an embarrassment of stitches

WiP pics, as promised, and a few completed projects as well:

blanket in earthy colors - round and round we go!



baby blanket in the usual pastel colors (though you may not be able to tell from the picture)

I find that textured or fuzzy yarn is harder to crochet with because it's harder to see the individual stitches. Bloody obvious, I'm sure, but I've only recently figured it out. It's not so bad to knit with, but the least stressful way to use it with a hook is to do squares.


a shawl complete with fringe in pretty watercolory blues and greens - I get a lot of compliments at work when I wear this, especially with a black turtleneck top.


beginnings of another blanket - this is boucle yarn in a raspberry color, which is much prettier than the picture shows; self-striping too; it's super soft and comes in huge skeins (I have 3 in my stash, plus 3 more in a turquoise/brown mix)


Lyra modeling the surf and turf blanket mentioned in an earlier post


Tristan modeling the latest in stripes - 11 colors from the Vanna's Choice line, with edging thankyouverymuch. My mom says my grandmothers would be proud of how even my stitches are. They might frown at my edging though - since you change colors every two rows there were a lot of ends to weave into the edging on one side, so that side looks a bit lumpy. I like the colors though, and the kitties love to lay on it.

I've been reading a lot of craft blogs lately. People are doing amazing things with yarn, and they're smart enough to blog about it. The ones I read most often:

The Crochet Dude - pretty much just what the title says; he's a designer out of Houston

Craft.Rock.Love - a designer out of Austin with really cool red hair

Modeknit/Knitting Heretic - Annie Modesitt, famous in the industry

Crazy Aunt Purl - if Bridget Jones were American and if Mark Darcy married her and then left her because he was having a mid-life crisis and she discovered knitting as a form of therapy, this is what she would have written. Start from the beginning. Seriously. Read it all.

And that's your yarn news for today.