Free Yarn (and a story of progress)

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Check it out! I made two, crocheted washcloths! The square one was simply an exercise in practicing double crochet. I needed to work on rhythm and tension so I did one row of double then one row of single until I got sick of working on it. Then I made a little chain loop because...well... I figured that my stitches were actually nice enough that I didn't have to throw this swatch away so it could actually BE something (like a washcloth).

Washcloth number two... my very first, successful crochet-in-the-round. It's pretty sweet. My stitches look good and there are only a couple of "holes" where I think I may have missed a pick-up. Plus, it lays flat!

Previously, I mentioned that one of the inspirations for me to learn crochet were some free Lion Brand patterns that I'd gotten in their weekly newsletter. Specifically, I really wanted to make this washcloth.

I don't know what it is about this stupid thing that's so appealing to me but, for whatever reason, it was the impetus for my new crafting adventure.

So, attempt number three (attempts 1 and 2 were chronicled in an earlier post) was supposed to be "Alex follows a pattern" and, according to Lion Brand, this is an easy pattern. "Easy" is relative when you don't know anything at all.

My first challenge was with the abbreviations in the pattern. "ch 1", "sl st", and "dc" meant, literally, nothing. So, I broke out my library books and looked up the various definitions and instructions for each abbreviation. Challenge number two was with the language of the pattern. Some of the instructions were easily identified as variations on the language of knitting patterns but some was absolute Greek. "(2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in each ch-1 sp around" might mean something to even the novice crocheter but, to someone who has never, ever read a pattern before, it's complete gibberish - even with the abbreviations defined.

It's in Greek - istg

I sallied forth and attempted to do the pattern with my library books as instruction but I ended up with a morass of crazy that didn't remotely look like the washcloth of my dreams.

Back up and punt. I put the pattern away and decided to try to, at least, make something round. In my mind, if I could get the "round" part mastered, the pattern would be easier. Neither of my library books had a simple round pattern in it so off to the Interwebs I went. Can I just say...thank Babyjesus for YouTube and this woman:

Bthintx1's YouTube channel may become my de facto online home. She keeps it simple and explains EVERYTHING. So, basically, I started the video, paused, did what she did, re-started the video, paused, did what she did... etc. and I ended up with that awesome round washcloth above! Amazing.

Unfortunately, the video doesn't address my inability to read the pattern. For that, I bothered my co-worker, the lovely and talented Lisa, to help me decipher it. She was, in fact, very helpful - for the first few rows. By the time I hit row 4, there was a new instruction I didn't understand. So, I'll be back at her desk this afternoon for more one-on-one guidance. Which brings me to this thought...

When I learned to knit, I took a few classes. I've decided, after this experience, that teaching oneself pattern-based crafting is really an exercise in futility and frustration. It's just better when someone (even an anonymous, online someone) can show you what you need to do.

On a final note, I'd like to talk about the yarn I'm using for these washcloths. Cassandra and I attended the Sheep In The City convention in Milwaukee last winter and found some really gorgeous yarns there. One of the more interesting yarns we saw is made from corn fiber. The company, Corny Goodness, makes yarns of pure corn fiber or a wool/corn blend in some of the most beautiful colors you've ever seen. In the booth, they had a number of items knit with this amazing, hypoallergenic, vegan, yarn - and one of the coolest was a dishcloth. There's something about the weight and texture of the yarn that makes it perfect for this use. Plus, the fiber has some weird qualities, like it's antibacterial and dries extra fast, that make it really appealing for any cloth that's going to be getting wet.

The yarn has a slight sheen that is really appealing and the colorways are incredible. My one complaint is that working with it is a bit of a chore. It's "sticky" - kind of like the way cotton feels sticky after working with wool, but 10 times mores so. And it tends to be a bit splitty, which is only really a problem because I'm still learning how to use the crochet hook properly. The skeins aren't cheap - $14 US per - but they're huge. The DK weight comes in around 100 grams or 240 yards of yarn. That's a LOT of washcloths.

So...I have two skeins of Corny Goodness DK weight in colorway Orville's Ocean Light (see above) and I'd like to give one away to you guys. If you'd like to be entered into a random drawing for this skein of yarn, simply comment below before 3pm CST Friday August 19. (Comments now closed please see here for winner.) All eligible names will be put into a hat and we'll do a random drawing to see who wins. If you enter, please remember that we need a way to contact you so, if you aren't registered with Blogspot you'll need to send us an email so we can let you know if you won.

I love giveaways!

- Alex

Tuesday Review

The Ooo! Shiny! team was talking the other day and we decided that we wanted to do some reviews. We don't want our blog to be a "review site" but we'd like to occasionally share our thoughts on stuff that we've tried. Thus, the "Tuesday Review" was born.

Starting today, the second Tuesday of each month will feature a review of some sort. It might be a product, a book, a website, or even a movie. Feel free to let us know what you'd like us to try - we'll happily be your guinea pigs (within reason!) Regardless of the review, it will be something that both of us have done/used/read/etc. and we'll both weigh in with our opinions. Oh...and we're going to use an "...out of 5" system. Not terribly original, we grant you, but a tried and true method of ranking stuff.

With that, let's begin with a book review:

Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living by Alicia Paulson

Cassandra's score: 4 out of 5

I’m going to just come out and say that I’m a big fan of this book. It has all the components that I look for in a reference book. A little history, a comprehensive section on tools and techniques, and some practical, simple projects.

I am embarrassed to admit that one of the issues I have with a lot of reference books is that they supply too much historical information. Unless I’m writing a research paper on crewelwork, I really don’t want to read 40 pages on the aristocracy of the Middle Ages and their wall hangings. As interesting as that may be… dude, I just want to put some needle to cloth and make something pretty today. This book has the emphasis on technique, and I love that. This is how I get inspired to design my own projects.

I am also impressed with the variety of schools of embroidery covered in this book. Ms. Paulson includes all of the more well-known techniques like basic decorative embroidery and counted cross stitch as well as covering the less-known crewel and blackwork. This is really helpful because I have some project ideas in my head right now and it makes it so easy for me to be able to choose the perfect technique to execute my designs.

The last thing I would like to mention is the projects. While the style of the author may not be 100% in league with my own, that’s really not that important to me. Most of the projects can easily be modified for my taste, with this said, however, a lot of them I do find quite lovely. I am particularly taken with the Karin Curtains, Harvest Apron, and Country-Time Quilt. The projects are practical and interesting. I think I can get a lot of inspiration and fun from this book.

- Cassandra

Alex's score: 4 out of 5

This "four out of five" rating didn't come as easily for me as it did for my blog-mate. I had to dig through my personal preferences to discover the true value in this book. And, I'm still not entirely sure that Ms. Paulson doesn't deserve one fewer star for the bits that I, personally, don't care for. But I will use my super-power of objectivity for the sake of the review.

Here's the deal... The book kicks off with a long auto-biographical preface about Ms Paulson's path to embroidery. I'm not a fan of her long-form writing style - she's entirely too enamored of twee craft metaphors like, "...when I unravel the skein of my childhood memories..." (ugh) Plus, I feel that taking three full pages (six columns) in an instructional craft book to tell your personal story is a tad self-indulgent. Of course, this is her book and if she wants to tell the entire world about her life and her health issues, that's her right. Based on the popularity of daytime television talk shows, I'm sure that most people find this kind of thing "inspiring"... I'm just not one of 'em. Frankly, I  can't believe her editor didn't suggest paring it down a bit.

My other struggle is with the patterns themselves. They're very folksy, "olde tyme" styles that are, quite simply, not my taste.

All this said, once Ms. Paulson gets into actual instruction, the book's beauty begins to unfold. This is, no kidding, one of the best instructional books I've ever seen. From the introductory pages in which we learn basic terminology, tools, and technique to the closing pages containing a resource directory, everything is clear, concise, and well-written. The accompanying illustrations are equally admirable. They're lovely and simple and they dovetail beautifully with the overall book design, which says "crafty" but it doesn't get in the way of the book's purpose.

The other thing I really appreciate is that Ms. Paulson includes a short history of, and patterns for, four methods of "embroidery" - classic embroidery, cross-stitch, crewel, and blackwork. Each style provides a different character to the needlework being done and it's fantastic to have all four in one, convenient book.

So, regardless of my personal feeling about Ms. Paulson's narrative writing style and the designs included, I would highly recommend this book for both the beginner and intermediate embroidery enthusiast. There's a ton of valuable content and it's presented in such a clear and concise way that you simply can't go wrong.

- Alex