by Maggie Weldon

Small Pineapple (based on the pattern for the topper)

Icicle (mine)--My husband calls this one Starfish

Nearly Finished!

All I have to show this week is that I have finished the actual crochet work on my Snowflake project.

I am hoping to have these blocked, stiffened, and have hangers added in time for Friday, and definitely by the end of Sunday.  So hopefully I'll have some major beauty shots for you then.

Also I published the pattern for one of the snowflakes I designed yesterday.  You can find it here, and on Ravelry.

Free Pattern: Of Seven and Three

I missed Monday again this week, because it was my birthday and my husband decided to take me out to dinner which was wonderful.
So in honor of my birthday and to make up for missing two Mondays in a row I am giving you a present, a free pattern.

____________________________________________________

Seven and three have been believe throughout the ages to be two of the most powerful, and possibly magical numbers.  Religion, alchemy, the occult and various secretive organizations make reference to the powers of three and seven.  When I envisioned this snowflake I wanted to bring a bit of that magic to life in a less conventional snowflake.  The seven points are uncommon and make the snowflake a bit harder to block flat but I really love the result.

Snowflake of Seven and Three

Ch 10 join with sl

Round 1 Ch 3 (1stdc), 2 dc ch in center ring, ch3 *3dc in ring ch3* 6 times Join with sl; {7 groups of 3 dc and 7 ch3 spc}

Round 2 Ch 3 (initial ch3 of a round always counts as a dc unless otherwise stated) dc in nxt 2 dc, ch 1

(dc, ch3, dc) in center ch of next ch 3 ( 2^nd ch) ch1. *dc in next 3dc, ch 1 (dc, ch3, dc) in center ch of next ch 3 ( 2^nd ch) ch1* 6 times join; {7 groups of 3dc, 7 (dc ch3 dc)}

Round 3 Ch3, dc in next 2 dc, ch 1 (3dc, ch3, 3dc) in next ch3 spc, ch1, * dc in next 3dc, ch 1 (3dc, ch3, 3dc) in next ch3 spc, ch1* 6 times. Join {7 groups of 3dc, 7 (3dc, ch3, 3 dc)}

Round 4 Ch3, dc in next 2 dc, ch1, dc in next 3 dc, ch 1,(dc, ch3, dc, ch7, dc, ch3, dc) in the center ch of the next ch 3 space, ch1, dc in next 3 dc, ch1. * dc in next 2 dc, ch1, dc in next 3 dc, ch 1,(dc, ch3, dc, ch7, dc, ch3, dc) in the center ch of the next ch 3 space, ch1, dc in next 3 dc, ch1 * 6 times join

{21 groups of 3dc, 7 (dc, ch3,dc, ch7 dc, ch3,dc)}

Round 5 sl in the next 2 dc, skip next group of 3 dcs, ch 6 sl in the 3^rd ch, ch3 sl in the next dc, sl in the nxt 2 dc, skip next group of 3 dcs, ch 6 sl in the 3^rd ch, ch3 sl in the next dc, ch 3 sl in ch7 spc, ch3 sl in 1^st ch, ch5 sl in1st ch, ch 3 sl in 1^st ch, sl in ch7 spc, ch 3 sl in the next dc. *skip next group of 3 dcs, ch 6 sl in the 3^rd ch, ch3 sl in the next dc, sl in the nxt 2 dc, skip next group of 3 dcs, ch 6 sl in the 3^rd ch, ch3 sl in the next dc, ch 3 sl in ch7 spc, ch3 sl in 1^st ch, ch5 sl in1st ch, ch 3 sl in 1^st ch, sl in ch7 spc, ch 3 sl in the next dc.* 6 times join

More Yarn Magic

I spent some quality time with my spindle this week, and I definitely think I am improving.  Spinning is a little like magic.  You take some fluffy fleece twist it up and all of a sudden it becomes something completely different.  Knitting and crochet are pretty magical too but I have little to show you on those fronts, Though I am glad to say I finished my purple headband.

purple headband on me.

I started with 2 oz of fleece for both of these and you can see that I lost much less fleece on the second skein.

This is my favorite picture I think it shows of the texture of the yarn beautifully.

Gorgeous chunky yarn from mud puddle picnic roving.  You can see a picture of the roving and some more yarn I am working on over on Wednesday's post.

I had a bit more black and grey left after I finished plying, so I have tiny mini-skein.

Be sure to drop by Tamis, Wonder Why Alpaca farms, natural suburbia or Crochet Addicts to see more fantastic finished projects.

Treading water

Once upon a time in another life I used to swim a lot.  My favorite thing about swimming was treading water, and I was very good at it.  I didn`t understand why so many people disliked it or why expression "treading water" often has a negative connation.  I have since grown up and realized that like most people I prefer to do more than just keep my head above water.  This week I have really felt that about all I am doing.   I am still not feeling well, and it has affected everything in my life from my school work to my fiber arts and even my blog. I had hoped to post another post in my Why I Crochet series Monday, but I was ill and gave myself the day off. 
I have finished the silly purple headband and two small skeins of yarn.  So I only have a couple of snowflakes and another spindle of yarn I started to show you.  I have also finally made some decisions on some secret knitting/crocheting and so I can get started.  I have 3 1/2 more snowflakes to finish before I have to block and finish them all.  I cast on for a pair of socks to practice some new techniques, one of which is sock making.

I cast on for a pair of socks

Awesome potluck roving

 

Join me at Tami's and Sue's to see some other great works in progress.

New handspun

I haven't finished much this week. I waas hoping to finsih the little cabled headband but it will have to wait until next week. I have two big projects going on write now the first is my snowflakes, and the second is to learn to spin  --to that end I set a goal to spin approximately 3 hrs per week between January and the end of March at which point I will evaluate how it's been going.
So with no further adieu I want to show the yarns I finished recently.

Spun from Blue-Face Leicester top from The Woolery

This  BFL is the more recent of the two yarns as it was actually finished up, washed, dried and skeind over the weekend.  This fleece is amazing.  It feels like I've always imagined the clouds would feel. For me I loved working with it but I didn`t find it to be the easiest wool I have worked with so far.  My experience is quite limited but for this skein I started with 2oz of fleece and my end skein weighs only 1 3/4oz which means that I ruined a good bit of fiber while trying to make this yarn.  It tended to snarl up while I was working and was more difficult to join.  I had worked with a  corriedale wool and the Icelandic wool previously, and of the three I had worked with so far I feel like BFl was harder to control.  Though of course right now I am not very good at spinning yet and work exclusively in park and draft.  Despite the difficulties I am pleased with the progress I have been making.  I am getting better contolling the twit and adding/removing twist as needed.  I still have trouble with drafting evenly but I think that will come with time.

Spun from Icelandic Top also from The Woolery.

This Icelandic wool is not the clouds of dream like BFL, but it was soft and strudy if a tad on the itchy side.  I could see it used in a hat or outer garment but not in a scarf or directly against the skin.  I found the Icelandic the easiest to draft of three wools I have tried so far.  This skein weighs 2 oz and I started with 2 oz of fiber--I lost very little fiber to unmanagable snarls and found it easier to join fiber.

I am not sure what I will do with all my big funky beautiful yarn yet.  I really like this pillow  I made to display my very first yarn wich was quite slubby.

pillow for displaying homespun

My first ever homespun finished in late december 2012

However one only needs so many pillows, and I would love the have something wearable.  Do you spin?  Are you learning to spin?  What do/did you do with your first attempts?
Be sure to drop by Tamis, Wonder Why Alpaca farms, natural suburbia or Crochet Addicts to see more fantastic finished projects.

Thread Crochet Resources

I couldn`t possibly consider myself an expert in thread crochet.  I have only really done 2 things in thread so far:  A fillet crochet panel depicting an eagle in flight ( note to Amy call mom and see if she has a picture or would be willing/able to take one) and my current snowflake project.  Both of these projects are in number 10 thread--ie as big as you can get and still be considered thread.  But I know like me many people are like I was and scared of learning to work in thread so I have put together a list of some of my favorite thread crochet resources. 

• Thread Crochet and Snowflakes  is one of the my favorite resources so far.  It is very text heavy but has great discussions on every thing from the types of thread to choose to how to hold your work and maintain tension--two things which can be very difficult when beginning to work with thread.
• The next is a video done my Aunt Lydia's That gives good descriptions of the various thread weights and hook sizes with a few recommendations for where to start.  It's short and sweet.

•  Thread Crochet at about.com  I have mixed feelings about about.com.  All personal feelings aside, I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention this section on thread crochet.  Amy Solovay --about.com's crochet guide has gathered many resources, tutorials, and free patterns into the same place and it definitely useful.

So what are you favorite resources for working in thread?