March 19, 2010
The results of our labor…
Thank you, Lisa, for such a beautiful Baby Surprise Jacket!
May 2, 2009
Another thing we’ve been working on…
We’ve been a little busy around here lately. And maybe you can expect a little more baby crochet in the future…
Introducing Baby Rip, expected arrival at the end of August. We’re so thrilled and can’t wait to meet our little one.
February 2, 2009
Yeah, never mind.
The Three Yarntini Luncheon was cancelled by the festival organizer late Friday despite our best arguments and pleading. Turns out 75 pre-registered attendees with one week to still register are apparently not enough.
We’re disappointed that all our efforts have now resulted in nothing, and that the charities that we were supporting will be the bigger losers.
January 29, 2009
So what have I been doing?
Well, I have been crocheting!
But much of it I cannot admit to in public. I’ve been doing some contract crochet work, which many times must be kept secret!
But I’ve also been involved in planning Three Rivers Crochet’s Three Yarntini Luncheon.
All luncheon proceeds will be benefiting Rwanda Knits (www.rwandaknits.org) and the Pittsburgh Women’s Shelter (www.wcspittsburgh.org). The luncheon is being held on Saturday, February 14th, 11:30a – 1:30p, in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival (www.pghknitandcrochet.com). Registration in advance with the festival registration form is necessary.
For $30, we are offering a sit-down meal, hence the pre-registration, of Pecan Crusted Salmon, Chicken Asiago, Roast Top Sirloin of Beef, or Broccoli Cheddar Quiche. We are planning a fashion show where everyone and anyone can participate. There will also be items in the fashion show from my cousin, Robyn Chachula, who will be the MC for the lunch, and will be showing items from her book “Blueprint Crochet” and her pattern line, and will be signing her books. There will be prizes and baskets to win via raffle ticket with yarn, a knitting machine, hooks/needles, books, etc., totaling over $2000!! Check out the prizes at the Three Rivers Crochet blog. Caron, Southwest Trading Company, and Dark Horse Yarns, as well as many other local places have been so generous in this effort.
Registration forms must be sent by February 6th.
This link takes you directly to the luncheon information:
http://www.pghknitandcrochet.com/luncheon.htm
Hope to see you there!
November 22, 2008
The Week in Crochet
Well, it’s a few days later than Thursday, but here I am again! And I’ve made some progress with a few charity projects. Even they have deadlines, and Diane has been nudging me to finish the scarves for the Winter Special Olympics. I turned in the first one last Saturday. This is one that I started while watching a hockey game on Thursday. This type of strip in the round is usually called “Mile a Minute” and it does go pretty fast. You can make a few strips like this and join them to make an afghan. It’s pretty versatile.
I wish I could say that I was enjoying the yarn required by the charity. It’s a scratchy acrylic. While the white was softer than the blue, I can’t really imagine wearing these comfortably or for warmth.
So, at least let’s make them FUN! I still had yarn left over, and I vowed that all of it would be used up. (I’m not stashing any of it.) Here’s the start of the next scarf:
And a few hours later, Puck is enjoying the pansies:
He was having such a good time, getting under the scarf, sniffing it, and laying on it, that of ALL the pictures I took, this is the one that best shows the scarf. The others mostly show the cat:
See what I mean?
After this was done, I started another since I still had yarn left. I’m pleased to say that this is what’s left of the blue now.
I’ll add some white flowers between these blue ones to make a scarf and call this charity project finished!
Of course, I can’t throw away that little bit of blue, so I’ll be using it up for a sweater for a tree. As anyone who’s local knows, it’s been a cold(!!) past week or two, and shouldn’t our currently leafless friends be the recipient of some hand-crafted goods? Now, before you think I’m crazy, it’s really an art installation coordinated by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Scroll down to “Hand Made” or just look for the tree in its pretty sweater. I plan to take all the scraps I have gathered, knot them together, and crochet a few strips. I’ll leave the knots and ends untrimmed and unburied to add some visual interest. Who knows? Perhaps the birds will like it, and visit the lonely, leafless tree during the cold winter, bringing it some cheer!
November 14, 2008
Catching up
Thursday is for blogging! I’m hoping that I can establish a schedule again where I at least blog one night a week. So now I’m declaring it to be Thursday night.
So, here are some pictures of what I’ve been up to the past week or so.
I’ve been trying to get rid of some of my stash. I really didn’t have too much of this baby yarn, so I only got three pairs of booties. And actually the ones in the foreground are missing a row or two around the top. They’re ankle baby booties!
Puck couldn’t resist finding out what was so interesting. Could it be something cuter than he?
And more cute little things. This yarn was donated in February and I’ve already made a number of toddler hats with it, but I was pretty sure I couldn’t get much more from it. Thank goodness someone from the Knit One, Save One campaign visited our crochet group. She handed out booklets with the details and a few patterns to create preemie hats for babies in undeveloped countries. Even in warmer climates, the hats help the tiny babies more easily regulate their body temperatures giving them a better chance of surviving their first month. I changed the pattern a little by using single crochet instead of the double crochet they called for. The pink one on the top right is the closest to the original pattern. I, of course, can never let a good pattern alone. I made pom-poms, stripes, and embroidery. I had so much fun doing these, I made them all in two nights!
I started this scarf some time ago, but now that it’s colder, the women at the Pittsburgh Women’s Shelter can really use them. I finished this tonight. It was also created from donated yarn. It’s Lion Brand’s Incredible ribbon and Wool-Ease, but donated by two different people! It’s so fun to try to match up the yarns to create something pretty. I found the knitting pattern on Ravelry, but had to add a crochet fringe to it!
I also started another scarf tonight. This is a pattern from the yarn label, and will be sent off to the winter athletes in the Special Olympics. What’s fun, is that I was watching a winter sport (hockey) while making it: the Pittsburgh Penguins playing the Philadelphia Flyers. I started the scarf at the beginning of the game, and got this far through three periods, an overtime, and a shoot-out that went through six shooters each team. The game was pretty exciting and I think helped me keep a pretty quick pace!
And finally, above is the motif from the Katie Bolero that I mentioned in the previous post. The yarn is Patons Silk Bamboo in Almond. It’s 70% bamboo and 30% silk and is so soft and lustrous. I’ve made a few of the motifs and I’m having a problem memorizing the last round. I’ve got everything else down, but the last round is driving me crazy. So crazy that I’m going to make a few changes. Like I said, I can never leave a good pattern alone. I’ll share what I’ve come up with soon…
Well, that’s it for now. See you next Thursday, I hope!
October 23, 2008
I’m no good…
I’m no good at blogging. My life seems to just get busier and busier.
Also, there was not much crocheting or knitting while my right hand was healing. Turns out I was in the splint for 6 total weeks, just like the first. I’ve completely healed, so I’m relieved.
The first weekend out of the splint, I started working on my cousin’s latest design. Check out her first blog post on it: http://crochetbyfaye.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-design.html
And now the sneak peek: http://crochetbyfaye.blogspot.com/2008/10/sunflower-sneak-preview.html
It was another fast crochet for me. I really love doing the motifs. In fact, I’m going to be doing the Katie Bolero for myself. I figure that I’ve done so many of these designs, I should have one that I get to keep!
July 30, 2008
And now it’s injured!
Again, I have fractured my hand. This time it’s the right thumb. I am officially declaring 2008 the “Year of the Hand Fracture!” In January, I fractured the left hand’s fifth metacarpal while dressing. This time the right, while catching a foul ball at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Stitch ‘N’ Pitch. Sadly, I did not end up with the ball, due to the quickly-dropping-the-ball action that immediately followed the catching-the-ball action. Perhaps it does not technically qualify as catching then, but it makes me feel better since all I have to show for it is two weeks in a splint and a thumb sprain too!
But in other news, I just helped my cousin, Robyn of Crochet by Faye, with the crocheting of a cute item she designed. Though I don’t know where it’s off to, I do know that it was fun to crochet and fast as well.
Yes, I did this with the fracture/sprain, but that was before I knew it was there. And definitely before I got the Splint-that-inhibits-all-necessary-movement! Crocheting it was easy, now I can barely put my socks on!
Tune in later for events that will help us all celebrate “Year of the Hand Fracture”! I’m thinking some synchronized nose scratching ala “Hands Across America”, or splint chucking. Though that event won’t be held until August 8th, if I don’t ditch it before then! Suggestions welcome for other events, but please consider they must be accessible. There will be no thumb wrestling, I assure you!
July 12, 2008
It’s alive…
Sort of. Just checking in to say that I’m still here. I’ve been crocheting and knitting, but mostly working at my new job. In fact, it’s Saturday and I really should be trying to get ahead. Is it ahead? or is it merely caught up to where a seasoned employee would have been?
My position went unfilled for a few months before I came along, and not only is there the usual backlog from that, but then I have the requisite learning curve when starting a new job to overcome as well. Plus, I’m finding that things one normally takes for granted in our industry are not necessarily true here. Anyway, it makes for a lot of work… And I hope to soon feel like I’m getting in front of it.
I would like to share this cute little project though. It’s the Noah’s Ark Blanket by Michele Wilcox. It appeared in the May 2008 issue of Crochet! It was on the cover and I was immediately drawn to it, because of the bright colors and the cute little animals. (I wish I could say the same for the rest of the projects in that issue, but I thought most of them seemed a little dated. So sad!)
I used Caron Simply Soft Brites and some scraps from my stash to keep it machine washable. Posing with it is the intended recipient, my new nephew, baby Noah, born June 29th. So precious! And quite a good baby!
April 2, 2008
Living on the edge
There are a number of things I like about working with donated yarns:
- Getting to work with yarns that I might never otherwise,
- Mixing a ball of this with a ball of that to come up with something beautiful, and
- Starting a project and hoping that I’ll have enough yarn.
When you make it with just a bit to spare, it’s an awesome feeling. Take this sweater.
The Mini Wrap Sweater by Jennifer Cirka in the March/April 2008 issue of Crochet Today.
I picked out an unlabeled ball of red, light weight, sport yarn. I also had a ball of white and green in a similar weight that I thought I could use if needed. I wanted to avoid making a Christmas sweater, though, so using the red and green together was out. I started working the pattern with the red. Unfortunately I needed to alter the pattern a little, since I wasn’t able to get the correct row gauge. It called for 14 hdc (half double crochet stitches) and 10 rows, and I was getting 14 hdc and 8 rows in 4 inches. After working the required 36 rows, I was about 2 inches too short. Indeed the sweater looked a little squat. After adding a few extra rows, I moved on to the sleeves. After the first sleeve, the ball was starting to dwindle and I wondered if I was going to make it. I kept going thinking that I might need to undo a few rows of the first sleeve to even up the second sleeve, then finish them both with a nice big border of the white. Well, and here is why I like these projects, I finished the second sleeve to the same point as the first, with… 72″ of yarn to spare. Not even enough to do one more row. With the red gone, trimming the sweater and creating the ties was done in the white sport weight. I love it when it works out just so.
I’m not sure I’m going to be so lucky with this next one. Again, this is from Crochet Today, the Nov/Dec 2007 issue. The Preppy Pullover by Candi Jensen.
I’m using the green that I mentioned before and I’ll do the cables in the white left over from trimming the red sweater. I’m starting with the back then I’ll do one sleeve. I’ve already weighed the green ball, and I have 3 oz. After doing the back and sleeve, I’ll weigh the ball again and hope for having at least half that left. If not, I’m going to try to alter the pattern to make it into a cardigan. That’ll take slightly less yarn than as it’s written currently.
When I was working on the red sweater, I kept thinking about how I could incorporate stripes of white if I needed. Unfortunately, with the Preppy Pullover, stripes wouldn’t work, so if I’m short on yarn, I’ll have to alter the styling of the sweater.
Again, this is what I love about donated yarn. I never know what I’m going to end up with, and getting there is always an adventure! Stay tuned to see what becomes of the green yarn…
Rebecca Crochets 
