One Rug Down

I've been working on this large scale crochet project for a two and a half months now. And I finally finished! The rug I started in the beginning of March was intended for the girls' patio. March was way too early to need it - the temperatures were still frightfully cold. But now we're approaching June and this week our temperatures are headed for the upper 60s and low 70s! So I knew I had to pull this out and finish it, right away. My girls want to use their patio and they're asking for their new rug!

After I posted this picture in March I realized I was headed down the wrong path. 

Attempt #1. Was completely ripped out.

The woman in the shop here gave me no pattern, and I am certainly NOT an advanced crocheter. I'm getting better, that's for sure, but this jersey yarn is HUGE! And the hook, again, HUGE! And for me to just wing something like this was pretty scary. I crocheted a few more rounds of the rug after I took the picture above, and then I ripped out THE ENTIRE THING. It hurt. It really hurt! That was a lot of work.

But I started again and I think my second attempt was much better. I didn't try to do anything tricky - since really, who am I to pull a tricky crochet maneuver? I thought it would be better to stick with the basics this time, because I really am a beginner at this wing-it-crochet-rug-stuff. I did switch to my new Addi Plastic Crochet Hook that I picked up last week in the shop. I love it! It made the crocheting go so much faster because it was more comfortable to hold this hook.

I finished the rug this evening and I love it. More importantly, THEY love it. They keep telling me how great it is and what a good job I did. 

Just finished! It was SO hot working on this on my patio in the sun.

There are plenty of flaws I can point out, but I won't show them. I'll just make my next one BETTER!

In its new home on the girls' patio. Ready for use!

Puff Daddy

contributed by Shawn

Wow. That's what I thought when I spied the Puff Daddy ottoman by Anna & Heidi Pickles on Ravelry. These things are neato! Inspired by the pouf from Christien Meinderstsma Anna and Heidi came up with a DIY version, and were nice enough to have posted it as a free pattern. 

 

The original artist/designer seems to have created this object from one strand of an absolutely enormous yarn and there is a video showing the process that I found quite fascinating toward the end when the 'yarn' is going through the spinning process at the mill. 

When our first shipment of Brown Sheep Burly Spun yarn arrived at the shop I knew I was looking at the perfect yarn for a Puff of my very own! I calculated the yardage and took home 6 skeins of Burly Spun.  The puff is knitted using 3 strands of this yarn held together at the same time!  So I also invested in a pair of new Addi Turbo circular needles in size 19 US!

First chore: yarn winding.  One skein of the Burly Spun just barely fits onto the bobbin/spindle on my ball winder before I have to finish winding the skein by hand. I ended up winding the last skein by hand from my swift - it was just as fast as using the ball winder.

The knitting was super fast at this gauge! My puff was done in one day! (Ok, truth, it was my day off so I had more knitting time available than on a typical day.) This pattern is super easy - no shaping and no purling - it's simply one large garter stitch rectangle. 

I made a couple of key modifications - I used a provisional cast-on so that I could do a 3-needle bind off. Why? So that my seam would not be bulky! This slight modification also give me a more invisible join along the garter stitch fabric of my puff than if I had seamed two finished edges together.

When the rectangle is finished you thread yarn through the side stitches to gather the fabric together leaving the bottom edge open for stuffing.  I happened to have an old duvet so I balled this up and put it inside.  Unfortunately one old not-so-fluffy duvet was not enough stuffing for my puff.  So I went in search of another inexpensive comforter to put inside as stuffing. 

Needs more stuffing! This was when I only had stuffed the puff with one duvet!

My other modification was to pull the bottom stitches shut tightly and knot (instead of cut) the ends of my threaded yarn.  I just tucked all the loose yarn and the knot into the inside of the puff.  If I ever need to wash the puff, it is now really easy to take apart and clean.

The feline residents in our house are mortified by this thing and will not go near it. So much so, that the orange cat even hisses if we try to move the puff too close to his perch.  But the upside is that we humans will actually get to use the puff as a footstool! 

Ever since I brought the finished puff into the shop for its photo-shoot we've been considering large numbers of these urchin-like footstools and how fun they are! I wish I could make enough puffs to fill an entire kindergarten classroom - wouldn't it be neat to see a story-time if every student had their own puff? 

I can't wait to make a second puff in a much brighter color (I think Limeade). I think all of my friends are going to start asking for puffs. I thought about challenging as many of our customers as we can to make a puff and schedule a finished puff day.  Can you just see all of our customers carrying their finished puffs up from the back parking area and coming over to the shop all on one set date to have a puff knit-in?  It would be great!  Let's fill the entire front yard of the shop!

Winging It

I was messing around on Pinterest the other day and found several beautiful crochet rugs. It was such a coincidence because the day before I was walking in town and saw a similar one hanging in the window of one of my favorite shops here - the Taito Shop. (This is the shop where I bought the paper yarn and saw the Yule Goats in December, which I brought back and made with my staff after Christmas.)

Rug hanging in window, like ones I'd just seen online

I knew that seeing one in in town and then seeing several online meant that I had to make one myself. So I grabbed my coat and headed out for the Taito Shop. Inside the shop I immediately spotted another example of one of these rugs - this one was only about 14" across and was a bit different than the one in the window. I studied it to try to determine whether or not I could reproduce it successfully with my limited crochet ability. 

Small example of rug, about 14" across

I found the women there who always helps me (her English is good and she's very helpful) and asked her about the rug in the window. Luckily she had made it. I asked if she had a pattern for it and she said no, it was in her head. Then I asked her about the increases - I know how to increase properly in single crochet, but this rug has doubles and half doubles and I figured a pattern would certainly be helpful.

Unfortunately, she told me I just had to "wing it". She said if the edges started to turn up, rip back and increase more, and if the edges started to ripple, rip back and increase less. Even in my limited knowledge of crochet, I DID know that much. But okay! I was in love with this rug, and determined to WING IT.

I had my Denise Crochet Kit with me, and when I pulled it out to ask her if the largest size hooks were big enough for this project you should have seen her eyes! She had never seen anything like this crochet hook kit before - her eyes just about popped out of her head. We settled on a 12mm (US 17) hook.

I bought two huge hanks of a very thick cotton jersey type yarn - in total about 2.8 kilos. I wound the first one into a ball and it was massive!

First ball, wound

And then I got to work. I haven't crocheted in a while so I pulled out my TNNA How to Crochet guide. This is my go-to book for crocheting. It covers all the basics and is really helpful when you need a few reminders. I'm experimenting with half doubles and doubles and so far "winging it" has been going pretty well. I've only had to rip it back a few times.

The beginnings of my rug

I'm making this rug for the girls' patio. Of course it's still way too cold to use the patio, but we've had a few days of above freezing weather here with lots of sun, so we're already thinking about spring. They love the color I picked and are excited to have this thick, comfy rug for their own space. 

Each round is now taking so much longer to do, and it's very hard work on my hand and arm. And talk about HOT flashes... this thing is so heavy and warm I have to sit by an open window to work on it. It's almost 2' across now, and I am aiming for 3' or a little larger. As you can see, the first ball is now almost gone.

Getting larger. It's HOT on the lap!

I'm having so much fun with this large scale crochet that I am considering making a few crocheted rag rugs for our other patio. I may use this jersey yarn, or I may hit the "As Is" department at Ikea and pick up some fun fabric remnants to make the rugs a little more colorful. And I'm definitely going to go for rectangular shapes on those... this "winging it" stuff is a little stressful on my Type A personality.

And that reminds me of...

In yesterday's post I shared a new pattern booklet that focused on designs for the home. It reminded me of a pattern booklet I own, so last night I went home and dug through the pattern stash.

When I was in Finland after Christmas this year, I visited the Taito Shop, a Finnish shop that offers an incredible selection of traditional products, arts & crafts related to Finnish culture. Of course, they had yarn, too... wools and wool blends and other blends, and even paper yarn made from Finnish spruce pulp.

The paper yarn is available in several weights, and I was just fascinated with it. They knit and crochet with it, but also use it in other ways - to wrap gifts, to make paper flowers, to sculpt wreaths, and more. The shop had such lovely samples knit and crocheted with the paper yarn - I think I was in there for an hour just trying to take everything in. Marc and the girls were pretty patient, considering! I left without buying anything, but of course returned the next day and bought a large bag full of paper yarn and a pattern booklet to bring back to Vermont. This booklet has the most amazing patterns for rugs, placements, wall hangings, table runners, shopping bags, pillows, wreaths and more. Some are knit, some are crocheted and some are woven. Of course the pattern booklet is totally in Finnish, mind you! Call me ambitious, or call me stupid, but with the help of Google translate, I think I'm up for this challenge. Here's a "simpukka-varjostin" that I MUST make (shellfish shade): And how cool are these? A little knitted tube and a strand of lights - perfect for a porch or patio.More lampshades, and aren't these scrumptious!?And great table items. I need some of these! How about a bag for apple picking next fall? (Or to store your yarn in?) These bags are smaller - perfect for a trip to the market.I'm excited to try a new type of yarn. I'll let you know how it goes!

Home Decor Anyone?

We just got a new pattern booklet from Classic Elite that is full of things to knit for the home. As I put this product online earlier today, I was struck by how many great patterns there are in this booklet! It's called Home Sweet Home.

I love the Modular throw, knit out of Sprout. This would work up so quickly, and even though I like the bold choices they show in the picture (Cool Olive & New Navy) I would definitely tone it down and use something along the lines of Sepia, Summer Rain, Glacier or Mint.

I am a total sucker for a granny square blanket, especially when it's done in colors like this one! It calls for Classic Elite Pebbles, but I would use Berroco Comfort DK or Berroco Pure Pima.

This little window shade is sweet! It's done in Classic Elite Firefly, and this is a great new yarn that we brought in for spring. It's got it's own pattern booklet for garments, but it's refreshing to see it worked up in an item that your home can wear!

And oh how I love this lampshade! We don't stock the Classic Elite Allegoro yarn, but I would definitely substitute Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy.

There are a lot of other great patterns in this booklet - for curtains, table runners, placemats and pillows. Doesn't your home deserve to wear some of your handiwork too?