Ghosts of Projects Past the Third

I'm running out of "excuses" on my bloggatory absences. The truth is that life is just getting in the way of keeping you, dear reader, up to date on my creative exploits. I have actually been quite busy creatively between classes, wholesale orders, book reviews, pattern trials, and creative stitchery - things I hope to expound upon here in the coming weeks. But for now, I have a growing list of "projects I must blog about", and so, here they are, in no particular order.

First, a set of scarves from October 2007. These are really rather simple scarves, but they are long, warm, and luscious. They were born from a trade with Etsian LOLBaby, a children's boutique. The bibs are amazing - I can't recommend them enough. Gabs *loves* playing with her bibs. But I digress. I created 7' long, 8" wide scarves out of a simple double-crochet fabric. The yarn is Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes, a yarn that I fall in love with more and more each time I use it. It's a worsted-weight, worsted-spun, Peruvian highland wool. I love it. It doesn't pill, it holds its color, it wears well, drapes nice, has a lovely sheen, is evenly spun (unlike some very popular feltable yarns I know of), and is surprisingly affordable. It has quickly become my yarn of choice - so much so that I'm planning on re-tooling my pricing structure to offer it as my default fiber option. In any case, the scarves are pictured here, although the pictures don't do them justice.


Second, a simple brown beanie from November 2007. This is also a project born from a trade with an Etsian, MooreTaste. Her jewelry is incredible - the reedy copper pendant that I traded for is fawned over every time my Aunt Nancy wears it! This is another Wool of the Andes project. It is a simple 23" beanie in half double crochet with a single crochet edge. My instructions were to make the plainest hat possible, and this is what I came up with. I actually like the hat a lot; there's just not much one can say about a plain hat.


Third is a baby boy's earflap hat from November 2007. Yes, this one is another trade project for Etsian TwistThis22501. She wanted a hat that was "masculine" enough for a little boy. This hat was fashioned out of Wool of the Andes and Heilo's DK wool. It required quite a bit of hook changing in order to keep the gauge consistent; I was switching between a 12 WPI and a 14 WPI yarn on each row so keeping the hat even was a small challenge. The hat is fashioned from half doubles and finished with crab stitching and slip-stitched cords with knots at the ends. This hat also serves as a model for a line of baby hats that were eagerly snatched up at Holiday Handmade.


Finally, a pouch from August 2007. Another trade project, another Etsian, ArialImages. I scored some fabulous photographs for this little gem - a drawstring pouch to fit the (then miniscule) Creative Zen MP3 player. The pouch holds a business card-sized MP3 player. It was fashioned put of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted in plain ol' single crochet with a slip stitch chain closure. A quick little project that filled a niche.


And so you get a sampling of the custom orders I did for trades this past year. I love doing custom orders, and I love doing trades, so if you'd like to do either, please don't hesitate to contact me. In the meantime, I'm going to keep working on my next super-duper-secret-cool project!