:Crochet:

Crime & Punishment

Nicky13 Comments

It’s time for me to come clean y’all!  I mean really clean.  Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Let me tell y’all what has happened to me.  😳

A few weeks ago, I had the audacity to respond to Andi’s post “Thoughts on Finishing Things” and stated that I’m now a monogamous crafter.   I even went on to say that my “Mood Blanket” project was keeping me on the straight and narrow and that I didn’t suffer from cast-on-itis anymore.  I absolutely didn’t plan to tell such lies!   I was so proud of myself with my  … errrr … alleged …. one Mood Blanket project.  But then my W.I.P (work in progress) basket started to mock me.  I mean — it showed absolutely no respect!  Called me a liar!  Had projects all up and through my apt — on my work table, on my couch, on my night stand and even in my bed!   Taunting me like “monogamy, what is that m’lady”?

Then exposed me it did:

Laurie's beanie

It showed me the beanie I need to add 1 inch of stockinette too, then decrease for my friend Laurie.  Plus it reminded me of the purple pom-pom I need to finish it off with.

Socks

Then I got slammed with two at a time socks that’s been sitting in my yarn bowl for the last three months.  I’ve been promising to make socks since last year. 😳

Mood Blanket Progress

I tried to hide, but was accosted by my mood blanket that’s stuck at 2.5 rounds behind.  Oye vey!!!!   She’s a demanding beauty that one.  Le sigh!

Julian's Blanket

Then I got blasted with the fact that I started Julian’s blanket last week after the Tax Office tried to sandbag me with a crazy bill, but I don’t like garter stitch in Stylecraft’s DK yarn so I hauled out some worsted in sea blue colours, only to have them sit there waiting for a start date.    This blanket was supposed to be done since last year; he’s going to be 1 in August, in a mere few weeks.  Bigger Le Sigh!

By this time, I was whimpering, asking my WIP basket not to charge me with treasonous lying behavior, to give me another chance and I got one.  I got my sentence lessened based on the fact that I actually finished a project  this week.  It was my HPKCHC project for my Defense of Dark Arts class.   This project is the “Big Lace Scarf” which was perfect for newbie lace knitters, but let me not digress.

HPKCHC DADA Spring 14

Although I had that project to help me out a little, the fact that I had a mojito then cast on my first colourwork hat on Monday night and worked on it up to midnight ended any graciousness my WIP basket had for me.   An alcohol induced cast-on!  Treason!!!!!   In my defense, I had tried to start this project on the train earlier in the day, but my needles separated while I was doing the ribbing so I waited until later.  What?!!!! That’s the truth!  With all that drama and the fact that I had the nerve to cast on yet another project — woooo Nellie — not even the sweetness of the colourwork gave me favor.

First Colourwork Hat

My sentence: Finish all these (except for the mood blanket) and make progress on my sweater before Stitches East (October 9th 2014).   Finish them or be sentenced to the Monogamy Tower with no chance of parole or leniency.  Without opportunity to start new projects or practice new techniques .  Finish them and showcase each of them in their own F.O. post by or before the deadline or be forever known as a starter, never a finisher!

That’s too heavy a price for me to pay for not being monogamous.  I have a day off on Friday; I intend to get up early, put on pretty pjs and designate the long weekend as time served for these projects.  Will any of you be in the cells above, below or next to me?  I know I’m not the only one.  Maybe we can commiserate through the walls?  😦

Harry Potter Made Me Do It!

Nicky14 Comments

I’m not going to lie, I’m a slow crafter.  In part due to commute and by consequence sheer tiredness and in part just because I’m slow.  But I have to say, since I’ve joined the Harry Potter Knitting & Crochet House Cup forum on Ravelry, I’m actually cranking out at least one F.O. per month.    Knowing that I want to get sorted and that after sorting, my participation contributes to my house win (or loss), boy oh boy, I suck up those prompts at the beginning of the month and sure enough, I’ve been making things that I actually like and can use.

For June’s project, I chose clouds and cloud shapes from the Divination class.  As a side note, I love that these prompts are interpretative so in addition to making something useful, I get to use my imagination or creative interpretative skills to make sure my projects matches a prompt in order to be graded.   This cloud image was my inspiration:

source

 

And I made this:

Pincushion

I used crochet to try to mimic the cloud texture, the main colour to mimic the sky colour and the project to mimic the “squishiness” of the clouds.

For the past two months, I’ve been looking at the projects submitted and many people do blanket squares, hexi-puffs and dishcloths as their interpretative project.  While nothing is wrong with these and I’m absolutely sure at some point I’ll do all of those except for the hexi-puffs, this month (July), I want to push myself to do a different type of project.  Something that involves a technique I’ve never tried or at least only done once. Something that’s practical and usable to boot.  I already have a project in mind and aim to start and finish it this weekend but you’re going to have to wait to see it!  😛

I picked June’s project because I want all the items I make for the class to be usable, not be just for class purposes.  My blocking pins are usually strewn every which way and I wanted a pretty way to display and contain them.  I figured with this, I’d have something interpretative, pretty but absolutely functional.  Win, win & win I’d say!!!  😀

 

Project Details:

  • Name: Naalepuder
  • Designer: Liselotte Weller
  • Yarn Used: Martha Stewart Crafts Extra Soft Wool Blend
  • Modifications (accidental): Didn’t stuff the project with too much polyfill.  That allowed me to get a more petal-ly floral shaped pincushion as opposed to the rounded one the designer made.
  • Difficulty: Easy enough for a beginner crocheter

As for how this post connects to its title — credit that to my friend Erica.  She’s been on me to do more; she thinks there’s a master yarn crafter hiding somewhere inside.  Her comment when I tell her about the completed craft projects — “well at least your Harry Potter obsession is good for something”.  I guess she’s right — Harry Potter really is making me do it!