Swahaste tvahastam (from my hands to yours)
Now I know:
#1 What is a blighted ovum
#2 How a miscarriage feels
That's two things I can cross off my "Try-everything-once-in-life" list. Yay! Maybe that's 3 (for #3 Get pregnant). There are so many things that can happen to you and you haven't even heard of them till they do. Amazing.
A book! Yes, a tome found its way to my house today courtesy Indian Post, Bookcrossing, and a bookring (or is it a bookray?) started by a certain someone in Bombay. And it is this book:
A nice juicy British mystery! The stuff of my dreams! (Yes, I do have some weird dreams, partly why I enjoy sleeping so much.)
Well, not quite. But I'm dying to work with the yarns my SP sent me, one of which is ggh Aspen in a pinkish colour, 50% merino wool and 50% acrylic, and I have 200g (about 220 m). It is bulkyish.
The other yarn is Froya Narvik double knitting yarn, 100% wool in grey and I have 100g (260 yds, 240m). Thinner obviously. Both yarns are machine washable, so they won't felt.
My er suggests baby things with the Aspen. Any other ideas? Or specific patterns for baby items? I don't want to waste this yarn or spoil it by trying something that doesn't look nice. My fingers are itching to start…
What is possible with ~200m of yarn? *showing my extreme ignorance here*
This is a funny feeling, to have some real yarns (things that have an internet presence) at hand, and not to know what to do with them! I've gotten so used to making yarns fit patterns, that I'm finding it difficult to fit patterns to yarns instead! Weird! Have to explore the manufacturers' sites, although I can't find one for the Froya yarn. The Americans have that down pat, with extensive sites giving patterns by yarn and substitutes. Not all, maybe, perhaps the higher-end US yarn websites don't do that. Not having seen any of those, I can't comment.
Also, these are my first yarns with wool in them (that I know for sure) and not having seen anything except what seems like the bottom rung of US yarns, right now I feel the Europeans have it better in terms of yumminess. Probably they pay more too? I'm not able to say this right.
Are European yarns more boutique-y? Obviously I'm not talking about the handspun ones and things like that. Is it a case of class vs mass?
One exposure to natural fibre and I'm already making judgements! Wow! I feel a natural-born yarn snob deep inside…
Just been a little deeper into the websites. Patterns for ggh are not listed by yarn at the Muench site (the US retailers) and the makers themselves are still building their pattern pages. The Muench ones are all for sale, not free. So they believe the patterns have a market seperate from that of the yarns, and consumers will pay for them. Maybe the American strategy is that if the free pattern is interesting enough, people will buy the yarn for it. hmm. More points to ponder. Maybe that's why most of the free patterns on the net are American.
Finally have an FO. Ok, it's only about 6" high, but it's done, nevertheless, and I used my hook and yarn and hands…
The pattern is by CroJulee at Crochetville.
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in purple (teensy amount only)
Hook: Pony Size 5.00mm
Pattern: Here
Time: 30 minutes (or less)
Size: 6"
Extra: #1 Sort of like a one-night stand, for instant gratification.
#2 Now I have to think what I could possibly put in this bag. Any suggestions, anyone?
While I was away, I met a fellow crocheter, Viji, and was just overwhelmed at the affection she and her husband, Victor, showed me. But also, I was in total awe of the amazing work Viji does with her hands, not just crochet but several kinds of international and local embroidery. She is working with a local institute in Chennai to help create lessons for these sew crafts and the examples she has sewn are unbelievable.
I got a couple of pictures of her crochet work:
And one sampler of the other kinds of embroidery she's working on:
This embroidery is fully reversible, and Viji's work is so neat! What's more, Victor is fully supportive of her work, and even knows better than her where her WIPs, FOs, and stash items are!
Viji & Victor treated me to lunch at Saravana Bhavan in Mylapore, followed by an extended browse at the Landmark bookstore. They gifted me with the Harmony Guide to 300 Crochet Stitches (Vol 6 of the series). Yummy!
Viji also gave me a bag for my stash, which is made by a lady in Pune, apparently. I'll post pictures of it later. It's a padded black bag with handy zip pockets on the sides for hooks and needles, and about 15"x10"x10". Also a few balls of Anchor thread (Knitting cotton).
A wonderful time! Thank you, again, Viji & Victor!
and you still have allergies here!
Evidence of being in heaven:
I am right now on my bed, working on my 12" Apple iBook G4, via wireless internet. No, it's not a dream.
My SP sent me wool!!! European wool, from Muench/GGH yarns and from umm…Narvik Froya yarn. One is 100% pure new wool and the other is 50% wool, and 50% acrylic. The yarn is begging me to be made into something, but what?
Oh and I've been sneezing from the moment I woke today (only touched the wool after I started sneezing, so you can't tell me it's that, but maybe it made it worse?) Can someone with wool-allergy tell me if you get sneezing or other forms? Anyhow, so now I have to get back to "phus-phus" (my nasal spray) every night. Sigh!
I have a lot of catching up to do on my blogging, and I promise I will.
The Brother Juniper Collection
I love these cartoons and miss reading them from my childhood.
Neuropeans – Arts, Sports, MKP2001, Neurope Tower, Europanto
Very funny. I almost wish it was a real language! Do come back and tell me what you think.
There you are, knitting a bag with funfur. Why does it have to be complicated as follows:
1st row: (WS). With MC, K1. *yf. Sl1P. yb. K1. Rep from * to end of row.
2nd row: Purl.
3rd row: With A, K1. *K1. yf. Sl1P. yb. Rep from * to last 2 sts. K2.
Why all the Sl1Ps and things? Wouldn't plain ole' garter st do as well? The free pattern from Bernat uses the Disco yarn (yes that infamous giveaway yarn, which by the way, I never got despite giving 3 different addresses two separate times) in two colours, while I am substituting this yarn:
Since this is already bi-coloured, I think I am missing the point somehow.
Will the scientific mind please tell me if it's to make sure the two colours blend, or just a scam to make you think you're making something complex? I'm inclined towards the latter, but maybe it's the former, and I am strongly tempted to swatch in two colours of a unfunfur yarn just to see how it matters.
While on the subject, I've read the pattern through several times, but am yet to understand
#1. How does knitting this pattern lead you to a purse which is halfway usable (may be related to the fact that it is funfur) (or that you start the handles at 5"…what sort of purse is only 5" deep?)
Anyhow, I needed a picot-less pattern, and pretty mindless, so I am feeding this monster knitting this anyway.
Random Act of BookCrossing Kindness
I found this site today for people wanting to send/receive books randomly. Yay!
swakrta.com 