Crochet Bowl ~ Pre-Felted Stage

Wanting to get an interesting shot of my Karaoke yarn by SouthWest Trading Company, I decided to have a photo shoot at Starbucks one evening. A friend was kind enough to loan me her coffee before she took a sip so I could try to grab some shots of my yarn. If I remember correctly she took this particular picture with her cell phone and sent it to me the next day. (Thanks Dawn!)

Karaoke is a worsted weight yarn, 10 ply (9wpi), 109 yards per skein. This particular colorway is #278 Mermaid. I purchased this 50% SoySilk/50% Wool yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool. As mentioned in a previous post I originally purchased these 4 skeins early in my knitting adventure thinking I would use this yarn for a Clapotis. It would have been very pretty but I soon decided I would be happier using it for knitted bowls.

When I learned to crochet I decided I wanted to see what crochet looked like felted. I chose Caffeinated Crafter's pattern for a felted bowl. She recommends starting with a "Magic Circle" and recommends tjw1963's video on You Tube:

I started my bowl with the Magic Circle and loved the ease of it. You also need to know how to decrease or sc2tog. The Caffeinated Crafter recommends the following video by KawaiiGurumi:

Here are two pictures of my bowl before felting. I need to do some more felting and will show the felted bowl in a future post.

I actually think I like the bowl better in the pre-felting stage. Maybe when I finish the felting I will like it better. I ran out of time while felting and so let it dry for now. I hope to come back to it by next weekend. I was so busy when I started to felt it and it was taking cycle after cycle (more than I had to with my knitted felting), so I put it in "time out" for awhile.

Don't You Just Love the Sense of Accomplishment 

with Finished Projects?!

I am finally having a moment to post some finished projects on my blog.  One of the items on my "to do" list was to take a new picture of my very first knitted scarf and replace the horrible picture of myself wearing the scarf.  The angle at which the photo was taken was such that it was one of the most unflattering pictures ever taken of me {LOL ~ Laugh Out Loud}!  Here is my neighbor's pine tree sporting the very first scarf I knitted. {My neighbor has no idea I caught her tree wearing my scarf!} Some of you have been reading my blog since day one. For those who joined me later, I knitted this scarf with size 8 Addi Turbo needles.

Variegated color: Noro Silk Garden Lite

{45% Silk, 45% Kid Mohair and 10% Lamb's Wool}

Solid color: Noro Cash Iroha

{40% Silk, 30% Lamb's Wool, 20% Cashmere and 10%Nylon}

I crocheted the edging {with some help from a friend} to add an accent to the scarf and to keep it from rolling.  Some friends could not believe I chose such nice yarn for my very first project. I knew I had to use yarn {and colors} I would enjoy knitting with or I would grow tired of it before I completed the project. I had to be "proud" of my choice to want to keep knitting thru the awkward beginning stages of learning something new. I have never regretted my choice.

Speaking of crocheting, back in the Summer while at a Knit-In at Gourmet Yarn Company in Oklahoma City, a fellow Raveler Sakae {Sorry the link will only work if you are a member of Ravelry.} was showing everyone her first crocheted project - Tea Scarf by Pixeldiva.  Now if you read my first post, you know I used to think I never wanted to learn to knit.  Well, I wanted to learn to crochet even less!  haha! 

At the Knit-In I was sitting across the room from Sakae, but she had my attention with her beautiful scarf! If I ever wanted to learn to crochet a scarf, this was the project for me.  I waited a few months and then decided I definitely wanted to crochet a Tea Scarf.  My reasoning is perfectly logical to me. If I learn more about crocheting then I will feel comfortable putting crochet edges around my knitted shawls and scarves. What better way to learn crochet than by making a scarf! Plus crocheting gave me another excuse to buy yarn... Did I say that out loud? I meant to say it gave me another venue for using my stash. {That's my story and I am sticking to it!}

I used approximately 1 1/3 skeins of Baby Alpaca D.K. Paint by Plymouth Yarn in Colorway 8817, Dye Lot 672.  

  

I had fun learning to crochet the scarf.  

I am considering making a cowl that involves quite a few stitches on the needles at one time. Not wanting to have to figure out how long of a tail to start with in Long Tail Cast On, I am contemplating the Cable Cast On Method. This method eliminates the worry of miscalculation.

Special thanks to Gingerly4it for the instructional video on Cable Cast On.

With a Little Help From My Friends

Ahh, at last a moment to sit and do some blogging! Seems like life loves to throw curves just when I think I will have a moment to blog. Finally a chance!

First things first... I want to thank my computer graphics guru friend DottieB for my new Knitted Zebra blog button. I am placing it in a sidebar so it will be visible on the front page all of the time. Thanks, DottieB!

I love that sense of accomplishment when you finish something. That definitely holds true with knitting, so it seems about time I showed you a completed project. My first project was a simple scarf: knit and purl, alternating between the two. This scarf gave me the opportunity to practice my technique. I definitely improved as I went along. Having the variegated colors kept me going because I wanted to see how it all ended. This is the scarf in it's almost completed phase.

When I got to the end of the skein, I was going to add fringe. Susan {my Knitting mentor and Knitter with a capital K} suggested I enhance the scarf with a crocheted edge. Now if you thought I chuckled when I decided I was going to knit, you can only imagine the chuckling about me crocheting! I told Rori, Crocheter extraordinaire, that she would never believe what I was going to ask her. After she got over the shock, she graciously agreed to teach me. Our letterboxing, postcrossing, knitting and crocheting friend from Nashville Barbara introduced me to a great group of knitters and crocheters in Broken Arrow when she was here on business recently. I told Rori that Barbara would never believe I wanted to crochet! Rori had her work cut out for her because I injured my index finger years ago and I just cannot hold my finger up in the air indefinitely to keep the correct tension. I told Rori she would have to teach me to do the edge of my scarf so that I did not have to hold my finger up. I'm sure Rori was thrilled (ha!), but she acquiesced and graciously taught me. Thanks, Rori!

My friend Kat, Knitter extraordinaire, sent me tutorials to study before my first blocking attempt. The tutorials were very thorough and I felt confident I was doing it correctly.

Additionally I was able to study the pictures of some blocking Kat showed on her blog Creative Popoffs. Thanks Kat!

{Updated note:  I am replacing the photo of the scarf so you can concentrate on the beautiful Noro colors.} It was fun to watch the various colors emerge on my size 8 Addi Turbo needles.

Variegated color: Noro Silk Garden Lite
{45% Silk, 45% Kid Mohair and 10% Lamb'’s Wool}

Solid color: Noro Cash Iroha
{40% Silk, 30% Lamb's Wool, 20% Cashmere and 10%Nylon}

With a little help from my friends...
Carpe knitting,
KZ