This is going to be some scrap blanket

So in the process of spring cleaning my mother came across some fun fur left over from a forgotten craft project. I hate working with fun fur and the like because such a pain to work with. I have combined it with some Lion Brand wool-ease in dark gray. The white and gray looks like a skinned a dog while the blue looks like I killed a muppet.

I admit it, I have a problem

So lately I have found a lot of yarn on sale at different stores. I found this yarn for $1 a skein at Walmart. It is just a bunch of crazy yarn that I think will make good squares for the scrap blanket. I know that you are not supposed to buy yarn specifically for a scrap project but what else is cheap yarn for. The only stuff on clearance is crazy and ugly anyway. Here are the squares I have made. A total of 4 skeins which made 7 squares.

It's a good thing I like being barefoot

So I have started on my first pair of socks and after only getting past the toes on sock #1 I have stopped. I just don't feel like working on it anymore but I need to because its my only non scrap project at this moment. This is what 20 min of work has gotten me and I need to find the motivation to continue it.

Note: @ 2:05 pm I ripped out the sock :(

Placing a dent in the scrap mountain

I have only been crocheting avidly for little over a year and half and I have managed to accumulate a large amount of scraps. Previously I have made baby blankets out of the large qualities of similar scrap yarn and then donated them to Project Gabriel. Now I have the problem of small quantities of different weights of yarn ranging from cheap acrylic and fun fur to nice wool and wool blends.

The knitters I live with both have started scrap blankets and I have been looking for a crochet solution. I have decided that the solution is to make granny squares out of my scrap yarn and then sewing them all together. This makes it so I can use different weights of yarn and as long as the square is 6 x 6 inches they will fit together. So far I have created several in an attempt to avoid making socks and finishing a hat for my grandmother.

Left: Green Heather lace weight 100% wool from KnitPicks.com size f hook
Center: Rainbow Incredible yarn 100% nylon from Lion Brand size j hook
Right: Red sock wieght yarn, 100% acrylic (I think) size f hook

Cotton Ease by Lion Brand 50/50 cotton acrylic in Berry and Maize size J hook
I like how with one simple pattern the squares can look so different just by changing the colors.

Don't worry more to come because I don't think scrap blankets are ever finished

Easy Pointed End Scarf

Easy Pointed End Scarf

Worsted Weight Yarn

Size J/K hook

gauge not important

This scarf was made super thick and warm by using 2 stands of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in green and white. This scarf can easily be made single stranded, wider, or in stripes.

Chain as long as you want the scarf, approx 60 inches (longer or shorter if desired)
Turn and sc in second ch from hook and sc in each reminding ch
turn and repeat until scarf in desired width. Finish off

Looking at the end of the scarf fold the two ends together to create a point and sew the two short ends together. Make a pom-pom and leave one long end of yarn. Take the yarn and weave it through the point on the end of the scarf and sew tight.

Alas Poor Yorick I knew thee well

For Halloween this past year Lion Brand created a pattern for felted crocheted skulls using their Lion Brand Wool. I thought the would be adorable and hilarious to make and hang from the ceiling of our living room. Much to the surprise of my roommates they liked the idea and thought it was a great way to tie together the mauve couch, gold loveseat, and hunter green carpet in the room. I made the skulls out of Patons wool in bright blue and hot pink (yes very traditional skull colors). Double stranded each skein made 3.5 skulls. I then suspended the skulls with some scarp yarn (in the same colors) from the drop ceiling above the couch. We loved them so much we kept them up the rest of the year.

Here is the link to the website http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70464A.html?noImages=

Chained Fringe Scarf

By leaving an unworked chain at each end creates a unique and different type of fringe.

Chained Fringe Scarf

Worsted Weight Yarn (For this scarf I used Red Heart Supersaver)

Size J hook (You can use whatever size is appropriated for the yarn you are using)

Gauge is not important

Chain to desired length (approximately 60 inches) then chain 40 more. Finish off

Start a new chain

Chain 20 then join with a slip stitch to the 20^th chain of the first row. Sc in each stitch until the 20^th chain from the end then chain 20 not connecting them to the first row. Finish off.

Chain 20 then join to first sc of second row. Sc in each sc. Chain 20 after last sc. Finish off.

Repeat this process until scarf is desired width.

Because each row is separate it is easy to do stripes with this pattern. This can also be a great scrap yarn project if you have a large surplus of the same size yarn.

My Favorite Roomie Gift

Sorry for the long delay in posting but I have been busy with school and stuff. Hopefully I can post more this week with the lull in work due to finals.
These are pillows that I have made to decorate the common room of our dorm room. Each one represents the first letter of one of our names. I made my roommate and mine last semester and the other two girls I made as Christmas presents for them. I noticed they like ours at the beginning of the semester so I made them in secret (not hard it's called making them at work) and then left them on the sofa to see if they would notice. The noticed and they loved them. Since it is move out time I thought I should take a picture and post before we all take our pillows home.
I found the patterns from this web site. The pillows are made out of Caron Simply Soft Brites in white and hot pink. On side is white and one side is pink. It would take about 1 skein per a pillow using one color or 2 pillows from 2 different colored skeins.
http://wovenspun.com/alphapillow/alphapillow.htm

I'm so happy it is warm and I'm wearing my tunic!

This is my first large wearable project I made. It is a tunic made from Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Hazelnut. This pattern can be found for free at Lion Brand.com or here if the link works. http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60730A.html?noImages=0

This attempt of mine is not perfect. It took about 4.5 skeins of yarn. Because the tunic is made of two identical panels I ended up making one in a size small and one in a size medium. I did this because after making the small I was afraid that it would be too tight so I did the front in a size medium to allow more stretch.
This is a picture of me wearing the tunic (today actually right now as I'm writing this). One problem I have with this is that the yarn (cotton ease) stretched (since it is 50% cotton 50% acrylic). I like the texture and durability of the yarn it has a lot of give. I am tall and although the tunic is supposed to be longer I did not increase the pattern length any. The first time I wore the tunic it fell just below the hips but now (wear 5 or 6) it has stretched to well bast my but and is about the length of a short dress. Sometimes I tuck the bottom up so it is not as long (as in the picture above). The picture below is the full length (untucked) version of the tunic.
As you can tell from the pictures I like to wear this tunic with bright (bubblegum) colored shirts underneath. I usually wear this hot pink shirt or a bright turquoise or green shirt underneath to contrast the neutral color. I find it is a good tactic to make crocheted items with neutral or basic colors and then pair them with different bright colored shirts to change the look. I normally pair this tunic with a bright shirt, jeans or cargo pants (as pictured) and my Birkenstocks (which I own in hot pink).

My first pattern post YAY!!!

Since this is my first pattern post let me know if you have any questions/comments/concerns. This is the first time I have ever written a pattern for someone besides just me to use.

This scarf was made in the Fall 2006 with yarn I found at Walmart on sale. It was in small skeins (less than 100yds on cardboard cylinders). I think it is an acrylic fingering weight with a nylon ribbon. This scarf ended up too short for an adult so I called it youth sized or oops too small for me size. When I cut the ends the nylon part unraveled so the fringe is shredding. But this is a good beginner approach to crocheting because there is minimal turning. It took me forever to learn how to turn properly and to make it even. My first projects all looked terrible so they were donated to the homeless shelter. This scarf is going to Goodwill because it is to small for me and I do not have a small enough child to give this to. Who ever said college kids aren't generous?

Youth Stripe Scarf

3 skeins each of blue and green yarn (I don’t know what the brand name is but I bought it at Walmart for less than $3 a skein each yes than 100 yds) or about 300 yds of any worsted weight yarn

Size I or J hook

L 39”

W 4.5”

With color A ch151

Row 1 with color A turn and sc in 2^nd ch from hook and each ch till end (150) fasten off

Row 2 with color B sc in each sc

Repeat until desired width or until you run out of yarn by doing 2 rows of color A and 2 rows of color B

It is easy to adjust the width of stripes by doing more or less rows of each color.

I added fringe by cutting pieces about 6 inches long and tying them to the end of the scarf. This did not work too well because the nylon part of the yarn unravels easily.

So this is my first post um this is awkward

I picked the name Kollegiate Hooker because I thought it is a cute, catchy pen name for a collegiate crocheter. I guess if anyone comes here looking for porn they are out of luck, well oops. I am a sophomore geography/meteorology major which means I'll never get lost and always know the weather, who likes to crochet and has two best friends who are avid knitters (one has a spinning wheel). I am bent on crocheting and I refuse to learn to knit although I admit some of the stuff they make is pretty cool (but crochet is always better). I got the idea for this blog after getting roped into seeing the yarnharlot speak on her book tour and realized I need another form of procrastination from school, work, and knitters. I hope to post my finished projects and patterns I have made up and/or severely modified. This may be kinda slow and haphazard because I am prone to creative bursts and droughts and budget and time deficits but I think this could work (well hopefully).