Yellowbird Yarn Room

Mama needs a new crochet hook

Who knew a metal table could be so rough on a metal crochet hook?  So glad I wasn't using my beloved Laurel Hill!

And after sewing in ends on a table, the thought of sewing in ends on a nice little project that sits comfortably on your lap seems significantly less daunting.

I was quite sad to have to miss Open Knit this week, but it was definitely a day to wear the Mom hat and I did so with gusto!  In fact, during our not-so-pleasant visit to the doctor (really, who doesn't dread the throat swab?) my little man and I came up with a crafty plan. 

And, ooooooh, it's a good one!  

But, alas, I cannot tell you now.  If all goes well, I should be able to tell you all about it within the week.  Suffice it to say that the nearly three year quest for something the boys can make themselves to earn a little extra pocket money may finally have come to an end!

In the meantime, I have my new metal crochet hook and I can't wait to get back at that table come Monday morning - hope to see you then!

Can you still call it a "yarn bombing"...

...if it happens over the course of weeks and with prior approval?

Yup, this could take a while.

My new (can't remember when) slouchy hat

Last year, on New Year's Eve, I started myself a beret.  Finished it in a couple of days, then realized that the beret was not a good look for me.  So I frogged the whole thing and started over, going slouchy this time and just wingin' it.  Found an old lace pattern somewhere (can't remember where) and did a little math...

Got about halfway done before I had to set it aside for something else (can't remember what), and picked it up again earlier this year.  Luckily, I wrote down the lace pattern I picked or I would have had to start over again! 

Finally, I got my hat! Yay!  Would you like to see it?  Great!  Just gimme a sec to teach the DH which button makes the camera turn on and which takes the picture...

     What, can't see the hat?  Sorry, let me tell my husband to get a better shot.

Alright, that's a better angle, but just a little far away...

Ok, nevermind.  Shall I just show the other way to wear it now?

Hang on, I'm not ready!

Got one?  A real nice lose-up of the hat and the lace pattern I used so everyone can see?  And you didn't really get my face, right, just the hat?  Oh, good, 'cause I have no make up on and I'm feelin' quite silly and sure would hate to have to try to take these pictures myself.  Thank you, dear.

I'm sorry to say that the only thing I have written down is the lace pattern I found, I believe I could figure it out (as opposed to trying to remember it) if someone were interested. 

Yay, slouchy!

It's Super Bowl Sunday...

...and I live in a house full of boys.

Unfortunately, I've never really understood the appeal of football.  I'm much more of a baseball kinda gal.  I don't think I'd mind watching soccer.  Or tennis when my kids are playing.  And golf is okay when I'm knitting lace or something that requires my full attention.  But football's just not my thing.  The rules hold no sense for me.

My husband still holds out hope, though.  Not his breath...just hope.  He's a wise man.

Now, my sons have never been overly interested in watching sports.  Not even baseball (with the exception of actually being at a game because...well...that's just a good time!).  Sports on TV always just seemed to bore them, and they never showed any strong allegiance with any particular team.  

But something changed over the last year.  I don't know what happened.  Perhaps their father's enthusiasm just finally won them over.  Perhaps the oldest has simply reached an age when he enjoys the comaraderie and banter with his friends, and the youngest has followed suit in the way that younger brothers do.

It's a mystery.

But there's one thing I do know:  my house has exploded in black and gold.

Yes, my husband is a Steelers fan.  The only thing he has ever asked me to knit for him was a stocking cap that came clear down his back, had Steelers stripes, and the Steelers logo positioned on the back of his head.  And I hadn't done much colorwork by that time.

I've done even less since.

No evil 'round here...

For Christmas this year my boys each got a fleece Steelers blanket and a Steelers quilt made by my mom, and my husband got a Steelers rice pillow (aka bed-warmer), also made by mom.  Since then my oldest has made a couple of ball caps out of Duck tape in Steelers colors, and both boys decided that they had to have arm warmers with Steelers stripes.

Well.  I may not get football, but I do get knitting for team spirit.

It's just a shame their team's not in the Super Bowl.

Good things come to those who wait.

Like a pair of earrings that I love.

A chunky ring, made of cutlery, that actually looks decent on my stubby little fingers.

A non-frosted, easily-applied tinted lip balm.

Real.  Denim.  Jeans.  For women.  Boot cut, mid-rise, 100% cotton (not a single fraction of a percent of stretch of any kind), reasonably-priced, old-school jeans.

Now.  If only someone would make a big, deep, feed-sack of a purse with two long straps that will stay on my right shoulder (even over my heavy winter coat) after I throw it on effortlessly with my right hand (because my left if busy grabbing my travel mug) and is made out of ultra-soft and supple chocolate brown leather.

Well, I can't make that myself.  But I can make this.

Someday.  But I am still in the midst of several different projects at the moment so I will have to wait.  Patiently. 

But that's ok.  Apparently, it works for me.

There's a time in knitting for power tools

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

I was whipping up a couple of Baby Brainmonster hats recently and my 10 yo pulled out the camera as I prepared some buttons for the eyes.

My sweetly supportive husband bought me my Dremel in honor of my college-metals-class days.  He rocks like that.

As a mother who has survived the baby years twice over, I am well aware of the surprising physical capabilities of a little one when it comes to the allure of googly eyes.

I mean, really...they are irresistible!

So when I made my first Baby Brainmonster hat last year for my cousin's new baby I put a fair amount of thought into how to baby-proof them.   I had found googly eyes that were made to attach to stufftie-type things, but they had posts in the back.

Fine for stuffties.  Not fine for little baby heads.

So here's what I came up with:  take some black buttons (very slightly larger that the googly eyes) and sand the middle of them to help the glue do its job, sew the buttons onto the hat with as many stitches as the holes will allow, and use enough super-strong-industrial-type craft glue to ooze out around the edge of the googly eyes when you stick them onto the buttons. 

There is a creepy cuteness to the hats when it's just the buttons, I must say.

Et voila!

These two finished Baby Brainmonsters have already found new homes, and I'm working on making more for the booth, but with the holidays on the way...  If you're interested in one, your best bet is to contact me at ataylorchrien(at)roadrunner(dot)com and place a special order since I have a number of other things I'm working on for the booth, too.  But I'm always happy for a particular excuse to whip one of these little guys up because, hey...they make me giggle!

Thoughts on the Drop

The drop of the spindle, that is.

A couple weeks ago I attempted to spin a bit of fluff for the first time.  I'd watched this video that made it look so easy...

Well, it wasn't too bad, but it was significantly trickier than anticipated.

I've never been the most coordinated of souls, and using a drop spindle does require that the right hand know what the left hand is doing (not too mention the legs!).  Then there's knowing how thick the fiber needs to be before drafting, then how much you can draft without the fiber pulling apart, then getting the spindle to spin well and the twist to work it's way up properly and how to stop the spindle from spinning and when to stop and wind the new yarn around the shaft...

phew.

I like to think of my finished product as a thick-and-thin (though mostly thick) art yarn. 

I definitely intend to try again at some point (there is far too much lovely fluff out there to play with!).  I can't say that I personally felt the same passionate obsession that I felt when I first learned to form a stitch, but it is certainly a challenge that I cannot ignore. 

After all, those lovely and stormy-looking Dyeabolical braids do taunt me so very much every time I go into River City.

The thing is, I started with the drop spindle because...well...it's a vastly more economical way of testing my spinning skills than the wheel and I'm really quite glad I did.  I do see the potential.  But I also see the potential for a spinning wheel to be much easier to use.

Some day.

In the meantime, I will do the drop again.  Occassionally.  It's a nice change of pace.

(The results of my first spinning efforts may be seen as knit into the Yarn Tasting.  I used about a third to a half of the fiber that comes in the basic drop spindle kit from Spinner's Choice.) 

By golly, I did it!

Do you see it up there, on the right, at the top of the page?  It's a link.  A link to a pattern.  A pattern for my hat that I designed all by my little self.

yay!

And it has a new name, too.  I was calling it just the ponytail hat, or the convertible ponytail hat, but a while back I was showing it to someone who said "it's like a little cardigan for your head!".

And thus we have the "Cardigan Ponytail Hat"!!!

So the pattern is now available to all, for your knitting pleasure (personal and non-profit use only, please).  If you knit one  I would love to hear about it!  You may leave a comment here, if you like, or drop me an email...or post on Facebook...

But I do have another option for you if you happen to be tooling around on Ravelry...

I have a page officially all set up right here, so people can either admire the versions others have come up with or post pics of their own for others to admire.  I, myself, have recently finished knitting my fourth version (two of which are available for purchase at River City as of this writing) and hope to have pictures of all of them on the Ravelry page soon.

I'm really excited about this and I can't wait to see where it goes (48 hours after creating the Ravelry page and it's already in 15 queues and I've gotten 4 comments...so cool!).  Hope you enjoy it, too!

It was fate. Fate, I tell you.

 

I saw Tahki's new yarn, Boulder, for the first time back in April and fell in love, laughing all the way.  This is one giant ball of yarn!  I've seen smaller pillows!  It is fantastic and fluffy and fun, and everyone who sees it has the same initial reaction as myself.

It is just so irresistible!

Now, upon consulting the label you will find that the recommended needle size is 35.  Yes, that's right.  35.  This is not a size that I have been able to acquire, in wood, through my usual sources.

Enter Joan Braun.

Joan came into River City several weeks ago during Open Knit to talk to me about some needles she had seen online.  They were square, and the site boasted about the benefits of square needles over round for easing strain.   

She was intrigued.  She said she knows her way around a woodworking shop (her sons make beautiful pens, by the way) and we had a very interesting discussion on the technicalities involved in acquiring proper gauge.  As the discussion evolved, I found that Joan was interested in making needles for the shop.   Including the size 35 that I would need in stock as soon as Boulder became available. 

I also found that she knew my husband and his family.  Oh, those six degrees... 

Another visit later, Joan showed me what she'd been working on and I was giddy!  I officially had my own set of size 35 straights, we had another very interesting discussion about proper gauge, and we compared a few more notes.  

 
Joan's square needles.  I love 'em!

Last week, just a day after the nice UPS man left a box of Boulder on my doorstep, Joan sent me an email saying she'd be at Open Knit with a whole assortment of goodies.  And, boy, had she been busy!

She made straights in standard sizes, a few sets of square needles, some size 35 circulars (pictured at the top of this post), and a cute little tool for fixing dropped stitches.  She even made the bags to store them out of repurposed material!

I could go on all day, but then it would take that long for this page to load.  If you would like to know more, contact me or come on in during Open Knit where you may just find me working on my Boulder scarf (which will be on display at River City between times).

 

And the Yellowbird was happy.

What have you been full of?

My weeks have been very full.

Full of working on long-stagnant household projects thanks to parents visiting here.

 
It took a few years, but I love my bathroom!

Full of holiday events while visiting parents there.

 
Did you see this guy in your parade?

And full of propping up the bum foot everywhere.

 
I might want to hold on to this boot.  Knowing me, I'll probably need it again someday.

I have been working diligently all the while on my Clapotis, and it's almost done!  I should be able to block it out Monday so that it will be ready just in time for my annual fancy-date-night with the husband.  Yay!

Now, I will be honest and admit that Clapotis was not my ideal pattern for this yarn.  My ideal pattern would have been a more delicate lace.  Something more complicated and feminine (don't those two words go hand in hand?). 

But that by no means diminishes my love for this project.  It is still lovely and airy (a simple femininity?) and I cannot wait to see how blocking finishes the final fabric! 

And, having never worked with anything finer than a sport weight yarn for an entire project, I would absolutely recommend this pattern as the perfect primer for working with a lace weight.  (I never once felt like throwing it across the room!)  Just remember that if it's mohair you will need a very delicate hand and a great deal of patience with the dropped stitches.

So there you have it.  That's what I've been full of.  How 'bout you?