Xena's first Halloween!

Well, it was inevitable that I would crochet a costume for Xena's first Halloween and it was a lot of fun but when you consider the hours it took to make in comparison to the minuscule amount of time she'll actually wear the costume, it was a pretty ridiculous endeavor.  That being said, I used Knitpicks Brava Bulky yarn and a size H hook to expedite completion of my festive project.  And as much as I might complain, this certainly won't be the last costume I ever crochet for her. 

I didn't follow any patterns.  I just had a rough idea in my head and I went with it and I have to admit that I'm quite pleased with the results.

In fact, I like the little booties so much, I'm planning on making an adult pair for myself.  And here's some bonus beats below:

Baby Sloane modeling the hat I made her from my previous post.

HOTH = 3 hats + 1 cardigan

It's already been over a month since my last post but I intentionally refrained from posting until these last 3 projects were complete as they're all related to one another.  Xena is almost 10 months old now.  Much to the tension of my frazzled nerves, she perpetually alternates between "bundle of joy" and "total handful".  When I'm not yanking something out of her mouth that she isn't supposed to be sucking on or pulling her off whatever she's not supposed to be climbing on, I've been busier than ever with various crochet and knitting projects.  I also recently assumed the role of chief organizer of both of the SF Knitters and Crocheters meet ups and to top it off, I took a quick trip to NYC last wknd to DJ at the Subway Soul Club and catch up with old friends. Technically I retired from DJ-ing about 4 yrs ago but this was a 15+ yr anniversary of sorts for the SSC and a reunion with my old roommate from Manhattan in the late 90s who is also (still a) rare soul/funk/RnB 45s DJ.  Ultimately, this mom just needed a break and some time to herself, even if that time was just spent crocheting on a nonstop flight, crocheting at a cozy cafe in Tribeca, crocheting on a BFF's couch in Ridgewood or crocheting on the MTA across town at 2AM.

So because I loved the cardigan I made for my friends in Seattle (you can see their beautiful daughter modeling it here) so much, I decided to make the same cardigan with a matching hat for Xena.  Both pieces still have enough room in them that I hope they'll last through the winter; although at the rate that our little porkchop is expanding, who can be sure?

The bottom 2 photos were taken of Xena at Vogue Knitting LIVE at Union Square a few wks ago.  

It was my first time attending the show and I enjoyed myself but the entire vibe seemed a bit pretentious.  Not that the two should really be compared but I definitely prefer Stitches West and speaking of which, Kristine and I are heading to Stitches SoCal 2018 in Pasadena next month.  It's our wild fiber weekend getaway.  We're spending 3 nights in an AirBnB and we have 2 classes scheduled.  It'll be my husband's first time watching Xena on his own for a weekend.  When I went away last weekend, he avoided the responsibility by literally flying to Boston to have my in-laws watch her instead.  And people wonder why I constantly need to be doing something with my hands; it's actually to prevent myself from strangling someone!  Kidding, maybe.

For the next project, I had a beautiful skein of Galway wool just begging to be worked on and I've been wanting to crochet something for one of my penpals who's a knitter so I used the same pattern for Xena's hat but with adult dimensions.

I used a size G hook and the griddle stitch which works textured wonders with wool.

Then I had an epiphany.  I wanted to create a seamless hat crocheted in a round.  The hat below is for my friend's (twin) sister's newborn, made for an infant's size.  The circumference of the opening is 60 chains with a size G hook using Knitpicks Swish DK 100% Merino in Bare.  The yarn was part of my 1 year wedding anniversary present from my husband in addition to a circular knitting needle set, some rare stamps and dinner at Fog Harbor next week!

By simply using a stitch marker to mark the last stitch of every row, I was able to jump up and shift the pattern vertically with a seamless transition.  I really have no idea why it never dawned on me to try this technique before.

I also modified the the top of the hat, with purely aesthetic purposes by reducing with dc2tog's to create a star anise shape inside of the hat.  By weaving in the ends in, in a round after the pompom was attached, the star is formed.

I'm incredibly pleased with the results, so much so that I want to make an adult-size one for myself; since I still have 2 1/2 100g hanks left!

I'm waiting to post photos of my other 2 other projects concurrently in production as both really cannot be best appreciated until they're blocked, so stay tuned.  

Finally, I started knitting again and here's a photo of Xena assisting me at Sales Force park.  I heard that Imagiknit offers free weekly knitting workshops at the park every Wednesday, but I've yet to attend, simply because lately it's been too hard to get my shit together in time to get downtown by the time they meet.  

But in an effort to keep the knitting train rolling, I'm taking a knitting class at Atelier starting at the end of the month.  I really want to improve my knitting skills because I do believe in my potential.  Perhaps I will always prefer crochet but the feeling of knitting also comes naturally to me.  Not to mention that despite what many may confess, the two fiber arts can have healthy bipartisan relationship.  

FREE PATTERN - Queen Size Double Crochet Striped Afghan (with Matching Pillow)

I started this project in May and as afghans tend to grow, due its sheer volume, I exclusively worked on it at home.

As you can see, I've had plenty of help of Xena. 

She tested the flavor and the strength of the yarn on many occasions and it appeared to be delicious.

Sometimes I couldn't even work on the afghan because Xena was enjoying it so much, even in its unfinished format.

I used a total of 19, 170 yards (155m/100g) skeins of Quince & Co. - Delft (the cadet blue color) and  10 170 yards (155m/100g) skeins of Quince & Co. - Egret (the egg shell color) for an afghan measuring 6'2" wide x 7'10" long.  Just winding the yarn took hours in itself, not to mention the days and months of actually crocheting it, but thousands of stitches and nearly $500 worth of 100% pure wool later, my husband finally has the enormous snuggly blanket and matching pillow he's always dreamed of.  Plus, he paid for the yarn so I'm not complaining!

I love stripes!  They're such a fun and easily flourish to keep an simple project interesting.

Consistent tension looks mesmerizing, even with the most basic stitches.

Although we're not planning on using it as bedding, the afghan fits on our queen size bed perfectly.

Obviously, if you want to try this pattern, you don't have to use the same yarn as me but if you want the same size, you'll need Aran weight wool or a similar double ply yarn and a size K hook.  Also, if you want your afghan to be more colorful, go ahead and add some different colors.

Instructions and supplies for afghan and pillow:
Color A (the main color, blue in my case), 19 skeins
Color B (the alternating stripes, white in my case), 10 skeins
Size K hook

Afghan:
1) Chain 202 stitches in Color A.
2) DC in the 4th stitch from the hook.  DC all of the way to the end of the chain.  This is your first row.
3) DC for 13 more rows (for a total of 14 rows in Color A).
4) Switch to Color B.  DC 1 row in Color B.
5) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
6) Switch to Color B.  DC 2 rows in Color B.
7) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A. * Note that when you're creating the alternating stripes, you only ever DC 1 row of Color A.
8) Switch to Color B. DC 3 rows in Color B.
9) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
10) Switch to Color B. DC 4 rows in Color B.
11) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
12) Switch to Color B. DC 5 rows in Color B.
13) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
14) Switch to Color B. DC 6 rows in Color B.
15) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
16) Switch to Color B. DC 7 rows in Color B.
17) Switch to Color A. DC 69 rows in Color A.
18) Repeat steps 4-16.
19) Switch to Color A. DC 14 rows in Color A.

I literally just used the pillow that came with an IKEA futon we bought a few years ago and crocheted around it.  This pattern will create a pillow measuring 24" W x 15" L.

Pillow:
1) Chain 66 stitches in Color B.
2) DC in the 4th stitch from the hook.  DC all of the way to the end of the chain.  This is your first row.
3) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
4) Switch to Color B.  DC 2 rows in Color B.
5) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A. * Note that when you're creating the alternating stripes, you only ever DC 1 row of Color A.
6) Switch to Color B. DC 3 rows in Color B.
7) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
8) Switch to Color B. DC 4 rows in Color B.
9) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
10) Switch to Color B. DC 5 rows in Color B.
11) Switch to Color A. DC 1 row in Color A.
12) Switch to Color B. DC 6 rows in Color B.
13) Switch to Color A. DC 26 rows in Color A (this is the back of the pillow).
14) Fold your work in half.  SC around all of the edges to seal the pillow.

If anyone actually bothers to try this pattern themselves, I'd love to see your finished work!

Reworked Maternity Sweater

Last summer I made my first (and only) maternity sweater.  Now that Xena's nearly 9 months old, thankfully I've lost most of my baby weight and I decided to rework the sweater into a slimmer fitting fashion.  I took in the sides, arms and neck and created a fitted waistline.  Here's our little family standing on the corner near our apartment.  

The most time consuming part of this project was "tinking" all of the reduction stitches; because the baby alpaca fibers are so fine.  I am so pleased with the results and I'm already planning to make a couple more sweaters in the same pattern in some other colorways from the Acorn Alpaca Ranch that my extremely thoughtful in-laws got me for X-Mas last year.

Hat City

Our dear friend Alex, who is technically responsible for introducing my husband and I through a Young Friends of the APS (50 and under philatelists) meet up, has two little ones and I just finished crocheting them hats in the same pattern I used for the newborn hat I made for Xena last year.

My little hat model in action.

What a ham!

And here's Alex's daughter modelling her new hat.  His son was is still a newborn and I made his hat in infant size so he still has some time to grown into it.

Table Leg Warmers

Our little babe is growing up faster than ever.  She's 7 1/2 months old now and munching on solids twice per day with her 2 new bottom teeth.  She's on the verge of crawling which means that I've begun frantically yarn bombing the apartment in preparation for our moving groover.  

After Xena passionately head-butted the table leg, I decided to crochet some leg warmers with the Bernat Maker Home Dec Clay yarn leftover from the place mats and coasters I made a few months ago.  Since it's so durable and stretchy, it worked perfectly.

By sheer trial and error and nothing fancier, I calculated the increases and decreases of each row.  Xena loves the texture of the leg warmers and because they decrease at the top, they can easily withstand her playful tugs and pulls.

Not your granny's granny shawl

I love shawls but I detest the fact that the mere mention of the word immediately conjures images of downtrodden, raisin-faced old ladies fighting over bruised fruit at a bodega or shivering invalids clutching tattered old lace, sagging over their bodies like molten cheese cloth, etc.  I wanted to crochet a shawl in a traditional pattern but with non-traditional style in shocking colors and a variety of textures.

I started this project back in May when Xena was a but a wee lass.  The variegated yarn is Hedgehog Fibers Hula Hoop, and the hot magenta/neon pink (technically just Rose) is Madeline Tosh DK and the neon yellow (Edison Bulb) are Madeline Tosh Euro Sock yarn. 

I really love the results and I've received very sincere compliments along the lines of, "Wow!  I've never seen anything quite like that!" and "Great colors!" every single time I've ever worn this out.

The 100% merino wool is so soft that Xena loves snuggling with it too.