Rust Goes Green

I have something super-exciting to show you all today. Something so exciting that I didn't even dare mention it before I finished it, because I was so afraid I was going to screw it up. I'd like to present to you the hardest thing I've ever made!

But first, I feel like you need back-story. I'm a girl who loves rectangles. Scarves and washcloths are where it's at, seriously. I made a hat once, but have never been able to replicate it. I started a sock, but didn't get past the cuff.

I've been wanting to make a market bag for a while, but the very popular Everlasting Bagstopper was more than a little intimidating. I've never picked up stitches or any of that kind of stuff. So while it seems like a great pattern, right now it's not for me. So when I learned how to crochet, I tried looking for patterns a real beginner like me could do.

You may recall that I've been crocheting for ... oh, like a month. In this time, I've made a bag that was a rectangle folded and sewn up the sides, and a few afghan squares. Go rectangles!

I was perusing Ravelry and found a bag that one of my friends had made. When I posted to ask her if it was a pattern a beginner could do, I got a message from the designer herself! Her personal assurances helped give me the courage to give it a try.

Now, it's not perfect, and I have a feeling I screwed up the joins for the rounds for the most part, but it functions and actually holds stuff! It's an absolutely fantastic pattern and I couldn't be more thrilled that I made it.

So now, without further ado, I present to you my Rust Goes Green.



Not too shabby, I think.

To Give or Not To Give?

Ah, now I remember why I rarely make people gifts. I'm selfish. No sense beating around the bush. I buy yarn that I think is pretty. I don't want to give it up!

I have made some gifts for people that I was fine giving up. In these cases, I chose the yarn with them in mind or it was made out of yarn that I hadn't bought, so it was okay. But right now I'm re-purposing something that I'd originally made for myself as a gift for someone else. (I'm on a budget and a deadline here.) The first one I'm okay giving away, but I decided one wasn't enough, so I made her another one ... and I want it!

I can make another one for myself. It's nice to be nice. (And it's not nice to be cryptic, but you can see pictures once her birthday is over.)

I think I missed a lesson in kindergarten.

Hooray for holidays!

Did you know that this weekend is a sales tax holiday in Vermont? (Did you even know I was in Vermont? Because I am.) All items under $2000 bought for personal use are sales tax free! Sweet!

I've finished two of my afghan squares. ("Finished" meaning "I haven't sewn in the ends yet" but who actually does that until they have to?) I'm guess that I'll get three to a skein of yarn. I made my boyfriend do out the math, and at minimum, this thing will have 80 squares. (Let's say 90 because I'm crocheting smaller than I was at first. Don't ask; it involves frogging.) If I'd been a smart girl, I would have figured this all out weeks ago (nevermind that I didn't crochet weeks ago) and figured out exactly how much yarn to purchase and do it all this weekend. Because that's like, 30 skeins of yarn. At $3 a pop. Minimum. That's like, a gallon of gas in sales tax. Just for the afghan. And you know I'd find a way to spend more money on yarn with no actual thought-of purpose.

If I'd been smart, anyway.

How to make a tiny bag in four days.

Hey, I'm a busy girl. What would take most dedicated (aka "not easily distracted") people ten minutes took me a few days. I didn't work on it that much!



I've been meaning to make a small bag for a personal item out of this yarn (Lion Brand Microspun) for some time now, and crochet seemed like a much faster way to do it. It's not the most ideal yarn to crochet with, but I found it okay to work with. It's so soft on the ball, but when worked up it's a bit less soft. Oh well, there's an inanimate object occupying it now. I don't think it'll mind.

Ideally, I'll line this with fabric and make it a better drawstring bag, but for now it's good enough.

What's seafoam green and frightens many knitters?

CROCHET! Single crochet, anyway. Before my half-double whatever-it's-called swatch melted away because the hook fell out of all of the stitches, I sort of learned how to do that, but I think I'm going to stick with single crochet for now. It ought to make a decent afghan, and at least I know how to do it now.

Impulse buy? What impulse buy?

I just got a rebate check from school (haha! I don't owe them money!), and having wisely accepted that I'll need to use most of it for rent, I decided it wouldn't hurt to go get more yarn. Since, of course, yarn trumps food and other life necessities.

Why? Because I want to make an afghan. I think these are famous last words, by the way.

Yes, I already have lots o'acrylic in my stash, but it's variegated and doesn't exactly go with the other variegated acrylic I have, so unless I want the world's ugliest afghan, I must start anew. I went with Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand in colorways Olive and Colonial Blue, since they were the two nicest I saw.

I also found a colorway of Patons Rumor on sale for $2, so of course I grabbed it. It's rainbow! (Okay, technically it's called Moonstone Heather.) I have a problem. I like rainbowy yarn, especially when it's cheap.

I'll probably be updating again in a few days with a picture update on the comfort shawl, as well as a surprise swatch! (What have I learned to do and what does it have to do with seafoam green yarn? Find out next time!)

I am sitting here, ripping out at least a foot (if not two) of Homespun yarn that I had managed to knit into a ribbed prayer shawl (you may remember it from this blog post). Frogging this sucks, by the way, but I'm doing it all in the name of a cause.

A post in the Livejournal Knitting Community today let people out there in knitter-land know that an organization in Connecticut is collecting prayer shawls to be handed out to cancer patients in CT and Massachusetts. Since I used to live in Connecticut, and I have the recommended three skeins of Homespun, I am frogging the darn shawl.

Hopefully when I finish, I'll still have the desire to cast on again for the correct shawl. They're not due until October, so I should be okay. I'll miss it (the yarn was striping in a rainbow pattern that was really pretty), but I think I should start giving back.

For more information on this project (like how you don't have to use Homespun), go to The Comfort Shawl Project page and take a look around.

Sorry for no pictures today, but I thought that a shot of the rainbow monster that's currently eating my lap might not be something I want captured for all eternity.