Catching Up

It seems like yesterday, and it seems like a long time ago. The last time I posted was while I was at TNNA (The National Needlearts Association Trade Show). It was a fun, tiring, exciting time! A lot has been written about it on other blogs- check out The Crochet Dude, and DesigningVashti. I forgot to bring my camera, so I couldn't take pictures, but we were in Darla's class together. And yes, Drew did finish his washcloth first! (We won't talk any more about that! :-)
After TNNA, I had family visit from Hawaii, and then I visited family in Boston. When I came home, I had projects to finish and send in to various companies, and some tech editing to work on. I also was going to be teaching 6 classes at the Knit and Crochet Show in New Hampshire in July, and I had handouts to finish writing (3 were new classes) and samples to make, gather, and pack. Lots of stuff to do in a short time. (I tend to work better on tight deadlines!) So, my blog, unfortunately, was neglected.
I thought I would be able to start blogging again while I was at the conference, but when I was finished teaching two classes a day, I didn't want to do anything but put my feet up and rest. (We won't tell WHERE I put my feet up, will we?) There were also meetings, the Yarn Market, more meetings, the Keynote Address, more meetings - all happening in the evening. So, no blogging. But check out The Crochet Dude, DesigningVashtiand Nexstitch to find out what was going on. When I came home, I had lots of stuff to catch up with - paper work, organizing, sleeping. But this past weekend, on a car trip to the beach, I was able to swatch!

This is what I did. I wanted to make some post-stitch swatches, and wanted some different yarns to work with. I went to a local Michaels, because I knew they had a good selection of Sugar 'n Cream yarn. I forgot that they were getting ready to move, though, and when I got to the yarn department, I really had to search. Most of the shelves were bare, the yarn was in carts, and all I could see was some old colors of SnC. But I was searching for the new colors. I finally found them, on sale even, at the end of an aisle, one aisle away from the rest of the yarn. I bought a whole bunch of skeins. (Which I felt was justified - I had just given away about 40 skeins of my stash of SnC in one of my classes at the Knit and Crochet Show!) You probably are thinking, why would I want to swatch with SnC, aren't you?

Right before I went to NH to teach, I read a blog post (yarnoverpullthrough)about a sweater design that I had in Interweave Crochet, Spring 2007. My sweater was made with Classic Elite Provence, a great mercerized cotton yarn, light in weight, wonderful to touch. (I promise, I'll swatch with that yarn soon, and write about it more!) The blogger posted a picture of the sweater, and it looked wonderful! It was in a deeper purple than the one I had made. She had written on a message board that she changed the yarn, so I asked her what yarn she used. Her answer? Yes, it was Lily Sugar 'n Cream. I really couldn't believe that! It was cotton, yes, but completely different than Provence, heavier and more coarse. I used SnC alot in the past - for dishcloths, totes, bags, etc. But never for a garment like my sweater. So I was intrigued, and decided to revisit the yarn. Of course, it didn't hurt that I needed to buy some more for my stash - to replace the skeins I had given to my classes! :-)

So - my post-stitch journey to the beach began!
I started with some old variations, but with the new yarn.





These swatches are worked with an H8/5.00mm Susan Bates hook in the new colors; two of them are worked in the "twists" and one is "Soft Ecru". I wanted to see if the "twist" colors would hide the stitch definition, and if the stitches would get lost in the "soft ecru" color. The post stitches that are in these swatches are clearly visible, so the new colors don't hide the stitches. When I was working these swatches, I couldn't help but notice how soft the yarn seemed - much softer than I remembered. And how easy it was to crochet. The "twists" had a little tendency to split, however. I had to be extra careful with them.








These last three swatches are worked in older colors of SnC yarn. The stitches are still plainly evident, but the variegated yarn on the left swatch pools. Sometimes that can be effective. Sometimes it can be distracting. One way to get rid of the pooling is to work with two skeins alternately. One or two rows with one skein, one or two rows with another. If you don't want a gazillion ends to weave in, work two rows of each yarn, and carry the other one up the side. The one thing that I did like, when I worked with these older colors - the yarn was soft, and not as scratchy as I remembered.

I've used Sugar 'n Cream a lot in my crochet. It's good for toys, tote bags, purses, dishcloths, and anything else that needs a firm stitch and a strong yarn. With a smaller hook, G or H, it makes a sturdy fabric. With a larger hook, it creates a drapey fabric. And it's great to swatch with and to try out new stitches and stitch patterns with, because the stitches don't get lost. The pluses - there are so many colors to try, you'll never get tired of it. And - it is inexpensive, (less than $1.50 in my area) and usually on sale somewhere. The minuses - can't think of any. Except I'm hooked on the new colors, and want some more! So - it looks like I may have to go back to Michaels and I don't have the time today! :(

Friday, TNNA

What a day! I took a class with Darla Fanton - Illusion Crochet - lots of fun, great technique. And Darla is such a good, thorough, helpful teacher. The only problem with the class is that it was EARLY - 8 a.m. One thing that was interesting about the class - a couple of us (Drew, Vashti and I, and another class member) who finished our projects (a crocheted washcloth using the Illusion Crochet techniue) compared the sizes of the washclothes we made to each other's and to Darla's. We used the same size hook (except Drew), but all of our projects were different sizes. Just goes to show!
After class, we were able to relax a bit, have some coffee, and then some lunch, and then we helped to set up the TKGA/CGOA booth. The theme of the booth is a soda fountain, and yarn balls are used as "ice cream". The booth design got a lot of positive comments in January at the San Diego TNNA show - I'm sure it'll be the same here.
We set up the booth, then we went to help check in some of the late arriving fashions for the fashion show. After a couple of hours of oohing and aahing over the great fashions that the yarn companies were bringing in, we were finished - so we sat and relaxed and met and talked with some friends. Then it was time to see the fashion show and all those great fashions. There were 126 fashions, but only 2 1/2 crocheted fashions. That was disappointing!

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

TNNA

I just arrived at TNNA in Columbus - and can't wait to see all the new yarns that the yarn companies will be showing! I've been swatching with some new yarns lately - new to me, and new to the market - and I'll be looking for others and I'll be posting about the yarns soon.
We drove to Columbus - about 8 hours in the car - and of course I used the time to crochet. (No, I wasn't driving!) I worked on a sweater, and a couple of other little projects. Got a lot done, and the time went quickly. Once we got here, we caught up with some friends, other designers, had dinner, and talked until the wee hours. I have a class to go to tomorrow - I love taking classes when I can. I'm usually teaching classes at the CGOA conferences, and don't have time to take any there, so it's a real treat for me to take another designer's class. I always learn something!

The market opens on Saturday - so I'll be posting about the new yarns after that!

Up/Down stitch

Many years ago - I crocheted a sweater in an up/down stitch - it was worked in a soft acrylic worsted weight yarn - Dazzleaire I believe. In Denim, of course! It was my favorite sweater, until I discovered a hole in it - I don't know how it got there. I tried to fix it, but I can still see the hole. Or where it was. It's a fairly easy sweater to make, and I've been looking for the perfect yarn to rework it in. So, in my never-ending quest for that perfect yarn, I swatched Fantasy Naturale in the up/down stitch. Here is what it looks like.

I should have worked this one in denim, because, after all, that's the color I'll make the sweater in. But, it looks good in the light green, and it would probably look good in any of the colors. Even the new colors that look like tweed. I might have to make a couple of these sweaters for me!

It makes a solid fabric, but not a heavy one, and an interesting fabric - not one like a plain sc or dc. This might just have to be my next project!

I have some more projects I want to take pictures of - a couple of tapestry crochet baskets, using Fantasy Naturale. You'll see how the yarn really shows the stitches and the color changes.

I welcome any and all feedback on this yarn - if you haven't tried it, you really should. As I've said before, it's a favorite of mine! It's not expensive - and one skein will go a long way. You can swatch along with me (sal).

I'll let you know the next yarn I pick to swatch - real soon!

Loop Stitch

Usually, I work loop stitches in mohairs or chenilles. (I have done loop stitches in ribbon yarn and regular worsted weight acrylic, though.) I decided to try the loop stitch in Fantasy Naturale - I can't believe I never tried it before. Here's the result.

I just made a small swatch - but I can tell that this would be an interesting fabric. It wouldn't be as soft as mohair or chenille - but it would make an interesting scarf or shawl, or edging for a sweater or purse.

This swatch shows a rib stitch in the denim Fantasy Naturale. (Which color do you think is my favorite?) I used post stitches, one front, one back, to make the rib. I like how this looks, and it gives the fabric a little stretch.

I finally figured out how to upload pictures - so I'll do another one now. And add more later! I still have to figure out how to upload more than one picture at the same time! :-)

This swatch is of a Granny Square - one of my favorite stitch patterns. (The meaning of life is really a granny square!)
I find that the yarn tends to stretch a little at the shoulders of a sweater if there is a lot of material (weight) hanging down, when I use this pattern stitch. But, it doesn't stretch out of shape, and I don't think this detracts from the garment, or the yarn! This swatch was taken from a sweater that I made, and you can see that there is no stretching or distortion here. I will have to do a swatch using linked dc stitches, to see how that looks.