Stitch Witch

You ever have one of those days where you just start taking stock of exactly EVERYTHING you’ve got going on? Today is my day. Decided I would put all my projects in a duckly row and figure out where I’m going with each one. And YOU, lucky yarnizens get to see inside the mind of maniacal yarn addict with the attention span of a flea! Follow along, and be stunned, won’t you?

For starters, we have a piece of knitting sparked by my muse. In the course of creating my Etsy store (as yet fully unnamed), I knew I wanted to use up my stash of black yarns, threads and other assorted fibers first. This lovely unfinished ensemble is constructed of J&P Coats 100% Crochet Nylon, which is great for purses, jewelry, home dec stuff and whatever else your little needling fingers can make! Mainly because I am enamored of the clutches and handbags, circa 1930-60, I wanted to try my own hand at making an elegant bag for evening wear. Woot! Elegant=Woot. It does!

The picture makes the thread look way shinier than it actually is, and yet it’s got a lustrous sheen to it which will be absolute perfection for beadwork later on. I’m thinking of lining with some black dupioni silk (if the shades of blacks match). Not sure how big it will end up being, or which end of the scale-gaudy or classic-it will land on. Who cares, just know it will look smashing, because I say so. And, I might add, this thread is super easy to work with, it’s inexpensive and it feels smooth to the touch, not hard or plastick-y! And that’s just ONE thing I have on the back yarn burner!

As you can see, I’ve got my pattern all printed out on crispy white paper, dug out the appropriately sized needles, and 1 lonely ball of Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends in Ebony. This time, I am going to use a separate piece of paper to record each row. You cycle through broken rib, small cable and large cable sets for 8-9 rows, before repeating, so it’s good to keep track of exactly what row you are on, in case of an emergency yarn evacuation! I cannot WAIT to get started on this. Morning comes, coffee brews, and I start this pattern anew, with the new yarn!

This silvery gray number below was the trial run, using cheap yarn. Good yarn, but cheap, and not the desired bulk to fully support the scrumptious cabling. Now, the silvery piece will be used for some sort of free form project perhaps, or disassembled and placed within the confines of another pattern!

This cornflowery bluish purple piece is also another one bound for free-form success. Just as the perfected shade of the richest handspun yarn can steal your breath, so too can a really good cover of Vogue Knitting! This pattern came from the first copy that I ever purchased, and was my first major excursion into following semi-complex patterning. I was hooked (all while abandoning my hooks for long, sleek needles, no less)!

These two particularly bland (the photo does them both way TOO much justice) lap blankets are on their way to bigger, better and prettier pastures. I’m thinking an entrelac throw, adding in some mustardy yellow, and perhaps a good shade of green, but that’s questionable. (In fact, about the only place that would look good would be on Bourbon St., in the wee hours of the morn after Mardi Gras! It would take the consumption of several tasty Hurricanes (that’s a drink name, not me being facetious!) in order to be taken even slightly seriously! Or maybe 5-6 shades of purple in varied bulks? Or, I did run across an idea in Crochet Today magazine for ‘repurposing’ (I HATE buzz-terms!!) granny squares into pillows…maybe I could make throw pillows with yarn fronts, and fabric backings? I just don’t know yet.

So, there you have it. That’s the short list of things yarny, I am contending with, willingly and not so willingly.

The Slippy Sleeves Project was unavailable at publication time, due to an unfortunate slip of the senses by the knitter who changed her mind and ripped it all back to a ball of yarn.

Stay Tuned! There’s a new installment of Yarn Whispering that should be hitting your monitors by tomorrow!