Monday, April 9, 2012

Seed Stitch Infinity Cowl and Hat

I fell in love with this cowl when I saw it on JJCrochet's website, so I had to make one. I figured it would be the perfect birthday gift for my friend Cara, even though she most likely won't be able to wear until next winter...

I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in color Grey Marble and size 13 needles.  The pattern calls for size 17, but the largest I had was 13 and I did not feel like buying new ones.  As a result, the stitches in my cowl are tighter than the original, but I still really like the effect of the seed stitch.


I tried to bind this with a kitchener stitch to hide the seam rather than just sewing it together to form the infinity loop/mobius strip, but it didn't work out so well.  I lost track of which step I was on...several times.  But I think it still turned out nicely.  I even had enough yarn left to make a matching hat!  Now all we need is a real winter this year so my friend can actually use these...


My friend looking beautiful in her new scarf!
(The hat is peeking in at the edge of the photo).


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Purl Soho!

So, I've taken a bit of a hiatus from the blog.  I've been busy traveling.  I'm also currently in the middle of several projects, which means I don't have a complete one to post.  Additionally, the origami options have been a bit disappointing lately, so I haven't been posting.  But I'm going to get back on the wagon.

In the meantime, here's something exciting.  After 6+ months of stalking the website every day and religiously reading every single post, I finally had the opportunity to visit Purl Soho in person!


I was in NYC visiting my awesome friend Lauren and attending my soon-to-be sister-in-law's bachelorette party.  Thank goodness Lauren is as enthusiastic as me about crafting!  She showed me this beautiful quilt she started working on a few months ago!  Anyway, I went in with my limits set.  I was allowing myself to get 2 skeins of yarn and 1 fabric bundle.  I couldn't walk out empty handed!  After perusing all the shelves twice, I decided that I could probably get most of the yarn from my local yarn shop, so it would be better to use the opportunity to focus on the fabric.  They definitely have more interesting patterns than I can find locally.  Anyway, I ended up with one bright green bundle that would probably be ideal for a baby blanket of some sort, but I'm going to use to make something for my boyfriend (one of the patterns is elephants, which he loves).  The other is shades of maroons, deep purples, and oranges.  The bundles are great because, as Lauren kept stressing, they put together patterns that the normal eye wouldn't think go, but as soon as you see them in the bundle, they're perfect!  Lauren walked out with this iPhone case.  Well, the blank version.  But she also bought the neon and glow-in-the-dark embroidery floss, so we'll see what she comes up with!

All in all, it was a very successful trip.  Good thing I don't live there though.  Not sure I would be able to demonstrate as much self-control on a regular basis.

The two fabric bundles I purchased from Purl Soho.

The green is Mod Basics by Birch Organic; the orange and purple is Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt.