Handmade Scarf – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Yarn WIPs & Yarn Stashes

I’ve seen quite a few jokes about crocheters/knitters and their WIPs (works in progress) and yarn stashes. I used to be guilty of both of those things. As for the latter, I’m sure my stash wasn’t (and isn’t) as big as others, but I did have a lot of scrap balls – yarn that isn’t enough to do anything with but enough to wind into a ball. And then there was yarn that I didn’t like working with or couldn’t for the life of me remember why I ever bought it. I didn’t want to get rid of any of it because I thought the perfect project would come along for it. Ultimately, I got into a purging mood (I get those from time to time when things begin to feel and look too cluttered) and I realized that holding onto these yarns that served no purpose was hindering me from seeing and organizing the yarn I did want to keep. I can now easily close the two extra-large bins I keep my yarn in and have room to buy more yarn that hopefully won’t become a victim of one of my purges.

As for WIPs, I’ve always been pretty good about working on one project at a time (except maybe around the holidays), but there have been quite a few times where I just didn’t like the project I was working on. It could have been because the yarn wasn’t easy to work with (too thin, unraveling, etc.…) or the pattern itself wasn’t one that I liked. I used to muddle through for longer than I should and would finally throw in the towel after being thoroughly frustrated by the project. I used to feel guilty about it but recently when I gave up on a project using a yarn that I had wanted to try for a while but ended up not working up the way I thought it would I realized that there was nothing to feel guilty or bad about. That hobbies aren’t supposed to annoy and frustrate us – challenge us yes, but those things aren’t the same. You should feel happy about the item you’re creating when working on your given hobby, but, if that feeling turns negative it’s time to reevaluate and realize it’s okay to let it go and move on to the next thing. We’re taught that we shouldn’t give up on things but sometimes we must do that in order to learn something new and find joy in what we’re doing. Whether I’m making jewelry, cards, decorating a cake, crocheting or knitting I like to take a few moments while doing so to appreciate what I am making. And if I am feeling frustrated by it that’s not going to happen.

As I mentioned I recently gave up on a project I was working on because the yarn was just not working for me. It was a simple scarf, and I was following a pattern I had used before. I must have started the scarf 3 or 4 times each time casting on a different number of stitches in hopes that the scarf would start to look like what I had envisioned in my head. It never happened. So instead of giving it another go I decided to scrap it. I thought about saving the yarn, but it had annoyed me so much I ended up tossing it. Thankfully it wasn’t expensive. I tend to stick with yarns that I can purchase at my local craft stores so they are all affordable (especially when they are on sale, or I can use a coupon!). Hence me not being that upset about my yarn purge! I still had the itch to knit something, so I headed to a local craft store, and I found a different yarn that I had wanted to try was on sale. O’Go yarn! It’s been around for a few years, but it wasn’t until recently that this particular craft store started carrying more colors and varieties of it. What’s special about this yarn is that instead of it being wound into the typical ball/skein it’s shaped like an “O” and has a plastic string through it. When you open it, you just snip the fastener of the plastic, pull the yarn and start working. It’s a yarn that is tangle-free and provides a quick start. It you have ever had to stop mid project to work out a tangle or knot in your yarn you will greatly appreciate this yarn. It also eliminates the need to wind your yarn into a ball prior to working with it. I ended up picking up a few colors of the O’Go yarn since the sale was too good to pass up. I’ve been wanting to make an infinity scarf in a cream color (thanks to a blue coat I bought back in the Fall) and as luck would have it, I was able to get that color. I am still working on that scarf and probably won’t get to use it until next winter, but I did finish an infinity scarf in different shades of purple for a dear friend. When I am working on something for myself, I tend to drag it on for a bit since I know there’s no real rush in getting it done. Once I am finally done with my scarf, I will probably start working on some Fall projects, specifically Bobble Stitch Pumpkins. I’ve learned (the hard way) that it’s never too early to work on something for the following season.

Staying Home and Crafting

How have you been spending all this extra time at home? Cleaning crevices of your home you never thought of cleaning? Finally clearing out your closets to discover items you had long forgotten? Constantly searching the internet for recipes to use up obscure items found in your pantry? Or simply catching up on television shows or discovering new ones? And of course, there are those things on your to do list that you know you should get to, but, just don’t seem to have the motivation to do so. One of those things for me is raking the leaves in my backyard. A task I am never fond of doing, but, once done I am so happy to have done. Sometimes too we put so many things on our to-do lists that we become overwhelmed with what to do first. I know that happens with me often. Especially on my list of crafts I want to do.

For quite some time I had a small pile of beadweaving projects that I wanted to get to. I even organized the beads I wanted to use for the projects so all I had to was actually sit down and make them. Well, I finally started working on some of those projects and soon discovered that I didn’t like how a few of them were turning out or I just didn’t have the patience so I gave up and moved on to the next one. I did find one project that I liked and I ended up making two pairs of earrings.

I’m in the middle of making this bracelet. So far so good, I just need to figure out how to put a knot in the end of the bracelet without destroying the braid or making it look wonky.

I also attempted to make a new Easter wreath. I picked up the supplies in late February after coming across the directions and they sounded simple enough. Decoupage plastic Easter eggs with small pieces of paper napkins and then glue them to a straw wreath adorned with Spanish moss. I’ve made quite a few wreaths so I thought I would have no problem with this one. I started, well, I should say I tried to decoupage the eggs and it was a mess. The paper wasn’t flat on the eggs regardless of how small I cut the napkin and I couldn’t stand the smell of the decoupage glue. Oh well. Thankfully the supplies weren’t that expensive and they are all things I can use for other projects so it wasn’t a total loss.

Before things got really bad with the virus and places were still open I was taking crocheting/knitting classes at my local library. I had just finished a series of three classes where we made crocheted tote bags and was starting another series of three classes to make a knitted keyhole scarf. I actually made a crocheted version last year. We got through one class before the library decided to cancel all classes and then ultimately closed. Thankfully in that one class I got the gist of how to make the scarf – it involved splitting stitches and using double-pointed needles, neither of which I had done nor used before in knitting – so, I was able to complete it on my own.

And then I started another scarf (my neck is ready for next winter). Initially, using Lion Brand’s Homespun yarn, I was knitting a scarf in garter stitch (knitting every stitch in each row) and once completed I was going to weave ribbon through the scarf in a basketweave pattern. I got to a certain point and tested out weaving the ribbon through and just didn’t like how it was looking so I decided to go with a pattern (Flights of Fancy) I had in a folder and I am liking this much better. I’ve thought about going through my yarn stash and putting all my remnant yarns together to make a blanket. For now though, I’ll just add that to my to-do list.

So, I’ve definitely been trying to keep myself busy at home as you can see. And yes, I have cleaned corners of my house I never thought of cleaning all while avoiding those leaves. As for television, I don’t subscribe to any streaming services so I split my time between watching actual television and listening to music. I am always amazed how there are so many channels and still nothing to watch at times. As for cooking and baking, I haven’t gotten too creative yet. I did make this Banana Cake with Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting last week as a means to use up some bananas and mascarpone cheese. I do have a pasta dish that I have yet to hit publish on that I give quite a few ideas to customize with what you have in your pantry. The main thing right now though is to stay home, stay safe and stay healthy!

Where are the Beads & Yarn?

While as of late most of posts have been about baking (i.e. the Spatula) I have been working on some yarn and bead projects and today I would like to share with you some of the yarn projects.

I recently completed three scarves…

A button-through cowl I made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn in Barley. This was a quick cowl to crochet thanks to the nature of the yarn (hence the name of the yarn) and the easy pattern working with double crochets. I believe I was done with this in less than three hours!

Next I completed another cowl using another Lion Brand yarn, their Landscapes yarn in Desert Spring. It’s a beautiful self-striping roving yarn that’s also great to work with. Well, it was great yarn to work with once I wound it up into a ball as opposed to pulling it out from the skein. I did that during my first go at making this scarf and the yarn began to fray which affected the outcome of the cowl. Thankfully I bought 2 skeins of the yarn – even though the pattern only required one – so I was able to start over with much better results. One other thing, the pattern called for the cowl to be knitted in the round but I opted to add a few extra stitches and just sewed the ends together.

And finally using Red Heart With Love yarn I crocheted a puff stitch scarf. I had a slight mishap while making this scarf. I knew that it was looking a little funny while working on it but it wasn’t until I finished and needed to add the border around the scarf that I knew for sure what I had done wrong. I didn’t end one of the rows on the right stitch so every few rows the last stitch was sticking out which prevented me from adding the border. So, I had to take the scarf apart and crochet it again. Thankfully it was a quick pattern to stitch up so I was done in no time and done correctly

And currently on my crochet needle is a toddler blanket for a friend’s daughter – I actually made a smaller version of this blanket last year as a baby gift for another friend. I’m about half-way done and just about to start working with another skein of Lion Brand’s Pound of Love yarn in Honey Bee. As with the button-through cowl, this blanket is just a series of double-crochets.