Let’s Get Serious

It is very difficult to write a blog post today. Although I think I must. My stomach hurts and I am anxious. The civil unrest and the Corona Virus situation are taking their toll today. But, like my ancestors before me, I cannot stop. I will not stop.

To those of you who are brave enough and real enough to show support, I thank you! Your support means everything! There are a few whose support I would like to acknowledge specially:

• Michelle of Bendy Stitchy Designs
• Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy
• Sibila Ribeiro
• Ashley of A Crafty Concept
• Furls Crochet

There are many more, I am sure. But, these stood out to me as bold, brave and real in their stance in the fight against racism in America. Again, thank you.

Neapolitan Shawl

I am calling this shawl Neapolitan Ice Cream, but the original pattern is the Cinnamon Fade Shawl by Jennifer of Cinnamon Stitches.

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Neapolitan Ice Cream Shawl

This is a beautiful asymmetrical shawl which is super easy to make and I love it. I used Red Heart Super Saver in brown and Perfect Pink as well as Bernat Super Value in white. These are not my favorite yarns by far, but they are what I had on hand to give me the look I wanted. I used a 6mm hook and soon discovered that I need to invest in a 6mm Tulip hook because the aluminum hook I used makes my hand hurt. I have not been able to find a 6mm Tulip hook yet, but I keep looking.

This is the second asymmetrical shawl I’ve made and I am enjoying this shape. I am sure there are many more to come in the future.

The Cloud

If you know me and have been following my crochet career, you know that I love a good bobble stitch. I am drawn to them just like I am to polka-dots! Enter the Le Nuage Wrap, a paid for pattern by Sewrella.

Le Nuage Wrap

I started this wrap this week, and judging from the colors, it’s going to be a winner! By the way, Le Nuage is French for “the cloud”. I do believe that the fluffiness of this wrap will feel like wrapping up in a cloud indeed.

Just about one year ago, I was lucky enough to purchase a huge amount of yarn from Hobby Lobby when they held their annual clearance sale. (Check out my haul video here.)The yarn I’m using for this wrap will mark my first time raiding this part of my stash! So exciting! I’m using Yarn Bee Sugarwheel in the colorway Sunny Side Swirl and a 6mm hook. (Here we go again with the hook!) I plan to use all of three cakes and use a fourth cake to make some chubby tassels to finish it off. Stay tuned for the progress.

Those two are the only crochet projects I worked on this week. Please consider following me on YouTube where you can keep up with a lot of behind the scenes shenanigans and maybe win a giveaway!

Until next time, be safe!

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The Number 1 Secret of Crafters, Artists and Makers

In my last post, I showed you some of my Works In Progress “WIP’s“. You can read that post here. Yes, that was me living my best life.

There is nothing more satisfying to a Maker than churning out one perfectly beautiful piece after another. In fact, we love this feeling so much that we all have list upon list of ideas of the things we want to make. We write lists, save inspiration photos and gather and stash supplies as if our very lives depended on it.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This all sounds wonderful. We, as Makers, get to blissfully live out our dreams one project at a time.

This is not entirely true! We all have a BIG secret: It doesn’t always work out!

The trial and error of Making is sometimes huge as we continue to try to innovate and perfect each item. Sometimes these errors cause a lot of waste and in some cases a large stash of “unmades“.

Here is one of my stashes of “unmades“. These come from a time that I was trying to make what is called “amigurumi” which Wikipedia defines as:

Amigurumi (編みぐるみ, lit. crocheted or knitted stuffed toy) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures. The word is a portmanteau of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.

They can be dolls, food, toys or whatever. Pictured here are my attempts at a brown mouse (see his cute pink ears!) and a seahorse that I tried in blue then white along with some buttons and beads for eyes. This photo also shows an experiment with crocheting some thread earrings.

This photo shows an unfinished “virus shawl”. Although it was not my first attempt at this pattern, and the first one came together beautifully, I think I got lost on this one and never had the desire to pick it up again. Since I believe I would have to unravel such a large amount of this one to fix it, I will probably unravel the whole thing and start something new with the yarn.

That’s one good thing about the process, in most cases, we attempt to reuse the supplies that just didn’t work out.

So, I made this really cute, really warm toddler ear flap hat. In the process of installing the ties, (which meant it was almost done), the hat started to unravel. I still don’t know what happened or why because I simply set it aside.

Last, but not least, is this group of misfits. The yellow duck and the bumble bee are finished, but nope, that’s not the look I was going for. Look at these cute Elmo shoes. I made these for my granddaughter, but they are a hot mess!! Also shown is yet another attempt at amigurumi which I actually got the face right that time, but it was going to be a sheep and I just couldn’t get those bobbles for the body right! Now, I make bobble blankets!! Go figure. And, more crochet thread earring attempts.

Although this is not a comprehensive view of what can and does go wrong in the studio, these are the things that did not “eventually” work. You can be sure that several attempts were made with each one before I walked away.

As Makers, we have what seems like an endless stash of supplies, Works in Progress “WIPs“, Unfinished Objects “UFOs” and things that simply didn’t work. All of it is part of the attempt to make perfectly beautiful things. All of it is a part of our lives.

The point here is that Making is a process. You have to go into it knowing that you are going to make mistakes along the way. The blanket you make today is not going to look as neat and perfect as the one you make next year if you just stick with it. Don’t take yourself so seriously! Relax, and enjoy the journey.

Leave a reply below if you think I should pick up any of the above projects and give it another try.

Please also visit my Etsy shop (Black Ribbon Shop) where you will find lots of Cool Custom Creations.

Until next time,

Denise

 

 

What Have I Been Up To?

It happened.

I got bit.

Bitten by the crochet bug! (Again!)

Seriously, guys. I can’t stop crocheting! I don’t want to stop crocheting!

Let me show you what I’ve been up to.

“Grandma Loves You” crochet bobble blanket

When I first saw this type of bobble blanket, I just knew I had to learn how to make it. I have a thing for words and this kind of project is right up my alley. So, I made one for one of my 6 granddaughters. (She so appreciates the things I make for her!) I love that I am able to learn and practice and have a willing recipient for the successes. I also love that this technique has opened my mind for many other wordy type bobble blankets I can design on my own!

This blanket says “Grandma Loves You” and is now available in my Etsy shop here.

Works In Progress “WIPs“

I was so excited about the success of the blanket above that I couldn’t wait to get started on another one customized for another granddaughter.

“Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” crochet bobble blanket

Both of these patterns were created by Nancy Liggins, but as you can see, this one allowed me to customize it with my granddaughter’s name. I made another significant change to this one by deciding to add rows of white bobbles to the top of the blanket. This was a happy accident. Can you believe that not only did I run out of yarn, but I could not find more in this beautiful pink color ANYWHERE??!! So, I did the next best thing. I went into design mode and the rows upon rows of bobbles is what I came up with. Any child would love the textured tactile feel of these cozy blankets. This one is not finished yet, but I’ll be glad to share it here when it is. Unfortunately, I ran out of the white yarn too, but it has been easy to re-stock {smile}.

What does one do when one runs out of the yarn they need for a current project? Why, start a new project, of course!

“Corner to Corner” (C2C) Chimera crochet blanket

 

I bought this yarn specifically to learn how to stitch a Corner to Corner (C2C) blanket. The yarn I used is Mandala yarn by Lion Brand in the color way Chimera. The yarn is luscious. The stitch was easy to learn and master. And, the results are beautiful! My daughter has claimed this one, but I see many more C2C blankets in my future. I’ll be sure to share this one when it’s completed too! And, I’ll let you know when I post it in my Etsy shop.

What words or phrases would you like to see stitched into a blanket? What are some of your favorite colors and color combinations?

I plan to continue to blog about “yarney” things and my crochet journey for a while, so if you have questions or want me to cover something specific, leave a reply. I have a lot of ideas of things I want to share with you, so don’t forget to follow this blog so you don’t miss a beat.

Please also visit my Etsy shop (Black Ribbon Shop) where you will find lots of Cool Custom Creations.

Until next time,

Denise