Chasing Skirts

The skirt pattern I am designing is being fussy. I wanted to try to add some decorative stitching to the waist band portion, but none of the stitching I've tried so far except the "wave" pattern has shown up well, and for that matter, the wave pattern only really shows up on the last row. It may be more appropriate for the edging, since it's a wrap around skirt and the wavy pattern will add some extra style.

I need close stitches for the waist band so that a slip is not necessary when waring the skirt, so perhaps doing showy stitching there is not a good idea anyway.  Maybe I'll look through my "101 Stitches to Crochet" set and see if there are any good stitches that will work for what I'm trying to accomplish.

In other news - I also need to research how to get a pattern published. I rarely if ever see plus-size patterns in the crochet magazines I read. And more often than not, it's a "regular" size pattern with up to 1 or 2 x options, but rarely along the lines of a 3 or 4 x size.

Mary Beth Temple has a book (or several?) on curvy girl crochet, but the only skirt pattern in that book uses sock yarn, which requires almost 3000 yards for my size AND sock yarn takes forever to crochet an entire garment.

In other, other news - I have five chapters of my Box of Buried Secrets book rough-edited. Now just waiting on beta readers to do their bit so I can get some constructive feedback and make some more changes. There are some spots I feel are a bit weak and could use tweaking, but sometimes if I try to hard to fiddle with the wording it just gets worse.

Today I started on Chapter 6 and am hoping to get through 7 and 8 tomorrow at least. Once I'm about half done with the rough edit, I am planning to start looking for an agent. So that means I have to figure out how to write a good blurb and a good query letter. Also, need to find 2014's version of the Writer's Market or whatever it's called.

Off to look up stitches for the skirt and do some research!

NaNoWriMo, Spark People, Crafty Good Times

Good morning all.

It's been a while since I posted, I know. I got excited about being back on Spark People and thought it would be a breeze to keep up with the extra blog and just copy/paste everything between all my sites. But it's not. Heh. Each time I copy and paste I have to reformat some of the text and images, plus I have stopped using the site every single day like I used to. Too many things get in the way, so I have been doing more offline on my own. 

So you will be seeing less Spark People related posts and hopefully more crafty related posts since this is after all, a crafty blog.

National Novel Writing Month is upon us again and I am participating, of course. I managed to get my first day's word count done and then some. I like to keep ahead a little bit. This year's story is going to be Part 2 of the one I wrote for NaNo 2012, and will hopefully be the conclusion of that story. I don't think I've ever completed a book during NaNo. I most always get my 50k words in, but the story is generally not finished at that point. 

So, On to the Crafty Post.

I have been working on a new pattern. I am in the swatch stage at the moment to see how the colors I picked work together, and if the pattern can be seen clearly when knitted as I've written it. It's going to be a little bit different than my previous patterns in that this one will be a color chart. No symbols to read, just a grid with color-coding on it. 

I recently made a handbag using a pattern written in this way and it was very easy to follow. It will all be knit/purl (Stockinette), and the knitter should be comfortable with stranded color work (Fair Isle Style). 

Once I have finished the swatch, I will make a prototype  and post pictures along with the full pattern both here and on Ravelry.

In other crafty news I have taken on the sizable project of making a "Neck Down Long Cardigan" by Knitting Pure & Simple. This is partly for me and partly for my November Stash Bust Challenge on Spark People. I have never made a garment other than a tank top I tried once. And this is certainly much much larger than a tank top!  

Currently I have 34 rows, and since it's a top down, I'm still on the hood section of the pattern. I need the finished product to be about 4 inches bigger than what the pattern sizing calls for, and I am making it shorter than what the pattern calls for. I have started with 1700(est) yards of yarn, and am hoping that will be sufficient.

Neck Down Long Cardigan on Knitting Pure & Simple
And for those of you on Ravelry: Cardigan Project Page on Ravelry

I am alternating colors every two rows to give it a more striped and variegated effect overall .So far I like the way it's coming out.

Another project I finished recently was a Fair Isle Style handbag and a pattern called "Nordstrom Crocheted Hobo Bag". Both just need their linings sewn in and straps attached at this point. Pictures of finished projects will be forth coming within the week! 

So, I should get back to writing since this blog post doesn't count towards my 50k words for the month, and my characters are calling me...

Project 2, Mpls, Coffee, and Clutter

I finished the shrug I started for the September Stashbuster project. I used EuroBaby Maypole in colorway 18.
Knit Shrug.
I love the softness of the yarn and I love the colors. I do not love weaving in the ends or joining with this yarn. It is SO slippery and chunky that it doesn't stay put. I used a different yarn to seam the sides up, and weaving in the ends was miserable work.

I have no idea how other people do this with such slippery yarn. Oh well, the project is finished and I used all the yarn and then some called for in the pattern, so I "achievement unlocked".

In other news, Owen and I went to Minneapolis last week to see Paul Weller play at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown. The website for Dinkytown sort of sells it as a shopping district type area, but we discovered it is 98% restaurants and bars, and everything else there caters mainly to the students from the university as it is in that district. So we didn't do any shopping to speak of, and decided against looking for the yarn shop I found online. We are going to plan another trip up there and do a regular shopping day like we normally do.

The whole point of this trip was the concert, so nothing was lost really. And on the bright side, we did get to eat at a local place, rather than a mass franchise. At least I don't think it's a mass franchise lol. Didn't seem like one. Burrio Loco Seems Legit, Right? I had the wet burrito which was basically a burrito (a la pancheros or qdoba) and then smothered in delicious enchilada sauce and some cheese. Magnifique.

The hotel room was nice also. A bit swanky with a large bed, a huge desk and a sitting area, plus a full kitchenette. We didn't get to take advantage of the kitchenette since we were only there the one night. The most awesomest thing though at the hotel was the posh coffee machine in the lobby! It was FREEEEE for guests.
As Samuel L Jackson says in Pulp Fiction "This is some serious gourmet shit." Yeah it was that good.

This week's focus has been on uncluttering the house, bit by bit. I rearranged my magazine shelf and finally got around to buying a portable file box for all of our important papers like home owner's insurance...and mortgage documents...stuff that responsible adults should probably know the location of...

We also rearranged the kitchen so that it feels more open and less messy. The microwave has a new home and the island where we attempt to do food prep is finally free. The next item on my list is my office. I have boxes that haven't been touched since we moved in last year, so it's about time I do something with those.

Crafty-wise there isn't a ton to report. I will post some pictures of the shrug soon. I am sort of brainstorming ideas for my next project.  I am making a Trillian scarf using Madeline Tosh Sock yarn in Forestry colorway. I love their colors; they have texture and depth to them that is just unbelievable.
Link to the Project on Ravelry. It's a nice, repetitive pattern that I can do without a ton of thinking while I watch my tv shows or listen to music, etc.

For crochet, I found a book called Crochet One-Skein Wonders 101 Projects from Crocheters around the World. I am thinking about making the Quinby, the Montana, or the Peacock hats. Can't decide which one. I made the felted clutch but felted too much and now it's just a tiny, dense mess. Sigh. Thankfully I didn't pay much for the yarn.

The Montana Hat on someone's Ravelry Page
The Peacock hat from another Rav Page
Quinby Watchcap

So we'll see what inspires me, I guess.  Winter is coming, so I'll probably throw in some fingerless gloves for good measure.

And now, off to bed.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

 DID YOU SEE THE SHERLOCK PREMIER?!?!?! I had nearly forgotten it was airing in the US last night. I was squeeeee beyond belief. So many theories about how he did it; and he's not telling which is correct.  I can't wait to see where the storyline goes.

In other news...

We are 20 days into the new year, and I hope that 2014 has been treating you all well thus far.

I have been lax in making any blog posts, and you have my apologies for that. (My apple-ogies as Hugh Laurie would say in Blackadder.)

After the Glacial Melt Scarf, I took a break from pattern designing to do some knitting and crocheting of other people's patterns for a change. After doing several beginner-level patterns I want to try and expand to something a little more complex than one stitch. It's a learning process to be sure!  

In fact, I purchased a book from my local used book store (Half-Price Books for those of you in the Cedar Rapids area) called Crochet Master Class. It contains a plethora of crochet techniques. I tried the Double Ended Crochet, using a Tunisian/Afghan hook and it came out quite nice.  I just made a very small swatch of about 8 or 9 rows using some light purple baby yarn and some Tatamy Tweed. 

Basically, double-ended crochet creates a reversible fabric rather than the one-sided fabric that Tunisian crochet usually makes. With a double-ended hook you can also to Tunisian In the Round, which I hope to explore at some point in the future as well. 

I am considering making some tutorials at some point, but they will probably only be for patterns I design. There are so many tutorials out there already for basic crochet stitches that I think mine would just be lost in the crowd. However, when I design a pattern that is a little more complex than my past patterns, I will try to include text tutorials for the stitches I use.  

Let's see, what have I been working on lately...In my downtime I made the Autumn Splendor Wrap by Darlissa Riggs. It is in the bin of Things That Need Blocking at the moment, waiting on me to purchase a blocking board. I created mine with JoJoLand Tonic in colorway 252AW (light green).

I also made my first ripple blanket! I am very proud of that one. I always thought they looked so complicated, it took me forever to get around to trying it. But it's really so easy. I am thinking about making another one.  I used the Swatch Guide pattern from a small book called Learn to Crochet Ripple Afghans. I believe I purchased it in the yarn section at Wal-Mart. I created it from 3 colors of Caron Simply Soft: Dark Country Blue, Light Country Blue, and Ocean.

I made my first cowl also! It's been a month of firsts. Frosty Night Cowl by Deborah E. Burger. This is not only my first real cowl, but also my first Mobius. It was difficult to get started, for me, because I was unfamiliar with the concept of stitching around both sides of the foundation in a figure 8 pattern. But I am glad I persisted, because it came out really nice in the Ella Rae Lace Merino Worsted, Colorway number 4.

And for my fellow fans of the Hitchhiker series, there is an e-book of 4 knitting patterns available, written by Martina Behm. Hitchhiker: A Trilogy of Four Patterns.

Worth every penny :-)  I made the Hitchhiker pattern from Zitron Trekking XXL, Colorway 463 (orange). It's a very fiery yarn. Hitchhiker  . 

In other news, I have been fairly productive in my writing endeavors. I am 8 chapters into a nifty tale about a woman who finds a time capsule in her back yard. I am also planning to submit a portion of my YA Romance manuscript in the hopes that they will find it worthy enough to warrant a publishing contract.  So I have been keeping fairly busy.

To Do List: Buy a stitch dictionary. Upload pictures of finished projects.