Crochet Headband and Summer Holidays

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Here's my latest crochet creation, it's a dinky little headband with a flower on. I was in Penneys the other day and they have loads of headbands which are just a bit of elastic with a fancy flower on it. I thought I could do something similar in yarn.

I mentioned at the very end of this post that I was trying out Aoibhe's Rasta Kitty hat. I'm using mini mochi yarn and while it's supposed to fingering weight I think it's a lot lighter than the yarn used in the pattern so it was turning out more like a beany than a floppy beret and I want a floppy beret. When I ripped it back I was left with the grey band that was the brim of the hat and I thought it could be given a new life as a headband. I crocheted a little flower using the grey yarn and a contrasting purply pink yarn and sewed it on. I think it looks quite well. I must make more of these as they are quick and look great. I might even write up the pattern too.

I'm off on my holidays on Thursday. We're off to the Passy/Chamonix area of the Alps in France. We're getting the ferry and driving through France. There was a bit of drama this week as I have some sort of lung infection and I had really bad chest pain. I then became allergic to the antibiotics the doctor gave me which isn't surprising as I've reacted to all the antibiotics I've ever taken. A trip to the A&E yesterday confirmed I have nothing major wrong. I still have other stuff that needs to be checked out so the battle with the Irish health system and waiting goes on. The A&E doctor was very nice and she is also a mountaineer so she gave me some good advice and most importantly told me to go on holidays. I may have to take it a bit easier than planned. Sitting in a nice house in France knitting and looking at mountains while eating mountains of cheese still sounds good to me. I've even discovered there is a Phildar yarn store near where we're staying.

Today I've been figuring out what knitting to bring on holiday. I may have no other packing done but I know what knitting I'm bringing, my priorities are straight! I'm going to knit the Gaia shoulder hug shawl (Ravlery Link) using a ball of Noro sock. It was either that or Damson by Ysolda using my Malabrigo sock yarn. I think the Gaia is a bit easier and I won't have to be constantly looking at the pattern so that swung it. I'm also bringing the scribble lace shawl which is easy mindless knitting so I should be able to finish it. I'll bring along my spindle as you can always find time for some spindling. I'm also taking my knitting without tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman so I can buy yarn to make something from it. Why? Check out Knitting Elizabeth, a blog where Irish knitters are knitting their way through the Elizabeth Zimmerman books. I'm hoping to join in and maybe even design my own jumper.

Talk to you all when I get back and happy knitting.

A Star Is Born

I fell out with crochet some time ago and ever since we've been on the rocky road to reconciliation. I wanted it to do things it wasn't comfortable with, it accused me of not understanding it. I've come to accept that crochet was right all along. I was trying to bend it to work in ways it didn't want to. Crochet and I have accepted this and we're ready to move on. I used to subscribe to Interweave Crochet and while it has nice patterns I think it is too focused on jumpers. Lace is where crochet shines, there are so many beautiful knitted lace shawls but more beautiful modern crochet lace designs are needed. After all isn't Irish crochet lace one of the most beautiful forms of lace in the world? Dora Ohrenstein explains all in this wonderful article. I promised crochet that I would go and learn more about it's roots and also my own as the history of crochet is tied up with Ireland's history. I started Aoibhe's rose rock which is an ideal first Irish crochet project. A trip to the Sheelin lace museum is also on the cards when I'm next in Fermanagh visiting a friend who lives near there.

I recently got the happy news that my sister in law is pregnant! Obviously a baby gift needed to be made. They live in Jamaica and post there is very unreliable, anything good is likely to be swiped and I wasn't taking that chance with something hand made. Luckily they were over visiting last week so I decided to make something quickly in time for the visit. So what to make? I couldn't make a wool jumper or a hat now could I? The poor baby would melt. I decided to make a blanket, I figured blankets are always useful even if they're not needed for warmth they can be used as a rug or even a sun shade. Now a blanket is a bigger project than I'd usually take on and I hoped I could get it done in time. I decided I'd crochet the blanket as it would be quick. I found the cutest baby blanket in Beth's little star afghan. It's actually a very simple pattern but it looks really effective. If you can make a chain and a double crochet you can make this blanket. I used Patons baby fab DK yarn in green and grey and I changed colour every five rows. I used a 5mm hook. It worked up really quickly and I managed to finish it in a mere three weeks. Last week my niece and I went to Dublinia and the zoo so there was some frantic hooking when I got back from days out. The zoo is really good these days, I loved the new elephant enclosure.

I've noticed that this year I've been making a lot of larger projects and managing to finish them pretty quickly which I'm really pleased about. This blanket turned out pretty cute but I'm sure it won't be a patch on how cute the new nephew is going to be. He'll be arriving in November!

Easkey Wrap

After finishing up Annis I started knitting away on my summer cardigan. I think it should be finished just as we come into the autumn which is fine as for once we're enjoying summer weather in Ireland. It would be too warm to wear the cardigan just now. Since I'm in no rush to finish the cardigan I started thinking of projects new and decided to cast on using some old stash. I feel I'm doing quite well with my stash recently. I've been working with what I have and giving away stuff I definitely won't use. I had five balls of salmon pink mirasol cotanani that I got on sale in This Is Knit ages ago  and was planning to use for some sort of vest. Plans changed however when I spotted Carol Feller's captiva wrap on her blog just after she published the pattern. I fell in love with the pattern and there was just enough cotanani to make it so I ear marked the yarn to make the wrap.

I cast on last week and am in love with the pattern and the yarn and how it's all working up. The pattern is wonderful, it's just so cleverly put together. It's worked side to side and the edging is worked along with the pattern. It's a very satisfying knit as you see the lovely scallops emerging and it's going so quickly. The yarn is lovely too, the mix of wool and cotton give a lovely crisp stitch definition. It's probably the perfect antidote to the intricacies of Annis. I love how it's turning out and can't wait to see it finished as I think it will be really wearable.

The scallops along the edge of this pattern and the shape of the wrap remind me of a wave as it’s just about to break. So I’ve named my version of this pattern Easkey after the famous wave break in Sligo. There’s a famous Irish surfer called Easkey Britton who was called after the wave so maybe it’s no wonder she grew up to surf. I’d imagine her throwing on this wrap in a casual way to warm up after catching a few waves in the cold clear water off the west coast. I might use it for the same thing even though I'm really terrible at surfing. I usually flop around the place on my boogie board getting odd looks from the real surfers, probably because my wetsuit is a state as it's more a canyoning wetsuit. It's got holes and is ripped from catching on rocks while abseiling down waterfalls.    

I also crocheted up a quick phone cover using some Kilcarra Donegal tweed for my husbands new phone. Crochet covers are great, so quick and easy. This one was done by chaining the right number of stitches to go along the bottom of the phone then double crochets all around the chain and working in the round until it was big enough to cover the phone. I've been crocheting some small things recently and have enjoyed getting my crochet mojo back. I think I'm ready to move on to something bigger. I'd love to do a shawl or something but I'm going to keep searching until I find a really nice pattern. 








Here's some dyeing I did recently. It's 100g of shetland top I got ages ago and was hoping to dye. I think it turned out really well.  I think it will look really cool when I spin it up.

Crimes against crochet

I went to the library last night and was browsing the craft section when I found a real gem of a book. Without delay I decided to get the photos I took of the works of textile genius contained in the book onto the blog. I figure it's Friday and everyone could use a good laugh before the weekend.

I've rarely laughed as much at a book before. The front cover is on the left and reveals that the book is called 'Glorious Crocheted Sweaters'. Glorious indeed. The model does look a little dubious though don't you think? Maybe that is because of the giant colourwork cardigan she is trying to rock. The neck tie isn't really adding anything here is it? To me it looks like a paper napkin that she forgot to remove after having some lunch.

Anyway onwards and upwards we have many more 'glorious' sweaters to see...

This looks warm but that's about the only thing you can say in it's favour. And if you have a thing for crocheting crazy clashing tartans then don't worry you can also clothe your children in them. You can use a lovely fuzzy mohairy yarn too and don't worry it won't fit them either. I'm sure these jumpers weigh like a million kilos as well as being stiff like a board due to the colourwork.  

 
Now on to something a little lighter and more suitable for summer.

Words almost fail me. What sort of a pose it that? I'm no fan of yellow and red together and this ensemble really isn't going to convince me. Also this is supposed to be a summer garment. I'm sure it's made of acrylic yarn too, this means if you wore this on a hot day you'd most likely melt and die both from embarrassment and heat exhaustion.

 
I love the look of the model in this picture. You can almost hear the thoughts inside her head. 'I'm sorry my child but yes I did crochet us matching pastel chevron stitch jumpers and now I'm trying to pretend to everyone that this was a good idea and that we look fabulous but I know we are living a lie. You poor innocent thing, you did nothing to deserve this.'

An aran style jumper is necessity in the snow and when teamed with ear muffs you will be warm and stylish. Sadly your dog on seeing you will slump into an existential ennui and lie on the ground and refuse to move.

Sadly we're at the last photo I took of the 'glorious' crocheted sweaters. I think I have saved the best for last though. By best I actually mean damaging, if you saw this picture and decided that really it would have been better for the world if crochet was never invented I can't say I'd blame you. The world might have been better off if we were all still wandering around butt naked than clothe ourselves in sweaters such as the ones you are about to see.

These poor poor children? Where are they now? What untold damage did this modeling assignment do to them? Did they ever get counseling? Are they sitting forgotten in some mental institution blabbering to themselves about the pain and trauma of being made dress like this? I wish I knew.

I suppose I must now provide you with a link to Amazon should you wish to rush out and purchase this classic of textile design. Actually for further laughs read the reviews. Most of them are positive! I hope there aren't people out there inflicting these designs that time forgot on their loved ones in this day and age.

The Yarn Room, Ashford, Wicklow

A little while ago we went on a camping trip to Wicklow. On the Saturday I decided to call in to The Yarn Room which is located in Ashford. The Yarn Room began life selling on the web and also as a stall in the market in Dun Laoghaire at weekends. That's where I first met the lovely Stephanie who runs the shop.  She has since gone on to make The Yarn Room a reality. It's a perfect little yarn shop and a yarny oasis.

As luck would have it I dropped in on a day when Stephanie was having a felting and spinning day. I learned how to felt a flower. I can't remember the ladies name but thanks to her for showing me how. I also spun some lovely colourful Icelandic fleece on an Ashford Traveler wheel. It's a lovely smooth wheel and I had a lot of fun spinning and then stopping for a cup of tea and some biscuits. I also loved the look of the plotulopi yarn which is unspun roving that can be spun or stranded together for colour work. As well as the fibre the shop is also filled with fabulous yarns. There's also a whole table of pattern books where one could lose a lot of time.

I did a bit of shopping too. I got a tiny 0.75mm crochet hook, a pack of merino fibre and a gauge for measuring the weight of spun yarn. I can totally recommend a visit to The Yarn Room. Thanks Stephanie!    

Last weekend I visited more yarn shops so I'll tell you about those soon. Work continues on my Annis shawl. It's going really really really slowly. I cast on but had to rip back and cast on again as the cast on edge wasn't looking very nice. The new cast on looks much better. It was going along quite nicely but progress is slow as I'm a slow knitter and there's 363 stitches in a row. Notice the 'it was' in the last sentence. Progress has now slowed to almost non existent. I'm knitting away but well nothing much is happening. I think I've spent the last few days on a purl row. The reason is the nupps, or little balls of screaming annoyance as I like to call them. They are fine to do on the right side but then when it comes to purling seven stitches together it's horrid. It takes forever, I'm even using the aforementioned tiny crochet hook to help. I think I will leave them out on the next row (row 11) and then do them on row 13. I know it's not correct but it may help me to finish the project with my sanity intact. I keep telling myself I only have eight rows to go until I reach the stocking stitch section. Watch this space.

Surprise yarn and funky phone covers

A wonderful surprise arrived in the post for me this week. The rather wonderful Under Me Oxter ran a fun Easter treasure hunt over on her blog. I searched the blog for clues and ended finding yarny treasure. I came fifth and my prize was two skeins of Debbie Bliss Donegal tweed chunky in red and blue. There were also some yummy chocolate Easter treats in the bag, they didn't survive for very long after this picture was taken. I was secretly hoping I'd win this yarn as I thought it would make some really nice felted slippers. I've been oogling felted slipper patterns since my own slippers gave up the ghost, I think felted slippers would be much cosier. If anyone has any pattern suggestions let me know.

I got a new smartphone for my birthday recently. It's a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 running android and it's fantastic so far. Obviously a fancy phone with a nice screen needs a cover. Being a crafter I couldn't go out and buy a phone cover, I needed to make one. So I dug out these lovely bright blue and green yarns on the left from the stash and set to work.

Mobile phone covers aren't the most environmentally friendly as they're usually made from plastic. An Irish company makes the leaf cover which is biodegradable. I reckon my wooly cover is more eco friendly as not only is wool biodegradable but it's also a renewable resource as well. I happen to think wool looks cooler too. Another advantage is that a wooly cover can be used to clean the phone as well.

It's a simple pattern using single crochet and stripes. The yarn is double knitting Debbie Bliss Prima which is bamboo and merino. I sewed it all up and added a flap. I then added buttons, lots of buttons. I love how it turned out. I must remember the addition of some funky buttons can turn an ordinary project into something really funky.  

 

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef in the Science Gallery

After all my talk of the crochet coral reef it's finally here! I recommend that you go dive in and immerse yourself in the woolly wonder that is the hyperbolic crochet coral reef at the Science Gallery, Pearse St, Dublin. It's running from now until the 11th of June and the gallery has free admission.

I went to take a look last week and it really is amazing. I've never seen so much crochet in one place. When you walk in you see a fabulous kelp forest made of videotape. The toxic reef follows in a riot of colour. It's amazing that all this is made from rubbish and the things that people throw away. It also makes you think about the plastic trash that is clogging up the oceans, polluting and destroying the coral reefs.

The Irish reef is upstairs and it's so impressive to see what Irish crocheters have come up with. Beautiful shapes and colours abound and it's quite overwhelming to try and take it all in. I'll definitely be back for another look around the reef. I was looking out for my pieces but didn't manage to spot any of them this time so further investigations will be needed.

At the back of the exhibition there is the Maths Chapel. Here the smaller jewels of the reef can be seen along with two Escher prints. I was pleased to see a staff member from the Science Gallery crocheting while explaining maths and hyperbolic geometry. It's such a fun contrast and most people are really surprised by it. You can see them do a double take when they are told all this complex maths underlies this crocheted beauty.    

Here's some photos but really they don't do the reef justice at all. If you can make the trip to the Science Gallery at all.

Here's a very nice video from the opening night featuring the ladies who started it all Maragaret and Christine Wertheim of The IFF.

Crochet Coral Reef

 
Since finishing off my hats I've been busily crocheting coral for the Irish Crochet Coral Reef which will be exhibited in the Science Gallery soon. On Saturday the 20th Feb from 1-3pm Margaret Wertheim will be back to talk about the submissions for the reef and finalizing the project before the exhibition. Go here to book tickets, they're free.  Margaret is a fantastic speaker so if you have an interest in the project you should go along.

Above is a photo of some of the coral I saw while snorkeling in Jamaica. It really made me think more about the crochet coral reef and how it's raising awareness about the disappearance of these amazing ecosystems. The coral I saw definitely provided inspiration for my own crochet. I used a lot of plastic which wasn't the easiest to crochet with but the effect is great. I like the recycling aspect of taking something that is destroying reefs and using it to raise awareness of the problem. The black coral below is made from Jamaican black plastic scandal bags. You can see some of the coral posing for pictures below. I particularly like the blue and green one that reminds me a bit of some amazing nudibranchs I saw in the National Geographic.

I made another large floppy white plastic coral which isn't pictured at Make night last week. This was also held in the Science Gallery. It was a fun night where lots of people turn up to make stuff. There were robots, electronics, origami, cupcakes and crochet. I also got to play with sugru which is one of the very best substances in the world. 

 

  

  

  

  

 

 

Crafty donations and a mysterious crocheted tache

It's been busy around here recently. I've been doing a lot of study for college and I'm still crafting away but the blog has been neglected. Progress is going well on my owls jumper. I've finished the main body and one sleeve and I've got about halfway through the other sleeve. I finally figured out how to do a make one properly with this project. I'm finding the sleeves hard going but I'm sure I'll start knitting much faster when those owls start to appear on the yoke. It's a very clever pattern as just when you're beginning to get sick of it along comes the yoke with a nice cable pattern with owls. I love how it looks so far. I''m also almost finished my Montego Bay scarf, I need to have it finished so I can wear it in Jamaica for christmas.

I've also been collecting free crafty stuff in the last few weeks. Has anyone noticed that when you do a craft people who used to do said craft decide to unload stuff they don't use on you? I've had yarn donated to me before and it usually doesn't work out. I tend to end up with a load of yarn I don't know what to do with and it sits there making me feel guilty about not using it. However this past two weeks I've had some donations of a crafty nature that were really wanted and useful.

A friend of mine mentioned to a friend of hers (in a complicated chain that always brings random stuff) that I was into spinning and she said she had a load of fleece and spinning equipment that she didn't want anymore. So I called to my friends and found a bag with some old fleece that I had to throw out as it looked past its best. There can be problems with old fleece if it hasn't been stored well as it can contain moths. Moths plus fiber equals bad. They lay eggs in the fiber destroying it. Ick! So I wasn't taking that chance. But the rest of the stuff was great. I bagged a lazy kate with two bobbins, a set of hand carders and a niddy noddy. What on earth is a niddy noddy I hear you ask.

A niddy noddy apart from sounding cool is a nifty device for making a skein of yarn. You wrap the yarn around the niddy noddy and because the ends are perpendicular to each other it makes it easy to wrap the yarn and to take it off. Much easier than using the back of a chair. The yarn I have wrapped is a silk merino blend that I left as a singles yarn. I'm really happy with it, its consistent and not over twisted even though it isn't plied.

The lazy kate and bobbins baffled me a bit at first. I have a lazy kate for my wheel and the bobbins from this one wouldn't fit my wheel, so what to do with them? Then it dawned on me, I could use it for my spindle spun yarn. I've been spinning this falkland top on my spindle for months now. I'm getting a bit bored of it at this stage and I wanted to spin something else on it. So I unwound it all onto the bobbin. I used a shoe box to make a support for the spindle to make it easy to wind the yarn off. I'm chuffed with it as it's incredibly thin and even. I might be good enough at this spindling lark to go treat myself to a shiny new spindle.

It gets a bit boring spinning top that is all one colour so I decided to dye the rest of the falkland top. Now this would have been a problem if it wasn't for the other crafty donation of the past two weeks. The rather wonderful Wyvernfriend mentioned she was getting rid of some pots that were no longer suitable for her new cooker. So I asked could I take them to use for dyeing. I called over and picked up the pots and a had a great chat with a fellow knitter. Much more fun than buying pots.

Today I had finished my projects and a literature review so some fun dyeing was in order before I start studying for my exams. Even Westley tried to get in on the act. Maybe he harbours ambitions to dye himself. I'm now imagining a blue, green and purple Westley. I dyed the top a blue colour from a pot of landscape dye I got by mistake in an order from Wingham and I also threw in a bit of green food colouring. It seemed to work. Santa is bringing me some proper dyes for christmas so I'll do a post with a tutorial about dyeing when I get them.
When dyeing with acid dyes you have to use separate dye pots that aren't used for food. That's why I needed the donated pots.



 
And finally I leave you with news that Sherlock Holmes is alive and sleuthing away in London...

One of my random conversations with Ais resulted in me promising to crochet a tache for her. I think she may have been feeling left out with all this talk of movember. Or perhaps she just gets cold cycling round London. How and ever I made the tache and extracted a promise that she would send me a photo of her wearing it. It winged its way through a postal strike and I was sent this great photo. All she really needs is a pipe to complete the look.
Anyway I think that's quite enough rambling on for one evening. This is getting to be a bit teal deer.
 



   

Irish Crochet Coral Reef

There are rare occasions in ones life when you hear an idea that gets you inspired and excited and gets your brain firing on all it's cylinders. For me Saturday was such a day. Margaret Wertheim of The Institute for Figuring  gave a talk at the Science Gallery in Dublin about her work and the possibility of setting up an Irish Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.  

I've talked about the crochet coral reef before so when I heard that Margaret Wertheim was coming here to talk I immediately applied for a ticket, the workshop was full in the end so lots of others obviously find the idea as fascinating as I do. A number of fellow Ravelry members like Irene, Orla, Fish and Mairead came along and it was great to meet them. Orla is a woman obsessed with hyperbolic coral, I think the organizers were stunned when she produced a large bag of fabulous crochet coral.

Margaret spoke about hyperbolic geometry and how crochet was used to make a mathematically correct model of a hyperbolic plane which had never been done before. Many people switch off when maths is mentioned but that wasn't the case with this talk. Margaret is a great communicator, she explained the maths by asking us questions and showing us real crocheted examples of what she was talking about.

She then explained how coral has a hyperbolic structure and that she and her twin sister decided to craft a coral reef based on hyperbolic crochet. Like a real coral reef which is made up of millions of individual corals the crochet coral reef is made up of bits donated by lots of people. Like a real reef the crocheters adapted and evolved the basic pattern to give a huge variety of forms. Margaret also talked about how global warming and pollution are affecting coral reefs. Reefs all over the world are dying, sadly they turn from beautiful vibrant reefs into sad bleached places. In response to this a toxic reef has been created made from recycled materials and plastics to raise awareness of how waste can have a devastating effect on these fragile natural ecosystems. You can watch Margaret talk in this TED video.

After the talk we did some crochet. Those of us who can crochet started making hyberbolic planes and pseudospheres. Those who couldn't crochet started learning. The hope is that we will organize workshops and get others involved so that we can all build an Irish reef. A Ravelry Group (Login Required) has been set up to help with this, so come along and join. The reef will be exhibited at the Science Gallery. I've already made two small bits of coral. I think I might spin some plastic yarn and make some toxic coral with it. It was such an inspiring day. After it I got out my books on the emergence of biological forms to see what other kinds of things I could possibly crochet. I saw a cool article about nudibranchs in the National Geographic, I think they could be crocheted in some wild colours. I think crochet coral will be coming up again on the blog, watch this space.

My talented friend Eddie from Beanstalk has promised to help out with my blog. He's going to redesign things so I'm really looking forward to having a shiny new look.

Smug Spinning Satisfaction

With my first ever yarn from my spinning wheel I had to make something and decided on a get the skinny scarf a free pattern from interweave crochet.

It's a really nice easy pattern and the scarf itself is perfect for wearing with the weather at this time of year. No sign of summer sun in Dublin yet. It spirals a bit but I've decided to call that a design feature. I'm so happy I've ended up with something wearable at end of the process of spinning the fibre and then crocheting it into something. Though as I do more crafts I find it's the process I enjoy as much if not more than the end result.

Two Crochet Shawls and Spinning Progress

It hasn't all been spinning here at Aran Brew, I've been doing a bit of crochet as well. I decided to make a lace shawl for the summer from the lovely Handmaiden Seasilk I ordered from the US last year. I finally decided on the Shill Shell Shawl pattern and got started. When you crochet something big like this the first row is always the hardest. So I went very slowly and finally got through the first row. After this it gets easier as it's a three row repeating pattern which is interesting enough to keep me interested but it's not so difficult that I want to give up. I find lace knitting really difficult and I was glad to find that crochet lace is a bit easier. Since you're only ever working with one stitch at a time it's easier to keep track of.

Here's what I've done so far. The silk yarn is amazing, it's the colour of the Caribbean sea.



Inspired by Jagienka over at 2 Knit Or Not 2 Knit I decided to make the Drops crochet shawl she had made. I want a triangular shawl for spring and this looks nice, quick and easy. My friend had given me some pink with silver yarn so I decided to use it in this shawl.



The spinning is going well. May I present my first bobbin of yarn.



Left to right we have white blue faced leicester, green merino, more blue faced leicester, a purple merino silk blend and a pink merino silk blend.I'm actually finding the blue faced leicester a bit harder to work with so I need to do more practice with it to get the hang of it.



I decided to spin this pink merino silk blend as my very first full project on the wheel. I got this combed top from Wingham. It weighs 100g so I'll spin it onto one bobbin until I have about 50g left and spin the remaining 50g onto another bobbin then ply the two together. It's going well. I'm finding it easy enough to get a rhythm going. As you can see in the picture there are some bits that are a bit too twisty. These will even themselves out when I ply it. I'd prefer to have it a bit too twisty than too loose and falling apart. I wonder what this yarn will be when it grows up?