Felted bag, part deux

Since I am still getting lovely and complimentary comments about my felted bag, I thought I'd post the second one I made, which turned out much, MUCH better. So much better that I was sorely tempted to keep it for myself, but I caved to my friend's demands and gave it to her.

Click here to see.

Absolutely Fabulously Finished

It is with great pleasure that I proclaim...that I have finally finished the Victoria Shrug that I made for My Muse. It all began with the Crochet Me CAL. I wanted to find something classic, refined..yet timeless to make for her. She is a very generous soul and inspires all who let her. After thumbing through the book for something that epitomizes her spirit..I kept finding myself gravitating to the Victorian Shrug on the cover. The model on the cover reminded me of her (except that she is African-American); simple elegance. I polled many co-workers and they all agreed that it was perfect for her. I wanted to give it to her for Christmas, but could not get it perfect enough to give to her. Whenever I make something for someone, I want my work to be the best it can be. So I kept at it until I was finished. I was worried that it would be too big, too small or the material was wrong. Anyhoo...I finished...but wait....I did not have the perfect button. I looked high and low. I put the sweater away ...unfinished...determined that she would not see it until I found the perfect button.. Fast forward...my Aunt Mildred (Mildred Baldwin) gave me a box of beads, buckles, pendants and what-nots. I looked in the cigar box filled with these things at least once or twice a week. Lo and behold I look once more and discovered a lovely golden "dragonfly" pendant. I decided to confess to My Muse my dilemma and inquired as to how she felt about dragonfly's. She exclaims, "That's the name of my favorite watering hole...The Dragonfly" I explained that I finally found the perfect button for her sweater; brought in the pendant for her approval...and she approved. I researched her favorite watering hole online and found that the dragonfly that they use as a logo is almost exactly like the pendant. I added it to shrug and it was PERFECT! I am glad that I waited for the perfect button. I wanted to have it dry-cleaned, but felt nervous about how it would be returned to me..also one dry cleaner wanted $8 just to steam the sweater. I fumed and decided that I would find another way to block it. I told my aunt about my dilemma and she told me to take my steam iron, with a towel over it and do it myself. She also is giving me my own professional steamer. It belonged to my grandmother; her mother..who was a professional seamstress for many years. So, I gave the sweater to her today...in the Christmas gift bag that I purchased...with a note. She found me soon as she saw it...gave me a big hug...exclaimed..."It's perfect and beautiful!....Thank you soooo much!" I could not have been happier. I put a lot of time and love into making it for her...she is a very special person who helped me to appreciate myself and all that I have to offer the world! I know that I have made a friend for life and am better for it.

Finally finished!

I've been afraid of cutting holes in the felted messenger bag for ages, but finally just gritted my teeth and did it over the weekend. And it didn't fall apart!

Victorian Shrug ~~ At an Impasse!

I have technically finished my Victorian Shrug, but can't seem to find the perfect button. I will block it to get the shape that I want. I am embarrassed that it took me this look to get this far. I started out with cheesy yarn and it was huge; I frogged it on the second version, but noticed that the red yarns I purchased were two different colors. I changed focused, finished some other projects that were long overdue, then resumed. I poured my bag of fancy buttons out and found that they were too cheesy and plastic to use. I have a clear button for the inside, but unable to find that one button for the outside. The shape looks a little wide at the bottom, but I'm sure blocking will fix that. I actually did another pattern from the book for a friend..Shades of Plaid scarf by Julie Holetz...she complimented me on my work..thanks Julie! I am onto my next Crochet Me project....maybe the Mesmerize Sweater or the Babydoll dress! My Crafty Chick group member is holding the sweater up during one of our group meet-ups.

Thanks for creating a great book and allowing me to participate in this Crochet Revolution!

Valeria aka NannDee..(~.~)

One for Me!

My Cardi
Originally uploaded by rchach

Comfy Cardi from Crochet Me

Designed by me , Tweaked by me for me (may be one of the only times I get to say that)

Started in January, finished lace in a few days, put it down for a long while. Then finally finished the ribbing the last few days. I'm really happy with how it came out. I made the large size in the chest and small size in the arms. Plus I shortened it to elbow length. All the details of that are on my blog here. Pretty amazed that I finally have something for me! Can't wait to wear it, too bad it was 70 here yesterday, not the best weather for alpaca; but I am sure it will be cool again soon.

Details:
Yarn: elann.com, Pure Alpaca Fina, 5 skeins! (I know- totally a steal! A cute cardi and it didn't cost much at all!)

Hook: F Clover Hook

Notions: Large Mission Falls Button

Icelandic Turtleneck Back on Track

I finally started working on the turtleneck again this weekend after a hiatus since before Christmas. I'm just up to the bust increases now, and I had my sister (the intended owner) try it on this morning. So far so good, and the color looked really great against her skin tone. I didn't have my camera with me at the time, but I'll try to get a good progress shot soon!

Plaid Scarf

I've been working on the Plaid Scarf for a while and just finished the main body of it.  

Now I have to weave in all the ends.  Should I have done that differently?  (or could I have?)

It will go to a friend of mine who lives in Boston, and will get lots of use out of it.  (as opposed to me who lives in the desert)

I'm looking forward to making the chains and weaving them in.  (just after I weave these durn ends in)

Messenger bag -- all over but the felting

I finished the strap and put the whole thing together over the weekend. Of course, as with everything I do, I didn't bother to do a gauge sample, so my piece was 5 inches shorter and 2 inches narrower than the pattern, which then necessitated a whole lot of math on my part. Math and I don't get along at all, but it appears that I was successful in figuring it out.

Hopefully this coming weekend I'll travel to my mother-in-law's house to do the scary felting.

Messenger bag -- progress!

I made some really good progress on the messenger bag this weekend.

Here it is with a couple more color blocks finished:

And a couple more. At this point I had seven balls of yarn hanging off the thing. It was pretty crazy:

And finally, with all the ends woven in.

On to the strap!

Messenger bag started

I started the messenger bag on Monday night and am making decent progress. I bought some super yummy colors of wool over the weekend and was really looking forward to starting on it, but when I read the instructions closely they weren't making sense. So I emailed the creator of the pattern, Julie Holetz, who got right back to me with clarifications. So nice of her!!

I'm sort of winging it on the color blocks. I currently have three balls of yarn hanging off the thing. Seems to be working but I have no idea if that's what's supposed to happen. Julie did say that carrying the yarn behind the stitches would result in felt that's too thick.

And I could use some advice from any felting experts out there. I live in a condo and the washing machines in the basement are front loading and lock when you start them up, so there will be no stopping the cycle and checking the progress for me. Can this be done by hand?

Icelandic Turtleneck: Finished!

I started this back in April, made a bunch of modifications, and absolutely love it! I wrote all about it on the CrochetMe.com blog. Wahoo!

Comfi Cardi Start

Comfi Cardi Start
Originally uploaded by rchach

Hi All,

I decided to take my recent trip traveling time and devote it to me (instead of work like I usually do). With the 10 hour trip out to CA, and the 6 hour trip back, I got pretty far along with my own personal Comfi Cardi. I adored this project from the moment I swatched it. I really really didn't want to give up the sample that was photographed in CM, but I did. Now, a year later I am finally making one for me!

I am making a couple of changes, I am shortening the sleeves to be elbow length. I am also making the sleeves smaller, b/c I definitely don't fit in standard body sizes. So my cardi will have a large chest size and small arm size. So far so good. I am finished with the back, one arm, and one front panel. I am using Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina, which has been a great substitute for me in a blueish gray. Can't wait to show you more as I go!
-Robyn

Thanks everyone for asking how I am changing the cardi!- I posted a bit on this on my blog.

Victorian Shrug + Wrap Errata

Victorian Shrug + Wrap Errata from the CrochetMe Book:

LACY TOP EDGING, WRAP ONLY
Row 1: Ch1, sc in first hdc, sk next 2 hdc, fan st in next hdc, sk 2 hdc, *sc in next hdc, sk next 2 hdc, fan st in next hdc, sk next 2 hdc, [remove extra: sk next 2 hdc] rep from * around front panel and back, end with sc, turn. - 40, 44, 48, 52 fan sts total

(Thank you Margaret for finding this error for us!)

Victorian Wrap/Shrug

Howdy! I stumbled upon this blog while trying to find other folks working on the Victorian Wrap/Shrug. I ended up emailing Robyn and she's been helping me along...by the way, she's AWESOME! I was so thrilled that she not only wrote back (quickly), but she's also been providing really great instructions. I'm not the smalled gal and I've been having a bit of trouble resizing the garment to fit me...I'm just now starting the sleeves. I've had a bit of trouble with the gauge, but I think I'm finally on the right track. When I sent the first email to Robyn, I was using a different yarn so that I had the same gauge as the pattern...so when I changed to a thicker yarn, my gauge ended up TOTALLY different and I had to figure out how the calculations I had made translated to my new gauge. Yeah, I'm so not a gauge person! haha

I think the part that's most difficult for me is seeing how the garment comes together...because I can't see how the sleeves are built, I'm not able to relate the various measurements to the pattern itself. It's my inexperience with this type of resizing...I usually just size as I go and add stitches as I need to. This is definitely the most involved project I've ever done...but I'm so glad that I've taken on this challenge.

Anyhow, a big HELLO to y'all and I'm glad to have some support during this crazy journey!

~Teresa :o)

I need some help on my I'm A Convert sweater

I have a question about this project.

I'm working on the upper right arm. It says to skip the last five stitches in the row (shaping the underarm), which has resulted in a nub on mine. i don't know what it's for or if it's supposed to be there. here is a photo. Can anyone shed some light on this?



Much appreciated!

I am about half done the dress.

I hope to have pictures very soon. I am loving it! i was hoping to have it done my New Year's however I have not had time to work on it. I am in the process of designing a felted bag that has to be done by the 15th. I hope to have the dress done in time for hubby's next concert on Feb. 17th.

Weeeell the downside was that didn't get done in time for the Feb. 17th concert. However I have pulled it to finish. Bruce and I have a wedding to attend in Niagara Falls and I would like to have a couple of nice dresses to wear.

Here is what I have so far...

Back of the Babydoll Dress
Front of the Babydoll Dress

Cora
(edited to add some pictures)

Finished: Icelandic Turtleneck

Whoo Hoo! Finally got my project finished, and pictures uploaded! I have more in the CM Flickr account.

I took the sleeves in a bit. Note that I'm not showing the seaming on this alteration ;)

It certainly shows of the curves! Can't shape with crochet my @rse! I'm quite happy, even though any crocheter with any talent will see the flaws and hiccups (sorry Chloe!).

This project has empowered me! I already have more garments in my queue.