how much does it take

Some time ago I mentioned that I was asked how much yarn it would take to make a certain crocheted item. It's a question I hear quite often. I thought I would post these links here. They are on the Yarn Yak page at Crochet Cabana as well.

Lion Brand has a chart that gives yardage for certain items. Here is the pdf file and here is the html page. Those links do change periodically so if you can't find it, just search around the site.

Elizabeth's Fiber and Yarn Store also has a chart.

Knitting Daily has an article on how much yarn it takes to make sweaters or cardigans.

If you live in or near Portland, are you in for a treat. This shop has a nice article on how to figure how much yarn you'll need, but not only that - if you go into the shop they'll help you do this. You can also make your own skeins of yarn, combining colors you like together. How cool is that? From the Chronicles of Yarnia shop web site:

Yarnia is Portland's only DIY yarn store, and the only place where you can design your very own custom blend of yarn. You choose the fiber, color, thickness, and amount, and can have your custom cone of yarn wound for you right on the spot. Plus, it's all sold by the pound!

Hope those articles are some help. They are generally by the yard, so you must know how many yards in your skein if you are shopping by skein which is what I normally do. I usually figure on getting 3 skeins of any particular yarn if they are 3.5 ounce skeins as I know I can complete a scarf with that much. If I have a particular pattern in mind, of course, then I know how much yarn I need, but generally I am yarn shopping with no particular project in mind.

One thing to note about these charts is that for most projects crochet takes a lot more yarn than knitting - more than twice the amount in yards. If you're on a budget, you might like to learn how to knit too. ;-)

I added a few patterns to the never ending files in my computer of things I hope to do one day and will probably never get around to.

First is this beautiful heart afghan. You can find more beautiful afghan patterns and many other types of patterns at Purple Kitty, published on the site with permission from the original publishers.

I can't remember if I posted this pattern or not, but I have been looking at hooded scarf patterns and I began this one yesterday from Andraya's Crochet and so far I love it. I added a few rounds as it is for my husband and his head is apparently larger than Andraya's. :-) I have found I have to pay attention to what I'm doing, but if you do, the pattern is written clearly and the result is nice. I'm not finished the scarf yet. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Another pattern that has tickled my creative juices is the Bainbridge Scarf. It is knitted, but it would be easy enough to convert to crochet as it is just a rectangle 4" x 26" with a tie on each end. The pictures showing you how to wear it are great though!

Going on my hook soon will be Sandra Huffines' winter hat over at Bev's Country Cottage.

A friend mentioned working a Jacob's Ladder hat some time ago. Now there's a thought! I want to try that. I don't have a pattern, but I think I can do it without one.

Also, I want to make one of these wheelchair wraps by Susan Coes.

That's enough to keep me busy for a while I think. I guess I'd better get busy!

Have a safe New Year's Eve, everyone!

Happy crocheting!

Where to help in 2011

I've been going back and forth among projects this week as the mood hits. Today I determined to finish this Special Olympics scarf.

The pattern began as the Window Pane Scarf. I was concerned about staying within the required size and the pattern gave no size, so I switched from I hook to H hook. Then I reduced the foundation chain by a bit. I figured it was better to be shorter than longer as I could add to it, but couldn't subtract.

I also wanted a border all around the Turqua in the blue. I got that, but it was a bit tricky. What I should have done was work the entire thing in Turqua then just add the border, but what I did do was work Row 1 in blue and the filet in Turqua. Then I had to figure how to get the blue on the three remaining sides, which I did.

At that point it was only 5" wide, so I worked an additional round of (sc, ch 2, 2 dc, sk 2) around which was perfect.

I found the center a little plain, so to dress it up I decided to try weaving a strand of blue through the two middle rows. What do you think? I've never done that before. I think I like the look of it. I hope it washes up well. I considered making a length of chain or using the knitting nobby or something like that to give me a thicker weaving strand. I'd have had to figure out how long to make it though, and sewing in the thicker would not have been easy, so I nixed that.

Finished size is 6" x 54 1/2" (just squeaked by on the length).

Besides the scarf, I wanted to mention a new charity opportunity that I saw in the Crochet! magazine I received today.

That project would be the Super Bowl Super Scarves project. There is plenty of time to work on this if you are interested as it is for the Super Bowl of February 2012, a whole year away. The 2013 Super Bowl will be in New Orleans, which is near me. I hope they do the scarves project too.

They do not say if crocheted scarves are accepted that I could find, but I e-mailed them for clarification. Details of the project are on the web page, but generally speaking, there are particular yarns listed which are accepted (blues and whites), and the size is 6-8" x 76-100", longer than the Special Olympic scarves, so you can use all those patterns that didn't fit the other project.

I noticed that some of the yarns are wool. Notably there is Debbie Macomber Universal yarn listed. This is actually the Universal Gerbera Solida yarn. The colors in that yarn are called White Daisy and Blue Bell. Cute. I will probably use the Vanna's Choice 107 Sapphire and 100 White as that is the most easily accessible to me and I also like it as it is a nice, medium priced acrylic yarn.

Speaking of the Special Olympics, if you are making scarves and don't know where to send them, do please consider Louisiana. I believe they will start posting totals end of next week or the following week so we will know how many they've received. The deadline to ship to Louisiana is February 25. Scarves must be received by March 4.

Also in that issue of Crochet! there was a short list of CGOA Masters graduates. Since I'm sure this went to print a long time ago, not many had "graduated" the course yet. 7 names are listed. There are 25 listed at the site now. I know there are some who have passed and are not listed yet, including myself. They probably add them at specific times based on who has received a certificate at that time. I have not yet received my certificate, but I'm sure it's coming. :-)

Another charity effort listed is the Caps for Good, sponsored by Save the Children and Warm Up America. This runs through February 2011. Crocheted hat pattern on the page uses sport weight yarn.

Guess that's all for now.

Happy crocheting!

Jacob's Ladder Scarf

I finished the scarf I told you about just before Christmas. I also made a video showing how I made the scarf and repeated the Jacob's Ladder technique. In other words, you go from design to completed project in the two videos (below).



And Part 2



Here is the finished scarf. I added a sc edging all around.

It is just shy of 60" long and 6" wide.

What's up next? I am thinking of doing a video on the granny square with the options for joining rounds.

If you have suggestions about what you would like to see in videos, perhaps something you've not been able to find yet, please do let me know. There are many, many wonderful videos out there. I've not seen them all, of course, so I may duplicate, but I would prefer to do new things, or at the least my different version of what has already been approached. Every crocheter has their own method of doing things with no one way being right or wrong. They are just all different.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. New Year's Eve is coming up. Please be safe. My wish for you all is that 2011 brings you many blessings and that your needs will be fulfilled. If 2010 has been difficult, I hope that 2011 will bring resolution for you, in a positive way. May God guide your steps as you go along.

Happy crocheting!

Merry Christmas and Jacob's Ladder Scarf

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you're all enjoying your Christmas. Before we know it the old year will be done and we'll be starting 2011, writing the wrong dates on our checks again - if anyone still uses checks. LOL

I thought I'd pull together a post about the Jacob's Ladder scarf I'm making. My daughter suggested it and I loved the idea so I jumped on it.

It's not finished. I was thinking of using it for a video, but my camera did not cooperate while I had the chance to work on it. First, my battery died. I put in a new one. Then it said my memory card was full. I set about deleting the previous videos. By that time, I had cooking to do for our Christmas Eve celebration. My son, daughter, and son-in-law were all here.

I did receive crochet related gifts - two new hook holders for displaying my larger hooks, made by my talented son-in-law.

That is a TARDIS ornament in the center made by my talented daughter.  She also made me a beautiful scarf in filet crochet, with the words DR WHO rolling across it. :-)


Maybe later in the week I'll try the video again. The procedure is just the same as the afghan, but I thought I might use this project to demonstrate a few other basic things. We'll see how it goes. What would you all like to see in videos?

Here's what the scarf looks like right now.

Before I could work on the scarf, of course, I had to determine my foundation chain. I wanted to make this for Special Olympics Louisiana, so it had to be 6". I measured the same area on the afghan and it was too wide. I thought if I did 8 dcs on either side, that might do it.

The foundation chain I used was 28, dc in 4th chain from hk, dc in next 6 chains, ch 10, skip 10, 8 dcs. On succeeding rows, work 8 dc, ch 10, skip 10, 8 dc, ch 2, turn. I changed color every 10 rows. On the last 2 rows, I did ch 8 rather than ch 10.

I will work the cable ladder just as I did in the afghan.

Here are some close-up pictures of the scarf before cabling.

first rows, the ch-10 at the bottom is the foundation chain

this is the last section, last two rows have ch-8

Before working the cable, scarf if 7" wide

length is just over 58"

Remember to start making your cables on the right side. How do you know what is the right side? The beginning tail will be on your left. That is not always the case as some patterns use stitches which appear on the opposite side of the working side. But in general, that is a good test. Many patterns will tell you which row to mark as the right side.

More to come on this project later.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Stay safe!

Jacob's Ladder

On my hooks right now is a Jacob's Ladder ghan, worked from Beth Ham's pattern which you can find in pdf format at Crochet Cabana, or in html at Beth's site here. Beth's video referenced does not show how to make it, but does show a finished \ghan, the same one as is shown in the pdf file.

As I have mentioned here before, I would like to get into making videos now and then, so I'm playing with that option now. I am getting more comfortable with the talking part, but my camera skills leave a lot to be desired. However, keeping that in mind, I did complete two videos demonstrating how to make the "cabled ladder" effect using the ch-10 loops made in Beth's pattern.

I apologize for using red yarn as the first stripe, which is where I had to start with the video. Red is terrible for videos and photos, which I didn't realize when I started the ghan. At that time, I was just starting the project with no thought about making a video. I think it will still do the job though.

So here is Part 1.



And here is Part 2.



And here are some photos.

Jacob's Ladder before creating the cabled ladder effect.

Close-up of the ch-10 loops before cabled

Almost finished - still needs edging

Close-up of cabled ladder

Close-up of attaching cabled ladder to edging

View from back side

Now for the details. As noted, I followed Beth Ham's pattern. Of course, I didn't follow it exactly. LOL Do I ever? I used a J hook. I did 7 rows of each of 10 colors. If I were doing it now I would do another two stripes as it came out  wider than long. Before cabling the ladder, it was about 60". In the first photo the afghan is lying on a queen size bed. Size right now is 44 1/2" wide x 38" long.

The color scheme is more or less random. Sadly, I grabbed the red first, which is the worst color for photography. After the first five colors, I happily found myself at Hobby Lobby and Michael's so I purchased a bunch of different colors and asked hubby to lay them out in pleasing fashion. :-)

Gold and purple are LSU colors. This would make a nice scarf for a fan. Ohhh, that gives me an idea. :-) Yes, it does. But not for an LSU fan. More to come on that later.

As far as the afghan, or really lapghan since it is smallish, I still plan to work edging completely around, at least for one round, maybe more.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!

Crimmis Hook

It's here! Jimbo's Front Porch 2010 Crimmis Hook ("Crimmis" coming from Jimbo's son Lance mispronunciation of Christmas as a child). I WON this gorgeous hook which is made from holly, a very smooth,white wood. The Crimmis is a size I (5.5mm) hook. The red light is a REAL Christmas Tree light and is easily removed if you want to take it off. You wouldn't believe how smooth it is. I am excited to get started on a project with this beautiful hook.  It will be a joy to work with, I'm sure.


If you're going to be crocheting tonight, you might want to try working cables. http://www.crochetspot.com/how-to-crochet-cable-stitches/ .


Another way of making cables is what I call "faux cables". Basically it's a front post and back post cross stitch. You can see a tutorial on that method at Crochet Cabana http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-fptrcr-fauxcable.htm .


Then if you have some time to get more deeply in the basic skills and perhaps pursue some specialty stitches you've not had time for before, you can pre-order Kristin Omdahl's new DVD at http://www.interweavestore.com/Crochet/Video/Crochet-Me-Workshop-Crochet-Corner-Basics-and-Beyond-with-Kristin-Omdahl.html . Interweave has an article about the dvd here which worked very well as an advertising tool since I hopped right over and ordered it. :-) 


Also, a friend reminded me about this pattern by Peggy Su Besco, which is going on my to-do list. I love the cross-stitch. Can't wait to try it. 


But first I want to make another scarf using this method I saw at Crochet Spot.

But wait, I have two other scarves already in progress, and the Jacob's Ladder afghan. *head spinning*


Maybe I should get off the computer and pick up my hook!


FYI, it was 2 hours from when I started this post to when I posted it. :-)

Happy crocheting!

Anniversary stashin'

Yesterday was our 28th wedding anniversary. Hubby and I headed to Houma LA to celebrate. We hit Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Booksamillion, Bed Bath and Beyond, iHOP, Chick-fil-A and Waffle House. Here is a photo of my anniversary present - my new "stash", courtesy of my hubby.

You'll notice there is a book included. The book is Super Finishing Techniques for Crocheters: Inspiration, Projects, and More for Finishing Crochet Patterns with Style (Betty Barnden). I chose this one for a few reasons. One is the section on fringe and tassels. Some interesting takes on those techniques. Other topics that are covered include: pockets, buttonholes, woven crochet, adding beads, picture crochet, surface crochet, embroidery, felting, and a multitude of wonderful edgings.

There were two other books I looked at and came this close to buying, but I didn't feel like I should buy three of them. LOL The first one that I didn't buy, but would put on my wishlist is A to Z of Crochet: The Ultimate Guide for the Beginner to Advanced Crocheter . That link brings you to the paperback version. If you like spiral bound, you can buy it here A To Z Of Crochet. I do like spiral bound myself though I think the one I picked up was the paperback version. There is a look inside feature for this one, but it really doesn't give you as good an idea of what is inside as seeing it in person.

I am almost positive the second one was Crochet Edgings & Trims (The Harmony Guides). I can't remember too much about it, but I know it was a Harmony book and included edgings. I thought it provided a good take on the topic. A pretty trim can really dress up a project.

The yarns I picked up included I Love This Yarn, Deborah Norville, Vanna's Choice, Impeccable, and Red Heart Soft. Not a bad haul. I usually try to grab at least 3 skeins of 3.5 ounce yarn, enough to make a scarf. I knew I wanted some white and off-white/ivory so I got that, and I wanted more colors to finish the Jacob's Ladder.

I hope to have pics of the Jacob's Ladder soon. I also have a couple scarves in progress, one a new design using my current favorite stitch - the berry stitch.

That's all for today. Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season and not getting too stress with all the holiday craziness. Myself, besides the important religious significance of celebrating the birth of Jesus, I'm looking forward to the Doctor Who Christmas special Christmas evening.

Happy crocheting!

Jimbo hook contest

I WON! Now this is a happy day. After my troubles of yesterday (fell while bringing empty boxes outside, and my kitchen flooded in unrelated events), this was a welcome thing to wake up to. You can read the entire post at Jimbo's here, but here is the significant part. :-)

Christmas Hook Contest WINNER IS "SANDIE P" ... (and some hooks for SALE)

SANDIE P IS THE WINNER OF THE CRIMMIS HOOK. SANDIE WAS #47, DRAWN AT NO SMALL EFFORT IN COUNTING, FROM 148 ENTRIES, INCLUDING THOSE WHO ENTERED VIA EMAIL. SANDIE IS A VERY ACCOMPLISHED CROCHETIER! YOU CAN VISIT HER BLOG AT http://crochetcabana.blogspot.com/
AND MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

CONGRATULATIONS SANDIE, I HOPE YOUR CRIMMIS HOOK MAKES LOTS OF NICE THINGS FOR YOU! AND THANK YOU ALL FOR ENTERING.... KEEP WATCHING, THERE WILL BE OTHER CONTESTS COMING.

As soon as it comes in, you will have pictures.

I sometimes mention Teresa's Art of Crocheting at YouTube. She posted yesterday the index of her videos. You can find it here.

Sandy over at the Bridge and Beyond had a request for an "ugly hat". My daughter and I were just talking about these "ugly" parties people have. I truthfully don't see the point. I'd be forever worried my favorite item would show up. LOL Regardless, she made the hat. I'm not sure if I would go all the way to ugly, but it certainly is interesting looking. You can see it here.

I also thought the post before that was interesting. Sandy took some small grannies and turned them to make diamonds and joined for a scarf. She is always innovative with her use of donated items. Hmmm I might have to try that myself.

Every time I get a Herrschner catalog in I stop at the Penguin Afghan. I haven't bought it because ... all that black. I have a hard time with black. But isn't it cute? You also get the book 2009 Juvenile Afghans with some other patterns. They have one kit available from each book 2008, 2009, 2010 in the catalog I'm looking at.

One last note, there is an excellent video on how to make a vertical ripple (wave, chevron or whatever you want to call it) scarf for Special Olympics. You can use it for other things as well, of course. Note that Special Olympics scarves must be 6" wide by 54-60" long.



There are 3 stitches between hill and valley. Hills are made by working 3 dcs in one stitch, and valleys are made by a decreasing over 2 stitches.  The beginning chain is 19.

That's all for now. Hope you're having a great crocheting day!


Happy crocheting!

mini police box and interesting videos

I had some fun last night creating these two squares. They are part of the afghan Patchwork Squares. You can find it at e-Patterns Central or in the Crochet World August 2010 issue (available online if you have a digital subscription).

The afghan contains four different squares. Of the two I made, the one on the left uses the berry stitch, which I just love. So simple. The one on the right uses popcorn stitches. I used to shy away from popcorns, but they are really not difficult. I had to do additional rows to get my square to the same size as the other one, but that was not really a problem. They are 8 1/2" square.

I added a round of hdc to the berry stitch top and bottom and sc to the sides to get it "square". On the popcorn, I worked additional rows plus an edging of  dc all around. That one was really off on size if they are supposed to be the same size, at least for me. Now I must admit I did not work gauge so it is most likely me and not the pattern.

My friend has received her gift so I can show photos of the special project. It is a miniature police box. :-) She is a big Who fan. I know I said I wasn't going to do another, but this one was small. Still the same number of color changes, but didn't take nearly as long to do. It came out a bit smaller than I'd hoped, but still quite serviceable and she is pleased with it. That's the important thing. FYI, this is a "side" view of the police box, without the phone opening.


Here are some photos to show the difference in size between the full size and the mini.

Since we recently talked about crochet courses, I grabbed on to this file that was posted somewhere - Ravelry I think. It is a skills check off list, so you can see how you fare. http://4h.wsu.edu/em2778cd/pdf/c0678.pdf

Here are some online classes that are available. These are not free, but paid courses.

KRW Knitwear. http://learningcenter.krwknitwear.com/

Crochetville http://www.crochetville.org/forum/

Then I found this cute pattern for a long "tree topper" hat for sale.
http://www.crochetmemories.com/patterns/santa-hat-tree-topper.php

Maggie Weldon posted a free pattern for a pretty Cathedral Window potholder on her Facebook page. Look in the tabs under Free Pattern.

I also was going through my YouTube favorites and ran across a few videos from which I thought you all might benefit.



The one above shows how to add chains if you miscount when you're making a long foundation chain.

Then I found this video showing how to make the first stitch of a row with a chain up sort of turning chain. It gives the first stitch of a new row the look of a regular stitch, rather than the thinner chains.



Isn't that neat? I wish I would remember these things when I'm working.

This one shows a different method of taking care of tails as you go. You can decide if this method is for you or not, but I found it interesting.



Also neat. It's great that these things are available so we can share our knowledge with one another.

I think that's all I have for you today. Don't you love when you go through files and find neat stuff? :-) I do.

Happy crocheting!

I PASSED!

Just got the news via e-mail ... I passed the CGOA MASTER OF ADVANCED CROCHET STITCHES AND TECHNIQUES course. My grateful thanks to CGOA and Karen George, who reviewed my swatches. I'm very pleased and excited. Was it worth the wait? Since I passed I can say definitively YES, indeedy. ;-)

It's been a wild ride, but I do think now it was worth it.

If you're considering taking the course, you have an advantage in that you can be prepared if there is a delay. As long as you understand that, I think it is well worth the time and trouble.

Here is the timeline of my experience.

July 12, 2010 Rec'd my course materials via e-mail
July 19 Finished course and rec'd letter to hold it until notified (on July 28 there were 58 ahead of me)
Nov 2 Rec'd request to mail portfolio to head office. I am among the top 15 (mailed it out that day priority)
Nov 5  portfolio was rec'd by CGOA office according to delivery confirmation
Nov 22 rec'd note that my portfolio was being sent to a reviewer
Dec 1  rec'd note from reviewer that she had rec'd the portfolio and I should allow a month for processing
Dec 12  rec'd notification that I passed!

Really, once things got moving, it didn't take that long. If you look at the numbers, it looks to me like they were processing about 15 portfolios a month and I was told mine would take about a month.

These are volunteers, so this is not the only thing they do. They have lives, jobs, kids, etc. and now it is the holiday season. Note that I received my notification on a Sunday so they are working weekends too.

Taking everything into consideration, I think they really are processing as quickly as they can while doing a proper job of it so that when you get the certificate, it has meaning.

In other news, here's a photo of the stocking I made using Maggie Weldon's granny mini stocking pattern. I thought it was a square since it is named "Granny Square Mini Christmas Stocking" but when I went to work it, I discovered it is a pentagon. Nice pattern. Do follow the instructions and sew the ends in when she specifies. This is important. *voice of experience*

Maggie specifies a G hook. I was a rebel and used an H hook and regretted it. I got a stocking that was really larger than I wanted. My bad. I think if I were making this again. I would use sport weight yarn and the G hook or even fingering and a smaller hook to get a tiny one.

That's all for now. I have a special project in the works, but can't post about it yet as it's a gift.


Happy crocheting!

this 'n that

Finished a dozen squares for Share a Square, but haven't been able to mail them yet. Hoping to feel better and get them out in the coming week. I don't like having things hanging about so I try to mail them off soon as I can.

I have to share this blog post I found with a photo of a retro granny square dress. You can see it at http://www.crochetbug.com/i-get-my-go-go-granny-dress-done/  I did not like the Cate Blanchett's dress, but this one is growing on me. She said it was like wearing an afghan, and I can see that. I might like to be "wearing an afghan" on the few cold days we have here which is actually NOW. LOL

I was looking for a hooded scarf pattern to try as hubby mentioned how hard it was to keep the scarf wrapped around his neck in the cold weather. We southerners are not prepared for the cold northern winters. I did make a hooded scarf out of a scarf I had on hand, and it was soooo simple, but I was not as happy as I might be with the pointy back end. It was okay, but not as good as I'd like. I know. Picky me.

I found a seamless hooded scarf at Ravelry - several in fact. I might try this one at Andraya's when my Swish superwash wool yarn comes in. I've never used a superwash that I can recall so I'm anxious to see how it works out.

I also found a hooded scarf at Crochet Spot. This one is for purchase. I'm thinking about it. The one I was looking at doesn't wrap around the neck, but hangs down with pockets. I can't tell from the photo just how the "hood" portion is created.  As to pockets, one could take extra length and fold them up to make large pockets, I'd think. In any case there are lots of good things in her store as well. Instructions for her projects are well done, at least the ones I've seen.

When I was tired of looking at scarves, I went through the links in my e-mail which included this one from Maggie Weldon at http://www.bestfreecrochet.com/?p=964 for a small stocking ornament made of a granny square. It uses triple crochets. Some time ago I had a similar stocking made with a pentagon. You can find it at the bottom of the tutorial on the pentagon. I'm going to have to try Maggie's though. Very cute.

Maggie also has a full size stocking pattern at the site. You can find it at  http://www.bestfreecrochet.com/?p=962 . I love the way she has been sending out e-mails for her for-sale patterns as well as including a free one. All of her patterns are nice. If you missed some of them you can see them in the Archives.

Guess that's it for now. Hope December is not too cold for you. It's been pretty cold here. In fact, I put on a long sleeve t-shirt today and I hardly ever wear long sleeves. I've watched a few news reports with lots of snow in the northern states. I feel sorry for the football players who have to play in the inclement weather. Hope they all stay healthy.

Happy crocheting!

squares

I decided to work on more squares and here are the beginnings of this go round. I used Kim Jiries Double Cross pattern for a couple and my daughter's X Stitch pattern for a couple.


My camera doesn't do well with the red/orange colors, so I will show you a picture of the square my daughter made when she designed hers.

For this foray, I chose to use the bright orange thinking there might be some very young children who would like bright colors.

I went through my Debbie Macomber hanging storage bag (I also have the single project bag and the small see through bag) and found even more of those small granny squares. I pulled out some yarn and brought those up to 6" so I could use them for Share a Square. Here is the result.

Happy crocheting!

neck cozy, Inox/Prym hooks

neck cozy

You may have noticed that I've been making a lot of scarves lately. heh

When trying on some scarves I had on hand (for his trips into the snowy land of Wisconsin), hubby mentioned he liked the shorter length.

With that in mind I started looking at neck cozies. How much shorter can you get, right? I found this pattern and decided to make one in manly colors. I haven't put the buttons on yet - there were no instructions but I guess you just sew them on. There were also no button holes designated as such.

wood pin

As it happened I had just received two cute little wooden needles, so I decided to use one as a shawl pin. I think it works quite well and very easy to use.

Megan Rose is modeling the neck cozy while wearing a hat I made last year while working up the Bulky Men's Hat. Of course, she is obviously not a man though both the hat and cozy were made with a man in mind. The hat is a bit large on her, but I didn't want her head to get cold. We have to take care of our models. She also insisted on wearing my jingle bell Christmas earrings. :-)

As I may have said before, my favorite hook is my aluminum made in Germany H Inox hook. These are no longer manufactured and I'm sure anyone who has one is holding on to it. They were made in Mexico at one point and there are some similar that say made in India, but I don't know if those were listed as Inox or Prym or some other. The Prym hooks replaced the Inox once upon a time and are listed as Inox in some places. They are not the same as the original, but are similar in coating and design. I find the length close to Bates hooks.


Every now and then I go off and try to find these again, hoping to run into some original ones. I saw the aluminum Prym hooks listed at The Pattern House and decided to get a couple in the H and I that I use most often.

The order was delayed, but to my surprise and delight, when it arrived, I found the cute little wood pins and also a slap wrist pin cushion. I love it and have already used it several times. 

This little item has really been a help since I've been lying on the sofa more in the past few days between the strained back muscle and this cold. The cushion  can be worn on the wrist as shown above, or on the finger as I have it here.

Unfortunately, two of the hooks ordered were plastic rather than aluminum. Debra has been very quick to correct this problem and also to find out from her distributor what happened. I couldn't be more pleased with the service. She is sending me Bates Quicksilver hooks to replace the incorrect Pryms. I will return the incorrect Pryms to her.

I can understand how the error occurred from the store end. The hooks look very much the same and, in the wrapper, you can't really tell the difference. As soon as I took it out of the package, however, I could tell the difference. (This is me glad that I didn't wait a few months to open them!)

If you drop it on the floor, it makes a very different sound too. Even so, I wasn't convinced I was right until I asked my husband his opinion. He immediately said the I hook was plastic. The plastic ones also bend slightly even when in the package. As a store owner, however, I certainly wouldn't want to have to try and bend every hook that comes in to be sure it is aluminum. LOL Also, the price must be different, even for them, so they would want to get the right item.

This little snafu made me curious, so I pulled out my grey hooks. The one on the far left is plastic. The two next to it are Pryms. The H Prym hook is about a quarter inch shorter than the others. The one on the far right is an Inox made in Mexico and the ones next to it are hooks that look like Prym but say Made in India. I don't have the original wrapper so I don't know if these were indeed Inox or Pryms or some lookalikes that I saw and tried. Most of them are the same in length, but the "true" Inox, to me, have the right weight / length / smoothness etc. Of course, hooks are very personal. Each crocheter works differently and what works well for me might not for you.

You know I have plenty enough hooks, but isn't it funny that if I'm in a hurry that one hook is the one I turn to.

Happy crocheting!