Adventures in Crochet

 If you know me you know that I am constantly wishing I had more arms.  Like an octopus.  Or like  two octopuses stuck together.  But not in the Discovery channel way.
Annnnd now that I've ooged you out...

Fall is one of my two top productive time periods because I enjoy giving hand made gifts at Christmas.  This past fall was especially productive because we were living in a temporary home without any internet. So I went crochet crazy! 

 These are coasters I made for my sister in law in her two favorite colours.

 

Each one was an experiment so that I could learn a new thing, or try combining things.

And the rainbow wiggle crochet coasters were made for my brother. Those are all wiggled differently too, mainly so that I wouldn't get bored.

 

I thought wiggle crochet would lend itself neatly to a bracelet, so I gave it a try!  This one was a treat for myself and I wear it often.

Hot pads! (are they called trivets?)

These are one of a kind. The backs are crocheted solid, some just one colour and some in a gradient. and the front is made with filet crochet and/or motif that allows the back to be seen.  I really like this idea, and plan to do more.  It's a wonderful way to bust my stash, and keep my distract-y brain from getting bored, because I am changing colours fairly often, and using different motifs every time.  I dye a lot of in between colours myself, which helps me do gradients. Pretty much every time I have a dye bath going I toss in a skein of crochet thread (or six) for fun. 

 I made two sets as well, done with Irish crochet roses at the center. My absolute favorite to do was the rainbow one. For my colour changes I crocheted in all the ends as I went so it wasn't a chore at the end. 

 And lastly, I am currently working on small wiggle crochet table runner/hot pad thingy for myself. I'm using Clea Fiesta for this bad boy.  More rainbow-y goodness!  I confess I am finding it slightly tedious, because it is all double crochet around and around and around... but it's a great take along project, and we do a fair bit of driving.

Thank you very much or stopping by!  

A quick question before I go: Do you have a favorite crafting colour combination or, if it changes like mine, what is your current one?

Happy creating!

♥

JQ

Navajo Plied Hand Spun Rainbow Leftover Yarn.

I had this idea about taking all these small balls of leftover yarn bits and turning them into an art yarn, but I wasn't sure what kind of result I was going to get, since I don't know very much about the technical side of spinning.  Lately I've just been playing around with some core spinning and spinning with beads and scraps of fabric, and hoping for the best.  I thought I should stop thinking about it and just spin already.  And here it is!  It's glorious and squishy and I HEART IT.  I dub it...

Rainbow Blitz!!!

  Hand spun art yarn using tiny balls of leftover yarn in all different colours, fibers and textures: mostly cotton, rayon, and chenille; as well as some linen and some unknown.

Two-ply. One of those plies consists of all the leftover bits of yarn, Navajo plied together, and the second ply is size 30 mercerized cotton crochet thread in pale blue.

I totally couldn't stop taking pictures.  Managed to pare it down to just 8!

 

 

 

♥

JQ