Evergreen Gloves

I love fingerless gloves!  Braided cables make these interesting to make, but they work up fast... perfect for last minute gifts.  Thick but not too thick, these are nice and warm.

Plymouth Cotton Kisses

Worked up yarn with included buttons.

I can't come up with a good snazzy title for this one.  This is an interesting yarn.  It is made from several plies, two or three of which are smooth-ish and kind of kinky, and one of which is soft and slubby.  I am really into texture (those of you who follow me may have noticed that even my lace work is meant to be textured), so I like working with this yarn.  It works up fairly quickly, and because of the slubbiness, it can be worked at a fairly large gauge without looking holey.  Because of the wildly different texture between the plies, however, it can be quite splitty.  I do not like knitting with it, frankly.  I don't mind a little splittiness in crochet, however, and think it works up really pretty.

This stuff is also a really good deal - each ball comes with three little ducky buttons and two baby sweater patterns (a cardigan and a pullover).  One ball is plenty of yarn to make either of the enclosed patterns, so it's great for emergency baby gifts.

The pattern I'm making with the stuff (it's still top secret, as it's in submission to a magazine) reflects how I think of it, really.  Simple stitch pattern, in crochet, to show off the yarn's texture.  I like it (for crochet), and will certainly use it again.

Do you have something you want me to review? Needles? Yarn? Notions? Drop me a line! marusempai at gmail dot com. Put "Maru reviews" in the subject line.

So you can hold me to my word...

I have a number of tutorials that I'd like to do, and no time to do them right this second, so I'm at least going to tell you what I have planned, so that I'll be accountable.

1. Crochet cables.  I am continually surprised by how many people don't know you can cable in crochet!  It is definitely possible, and not that much different from knit cables.
2. My crazy unvented method for doing short row heels.  I have never seen anybody do a short row quite the way I do, and my way is awesome.  No wraps to pick up (I can never see them anyway), no holes! 
3. One piece, top down cardigan construction.  I have one pattern published and one in the works that use this technique (both crochet), it is really great that when you're done, you're DONE!  No seaming!  This one will be a bit down the road, because I am currently in the process of adapting the technique to knitting.  I am afraid of steeking and like cardigans, what can I say!

So now you know what I'm going to do.  Not when, necessarily, but what is a good starting place.  Eventually!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

At least to my American readers.  To the rest of you, happy Thursday.  And to all, may it be a lovely day full of family, yarn, and all the nice little things.  And maybe some turkey.

Socks!

Crochet socks!  This is hilarious but I, who has crocheted all manner of things, had not thought it possible to crochet socks.  It never occurred to me.  Well, maybe bed socks.  Slippers for sure.  But real honest to goodness fits in your shoe socks?  Seriously, go search Ravelry for crochet socks right now.  I can wait.

See?  So, here's my question, my blog minions - have you ever crocheted a sock?  Did you like them?  Did they fit in your shoes/boots?  (Because in all honesty, the reason I'm interested is I need boot socks.)  If not, I am going to try it.  The pattern I have selected is Origami Turkish Socks (because hey, if you're going out of your comfort zone, you may as well go ALL the way!).  I will tell you how it goes... but right now, I have samples to knit, as well as a very, very belated birthday gift for my brother to finish.  To finish on that note, learning to do magic loop on two at a time trigger mittens was a BAD idea.  When I finish them they will stand as a testament to the fact that I do actually like my brother.

Black Water Abbey - it's different, but I like it!

The yarn I'm working with (Haw) and the color cards.

Blackwater Abbey Yarns are distributed from Aurora, CO (local!), and made from new wool by a small mill in Ireland (IRISH!), which meant that I was absolutely required to give them a go.  The first thing you will notice about this yarn is the COLORS.  I realize I talk about color a lot, but you've got to listen to me on this one.  The pictures on the website do this yarn no justice.  We are talking beautiful, rich, heathered shades.  If you think you want to get in on this action, you owe it to yourself to get a color card (which they will very generously send you) before you buy, or go to one of their many trunk shows to see the colors in person.  The most colors are available in worsted weight, a few in sport weight.  Their fingering weight yarn is only available in natural colors.

The second thing you will notice (if you're like me) is that the sport and worsted weight yarns are Z-twist.  Most commercial yarn is S-twist, as this is the configuration that is easiest for right handed knitters to work with.  If you are a left handed knitter or right handed crocheter, however, you will probably be very excited to find Z-twist yarn.  The reason is because in right handed crochet and left handed knitting, S-twist yarn tends to come untwisted on you, making it much more splitty than it would be for a left handed crocheter or right handed knitter.

The part where everybody is going to disagree with me is that this yarn is extraordinarily grabby.  Many would actually call it "scratchy," and there is in fact one review on Ravelry that reads simply "it made my thumbs bleed."  I don't think it's that rough.  But this is not soft yarn.  It's grabbiness, however, can be an advantage -- if you have to frog, it goes as far as you pull, and no more.  If you drop a stitch, it's not going to run too far (unless you pull on it).  It shows cables beautifully.  It also wears like IRON.  So, good for that knit bikini you've had your eye on?  Not so much.  But makes a GREAT sweater.  It does also soften with washing -- I am currently making fingerless gloves with it, and think it is definitely soft enough, plus I won't end up with felted palms.  It is worth noting that the fingering weight is significantly softer than either the sport or worsted weight.

So, summary?  If you are very sensitive to coarse wool, do not buy this yarn.  It and your fingers will not get along well.  If however you appreciate rustic wools, rich colors, and an interesting yarn structure, you will probably like it a lot.  I do!

Do you have something you want me to review? Needles? Yarn? Notions? Drop me a line! marusempai at gmail dot com. Put "Maru reviews" in the subject line.

On vacation!

I'm leaving to go to Utah for Thanksgiving today!  Fortunately for you (all what, two of you?), I have an assortment of prescheduled ramblings for while I'm gone.  The hotel does have internet access, but I won't have much time and need to keep up with my tests in progress!  I think it says something for how much fun I'm having at this designer gig that I forgot I was going on vacation when I was scheduling projects.