Monday, June 11, 2007

Solomon's Knot Shawl Crochet Along



For all my speedy CAL friends, here is the pic of the previous (LOL) CAL on the yahoo group BumblesGroovyCrochet. Better late than never!


I made it with a free pattern from Hook Me Up Crochet. Unfortunately the owner has taken the site down, but I was able to find it, sans pics, on the wayback machine. http://web.archive.org/web/20051124071511/http://www.hookmeupcrochet.com/Create/Patterns/Solomons_Knot_Shawl.htm

It was actually very simple, once I learned the stitch. It is the Solomon's Knot, also known as the Lover's Knot. I used the tutorial on about.com to learn how to do it. http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa122698.htm

This shawl is made using some ribbon yarn from Walmart that I was able to get for $2 / skein. Oddly, I think everyone else made theirs with two skeins. I had to run back for a third skein to finish mine. I thought I was measuring my stitches, but for some reason mine came out bigger. Here's a hint for making uniform knot stitches. Put a mark on your crochet hook to mark the length you want your stitch to be. Then you can use your hook to measure each stitch and you don't have to pick up your ruler all the time.

Now all I have to do is get my shawl away from my 5-year old! (And for those of you who have already finished the next CAL, I'll be joining you if I can ever decide what color I want to use. lol) No wonder I'm always behind!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Reclaiming Yarn




I thought I'd share some pics of some of the yarn I've recently reclaimed and the sweaters I have to frog. I've been stocking up on sweaters. With the onset of warm weather they are on sale at my local Goodwill for $1. Most of the yarn I've gotten is either 100% wool or 100% cotton. Several are 100% cashmere. Let's face it, I could never even buy one skein of cashmere for a buck, let alone enough to make a whole sweater!



A few are acrylic or partially acrylic, which I wouldn't normally bother with, but I just liked the color or there was something special about the yarn. I fell in love with the autumn colors in this boucle yarn. Any ideas what it wants to be?









This green sweater has a silver strand running through it, and ok, I admit it, I just like purple. *Grin*




If you're interested in trying your hand at yarn recycling, here's a great tutorial: http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/thrifty.html

Happy Frogging!