Our Kind of Hooker!

I want to take a moment to clarify that we're not the type of hooker one immediately thinks of when hearing that word. I was watching 30 Rock last night and thought I must share this short clip because I believe this video could be a shining example of what we'd be capable of!

Crocheted Treasure!

Once again I went hiking this past weekend with the hubby, looking for geocaches along the way. I was pleasantly surprised when inside one of these caches was a crocheted coaster! I ended up leaving the coaster behind so the next cacher could marvel at it.

Super excited with this find!

This has now given me an idea to perhaps crochet some other small items to leave behind when geocaching. Unfortunately the only thing I can think of is the banana tampon cover…

Crochet Fail - Wire Jewelry

About a month ago I took a visit to my local library and decided to take a detour over to the crochet books. I was in the mood to try something new, and I became super excited when I stumbled upon Crochet with Wire, a book by Nancie Wiseman that had multiple jewelry patterns inside. The next day I went to Michael's where I found their bead/wire section had a 40% off sale! All signs were pointing that this was going to be a great addition to my hobby.

Crocheting with wire is quite a bit different - there are new terms to learn and different materials to use. Once I entered Michael's I was a bit overwhelmed, but glad that I took this new book in with me. I had to figure out what gauge of wire I needed, and not only did I need to know the difference between a 5/0 and an 8/0 size bead, but I also needed to know where to find this information on the beads! (I feel this could have been more obvious.) So with my 40% off sale I purchased everything I needed to get started.

...then reality set in. I found crocheting with the wire, odd. If you make a mistake on a stitch, it's hard to get out and forever kinked (however, they do have a smoothing tool you can buy). I practiced with a tight stitch, an average stitch and with a loose stitch but never seemed to find my groove. Adding beads were easy, but perhaps too time consuming for me as they need to be pre-strung before crocheting in the correct count and color order. I took a break for a day and picked it up the next day, took another break and tried again. Finally this past weekend I returned all my unused 'crochet with wire' items...

Overall I didn't like my end result, and I didn't feel like investing more time mastering this new art was worth it. Perhaps if I had practiced a bit more, and not been obsessed with immediate perfection I would have enjoyed it, but as you can see from the picture below, this looks like a bracelet curling and curling around, however it's supposed to be a necklace.

Despite being wire, this can't be forced to lay straight.

I mainly disliked two things about crocheting with wire - my inconsistent stitch and the way the necklace would not lay flat. The two patterns I tried were aimed for beginner's, but I just didn't like how mine looked.

In addition to this necklace pattern being wavy it would not lay flat.

Perhaps in a few years I'll try and crochet with wire again...

Luck of the Irish

As March is upon us, so is the luck of the Irish. Many people may not know that the Irish actually had a big influence in crocheting in its early years. When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland poor farm families needed a way to supplement there income. Women were able to crochet Irish Lace and sell it to the wealthy to embellish there clothing and home decor. This March as you're preparing for your corned beef and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner perhaps you can embellish your table decor with some Irish Lace.

For those of you that don't like to read patterns, here is a Irish Lace Demonstration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBWGTNM8SMU

The Year of Crochet

We are well into the New Year, with one whole month under our belt. With all the new resolutions and goals people strive for I think it's important to keep a little bit of fun in your life too. What could possibly be more fun than 2011 fashion and trends!!!

Besides crocheting, one of my favorite hobbies is shopping, weather it be window, online browsing or actually buying things. Now that the holidays are past all the new things for 2011 are starting to come out. One big observation I have made is that crocheting is making big strides in 2011 for being trendy and fashionable! Every where I look there are crocheted clothes, home decor, and accessories.

This is our year to make a statement with some of the things we've crocheted. Feel proud when you wear that sweater of hat you made for yourself and use the items you see in stores to inspire you to create even more!

Check out the links below for some my favorite things I have found online.

Cardigan: http://www.charlotterusse.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4393328
Pillow: http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/HomeTextiles/tabid/514/List/0/CategoryID/144/level/a/ProductID/29112/ProductName/Crochet-Felt-Floral-Pillowuu/Default.aspx
Tank: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=535511&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results
Bath mat: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10918685

Quick Weekend Project

If you're looking for a quick project to do in a couple of hours, I highly recommend looking at www.allcrafts.net. Last weekend I made the cute Amelia hat and I was finally able to finish today... only because I needed to go out and buy a button. This was a great project to make using up old yarn from previous projects. The hat that I made (shown below) is great because you make detachable flowers so the hat can match any coat/outfit you wear. So far I've only made a blue flower, as I only use one winter coat, but come spring, I may make a nice green one!

(Seen on my head for dramatic effect)

Please note: Should you plan to make this pattern and suffer from a big head like me, be sure to add plenty of extra rounds so the hat can cover your head.

What in Yarnation!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Minnesota to visit a fellow hump day hooker who lives outside the Milwaukee area. It was a great weekend filled with consignment shops, wine tasting and a cute little yarn store called 'What in Yarnation!' Being a hooker who gets all my yarn from either Michaels or Jo-ann's I was immediately impressed upon entering and actually exclaimed, 'wow!' One of the six or so ladies knitting in the corner responded by saying, 'wow is right,' after all shouldn't that be everyone's immediate reaction after walking into a store for their favorite hobby?

This store was awesome! There were many different kinds of yarn, some that I've seen before, but most that I haven't. There were complete finished products to show off their patterns and the yarn, much more than the little swatches that most stores have. They were helpful and knowledgeable. They even had a wooden yarn ball winder... I have never seen one of these before, and I enjoyed watching them wind my friend's skein. But overall, my favorite part of the store was a small corner where ladies were chatting and knitting (crocheters are welcomed too!). I would love to find a store like that by us, and I intend on scoping out some places!!

I loved this store, and especially the sign they had out in front!

In fact, here's a list of places I'd like to go:

Knitch (Delafield) - They also appear to have a knitting/crocheting corner (http://www.knitch.net/index.html)

Yarn House (Elm Grove) - While they don't have a website, the reviews on Google look good.

River Boutique and Yarn (Brookfield) - They also seem to have a knitting/crocheting corner (http://www.riverboutiqueyarn.com/)

If you're ever in Cannon Falls, I highly suggest visiting What in Yarnation!