Yarn Yak

Did you know the CYCA (Craft Yarn Council of America) has all sorts of useful information for knitters and crocheters? 

For example, this chart for yarn weights is very handy. 
http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/weight.html

There is a fairly new yarn weight classification listed there - #7 Jumbo.  Click on the picture below to see all the categories but do go to the web site to get all the information. This is just a small snippet.

If you're a beginner crocheter or trying to teach someone who is a beginner, you might want to check out this page on how to read a crochet pattern. It gives a lot of useful information. It's written by the wonderful Jean Leinhauser who has since passed away (2011).  http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/tip_crochet.html

If you have a pattern with skill levels listed and you want to know where your own skills fall, check out this chart. http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/skill.html

You can get all the information together in one document if you download the pdf. 
http://media.craftyarncouncil.com/files/CYC_YS_s_and_g_rev2015_6.pdf

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who scarves

Two Doctor Who Season 12 crocheted scarves are completed. Here is a pic of them before tails were sewn in and fringe/tassels added.

Details:
658 rows per scarf for a total of 1316 rows.
23030 stitches (35 per row) for each scarf for a total of 46060 stitches.
53 stripes of color per scarf for a total of 106 stripes done.

Just as a matter of curiosity I timed myself working a row and it took about 90 seconds. So 987 minutes per scarf or 1974 minutes for both. That is 16.45 hours per scarf or almost 33 hours of work for both scarves (if worked continuously and if I did my math correctly). So if you wanted to make one of these and you had only say a weekend to make it, you could do it if you worked really hard at it. :-)

Remember you have to sew all those tails in and add the fringe too. The fringe will straighten that curly section. Let's say add 3 hours for that. I don't know how long it took. (BTW, there were in the area of 100 tails on EACH scarf!) I watched several episodes of Smallville while I took care of those things. ;-)

Let's estimate then that it took about 20 hours per scarf or 40 hours for two.

If one were to purchase one of these scarves at the minimum hourly wage ($7.25) it would cost $145 per scarf or $290 for two scarves, not counting materials. 

Material cost was $20.83 for yarn plus shipping/handling for one scarf. Let's conservatively say that shipping was about 6. So materials and labor would amount to approximately $172 for one scarf and $317 for two.

To summarize - for one scarf, about 8" wide - 20 hours @ $7.25 plus $27 for materials = $172.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, because people balk at paying over $200 for a custom made Doctor Who scarf, not to mention prices for other handmade items. By breaking it down, you can see that you are not getting fleeced. This is actually what it costs to make these items.

I might also mention that this scarf is a bit more than half the width of the actual 4th Doctor scarf so these figures are conservative if you were to hire out a screen accurate scarf. I also did not use the more expensive wool, but rather used a medium priced acrylic yarn.

Both scarves are exactly the same in color. 

Yarn used was:
Stylecraft Special DK Burgundy
Stylecraft Special DK Camel
Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Pumpkin
Stylecraft Special DK Copper
Knit Picks Brava Sport Cobblestone Heather
Stylecraft Special DK Khaki
Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle

If you are working a scarf all these colors are good but I would suggest replacing Cobblestone Heather with Stylecraft Special DK Graphite. The heather works but the original was not heathered.

Each scarf used 1 skein of the above colors for the body. Fringe uses quite a bit of yarn, but I was able to do 9 "tassels" on each end with the leftover from the two scarves. The original scarf had 12 but it was also wider.

I used a G hook and single crochet throughout, starting with a chain of 36. The finished width is about 8". (Original scarf was more in the 10-12" range and knitted). As always with yarn, even with the same manufacturer the thickness is not exactly the same which makes them work up slightly different.

Gauge is approx. 5 sc rows in 1".

The first two stripes of the first scarf were worked February 21. Then I had to wait for yarn. I really consider them begun February 28. They were completed as in picture 1 (with tails dangling) on Thursday, 3-12-2015 with fringe attached last night (March 15, 2015). That said, it really took 2 weeks working my little fingers steadily each day. That's pretty quick! I amazed even myself, but I did want to get these out quickly and I like having a goal in mind when I'm working.

Both scarves in my hall

Measurement was 11'5" relaxed, 11'7" stretched

Laid out on sofa

Closeup

I'm pretty happy with the way these two turned out. Next up, I'm going to use the rest of my yarn to make a double crochet Season 14 version. After that, I hope to make a Season 15 - which I've never done - probably using Vanna's Choice yarn since it's readily available, but we'll see how it goes.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

shopping

I haven't finished the football ghan. But I have a good reason. Really. :-) Hubby and I went out of town and while there discovered a Hobby Lobby with a Michael's right next door. We also passed a store called Yarn It (I think), but we were in someone else's car so we couldn't stop and didn't have time later. We only had time to hit the Hobby Lobby sadly, but I did a good bit of damage there. LOL

I went in needing ONE skein of yarn. I ended up with this, plus one skein which  jumped out of the picture.

As I looked at the yarn I decided I needed some "baby" colors. It seems every time I turn around, someone is having a baby. Of course, I couldn't decide which colors I wanted so I picked up a few.

I also wanted to compare those two brown Vanna colors for my Who scarves. I haven't looked at that yet, but will do so soon.

I have received two Hook and Needle Club kits in the past couple months that I haven't made yet. I hope to get to those soon as well. So many projects, so little time!

I've made so many dishcloths lately and working with cotton causes a little more stress on my hands as I apparently work tighter with cotton. It doesn't flow as easily for me. With that in mind, I took a break from cotton for a little while, but intend to go back and finish those bits of cotton yarn I have left in time and also make these two kits.

That's about it for now.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie