swirly hook

I have a new hook in my collection and, of course, couldn't wait to show it to you.

If you can read it on the picture, it is a Boye K hook from Addicted to Yarn over at Etsy. I've worked with Katy Doty before and she always does a fabulous job on her hooks and is a pleasure to deal with. I had at first told her I'd wait for a different size as I don't generally use a K hook much, but I kept on a-looking at it and I just couldn't resist. The colors are so "me". :-)

If you hurry, you can get the other swirly hook over there. It is a size H and in darker colors.

Turning back the page to the Who scarf I was talking about yesterday, I was thinking about it and thought you might like to make it easy on yourself for figuring. If you start off with 4 rows of single crochet to 1", that would make it very easy to figure the quarter inches. This might work best for size using an H hook with my tension, but I've already begun with the I hook so I'm going to continue with that one. I don't want my scarf to be too stiff also. If you go with a smaller hook, you might consider a sport yarn.

There are so many different options to use with this scarf, I think I could do nothing but this and spend many hours doing scarf after scarf using a different row count option. heh

Are any of you going to try your hand at it? Give a shout out if you're going to try it and which count you want to go with. I would be glad to figure the 4 row to an inch for you and create a file for that. My I hook counts won't be done until, well, until I'm done. LOL

I am also anxiously awaiting another package with a set of very special hooks.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who scarf S12

No, I didn't finish edging the S18 scarf. Don't fuss. :-) I will do it. In the meantime, however, I started a season 12 scarf. This is my first S12. I am using the darker colors, based on the recommendations of Gene Fender at the new Doctor Who Scarf site. He gives several suggestions and I chose what I liked after ordering all the colors.

However - and this is a big however - I am not using anyone's row counts! I looked at Gene's "inches" scarf where he tells you how many inches to work in each color (on a picture). [Click on "inches". It is a pdf file.] Then I made myself a little chart so I could write in how many SINGLE CROCHET rows it takes me to get that many inches done with an *I* hook. It's approximate because it's hard to measure a quarter inch but it gives a good idea. Let's face it, nobody is going to come look at it and measure it and say this is not EXACTLY like Tom Baker's scarf. Even Tom Baker's scarves are not all the same. LOL

So here is what I have done so far.

I will remind you of the BBC colors and the corresponding yarn that I chose for THIS scarf.

Purple = Vanna’s Choice Burgundy
Camel =  I Love This Yarn light taupe
Mustard = Bernat Waverly Gypsy Gold
Rust =  I Love This Yarn Terra Cotta
Grey = Vanna’s Choice Taupe
Greenish Brown = Bernat Waverly Bark
Bronze = Vanna’s Choice Toffee


If you want to follow along with me on this scarf, here are my current row counts with these colors and my *I* hook. If you use a different hook and different yarns you can still use these counts, but your finished scarf will most likely be different in finished size - which is okay!

These are not Tara or Gene or Chris' counts. These are MINE and made for single crochet using an I hook and MY tension but using Gene's inch calculations.

gauge is 13 sc and 16 rows = 4"

3  - burgundy
25 -  lt taupe
8 - toffee
4 -  gypsy gold
10 - terra cotta
3 -  burgundy
22 -  taupe
10 - bark
3 -  gypsy gold
14 - lt. taupe
8 - terra cotta
3 -  toffee
6 - burgundy
22 - bark
4 - gypsy gold
9 Taupe
4 - terra cotta

If you don't have those colors but want to come along for the ride, here are the basic BBC colors with row counts and you can choose whatever you have in your stash that comes close.

3 -  purple
25 - camel
8 - bronze
4 - mustard
10 - rust
3 - purple
22 -  grey
10 - greenish brown
3 - mustard
14 - camel
8 - rust
3 - bronze
6 - purple
22 - greenish brown
4 - mustard
9 - grey
4 - rust

One additional note. The BBC original PATTERN does not follow exactly the original SCARF. Tara, Gene, and Chris are in agreement on the order of colors even though they use different yarns to represent the colors. The original BBC pattern leaves out two sections of "grey". Guess they didn't want anyone having exactly the same scarf since this was written at the time the original scarf was being used I think. Anyway, since I am going for the look, not the pattern, I include those two grey sections in my counts.

The above is about 3 1/2 feet of scarf which I have done so far. Obviously, I don't know what the count will be for the next sections until I do them, but I'll keep you posted.


Why not grab a hook and get to work on your own scarf? Then we can compare our efforts. If you look at photos of Tom in the scarves, you will see they look different depending on lighting anyway. :-)

I really like these yarns. I had never used the Bernat Waverly before but I like it. The colors are nice too. They are deeper colors, a darker shade than the Vanna mustard I used before and the ILTY sungold. It seems appropriate for a "man's" scarf.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

pet snuggles

Remember back in February I was interviewed by Underground Crafter? Marie and I are both part of a yahoogroup called Crochetlist. Each month Crochetlist sponsors a charity effort with a sponsor from the group. In June the sponsor was Marie and the request was for pet snuggles for a shelter.

I admit that I sometimes skim the group messages because there are so many and the information passed me by until a few days ago, at the tail end of the month.

My daughter has two shelter dogs and I have had shelter dogs in the past so I was very happy to participate in this effort. Thankfully, I was not too late. I grabbed my hook and yarn and set to work. Marie provided patterns especially for this effort, and I did use one of them, but since I was so late I turned to tried and true straight plain stitches for the other two.

Here is the result.

Pets, like humans, come in all sizes and shapes so no matter what size you do, it can be serviceable. There were some suggested sizes, however, and my goal was to make something in that range.

Here are the details of the three I completed.

The red one is a three strand Lion Brand Jiffy paprika, grape, and chili. It is straight single crochet. Finished size is 14" x 17 1/2".

This one used one of the patterns from the packet on Ravelry. I grabbed whatever yarn was handy in my leftovers and I think it came out pretty good. The chain suggested did not come out to the size I expected. It was smaller than I expected but still serviceable for a small animal. Finished size is 12" x 14 1/2"

This one is a double strand. I had that Red Heart Soft pink with the little brown in it now and then which I am afraid to use. I figured pets will not care so I used that pink (and never even saw a bad spot!) and combined it with other colors. Finished size of this one is 15 1/2" x 17 1/2". There are 10 rows using each color. One was a light blue perhaps Simply Soft. One was Red Heart Super Saver - I think it was the Aruba Sea and one was an aqua but I don't know what brand. It was a leftover ball.

All three are headed out to Marie.

I still have that Season 18 scarf to edge. I so hate edging single crochet. You have to really concentrate to get it to stay flat. *sigh* But the original definitely was edged in rust color (paprika for me) so I am determined to do it. :-) Wish me luck!

I also have another regular scarf started - Season 12.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie