I started to learn to knit…until I watched this. I laughed all the way back to crochet.

If you know of a good bargain this week please comment and tell us about it.

Webs

Year End Blow-out Sale (‘till January 4)

Adrienne Vittadini Dianna $3.49/ball (Reg. $8.50/ball) 51% Cotton 49% Acrylic Microfiber

Adrienne Vittadini Lisa $3.99 (Reg. $9.95) 50% Wool 18% Mohair 18% Alpaca 14% Poly

Adrienne Vittadini Lucia $4.49 (Reg. $10.95) 53% Wool 47% Cotton

Louet Euroflax Worsted $9.99/hank (Reg. $23.95) 100% Wet Spun Linen

Eucalan Woolwash 1gal Jug $48.00/ea (Reg. $60.00) Eucalyptus, Grapefruit, Lavender or Unscented 

One Planet Yarn & Fiber

Lanas Puras Melosa Fingering Weight $14.40 (Reg. $18.00) 100% Merino (Discontinued Colors: Camouflauge, Reeses, Denim and Tropical Dream)

Lanas Puras Melosa (Semi Solid Fingering/440yds and Variegated Lace Weight 900 yds) $16.60 (Reg. $18.00) 100% Merino (Many color choices. I’m loving the Truffle and Eggplant)

…and much more!

Herrschners

Sale prices expire Wednesday, Dec. 31

Lighthouse Reflections Mohair Blend $2.99 (Reg. $5.50) 60% Wool 20% Mohair 20% Soy

Herrschners Worsted Wool $2.99 (Reg. $5.99) 100% New Wool

…and much more!

Joann Fabric and Craft

Every skein of yarn on sale

Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool $6.47 (Reg. $8.99) 100% Wool

Yummy Yarns Fine Jelly Yarn $7.49 (Reg. $9.99) 100% Vinyl Online exclusive

30% off all Yarn Ball Winders $23.27-57.39 (Reg. $33.99-81.99) Online exclusive

Elann.com

R2 Fuzzi Felt by Rowan, Full bag $19.98/10 balls (Reg. $10/ball) 58% Nylon 16% Merino 20% Acrylic 6% Alpaca

Katia Cindy, Full Bag Blowout $19.88/10 balls (Reg. $7.95/ball) 57% Acetate 43% Acrylic

Paradise Fibers

Space-Dyed Blue-faced Leicester Yarn $3.99 (Reg. $6.50) 100% English Blue-faced Leicester Wool

The Yarn Garden

New Tweed $6.25 (Reg. 9.25) 70% Merino 15% Silk 11% Cotton

No matter how much I plan to make something it inevitably turns out to be something else. The Rabbit Scarf is a great example of this Law of Crochet physics.

 I found this great purse pattern that I planned to make for a co-worker and I knew exactly what type of yarn I wanted to use…bamboo. It had to be bamboo. I had never worked with bamboo yarn before, but the fact that it was made from a sustainable resource just screamed Jenn, for whom the purse was being made.

 A few rows into the project it became very clear that this bamboo yarn was far from ideal for a purse. It lacked any stiffness and just wanted to lay down (much like me on a rainy day with a self-educed Star Wars marathon playing). The yarn cried to be a scarf. A lacy, flowy scarf.

 As I realized that Necessity is truly the mother of Invention, I started looking for filet crochet patterns of a rabbit (Jenn likes rabbits. Jenn owns two rabbits. Jenn’s a rabbit freak.) and began improvising a filet crochet scarf. This was one for the records books. Knowing my time was short, I cranked this out in just over three days.

The bamboo yarn blocked beautifully and drapes like a dream. I love it!!

Free Photo Gallery by Picturesurf

This project had a lot of “firsts” in it. It was the first time I stepped out of my Michael’s and Joann box and purchased yarn that wasn’t acrylic. It was the first time I made a garment. And it was the first time I made something for my new boss.

The yarn, Lara by Elann.com, was almost perfect for the project. It had a nice feel, good sheen and draped beautifully. The only thing I wasn’t pleased with was its tendency to split. I’ll get more into that in a future review.

The pattern was very easy to work. Granted, it became boring as hell after a while. A few hundred triple-crochets into the project and you are longing for something else to work on; ANYTHING else to work on! I guess that’s why it took me two months to finish rather than the anticipated seven days.

Would I make it again? You bet. Would I use the same yarn? Hesitantly, yes. I know the problems with the yarn; but I love the color choices.

Most important of all, the receiver of the jacket LOVED it. And that’s the best part of all.

By the way, if you were as curious as I was about the meaning of Via Condotti. Check out the Wikipedia entry here.

Free Photo Gallery by Picturesurf

I thought I was going to make it this season without getting a cold. Everyone around me was dropping like flies and I foolishly thought this was the year I was going to be well during the holidays. But alas, on Sunday I succumbed to the inevitable.  

I tried to be a good trooper and go into work on Monday. Yeah, that didn’t last very long. In the end I was hunkered down on the couch at home with a regiment of DayQuil, Affrin, Sudafed and gingerbread cookies.

Three days later it still has my nose captive, but I’ve upgraded to just DayQuil and gingerbread cookies. The real test today will be the six hour drive we have to visit family in Lodi for Christmas. Luckily I don’t have to do the actual driving. My plan is to work on the Perfect Fit V-neck by Drew Emborsky that was featured in the Nov/Dec issue of Crochet Today. I started the side strips of it last night and it seems to work-up very fast. With two six-hour car trips ahead of me, I may have a finished vest by the weekend!

The almighty Google has developed a great search application for websites to use called Custom Search (please take a moment to gaze in wonder at the Custom Search bar located at the top of post(s)).

Google has allowed site owners to use custom filters on Google’s search engine so that when someone does a search it only returns results within the filter parameters.

For example:

Doing a standard search for alpaca with Google will give you top results ranging from alpaca farms and breeders to alpaca bike racks (let’s take a moment to visualize an alpaca bike rack shall we).

With Custom Search on Double Treble, all the search results are filtered to be crochet, knitting or yarn related. So a Custom Search of alpaca results in a listing of alpaca yarn resources.  Pretty darn cool. All hail Mighty Google.

When you want to start a new crochet project, there is nothing like browsing tons of patterns for inspiration. When you HAVE to start a new project, there is nothing worse than not knowing where to begin.

I put together a page of websites that have great indexes of free crochet patterns. These are sites that I use quite frequently listed in alphabetical order, with the exception of Ravelry. Ravelry is in a class by itself. My deepest apologies to any alphabetizing purists out there.

You can always find the free pattern listing in the Menu section of the sidebar.

How is it the more rows I do the less I feel I’ve done? My hook is on fire at night and all I can think about is what I have left to do. Ugh. I know it will all work out and I’ll have everything done in the end, but the stress beforehand is agonizing. Do I even dare say the oath? The oath that all hand-crafted gifters take every year about this time, “I will start earlier next year!” Sure I will. And I’ll be able to pull alpaca yarn out of my left nostril. We all know what happens; babies are born, co-workers have birthdays, family members have special occasions. Throw a wedding in there and BAM! You’ve used up all your Pre-Christmas Oath time with projects for other events and you are back to the last minute craziness. I’m seriously tempted to open an Elf sweat-shop.

This is a project I’m pretty darn pleased with. When I was thinking of a gift for Laura I knew it had to be a scarf. She is one of the greatest scarf connoisseurs that I know. I don’t know if she buys a scarf first and then matches the outfit or vice versa; but either way there is some serious Garanimal action going on.

At first I wasn’t sure if the Boteh Scarf pattern was the way to go. Even though it had potential with the “falling leaf” look, it just wasn’t striking to me; but I already had the yarn and I was running out of time. Because I had previously purchased four colors of yarn (I’ve got to stop buying yarn before I know what I’m going to make) I was forced to alternate the colors of the motifs. Completely renegade from other versions of the scarf that I had seen. I was a bit nervous.

After the first set of four I knew I had a winner. I can’t wait for Laura’s reaction when I give it to her next Tuesday.

The pattern is available for download from Interweave for $5.

The yarn used is Peruvian Baby Silk from Elann.com. A blend of 80% baby alpaca and 20% silk; this yarn is a spun orgasm!  I chose Parchment, Mocha Cream, Peridot and Moroccan Olive colors.

Free Photo Gallery by Picturesurf

 If you know of a good bargain this week please comment and tell us about it.

Joann Fabric and Craft

Jo-Ann Sensations Cello Yarn $2.49 (regular $4.99) 100% Polyester

Sensations Naturals $4 (Reg. $6.99) 67% Wool 33% Rayon from Bamboo

Patons Cha Cha $1.99 (Reg. $4.99) 100% Nylon

Patons Classic Wool 2 for $9 (Reg. $5.99 ea) 100% Merino Wool

Elann.com

R2 Fuzzi Felt by Rowan, Full bag $19.99/10 balls (Reg. $10/ball) 58% Nylon 16% Merino 20% Acrylic 6% Alpaca

Katia Cindy, Full Bag Blowout $19.88/10 balls (Reg. $7.95/ball) 57% Acetate 43% Acrylic

Webs

Cascade Sierra $4.79 (Reg. $8.00) 80% Cotton 20% Merino

Paradise Fibers

Space-Dyed Blue-faced Leicester Yarn $3.99 (Reg. $6.50) 100% English Blue-faced Leicester Wool

The Yarn Garden

New Tweed $6.25 (Reg. 9.25) 70% Merino 15% Silk 11% Cotton