The Decorator Crab

Feliz cumpleaños to me

I don't usually post on the weekends, but it's the big 3-0 for ol' Crabby today.  So I can do whatever the hell I want! This includes, but is not limited to: having a big breakfast, crocheting on the bag, working in the gardens, crocheting, drinking with lunch (who am I kidding - I do that every weekend), getting dressed up for no reason, or not, and crocheting some more.  Sounds good to me!  Senior Crab is still out of town, so I am having a quiet day all to my self, doing whatever strikes my fancy.  This strikes my fancy:

There's nothing quite like having a quiet morning, sitting on the couch with your coffee and your knitting (or crochet), and listening to your favorite NPR shows while a little dog sleeps next to you.  I love it! 

I have taken a bit of a different strategy with the second side of the LTL bag.  As I am wont to do at times, I planned out a schematic of the squares instead of just making them willy-nilly.  Cecily provided a virtual block that you could color in, but my pseudo-Photoshop program (Fireworks) was having trouble with the magic wand tool and couldn't tell the difference between the middle color and the edge color.  So, I had to make my own block pattern with the available "autoshapes."  Here is the result:

I had an actual plan in organizing the colors in this layout, and on paper I like it better than the result of my approach with the first six blocks. We'll have to wait and see if the actual result is as pleasing to me as the virtual one. As a bit of foreshadowing though, I like what I'm getting so far!

Okay - enough time in front of the monitor, I'm going back to the real world so that I can take full advantage of my day. 

First six squares = Done!

The first six squares of my Larger than Life Bag are done!  I take it all back about not being sure about these colors.  I love these colors!  The dark blue is a little strong compared to the other colors, but I still like it a lot. 

Now I'm trying to decide which color to use on the border of each block and on the sides of the bag.  The pattern doesn't call for a border around the blocks, but I like this version of the bag in the Flickr group.  I think the border helps to tie together all of the various colors.  I originally bought the Tahki Cotton Classic in medium brown (#3248; seen on the top right block) for the border, but found black (#3002), cream (#3003), and taupe (#3211) at a different yarn shop today.  I'm still sort of "eh" about all of them.  I think I might have to order a skein or two of the dark chocolate brown  (#3336) that I can't find in any local shops.  Any opinions on this out there in cyberspace?

I also browsed in the fabric section of the shop that I went to today, but it occurred to me that I don't have any idea what kind of fabric to use!  Well, one thing at a time, I guess.  In the mean time, I'm making the next six blocks!

I am maybe obsessed with this

WEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!  This project makes me hap-peeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

This has nothing to do with knitting

Ever heard of a Theremin before?  Me neither, 'til I found this link on BoingBoing.  I've watched this video like five times, and it still blows me away.  So cool!

Post-binge rationalization.

So, yes, there was a bit of an uncharacteristic yarn binge here at the Casa de Crab.  I've been trying to knit from the stash as much as possible this year, but the simple fact is that sometimes I need a little inspiration to keep the knitting juju going.  For me, that often comes in trying out a new yarn and starting a new project.  Enter the Larger Than Life Bag.  I started out with some cheap acrylic yarn to see if I could successfully crochet the square (since, you know, I'm a knitter).  With the help of a book and a tutorial, it wasn't actually difficult at all.  And it was fun!  But as evidenced below, the acrylic square was HUGE!  Muy grande!  The bag is called "Larger Than Life," not "Ridiculously Larger Than Life."  I'm a gal who likes a good-sized bag and all, but I do have my limits. 

I've had a 20% off discount card for my LYS burning a hole in my pocket for months (Months! I've been SO good!), but I couldn't quite decide what to use it on.  When I got the itch for some DK yarn for this bag, I knew that it was a good time for a scratch!  A few other goodies made it into my basket, but I devoted most of my time and resources at the shop to picking out yarn for the bag.  They didn't have the yarn from the pattern (Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe), but they had a huge selection of Tahki Cotton Classic, and I could not resist.

Here are seven of the eight colors that I bought.  I am saving the brown for the edging.  [Side note: how the hell do you weave in ends in crochet, anyway? I'll have to consult The Google.]  I've said before that I'm not  that confident in my eye for color, so I'll put it out there to you all - do you think I am missing a color?  I don't want to go for a full-on ROYGBIV palette, but I am feeling like something is missing here.  Maybe I am paranoid?  I like the limited palette in this LTL bag, so maybe that's where I was going. I just picked colors that I liked, that I was drawn to.  It should work itself out in the end, eh?  BTW: my flailing eye for color is totally ironic because my Ph.D. research is in ocean optics, i.e. ocean color.  I must be, in the words of G, "wicked retahded."

Anyway, I'm having tons of fun with this square, now that I have some time in the evenings to sit and get crafty.  Senior Crab is off on a research cruise (I miss him disgustingly), and now that the house is almost ready to put on the market the pace of home projects has slowed to a reasonable pace. Just a few things for me to do while he is away. That leaves the evenings relatively free to calm down and relax, to foster the nesting instinct while The Mister is away. In that spirit, no more blogging - time to crochet!

Attention all units...

Attention all units...  Please be advised of a recent Code 39 (negligent injury) at the Village Yarn and Tea Shop. 

Victim said she "may have" slipped and fallen, and that as she was bracing herself to land, her credit card "may have" swiped through the card reader, causing reckless stash enhancement. The victim appeared to be in some sort of consumerist, fiber-induced daze, and was fuzzy on the details of the incident. "It all happened so fast..." she said.  Victim also stated that she personally was not injured, but that her bank account "felt used" by the incident. 

The shops owner was heard saying, "But everything was at least 20% off!" We also overheard something about "crochet" and "granny square bag," but couldn't piece together any solid leads from the information. The on-scene units were unsure who to blame for the incident, as both the shop's staff and the victim seemed rather pleased by the whole thing, so no citations were issued.  Be advised that we will be conducting close surveillance on these kinds of shops in the future, as it appears that this sort of injury may be a chronic  problem.  See photos, which will be marked as exhibits "A" and "B".  There was more fiber evidence on hand, but we could not photograph all of it appropriately. 

That is all.

Seal Generator

Go have yourself some fun by designing your own craft room emblem with the Official Seal Generator. My five-minute effort sports a trademark crab and says "Art is long, life is short" in Latin.  [I found the Latin phrase on Wikipedia]. You can choose from circle, triangle, square, or pentagon shaped emblems, and there are a ton of color and icon options.  Now, go forth and get crafty!

FO: Short Row Hat the Second

Pattern: Short Row Hat (pdf) by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Faith, by Ami Ami, colorway A-52.
Needles: Takumi bamboo straights, 7US (4.5mm)
Recipient: ??  I knit this hat on consignment after I was stopped in Home Depot while wearing the original. But, I have been extremely lazy about getting in touch with the buyer/recipient.  After all, she asked me about it three months ago!  Since I didn't finish it before I left on the research cruise, it really took a long time to "finish."  I haven't decided if I am going to get in touch or keep it for myself - I do love the colors! 

This yarn was a pleasure to work with again, and I recommend it to everyone.  You have to pay for shipping from Canada, so be sure to stock up to make it worth your while. This colorway is sold out on their web page, but there are five left to choose from, including the green used in the pattern.

Goose disapproves  and shows that he is far cuter than the hat. And much fatter.