Wednesday, October 6, 2010

New Beginnings

I wish I could say that the reason I haven't been on here for a few months has been because I was so busy crocheting all the projects I had previously promised. However, after I announced my grand plans for baby floor rugs, toys and clothes, pregnancy took it's toll and I spent most of June/July sleeping and watching TV. Then along came my beautiful baby girl and crocheting was the last thing on my mind! I was very pleased that I could finally dress up my little girl in the clothes I had made for her. Sadly she grew out of them very quickly. I also discovered that some of the tops I had made for her (i.e. the Cozy Cardigan and Envelope Neck Sweater) had very little give and were so chunky that they were nearly impossible to get on her. I suspect that this was due to the yarn I had selected rather than the patterns themselves. Never mind, I now know for next time to make bigger sizes using yarn that has more stretch in it. Hmm, next time... that will be awhile away.

© Interweave Press
So now that I've rested and feel like I've got a handle on being a new mum (for now) I'm ready to crochet again. However, I'm a little over baby things, this time I'm making something for me. I've picked up my latest copy of Interweave Crochet magazine and found a lovely pattern, a 'Birch Vest' by Kristin Omdahl. I headed down to my local Spotlight and discovered that with the warmer weather and Christmas coming the yarn department has halved and been taken taken over by Christmas decorations. As suspected the yarn used in the pattern was not stocked so instead I purchased 6 x 50g balls of Cleckheaton Bamboo in Rose. Reading Interweave Crochet I've discovered another method for substituting yarn, previously I mentioned comparing make up, texture, recommended hook size and stitches per inch guide, I've now discovered Wraps Per Inch (wpi). Interweave Crochet has this nifty page with life-size photos of each of the yarn used in the magazine so readers can place their selected yarn against the picture to check the size, but also on this page the wpi is listed for each yarn. When selecting the yarn for this project I took a ruler and wrapped the yarn around it until 1 inch of the ruler was covered, I then counted the number of times that I had wrapped the yarn around the ruler. Both the original yarn for this project and the yarn I have selected have a wpi of 17, however their recommended hook size and stitches per inch guide differ a little so I'm interested to see the outcome of this substitution method. One last decision to make... buttons! This seems to be a repeating dilemma - color, size, texture - so many to choose from :)