LittleJudy.com

Fuzzy Baby Blanket/Sock it to me

I just finished this really cute fuzzy blanket that will be going to my girlfriend Sherri's new baby boy. It's made from VelvetSpun yarn by Lion Brand which really does feel like velvet, but it's made out of polyester and washable. The pattern is from the Woman's Day Easy Knit and Crochet special issue. The pattern was a little difficult to follow at the end (I think there were some asterisks missing) but it came out okay!  I also ran out of yarn. The pattern called for three balls of white and three blue and I ran out of the white before I was finished (that was my main color). It's all good, I'm going to use the leftover yarn to make the baby hat from the pattern on the yarn label.

Up Next: SOCKS! I've had sock-o-phobia up to now, at least when it comes to knitting socks. But, I did a little knitting with two circulars on the last hat I knit and that made me feel bold enough to try my hand at [Insert impending doom theme music here] ... DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLES!

Actually DPNs really aren't so bad once you get used to them. I'm using the four needle method, using Takumi bamboos (size 8) and Lion Brand wool-ease (do I deserve an endorsement deal from them or what?) I'm using the "Snuggy Socks" pattern from The Ultimate Book of Knit Socks by Fran Ortmeyer for Annie's Attic. The book says the socks are "easy to make" but I wouldn't call this easy, at least not yet.

I'm about to do the toe of the first sock. The sock looks kind of lumpy at this point but I'm so proud of myself for coming this far without having a complete nervous breakdown.

I'll have pictures of the first sock when I am finished with it.

I just stumbled on the coolest, crafty site

It's called NotMartha.org -- the alternative to the famed ex-con and "good thing" media mogul. Do it yourself stuff for the rest of us. Check out her How to Make Stuff page for some really fun projects.

Link: not martha.

Lion Brand's Charity Connection

To all my "hookers" and "needlers":

Lion Brand has put together a registry of charities that accept handmade items like chemo caps, blankets and warm hats and scarves.  If you search under the keyword Katrina you'll find links to groups that are accepting items for victims of this year's hurricanes.

Happy Holidays!!!

Link: Charity Connection.

As promised...here are new project photos

I just uploaded photos of the projects I mentioned in my last blog post.

I stayed in all day today and crafted. I was originally going to go to the Smiley's annual Warehouse Sale at the Holiday Inn in Manhattan, but I realized that I still had plenty of yarn that I bought at last year's sale. Wracked with guilt (!), I opted to stay at home instead and make a dent in my yarn stash by actually working on some projects.

I even did some jewelry work today. I'm inspired because I've been watching DIY's Jewelry Making with the very fabulous Jackie Guerra.  My next project will be some earrings.'

Click the photo to see all the project photos.

Picking Up Where I Left Off...

I've actually worked on several knit and crochet projects since I last posted pictures, but unfortunately I can't find my card reader and that's why I haven't uploaded any new pix (I know, I know)...

Anyway, I realized tonight that I have finally gotten comfortable fixing mistakes in knitting. It used to really annoy me if I made a knitting mistake because I'm so used to simply ripping out crochet stitches and redo-ing the work. But, I followed the instructions in Deb Stoller's Stitch and Bitch and now I think I've really got the hang of it. (You can see a similar method for fixing dropped stitches at eHow.com. The same method is great if you've purled when you should  have knit, or knitted when you should have purled!)

Okay, I'm going to reveal a dirty little secret in the crafty world: there are some knitters that are very snobby and look down their noses at crocheters. So I feel a little smug that you need a CROCHET hook to fix knitting problems! 

Crochet vs. Knit -- it's kind of like an East Coast - West Coast rivalry. (I just had a mental image of Snoop Dogg knitting -- I need to get out more!)  At our crochet group - City Hookers - we don't mind if people bring knitting to our meet-ups -- in fact one of our members actually creates patterns for a knit designer so she often brings a couple of knit projects along. But God forbid you should bring a crochet project to a knitting circle, or one of those snobby high-class yarn stores.

Kiddie Bowler Hat

This festive little chapeau was actually an accident -- I went to my City Hookers crochet group Tuesday and we were making preemie hats, but since I only had an "I hook" and the patterns called for F or G, and since I'm naturally a, pardon the pun, "loose" hooker it came out bigger than the gauge. But I think it's cute!

The Next Pattern Hunt - Terri Hatcher's Scarf in Desperate Housewives

Did anyone else notice the gorgeous scarf Terri Hatcher was wearing in tonight's episode of Desperate Housewives?  It was circular motifs in different colors crocheted together and I know I can't be the only hooker looking for the crochet pattern!  If you see it anywhere, please post.

It looked a little like the scarf pattern on the Lion Brand site shown above.  The colors on Hatcher's scarf were gold, maroon and a dusty rose with white trim around each of the motifs.

By the way, did you know that a circular motif in crochet is sometimes referred to as a "Granny's Daughter"?  I know you're thinking "Why didn't they just call them Mothers?"  For those of you who don't knit or crochet (and I doubt you fall in that category if you've read this far), the term comes from the ubiquitous Granny Square which you've seen absolutely everywhere from afghans to hippie dippie vests.

Granny Squares are crocheted individually and then sewn together to finish the project. They're great if you're commuting because you don't have to worry about your project being too big to shlep--you just make all the squares you want and then assemble your project at home. They also can be used to make things as a group such as blankets for charity.

On another note, I "finished" the Martha poncho and even though I tried to reduce the pattern it was too huge--when I tried it on and looked in the mirror I saw a Smurf staring back at me. Jewish as opposed to blue-ish but a Smurf nonetheless.  I'm going to unravel all the cool scalloped edges, unravel about five or six rows and cut the number of scallops from 10 to 8.

Either that or one of my tall friends will be getting the poncho. It's payback for all the wool sweaters I got in high school from laundry-challenged tall girls.

Is this not the cutest baby blanket, like, EVER?

I just got this in my Lion Brand e-newsletter (I should just ask them for an endorsement contract, I swear). I've never made pom-poms before...but I will admit to being a closet cheerleader wannabe. Unfortunately, my high school didn't have a sports team and dressing up in cute little outfits and cheering on our Creative Writing Team wasn't appropriate. I don't know, "W-R-ITE, WRITE! WRITE TEAM WRITE....GO TEAM!" just wouldn't have worked at a poetry competition.

But I digress.

Now I gotta decide which of my friends is expecting to be expecting soon so I can start working on this blankie.

Link: Free Crochet Pattern: BABYSOFT Pom-Pom Blanket.

Berroco's Version of the Martha Poncho

What can I tell you? Yarn companies have every right to respond to supply and demand as any other. After getting numerous requests, ritzy Berroco has come out with their own version of Martha's poncho pattern.  They do, however, acknowledge Martha's prison pal who was the original designer of the poncho:

To show our appreciation to the original designer of Martha’s poncho, which was the inspiration for our Suede version, we have sent a gift of Suede yarn to Alderson Federal Prison.

Has anyone actually made one yet? Send pix or a link to pix!  I'm only about halfway through mine (I'm doing the Bernat).

Link: Berroco Free Pattern | Famous Poncho.

Lion Brand Weighs in on the Poncho Wars!

Lion Brand has posted their version of the Martha Stewart poncho...which is made with Homespun (I thought it would be). Of course, I bought a ton of the Bernat yarn today, so I'm still going to make their poncho...but I do like this one, too.

Link: Free Crochet Pattern: HOMESPUN 'Coming Home' Poncho.