Easy lace stitch

On April 6, 2022April 4, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I found a knitting pattern for lace that basically uses two stitches, a yarn over (increase), and a purl two together (decrease). These two alternate and every row is the same. It results in an open weave with dimension and vertical stripes. What? Vertical stripes in knitting? Unusual and intriguing. I made up a couple test swatches with some wool sock yarn with size 4 and size 6 needles. The magic of the lace comes when the pieces are blocked, and the pattern opens up and changes dimension.

I shall be experimenting more with this pattern.

Cherry crochet hook

On April 2, 2022March 29, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I hand-carved a crochet hook out of cherry wood from my Dad’s woods. I turned it on my lathe, carved in the ergonomic thumb indent, and the hook. After sanding it down to 400 grit, I painted two cherries on it (because cherry wood). When the paint was dry I started coating it with tung oil. The hook has actually been done since December, but I finally made myself make the Etsy listing. Honestly, making the hook was easier than putting together the listing with the pictures, video, and descriptions! (Yes, I even did a video, Missy makes a cameo.) I really need to do more of this so it isn’t so daunting. Oh, the hook? It is very nice, a smooth finish without being slick, and fits nicely in my hand. It is a size M, so for use with chunky yarn, and the short neck works well with single crochet stitches. The Etsy listing is here.

Hand carved ergonomic cherry wood crochet hook (with mini painting)

Logo contest

On March 29, 2022 By CarynIn art, Craft

I had a logo contest pop up on my feed for Lacewing Creative Retreat in Texas, and decided since I love crafts and a place to dedicate time to finishing a craft seems like a fabulous idea, I would submit a design. I made the top five! They are having FB fans make the final call on their page. (I’m cross-posting this on my business blog too, so I apologize if you follow both and get a double hit!)

Contamination

On March 23, 2022March 19, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

Apparently, I didn’t clean out my fiber bag thoroughly before loading it with cream alpaca fiber. I have shadows of pink and green in the spun singles. Hm. It will be interesting to see if it shows up after plying or in the final piece.

Alpaca singles with pink and green tints

Small bag

On March 19, 2022March 17, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I finished the small bag I started. The initial ball of yarn was spun on a drop spindle using scraps of green colored roving from my Mom’s old stash. After spinning the single, I doubled it to make a 2-ply, fingering weight yarn (about 20 wraps per inch). I started with the opening using a single crochet, made ribbon holes by alternating single crochet and chain stitches, then the body of the bag is made of five chain lace with some picots. It only holds an apple, but its worth is more in the process, which showed me that my handspun, even with rougher wool, does fine as lace. And I still enjoy crochet.

Critters and Craft

Category: Craft