by Nancy 
Here’s a look at my largest crochet project to date – a cardigan for myself! The pattern is pretty simple -it’s half double crochet throughout. It’s made with a bulky yarn, so it works up quite quickly. The top picture is the completed back of the sweater. The bottom picture is a close-up so you can see the yarn more closely.
P.S. This post was made from my phone!
by Cathy (no, our names aren’t automatically showing up at the top of posts like they used to; I intend to fix that…some day….)
I’m very pleased to have a Finished Object to show off, just in time for NaBloPoMo! (Which doesn’t seem to be getting nearly the attention this year that is has in previous years, I think because blogs are Officially Over now, having been replaced by Facebook and Twitter. Or something.)
Anyway, I started this scarf for J shortly after Christmas last year, with some yarn that was left over from another project, and I finally ran out of yarn today, so here it is:
And here it is, in situ:
by Rebecca (do our posts no longer get our names automatically attached?)
Have we already failed at NaBloPoMo?
Here’s my first project made out of yarn that I spun – using the drop spindle I posted about earlier. The finished kerchief is about 30″ across at its widest point.
The yellow stripes for the border are made with yarn I purchased, but the rest is spun of superwash merino wool. The yarn I spun is rather overtwisted – parts of it wanted to kink back on itself, and it’s not squooshy like I wanted, so I’ve been working on finding a better amount of twist in yarn I’ve spun since then.
Here’s a detail shot where you can see the variegation in the yarn. I spun it out of a multicolored top (which is a type of wool preparation), and made a 2-ply without doing anything to keep colors aligned.
Next weekend I’m taking a short Introduction to Wheel Spinning class at my local yarn store, to try to figure out if I want to buy a spinning wheel. The one I find most aesthetically pleasing (really, is that not gorgeous, if you’re into the Scandinavian-style furniture aesthetic?) happens to be very versatile, but it’s also one of the more expensive wheels on the market (if you don’t count the super duper expensive ones which have long waiting lists), so I want to give the whole wheel concept a little try before committing. I think in class I’ll get to spin on another wheel from the same manufacturer, and there is a spinning store in the area where I could check out a wider variety of wheels.
My self-imposed homework before class is to practice more spindle-spinning and also re-read all the spinning books which I got from the library to familiarize myself with wheel spinning.
by Nancy
I’ve been working on a crochet scarf to go with my navy coat for a while now. I just have a few more squares to finish and then I need to connect all of them together. I’d like to get it done soon because it’s getting colder now.
by Nancy
…which means it’s NaBloPoMo. At least I think it is. To be honest, I’m not really sure who created NaBloPoMo or declares it, so I don’t know for sure that it’s officially NaBloPoMo. But I’ll start us off with a November 1 post anyway:
These are University of Michigan cookies, commissioned by Marty. She volunteers with a Parkinson’s exercise class, and one of the participants is a big U of M fan. Apparently there was a bet on the Michigan-Michigan State football game which involved cookies. Even though State won, Marty graciously presented the U of M fan with these crochet cookies. She says they were a big hit.
And here’s the whole family:
Now to move on to other Christmas projects! 🙂
by Nancy
How could you not want to crochet this hat? It was very easy, and the result is so cute! Here’s the pattern if you’re interested: http://www.favecrafts.com/Halloween-Crafts/Baby-Pumpkin-Crochet-Beanie
by Nancy
You are looking at a picture of my first-ever grommets! I am now the proud owner of grommet pliers, and I have successfully placed several grommets in a tote bag that I’m making from Sew and Go Totes by Kristine Poor. They aren’t complicated to do but do require quite a bit of hand strength to squeeze the pliers. Have any other Crackpots worked with grommets?
by Nancy
Ann’s friend Lorene gave me a commission this summer to make some crochet food that she would use as baby gifts for nieces and nephews. It was quite an order, and now it’s all done:
5 apples
5 carrots
5 asparagus
5 ice cream cones
5 ears of corn
5 “grocery” bags
1 cheeseburger (for Lorene herself!)
by Nancy
Today I finished my quilted tote bag, which I think all or almost all Crackpots saw during All Together Week. I had lots of the flowered fabric, which I love, left over from making the applique table runner, so I decided to use it to make this bag. It’s from the book Sew and Go Totes by Kristine Poor. The author is an engineer, so the instructions are very clear. This is the most complicated bag I’ve attempted (though it’s still pretty simple) to date, and it turned out great! And I only had to buy some solid black fabric for the lining and a little stiff Pellon craft interfacing that goes in the handles. The stars form 3 separate pockets on the front and 3 on the back. Now I only have a small amount of the flowered fabric left, so I’ll have to get very creative with how I use that…