Something Altogether New

People who really know me know that I've never been on a diet in my life. I've also never bought an exercise DVD.  I've always gotten all the fitness I needed from just being active for fun. In college I played Ultimate Frisbee (aka Frisbee football) and racquetball. After college I played racquetball and starting cycling. After I had kids, well, I chased kids and cycled. And that's kept me pretty fit.

The very first ISWUC team! We were called Woman Scorned. We had just enough players for one team with one sub (or no subs if someone couldn't be there). Those were some intense games and tournaments. I'm in the center left.

Until now.

Here's a timeline of me!

Back in 2004 right as I was about to finish up my undergrad work.(I promise I'm not naked here, lol!)

After college, about 5 months before I got married. (December 2007)

This is giant me after Katie (baby#1). I probably weight somewhere around 150. Yikes! (July 2009)

A little hike with little kids. I'm about 130 here. (Oct 2011)

OK, not the best picture. I'm all hunchy and pretending to let Ivy take a big bite of my burger (though she would LOVE to take a bite for real.). This was July 2013 at 150.

After the weight from baby #3, my body settled at its pre-first baby weight. 150 pounds. I couldn't seem to bust past that number until this week. I weighed in at 149 (big jump, I know). Maybe it's a sign that my body is finally ready to get over the hump.

This week, I'm starting a new exercise program that I actually bought. It's called Pretty Fierce Weight Loss from Moms Into Fitness. It's a 60-day program of short, focused workouts geared toward busy, post-baby bodies. I bought it, so now I have to do it. If you're interested, follow along on Fridays - starting this Friday - for the next two months to see my progress. I hope we're all surprised by the results (in a good way!).

Wednesday's Child - A Fair Experience

Last week sometime, Bev called me up and wanted to know if I had anything to enter in the Jasper County Fair. I hadn’t really thought about it. After all, I entered something about 20 years ago, hadn’t I? Wasn’t that one time enough? Apparently it wasn’t enough for Bev. When I told her I didn’t have anything good enough to show, she wheedled me with flattery saying how good I am at crochet and how I should be teaching a crochet class, and couldn’t I just look around for something to enter?

Didn’t she understand, only an ARTIST is worthy enough to show their work? I’m not an artist, I just crochet. Most of what I crochet is someone else’s design or someone else’s pattern. Someone else fretted, counting every stitch she made. Someone else toiled over every pattern note she penned. Only an artist sweats the small stuff, deserving to show their work and win the glory. What Bev probably does not realize is I tend to give everything away. There isn’t anything I have made lying around. But, she did apparently know my weakness! All someone has to do is tell me they like what I made, and it’s theirs instantly! Money is no object!! Flattery is the only payment I need to part with an item, no matter its cost to me. I decided then I would scrounge around for something to show at the county fair!

On Friday, Bev came to pick me up for the fair. I dashed out the door with my purse, bottle of water, and a white plastic grocery bag. Inside the grocery bag were two baby hats I managed to find tucked away and an almost finished work in progress (WIP). I was just sewing on the finishing touch of my WIP when Bev parked her car outside the fairground gate. She grabbed her plastic bag of items, and I had so little, I carried mine in one hand.

Upon signing in, we were directed to textile ARTS, our designated area. I proudly laid out my two baby hats and my now finished object (FO). I looked around to the closest tables to me. I was secretly pleased to see there weren’t many entries to compete against. I was mildly disappointed when I found out differently. Saturday is when most entries were expected. It was then I watched Bev, who, like a magician pulling rabbits from a hat, extracted her work from her plastic bag. Did I say work? No, it was ART. My eyes widened with surprise as she laid out an exquisite hand spun, hand woven mat. The mat was followed by a beautiful crocheted wool hat, and right behind them, a pair of tiny, meticulously hand knit mittens fit for a royal child. At that moment I knew Bev had a much better chance than anyone of us for winning a ribbon. No one else entered anything which could compete with her entries.

Following a weekend of curiosity, I convinced my husband to take me back to the county fair on Monday afternoon. We entered the fairgrounds and headed straight back to the open class building. The air was charged with the smell of barbeque and smoke, the sounds of different farm animals calling from their stalls, and laughing children running to and fro. Inside the building there were organized games for children and youth while their parents looked on. My husband and I circled around to the textiles area and searched the display for my items. Then I saw it. There is was…my pink panther inspired iPad cover sporting a blue ribbon! I found my baby hats and they were showing off red ribbons. Bev’s lovely items also garnered her ribbons as well.

While neither one of us had won the purple division ribbons which would have entitled us to go to the state fair, we both came away with first and second prize ribbons. I’m glad Bev talked me into entering the county fair this year. I could have lost the blue ribbon I wanted; I would have been ok with that. Most importantly, when I left the fair grounds that Friday evening, I left with a good friend and I found my humility patiently waiting for me outside the gate. In the end, it was I, who had won the real prize.

Wednesday's Child - More About Yarn

After talking with my friend Bev on Friday, I realized she still needed answers. We made arrangements for me to drive over to her house so I could help her as best I know how. I packed lots of yarn into my great big pink craft organizer on wheels, stuffed a garbage bag full of yarn, jumped into the car and away I went. I parked my car and Bev met me at the door, as if she had been watching for me. Although not actually wringing her hands in despair, she appeared to be slightly anxious. After sitting on the couch with her I found out why. Bev is fairly new to crochet and was confused and had a lot of questions. Here are some of them.

The label on any skein of yarn gives a lot of information on how to use it, including washing instructions, the best hook used with it, and the yarn size or weight.

Question 1: Which yarn is best to use? 

My answer is this: Use what you like and are comfortable with. Experiment with different yarns to see how it looks or feels. Different textures of yarn make things interesting. The yarns that can be bought from the craft stores and from places like Wal-Mart tend to be standardized. Red Heart and other large yarn makers use standards for color rather than different dye lots. You can be assured of getting the same color and quality every time. The yarns you purchase from the local yarn shop are different. A lot of their yarns are hand dyed and/or imported and are not typically labeled, so enough yarn with the same dye lot needs to be bought in order to finish a project. 

A US Standards Chart

Question 2: What do mean when you talk about the “number” of the yarn? 

The label which holds the yarn also gives a lot of information. When you look at the label, you will find a number on it of 1- 6. The number on the label tells you what size, or thickness, the yarn is. Knowing the weight of the yarn helps to determine the outcome of the work. For instance, if you want to crochet a pair of wool socks, the number one wool yarn would probably work best. It is commonly called fingering yarn, is a superfine yarn, and best used for socks and baby items, or things that need to be lightweight and comfortable. The larger the number, the heavier the yarn.

Here you can see different types of yarns and their thicknesses.

These are both #5 yarns, but you can see that there's a difference in the thickness due to what they're made from.

Question 3: What hook should I use? 

Use the hook that best works with your yarn. The hook size determines the outcome of your work. A larger hook makes it bigger and a smaller hook makes it smaller. The European standard is different from the US standard. US hooks used to go by letter only, but now include the millimeters (mm), too. Some older hooks, like Grandmom’s, didn’t even have a letter or number. When the pattern calls for a gauge, the hook you use could make the difference in whether a garment fits or not.

Using a gauge to measure a crochet hook. (Hint: This gauge can also be used to measure knitting needles.)

Question 4: How do I use a measuring gauge? A lot of times, the pattern will call for a 4”x4” test square. This is an important step when size matters, such as an article of clothing. The measuring gauge helps to determine how many stitches per inch is needed, and you can use a larger or smaller hook as needed to accomplish the specified stitch per inch. The measuring gauge can also be used to size crochet hooks and knitting needles. The gauge has measured holes to pass a hook or needle of the same size through. The holes are labeled by letters and millimeters (mm). This could be useful when you are using European pattern standards and your grandmom's hand-me-down hook.

Using the gauge to measure a 4"x4" swatch.

We sat on her couch with a nice beginner’s pattern and bags of yarn to choose from. The pattern called for an N size hook and a bulky #6 yarn. The garbage bag contained everything from crochet thread (which is a #0 by the way) to the chunkier, bulkier #6 yarns. She was able to see differences in the different wool yarns (3-4), finer baby yarns (#1-3), the heavier chenille yarns (#5-6) and everything in between. The pink rolling organizer held every hook I’ve ever owned from numbered steel hooks to large lettered aluminum hooks, all the way to a couple of plastic P and Q sized hooks.

The label for a #6 yarn.

We measured crochet hooks and knitting needles using the gauge. We studied and compared all the yarns and chose which color to use and then gauged her stitches. We laughed, took pictures and had fun. Our afternoon was filled with crochet and friendship.

Before I took my leave, I imparted one last tip to her: Whenever you’re in a yarn or craft store and you’re not sure what you need, it doesn’t cost anything to ask questions and most clerks are happy to help.

The Brooklyn Frock - A Pattern Review

The pattern: The Brooklyn Frock
The designer: The Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop
Cost: Free
Special skills: Bias binding, gathering, button placket, button loops
Cut + First sew time: 2.5 hours
My sample size: 3T

Over the last few days, I've gotten the chance to finally sew up a couple of these cute little dresses. If you're looking for a cute little dress that's quick and easy to sew up, this one is a pretty good fit. I really love the asymmetry of this design and how you can fab it up with really funky fabrics or chill it out with sweet little prints like the ones I used.

Yardages/Cutting: It only takes about ten minutes to configure the pattern pieces and get the pieces cut out, especially if you're cutting out smaller sizes. The pattern pieces are clearly marked/labeled with what they are, how many to cut, and whether or not to cut on the fold. Yardage requirements are pretty accurate, but it can't hurt to buy an extra 1/3 yard just in case you forget to do a layout before you cut (the designer recommends laying out first). If you lay out your pieces prior to cutting, you will have less fabric waste and may even have a nice usable scrap left over. Because of having to cut both main pieces of the dress on the fold of such a small piece of fabric, it would have been nice to just have a cutting layout included in the pattern. Not a deal breaker.

Special Techniques: Most of the instructions are very clear, though you do need some experience, or at least access to information or techniques, to accomplish some of the detail on this dress. One of the special skills you will need for this dress is how to attach double fold bias tape. Attaching bias tape is not something explained in the instructions so you might have to pull out that dusty sewing book or hit up YouTube for some instruction. I've only used bias tape one before so I had no idea what I was doing the first time around on this dress. Another special technique used on a major part of this dress is gathering. There are two or three different ways to accomplish this, so brush up on whichever way you like best and have at it. Buttons and button plackets are another detail used here, though I'm not sure the type used on this dress is an actual placket since it's done more like a keyhole here.

Sewing: This pattern goes together pretty quickly once you know how to do all the techniques mentioned above. First sew time (the time it took to get through the whole pattern the first time) was about 2.5 hours.

One of the drawbacks to this pattern is that notches aren't included in the sleeve pattern pieces. This makes gathering at the shoulder and at the bottom of the sleeve a little more difficult since they're supposed to be isolated to the centers. Pocket placement could be marked. The sleeve binding also gave me some issues due to how they're sewn together. The instructions tell you to attach the binding and then sew the sleeve and dress sides together at once. The finish would look nicer if the sleeve and dress sides were sewn and then the bias was attached - but this would require that you know how to finish a bias binding. Completing this step the correct way would probably make the dress sleeve more comfortable for the wearer and it would look nicer, too. Although I didn't change the pattern in any way, I would add a little something around the bottom edge - maybe more binding.

Wednesday's Child - Yarnzilla!

Ok…so my friend Bev asked me to do a post on yarn. The conversation went something like this: "I was talking to Mavis just the other day and I asked her, ‘Did you know there are different kinds of yarn?’ ‘Is that so?’ She said she never knew and what’s the difference anyway? She’d always used plain ol’ yarn for everything.”

I wondered if she ever crocheted any sweet little baby outfits or any adorable booties or darling little hats or mitts… My mind ran away with all the wonderful things a body could crochet or knit with so many different kinds of yarn! Fat yarns, skinny yarns, some silky, some scratchy, and beautiful colorful hand spun and dyed yarns from all over the world. I confess! It’s like an addiction for me. When my eyes catch a flash of color, or I touch a skein of soft, fluffy yarn, it’s very hard for me to walk away. I love walking through the aisles hunting for just the right yarn. If I’m really lucky, I’ll find some on sale.

I don’t just confine myself to yarn, though. I have a very difficult time passing up magazines and books about crochet and, most of all, crochet patterns. Then there is all the good stuff which goes along with yarn. I am a frequent shopper at all the thrift stores in town, cultivating my obsession by hunting down every hook, needle and craft supply I can possibly walk away with. Then I take my treasures home and lovingly tuck them away in my craft room.

Storage baskets full of yarns.

A tote full of thread.

Bags of yarn.

Beads, notions, odds and ends.

Patterns - LOTS of patterns.

Very few people have ever visited my craft room. Those forced that have not been lucky enough to get away have been shown every drawer, basket, and tub full of yarn. They get to see all of my hooks and needles and look over all of my books and patterns until their eyes glaze over. When I mention there are at least five more tubs of yarn in the basement and would they like to see those as well, their eyes widen, darting crazily around looking for an escape route. But, I digress. We are still talking yarn!

And these are only the printed ones. There are hundreds more on the computer.

More books and magazines.

Books and magazines.

Bev, at your request, this is for you!

The images above can be found in the sources and supplies section of Interweave Crochet Magazine.

These guidelines have been established by The Craft Yarn Counsel of America and can also be found here: http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards.html