‘Tis the season… The Hunting of the Bling

After a month of dark tweeds and miserable weather I decided I deserve some glamour and sparkle in my life. And I mean heavy duty sparkle – sheeny viscose, lurex, the works. Maybe even (sottovoce) sequins! In the spirit of the season, so to speak.

So I was thinking a party top. And a cardi. And maybe a party dress for my niece,

Truth be told, bling is not usually my thing. I had trouble finding something that would look glamourous as opposed to trashy (without costing a fortune, clearly). After much ado I came upon this yarn from Sirdar. For some unfathomable reason they called it Soukie (apparently they don’t plan on selling it to the Russians). It’s definitely bling, but of a classier and subtler variety

It’s marketed as DK, but in terms of yardage and weight I’d say it’s leaning towards aran/heavy DK.(110m/50g). The colour I picked is gorgeous, it’s true pale gold with sparsely placed sequins. In daylight it’s rather plain, but in artificial light, especially dimmed or candlelight it’s pure magic.

Shade card for this yarn is a little limited and not very exciting, only ten shades, of which I could work with three, including the one I picked for my top (and that would be shade 170).

The yarn is nice and pleasant to the touch; I might not need a lining for my top after all. Oh yes, the composition. 40% polyester, 33% acrylic, 27% cotton. Works for me.

Another shade I quite liked and am considering for a shrug is this:

 

It’s shade 172, the best I can describe it dusky pink or antique rose. It has to be said that the shimmery silvery thread in this shade contrasts quite strongly with the main thread.

Overall, well done, Sirdar, and thank you. And that concludes my first ever yarn review!

 

Sorting out logistics

I know I’ve been silent for a month… the fact is I’ve been gearing up. You see, all my tin dogs were dead or dying around me… I needed a new camera because mine sucked big time. My old iPad was in its death throes. I also needed some blogging know-how, some photo editing software, well, you know, the works.
Now I have got all the bells and whistles I’m back and ready to do some serious blogging along with some serious crocheting and designing.
And oh, I am absolutely in love with my new iPad mini and Siri the sidekick.
It’s uncanny… All I have to do is wield the hook while muttering to myself and let the brainy thing do all the typing. Siri fetch me this Siri fetch me that Siri I am running out of yarn, now be a dear and go order me some. And while you’re at it, Siri, wind this skein into a ball for me will ya?

As per actual crocheting, I’ve been whipping up winter woollies in scores, all manly stuff for the growing bairns who all of a sudden aren’t interested in Spider-Man or Yoda hats and want it all “as nondescript and unobtrusive as possible”, as one of the bairns aptly put it.
Well, they got their nondescript, but boy was it dull!

The Modish Twin conceded to well appointed ears of modest proportions in demure conservative tweeds. I also managed to squeeze a granny into his neckwarmer. The Hipster/biker Twin grumpily agreed to a beanie with sparingly applied spiky colour work. And he doesn’t want anything around his neck, so it’s just high collared bomber for him.

 

 

 

 

Think warm thoughts

Call me a snob, but I don’t do acrylics. Knitting-slash-crocheting with acrylics is unseemly, unladylike, and downright close to profanity. But… the other day I was in a local yarn shoppe looking for something bulky, marbled, autumny-ish in exuberantly hot shades and stumbled upon this chubby fella. It ticked all the right boxes, apart from its humble and somewhat embarrassing pedigree. So I took this mongrel home and had a trial run.

Tell you what… I can’t say I saw the light and opened my heart to the joys of man-made fibre. But I’m very pleased with texture that can be achieved with this particular mix.

I whipped up this neck-warmer in a matter of minutes (an hour, tops, with all the interruptions). Started with foundation double crochet for stretch, ran a round or two of trebles and switched to rice stitch which, in my opinion, shows off self-stripers and marbled yarns at their best.

So here it is. Nothing fancy, but practical. Modeled by my son, a.k.a. owlvideogaming.com. and by Nana the mannikin. The dog refused to model.

Just how far would a hooker go?.. Japan’s calling!

Her love of Japanese crochet and sewing books took this particular hooker well above and beyond.
Tuesday night I had my first Japanese class at the Uni.  Yes,  you heard me right… my own old (and apparently going senile) self cooped with a bunch of surly teenagers!

Of course I had reservations about this. As a language professional I realise that learning a language as outlandish  as Japanese can be rather tricky at my age. But my apprehension quickly turned into exhilaration. There are few highs comparable to discovering a new language, its quirks and whims, and it’s been quite some time since I last felt this buzz…
So I’m going to give it my best shot and make it work.

It’s a tough environment – most of my classmates are language students, businesslike, driven, competitive. It’s swim or drown setup. They are also, I have to add, overworked and over-stressed (at least that was my first impression). I felt like i was the only one actually having fun.

By the way, Scotland in Japanese is ‘su-kot-to-ran-do’.  With this charming factoid I sign off and  return to my Hiragana. I’ll keep you posted!

Antiquing and crochet

Yesterday I was at an antiques fair drooling, as is my wont, over piles of vintage and antique linen. Some of pieces I saw left me speechless… I stared in awe at patterns and stitches, trying to imagine what these women’s worries and thoughts would be.  It strikes me time and again just how much time and effort used to be invested in a crocheted bedspread, a table runner, even in a moderately sized doily.

Those times and those crocheters are long gone.The aesthetics of their work is alien to us, the frame of mind and work ethics enabling such feats of endurance are beyond our grasp. With our busy – and far more fulfilling – lives we barely have time to whip up a hat or a pair of mitts, to experience a short-lived high of handling a ball of yarn, an exquisitely turned wooden hook, of watching a flower grow in our hands out of thing air and a strand of fibre.
Yet whatever we do is built on these unknown women’s heritage. We still use the same patterns and stitches, applying them to modern funky designs, translating them into new aesthetics, adjusting them to fit our busy lifestyles.

I’m not in the least nostalgic, but I’m infinitely grateful.
Everything is as it should be.

Charlotte’s great-granddaughter

A fellow fiberpunk has pulled an all-nighter to create an exquisite doily. She could’ve been Charlotte’s great-grandchild…