My backpack is too small and there is too much yarn

I am now in Berlin and we have managed to find multiple yarn stores in Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, and Germany and my backpack is filling up with yarn. Ill be back in a week and can start posting pics

Greetings from Italy

Soory about the delay but backpacking through Europe leaves little time for blogging. free internet is rare and I take it where I can get it but 15 min is just enough time to check email and stay intouch with the family. I will post patterns and pictures when I get home. I am working on scarf number 2 which is an alternating rib pattern Ive worked up. I also bought yarn to make a souviner scarf for a friend. These super long train rides help me get them done. I will be back in the states in 2.5 weeks!
But it is way to hot to even think about wearing a scarf right now

We found yarn!!!

Sorry for the lack of posting but I have busy with papers and the computer lab has been crazy.
Last Friday my travel buddy and I went to Abingdon which is about 30 min south of Oxford. It is this tiny town with nothing in it except an awesome yarn store. It is called Masons and thier website makes it seem that they don't have much yarn but that is a lie. They have lots of yarn and I wide range with all kinds of stuff I have never seen before. And best of all it was cheaper here with the crappy exchange rate than back home. We were palnning on mailing what we got home but a 5 kilo box of yarn will cost over $100 to mail so we have decided to carry it with us until we get home of we find a cheaper country to mail it from. I spent about £25 and got enought for 2 scarfs, 1 baby item, 3 skeins for the scrap blanket, and stuff for the roomie. Don't even ask what my friend spent but she is a yarn addict and it was cheaper than crack
I have finished making one of the scarfs and I'll post the pattern when ASAP with pictures.

Here is the website for the yarn store. It was awesome and I recommend making the trek if you are nearby
http://www.masonsneedlecraft.co.uk/default.aspx

Update: Found Alphabet Pillow Patterns

I contacted the lady in charge of the blog where I found the patterns and she accidently deleted her patterns but you can access them through an archive through her hosts server. Here is the link but it only has the patterns for A through W.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070704212228/www.wovenspun.com/indexmain.htm

Alphabet Pillow Pattern

I have been made aware that there is a problem with my link for the alphabet pillow patterns. It turns out that the site is no longer offering crochet patterns. Being that I am a continent away from my pillows I don't know the stitch demensions accordinglly. However, my wonderful travel partner and avid knitter suggested that I come up with my own charts although they may not be exactly like the ones on the site. I have contacted my beautiful room mate and asked her to send me the stitch dimensions. I will find some graph paper and make up some grids however even if I can do this it will be mid August untill I can scan them in. That you for brining this to my attention. I need to make another J and a B for my new roommates when I return home.

P.S. We found a yarn store in the next town South of here and we are planning to venture there tommorow after class.

It is acrylic but it will work

I have finally found yarn in Oxford. It was in a store that supports a local hospital which was in the covered market right next to my college. I have walked past this store at least a dozen times in the past week yet I didn't notice until today that they had yarn. Although the collection was very small with just wool and acrylic it was very well priced. I got 2 large skeins of 100% acrylic yarn with about 230 meters a skein for £1.20 or $2.50 each which is a good price in the states. I plan on making a scarf although by the time I finish it will most likely be august in Italy and extremely hot. I have designed a pattern during my class today that will combine vertical stripes of the 2 colors and cables. In theory this shall work but in practice we will see. I will post pictures as I go. I should be working on my papers which are due in a week instead of worrying about a scarf in July but I love procrastinating.

I need yarn

So this whole bringing no yarn thing was a bad idea. I need yarn like a drug addict needs a fix. that twine is looking very good right now. If anyone knows of any place that sells yarn in the Oxford, Cardiff, or London UK it would be greatly appreciated.
We are also heading to Zurich, Bern, Rome, Florence, Vienna, Prauge, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Brussels and are in need of loaction there too.
Thanks!
P.S. When I was in a pub in Dublin there was a beer on tap call the Galloway hooker or something like that and it made me laugh because it sounded like a beer for only prostitutes and chrocheters. But I didn't get a chance to taste it this ime. Maybe on the way back.

Tidings Y'all From Jolly Ole England

So I am now offically attending classes at Oxford University for the next three weeks. I have no yarn and 2 hooks but we haven't been able to find a yarn store. We did find a craft store in Dublin but it only had really bad acrylic woold blends in hidioues colors. We want to take a weekend trip to Wales and find some sheep and wool. If anyone knows of a yarn shop in Oxford or London or anywhere nearby please let me know. I am close to buying twine from the fairtrade store and making coasters because I need to crochet.

Last post before I go

So I will be gone for the next 7 weeks. I am spending 3 weeks studying at Oxford University in England and then taking 4 weeks to backpack across the great continent. I will try to update if I can but I won't be able to post photos or any patterns Sorry. Plus I am not taking any yarn or projects with me. I am taking a G and J hook though in case/when I find yarn. I am spending a few days in Dublin before heading to Oxford.
Sorry about the change but everything should be back to normal in about 2 months.

A Public Service Announcment

Since I am leaving for Europe in a week (yikes) I was checking out the TSA website to learn how to pack without being stopped for looking like a terrorist. I have a knack for accidentally having a suspicious looking carry on bag. My friend I am traveling with is an avid knitter (shes the one with the spinning wheel) and afraid of having her needles taken so I emailed her this site. Here is the link. I also want you to know that you ARE permitted to bring transformer toys. (see picture)


http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1252.shtm

I almost forgot!!!

So my mother gave the summer baby set to a co-worker whose wife just had a baby and they loved it. It is sized for 3 months but it fits loosely on the baby girl which was born last week at 6 lbs 5 oz. I didn't give the hat because it was too large and I hadn't sewn the ends in yet. oh well it will be another gift to local Project Gabriel.

Yay this make me feel better!

Thank you to those of you who have posted comments today! It made my day. I won't be posting any new posts for the next couple days. I am gone visiting my grandparents and helping them clean out thier attic. They have lived in the same house for 50+ years and I don't think have ever cleaned out thier attic. It doesn't help that it is not air conditioned and we are in the middle of a heat wave. I did find some afgans my mother crocheted back in the 70's out of some hideious aryclic yarn. We are washing them and taking them to the veterans home because they never used them. I brought the socks with me although they are once again a ball of yarn but I probably won't spend much time of them becuase I have a whole bunch of reading to do.

Cheer up emo crocheter

Emo Kid Hat

1 skien of Lion Brand Wool Ease in dark gray
Size J hook

Brim:
Make 2
ch31
Row1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across
Row2: ch 2 skip first sc hdc in each sc across (30 hdc)
Row3: Ch 2 skip first hdc, hdc decrease over next 2 hdc. Hdc in next 25 hdc, hdc decreas over next 2 hdc turn (a hdc decrease is made my inserting the hook through 2 stistches while making the stitch) (27 hdc)
Row4: ch2 skip first hdc decread over next 2 hdc. Hdc in next 23 hdc, decrease over next 2 hdc. turn (25 hdc)
Row5: same pattern (23 hdc)
Row6: same pattern (21 hdc)
Row7: same pattern (19 hdc)
Row8: same pattern (17 hdc) Finish off

sew the 2 brims together on the 2 short sides and the shorted long side (not witht he beg ch)

Body:
ch4 join with sl st in first ch to form ring
R1: Ch 3, (Ch 3 counts as first dc throughout) 23 dc in ring. join with sl st
R2: Ch 3 fpdc in next dc (2 bpdc in next dc, fpdc in next dc) around, bpdc in beg 3 ch. join
R3: Ch 3 (2fpdc around fpdc, bpdc around each of the next two bpdc around. Join
R4: Ch 3 (fpdc around each next 2 fpdc, 2 bpdc around next bpdc, 1 bpdc around next bpdc) around. join
R5: Ch 3 (fpdc in next 2 fpdc, bpdc in next 3 bpdc) around. join
R6: Ch3 (fpdc in next 2 fpdc, 2 bpdc around next bpdc, bpdc around each of the next 2 bpdc) around. join
R7: Ch 3 ( fpdc in next 2 fpdc, bpdc in next 4 bpdc) around. join
R8-16: Repeat round 7
R17: Ch 1 sc in each dc aroun
R18: repeat round 17
R19: Ch 1 sc in the same stitch as joining and in next 20 sc. Place brim peice against the front of the hat. Sc in the brim to the hat in the next 30 stitched. Sc around the rest of the hat.
Finish off
Weave in ends
So this is the first project I made that uses different stitches together (it was a big step). I thought that it would be a cool winter hat but it turned out super emo kid-ish. It look worst when my hair was its original color (black, Asian kid black is my natural hair color and no I'm not Asian I part western European). Me plus natural hair, black t-shirt, studded belt and black eye makeup equals a scary emo punk kid.

Her is a picture of me cheesing it up for the camera.

A tad of philosophy

So I just got my first comments!!! Thank you mdancer and myra johnston for commenting on my first pattern post. It could be possible that the yarn I used was Matrix. I am sure if I tied the fringe in wouldn't unravel. So much of crochet (and life) is made of trial and error. Many projects and attempts have not turned out as expected. Yet this approach works well in crochet and in life. I think that so much of life and crochet are intertwined. Figuring out difficult problems, like translating knitting charts into crochet, trying to decipher a pattern or chart, using the wrong size hook and yarn and figuring out the gauge, and making up your own pattern. Well I have gotten more philosophical than expected (and I hate philosophy).

Keep the comments coming. I greatly appreciate it. Feel free to add your opinions, suggestions, ideas and questions. Really you can tell me the pattern is ugly and I won't care (because my mother already said that).

Hopefully my roomates don't mind

Last week I was browsing other crochet blogs and I came across The City of Crochet at http://cityofcrochet.blogspot.com/

Its author had posted a pattern for a woven potholder or trivet. I had just bought some cotton yarn because it was $1 a skein on the clearance aisle and thought it would be perfect. See my mother doesn't understand how you buy yarn just for the purpose for being able to create things as soon as you find the pattern without running to the store.
Here is my finished project. I accidentally sewed it wrong and didn't follow the weaving correctly (i was too busy watch TV) but it still works and looks good.

Lover's Knot Trendy Scarf

I found a pattern for a shawl using the stitch called a Solomon's knot or a lover's knot. I adapted the pattern and used it to make a scarf. I used a yarn that is a ribbon yarn I picked up on sale at the local yarn store The Needle Craft Barn.
Here is the link to the original pattern and to tutorials for the stitch.

http://www.joyfulabode.com/?p=39

http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa122698.htm

I used approximately 140 yard of the yarn (2 skeins at 74 yards each) and a size K hook
R1: ch 1 then make 25 lover's knot stitches.
R2: make a lover's knot in the first knot from hook. Make 2 more Lover's knots then slip stitch to the 2nd knot from hook repeat till end.
R3: make 2 lover's knots then connect using slip stitch to the 2nd knot from hook (this is the unconnected knot) repeat make 2 knots and connecting to the loose knots to create a mesh pattern.
Repeat until desired width (or until you run out of yarn)
Last Row: Do one lover's knot then connect to next knot in previous row (each knot is connected to one form the previous row) Finish off

ARRG Surrender The Booty but only if it is yarn

So my favorite pattern is argyle and its been shown that I like skulls and hot pink. I have been looking for an argyle crochet pattern for awhile. I found this chart as a knitted guide for socks. I took this, played around a little bit with the pattern and adapted it for crochet and used the knitting instructions as a guide. It mad a large block 70 x 36 stitches. I used scrap yarn (worsted weight Caron Simply Soft) and a size K hook. I don't know what I will do with this besides hang it as a banner to by awesome crocheting ability. This was my first time carrying yarn and changing colors so it is not perfect but I think it is kick ass and perfect for me. I've told by knitter roommates and they think it matches me perfectly.

here is where I found the original pattern
http://scrubberbum.typepad.com/moth_heaven/2006/07/this_might_be_a.html


If you can't get the link to work let me know and I can email you the adobe file

Baby Summer Set

Short Sleeved Sweater
Worsted Weight Yarn
Size f hook
Tapestry needle
Buttons (I used 2 but you could use more or less and any size the fits through the a dc)
Chest size 20 inches
Length 7 inches

Special Stitches
Shell Stitch: 2 dc, 2 ch, 2 dc

This pattern starts at the neck
ch 43
R1: Dc in 4th ch from hook. Dc in next 6 ch. Shell stitch in next ch. Dc in 2 ch. Shell in next ch. Dc in next 17 ch. Shell in next ch. Dc in 2 ch. Shell in next ch. Dc in next 6 chs. Turn and ch 3.

R2: Dc in each dc and shell in ch 2 sp of previous shell. repeat 3 times. dc in remaining dc turn and ch 3.

R3-5: Repeat row 2

R6: Dc in each dc and in the ch 2 sp of previous shell (1 dc, 2 ch, 1 dc) repeat 3 times. dc in remaining dc turn and ch 3.

R7-9: Repeat row 6

For this section I switched colors however the sweater can be worked in a single color.

R10: Dc in each dc to ch 2 sp. YO, insert hook in ch 2 sp, YO and pull up loop, YO and insert hook into the next ch 2 sp, YO and pull through loops. (This creates an arm hole) Dc in remaining dc and do same in the next set of ch 2 sp (to create a second arm hole) dc in remaing dc.














R11: From this point on the sweater is worked in crocheted seed stitch (see previous post)
Sc in first dc, dc in next dc repeat to turning 3 ch, sc in 3rd ch. Turn and ch 3.

R12: sc in next dc and dc in next sc, repeat across turn and ch 1

Repeat rows 11 and 12 until the peice measures 3 inches from the under arm section. Finish off.

Sleeves

Row10: Join in the ch 2 sp of last row of underarm. Ch 2 dc in each dc around. Turn and ch 1

Work in seed stitch

Row 11: Sc in dc and dc in sc around. Turn and ch 3

Row 12: Dc in sc and sc in dc. Turn and ch 1.

Row 13: Repeat row 11

Row 14: sc in each stitch arounf and join to first stitch. Using a tapestry needle sew up the remainder of the sleeve.

Repeat for other arm

Edging
I did a simple edging of 2 rows in sc. This did not include button holes. The button were sewn on dc stitches and the sp in between dc used as button holes. You can easily and an edging that includes button holes in desired.

Hat
Baby weight yarn
Size G hook and tapestry needle
Length 5 inches
circumference 18.5 inches

Ch 4

R1: join ch 3 then make 11 dc in loop join

R2: ch 3 and 2 dc in each dc join

R3: ch 3. 1 dc in next dc and 2 dc in next dc. repeat pattern and join

R4: ch 3. 1 dc in next 2 dc and 2 dc in next dc. repeat pattern and join

R5: ch 3. 1 dc in next 3 dc and 2 dc in next dc. repeat pattern and join

R6: ch 3 dc in each dc

Remaining section is worked in seed stitch and worked in rows then sewn together
R7: Ch1. sc in next dc and dc in next dc. repeat turn and ch 3
R8: Dc in sc and sc in dc repeat turn and ch 1
Repeat rows 7 and 8 until the hat measures 5 inches from first round.
Sc in each stitch join and sew up the hat.
As always if you have an question about this pattern let me know and I'll try to help.

And knitters say were aren't as cool: Crochet Seed Stich

Crochet Seed Stitch

These directions are for creating this stitch in rows (going back and forth). If you want to do this in the round you need to make sure you have an uneven number of stitches and carefully mark the beginning of each round

Double crochet in the first row then turn and chain 3
Double crochet in next stitch then single crochet in next stitch. follow this pattern until the end of row.
If the row ends in a dc turn chain 1, sc in first dc then dc in each sc and sc in each dc.
If row ends in a sc turn chain 3, dc in first sc then sc in each dc and dc in each sc.
Repeat this pattern.

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.