Crochet Yarn

I'm auditioning yarns for inclusion if Book 4 goes forward (I'm always hesitant to say definitively until the ink is dry, but I was told it was ok to order yarn!)

WHAT yarns do you want included?  What are your favorite yarns? Go through your stash, what would you like to use up? :)  Lay it on me!

Book FOUR? you say?  You're thinking "Where is book THREE?". Well, book three is in production and all the yarn is already chosen and on hand... ;)  more info will follow as I'm allowed to release it!  You're going to love it though and it's NOTHING like what you would think I would do. (I think, I really don't know what you might think, you're pretty clever...)

:)  Anyway,  what yarns would you like to crochet with for Book 4? 

Chickee's New Scarf; Stitch Nation Yarn

This scarf might be my new Go-to scarf. I might start making these babies in gorgeous Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe for early Christmas gifts for next year! Quick and easy and fun to make. I made this scarf for Chickee, 48" long and about 5.5" wide. Find this new yarn at www.Redheart.com

As you would expect from a yarn called "Bamboo Ewe" it is Bamboo and Wool.

Tomorrow, I will attempt to answer April's question:

Hi Ellen, this is not really about your post, but I have a question for you. How much figuring out do you do for a design before it is accepted for publishing? Do you complete a finished item first? Just a swatch? Schematics and/or charts? Just a sketch? Thanks in advance!

Full O' Sheep Swatch Felted

Here it is! After a quick wash in hot water. I love it! A great affordable choice for felting. I have an urge to get another color and do some surface work and then felt it again, but I don't have any more colors unless I take apart my color swatch stick. If I did it again, I would go down a hook size or two to a maybe a K instead of the N. Otherwise, I think it looks great!

It is a yarn distributed by Coats & Clark, the makers of Red Heart. I'm told that it will be in JoAnn's stores in February, but until then, it's available online at www.RedHeart.com

Susan, I'm going to leave your question about how to wash wool without felting for another day, but it CAN be done :)

Bonus Post: Stitch Nation Yarn

I couldn't resist any longer picking up a hook to play with this new Stitch Nation Yarn. This is the Full O' Sheep variety. 100% Peruvian Wool. But it's 100% Affordable too! I think it's going to retail around $4.99 a skein. Wow. I deliberately used a big hook, an N/10.mm because I'm going to felt it! Let's see what happens! It's in the front loading washing machine now with jeans and some hot water. I'll try to post a photo later today of the "after". I'm thinking about turning this into a scarf for my SIL, ya know, the one who didn't get the Old Shale Knit scarf because I ran out of yarn? This color is "Passion Fruit" but you can see the colors above, beautiful rich colors.

See more at RedHeart.com

Classic Ripple Blankets Revealed!

I made these blankets for Debbie Stoller's new yarn line "Stitch Nation" 100% Natural 100% Affordable.

You may have heard me Tweet right before Christmas that I had gotten some new natural yarns! It was the promotional box for Debbie's Stitch Nation Yarn. This is what I received:

And there are my blankets in the promotional leaflet! The blankets are an easy ripple pattern made in the Bamboo Ewe yarn (wool and bamboo!). There is also "Full o'sheep" yarn and "Alpaca Love" all of which come in great bright colors. You are going to see many more of these yarns! As soon as I find out how you can get the pattern, I'll let you know.

The unvarnished truth....

ok... here it is... in general, I am less fond of variegated yarns than solid color yarns. Self-striping, long or short color bursts, I'm just not as fond of them in crochet. In knit, I think they look better (don't hate me!). Because.... I am such a huge fan of crisp stitch definition, and multi-colored yarn tends to blur stitch definition (as does novelty and fuzzy, furry yarn) this makes solid yarns my preferred yarn. Still, in the hank/skein/ball multi-colored yarns are GORGEOUS, and sometimes I get seduced into buying them, but then they often stay in my bins because I just don't enjoy them as much as the solid. (Except for decoration, inspiration, and yarn petting). Feel free to disagree.

St. Nick gift

This is what St. Nick brought me at the beginning of December! Two luscious hanks of Tupa Merino Wool and Silk from Mirasol yarns. Yum.

Charlie cuddles

Charlie doesn't usually mix with non-wool yarns, but he doesn't mind sitting real close if it's Caron Simply Soft. Chief also loves it. I made him a Black and Orange afghan out of Simply Soft (mostly because I had a plethora of the colors and also because we live in Bengal territory, although 'Bengals' is kind of a bad word these days, but I digress...). Anyway, Chief likes that blanket the best of all the blankets I have made for him. I ought to show you a photo, I've never even tried to sell the design...it was just an attempt to use up the extra yarn.

Mission Falls Yarns

Some Mission Falls yarn just arrived for me to whip up a project, and I love it! It is really, really nice. I am using both the 1824 wool and the dk weight of the same yarn, that I can't find on their website. It's a superwash wool and it's very soft. I guess Charlie likes it too! Pay attention to these yarns, they will appear together in the Winter. (hint, hint)

Oh yeah! Don't forget to vote in the "photo poll" at right.

Can't decide what to crochet today!

Hmmm, I'm free! Free to crochet anything I want. I have no deadlines! (until the yarn arrives for deadlines). So, I probably have up to 3 days before yarn arrives that I can do WHATEVER I WANT! Now, my Libra indecisiveness is showing. I have some yummy Plymouth Fantasy Linen, I have some terrific Punta Light Rope, I have some recycled Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine' . Decisions, decisions.

My new PR photo

This is my new PR photo. My 15 yo niece, Erica, took the photo. She and her older sister, Jessica, are my "Consultants of Cool". (Because I definitely need Cool consultation).

Do you want to see some yarn?

Here is some great 100% Merino Wool by Louet. It is in their "Gems" collection. This one is the Bulky in "Sandalwood". I really, really like it. Here it is worked up in a sneak peek. I very much enjoy their saturated colors and their smooth fibers. They are also known for their Linen and Linen blend yarns. I used their MerLin in the Tunisian Lace Ascot that was in Interweave Crochet Spring 2008.

To top it all off, they are NICE to crocheters! Yay!

Nashua Cilantro

Another Great yarn! This Nashua Cilantro yarn is STRETCHY!!!! I've been looking at it for weeks trying to decide what it wants to be. The put up is: 70% cotton, 30% polyester; 50g 1.75 oz, 136 yards. It's a size 4 cyca size. Speak to me, yarn, what do you want to be?

Are you following the "Day in the Life" Posts? They are alot of fun, if you need to get caught up, here's the list again:

Monday, May 12th --- Amie, owner of NexStitch, Art Teacher, and Crochet Designer

Tuesday, May 13th--- Mary Beth, Author of the Secret Language of Knitters, Host of Getting Loopy, Bunny Parent, Mom, and Crochet Designer

Wednesday, May 14th--- Margaret, Fiber Design Veteran, Author of scores of fiber books, Grandmother, and Crochet Designer

Thursday, May 15th--- Amy, Tech editor, Author of Knits for Bears to Wear, Mom, Moving to remote Alaska, and Crochet Designer

Friday, May 16th--- Vashti, CGOA board Member, Mom, and Crochet Designer

Saturday, May 17th--- Ellen, Mom, Afghan Maven, and Crochet Designer *** uh, that's me***

Rowan 4ply Cotton

You may have seen this yarn in the last issue of Interweave Crochet, Kathy Merrick made the "Kathryn in Beauly Dress and Hat" with several gorgeous colors of this yarn. It is 100% cotton, 50 g 186yds, and it is considered a "fingering weight". These are some swatches with an "E" hook (4/3.5mm). But it is NOT a sneak peek, because I haven't made any decisions yet.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to post more about what I do to keep yarn and projects clean (and lint/hair) free.

Berroco

I thought that I wasn't a fan of Berroco yarns. I was wrong. I had always associated Berroco yarns with novelty yarns, of which I am not a huge fan. I, again, was wrong. I'm sorry Berroco. You have beautiful yarns and here's three of them to prove it. Love It Is a Cotton/Acrylic/Polyester Blend, very nice.

Berroco Pure Merino
Is also very nice with 100% Extra Fine Merino wool. The Cranberry colored sneak peek is the Pure Merino DK weight. but the actual finished item for publication is in a different yarn, this one is for ME! WooHoo!

Alpaca!

Ooooh, all together now "Ahhh"... This yarn is fantastic. It is 100% Alpaca, it's called "Royal" from Blue Sky Alpacas. I admit, I left it in it's hanks and petted it lovingly for a couple weeks before I finally wound it into usable balls. Isn't it gorgeous? I wish your computer had "feel-o-vision" so you could feel how soft it is. I haven't made anything with it, it deserves just the right project. Maybe a scarf or a shawl, or a shrug, something that hugs the skin and is for pure luxury. It is put up in 100g/288yd hanks and it's small, 6-7 stitches per inch, so smaller than a sportweight. At $39.00 per hank (eeek) the right special project is a must. You can buy it online here at River Colors Yarn Studio I have never bought items from them before, but they have some great lines of yarn, so if you buy from them, drop me a line and tell me how your experience was.

Sneak peek, sorta

Hmmm, What do you think these are going to turn into (two different projects, that is)

This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Chunky in Lakeview.

And this is TLC Cotton Plus

Just imagine the possibilities! It never ceases to amaze me, that we can take yarn, twist it, knot it, loop it and create something with one continuous strand (and sometimes more). Simplicity and Complexity in harmony!

I'm not Picasso or anything, but I'm totally identifying with his "Blue" period.

Nashua yarn

A new favorite to add to the list!

Nashua Creative Focus Cotton Dk. 100% Egyptian cotton, great stuff, awesome colors. This is available at Royal yarns for $5.49 per 1.75 oz, 50 g, 118 yd ball. It's kinda like Lion's Microspun only cotton, softer, with less glare. It does split some, but not nearly as much as the Microspun.

yummy yarn

I've got some gorgeous new stash! These boxes are packed with Blue Sky Alpacas, Lorna's Laces, Louet North America, Plymouth, and Westminster Fibers! I can't wait to try them and do some yarn reviews for you! Just look at those awesome colors. I wish your computer had "feel-o-vision" because these are just a treat.

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

This is one of my favorite yarns. In fact, I have never met a Debbie Bliss yarn that I didn't like. Yum! This one is Cashmere, Merino wool, and microfiber. It is worsted weight and I love it. This is a lovely purple color. I think I bought it at Yarnmarket.com or Yarncountry, both of which I have had good experiences with.

Swatching and Yarn review

I've been busy swatching! I love this stitch, it's the ripple stitch (p. 83)from the Crochet Stitch Bible, by Betty Barnden. And I am showing some uncharacteristic patience in making swatches of this fun stitch. Big hook, little hook, big yarn, little yarn, light color, dark, it all looks good. Now I just have to choose the right combination of everything for the project I have in mind. Now, I haven't chosen a yarn for this project yet, but I have discovered a new favorite yarn:
Lion Cashmere Blend! Yum. This color is silver. It is 72% Merino Wool, 14% cashmere, and 14% nylon. It's a size "4", (but it feels slightly thicker than a typical worsted weight). One ball gets about 1.5 oz, 84 yds.

It is very soft and has great drape. (meaning its floppy and not stiff). And guess who else likes it? Mr. Yarn snob himself....

This is Charlie, who never bothers my acrylic yarns, digging into my project bag trying to get at the Lion Cashmere Blend swatch....

And this is him, looking at me guarding his treasure. And that look he's giving me is the, "how long do I get to sit here before you shoo me away?" look. Yes, I agree Charlie, it is a luscious yarn worth working for.