Finally! A project to use up that boucle stuff...

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Originally uploaded by pudmuddles.

I can understand my temporary insanity with respect to the dozen or so balls of fun fur still lurking in my stash. I have a plan for eradication which includes amigurumi crochet creatures.

The other novelty yarn (at least I consider it a novelty) is all the boucle I have laying around. There was the bit I bought to knit up the dreaded never-ending poncho of which I think I still have a full skein, if not more. Then there is a skein of BLACK boucle which is going to be a nightmare, no matter what I decide to do with it. I can't crochet with it, that much I know... Finally, there was a BIG skein of Joann's Rainbow Boucle in pink. This was an impulse buy. I think Joann's had it on sale for $3, marked down from $6. It was a thorn in my side as I had tried to make a hat for my daughter but I wasn't happy with my results so I left the yarn alone for about a year.

As part of my ongoing mission to knit 95% of the time from my stash exclusively, I decided it was time to figure out something to do with this. I tried to hold two strands together but couldn't see the stitches at all! I settled on pairing the pink boucle with a white wool-ease sportweight (oh how I wish this stuff wasn't discontinued).

I used Ann Budd's basic pattern for mittens and though it was difficult to obtain an accurate gauge AND the first mitten came out too large, I am very pleased with how these turned out :) Best of all, I have a plan to deal with the rest of boucle as I will be knitting up mittens for my daughters as well!

FO: ribbed arm warmers

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Originally uploaded by pudmuddles.

I've named these Greensleeves for obvious reasons. Made from LB wool-ease, from my stash. This was a relative quick and mindless knit... at least this incarnation was easy! I originally set out to demo a friend's pattern but soon realized that "one size fits most" doesn't include my small-ish hands. So I tinkered and this is what I came up with :)

Of concern...

I'm going to talk for a moment about knitting/crochet/crafting podcasts... Since I started listening to podcasts, I've noticed that some podcasts have been very consistent (Sticks & String for example). Others are either coming out less frequently or not at all.

However, what is most troubling to me is a review I recently posted to iTunes for the Lime & Violet podcast. First of all, I mean every word of the review. I love Lime & Violet, they are very entertaining, have provided me with a great deal more knowledge of yarn, books, etc. than I would have had if I hadn't been listening. Like others have said, its a virtual SNB in a podcast. Ok, so no problem, right? Wrong. I made a mistake in not posting the review SOONER... because of this my review doesn't have as much credibility since it was after Ms. V herself mentioned the slew of recent harsh reviews (some do contain valid criticisms) to the L&V Ravelry forum.

BAAAAAAA! I feel like such a sheep right now and it is really bothering me! Ok, that is all I have to say at the moment... Stay tuned for more FOs and WIPs and as always, I humbly thank you for reading :)

ETA: It's still bothering me, days later... I don't really give much credence to iTunes reviews which may seem odd considering that I review books for TRRC. Anyway, I should have stepped back and either waited to post a review or temper my words a bit than my emotional glowing praise as shown... I wanted to be nice and give back in my way. I value the work of podcasters because they are providing a service which is essentially free to be consumed regardless of the level of expense endured by the podcaster. I can't at the moment show my regard for them monetarily. I don't anticipate posting any other reviews on iTunes. I can't help but feel a little bit tainted by the whole thing.

Cheap Date

lacesamplershrug
Originally uploaded by pudmuddles.

This project had been languishing in my WIP pile. I think I started and frogged about 3 times before I finally powered through. I purchased the yarn (Lion Brand Suede) about a year ago at the 99 cents only store and used just a bit over 2 skeins. Not accounting for my time and effort, the materials for this project was less than $3. Pretty cool, if you ask me!

The pattern is from an episode of Knitty Gritty (DKNG-510) and it is called the Lace Sampler Shrug.

Flawed but functional

shoppingbag
Originally uploaded by pudmuddles.

I have a bit of cotton in my stash which was screaming to be something useful. I know that washcloths are really popular with a great many crafters but I am just not one. Anyway, I was looking around for patterns and came across this on the Lion Brand website. I liked the strap construction but found that it still stretched a bit more than I wanted and the sides did not match up perfectly when it was sewn together. I will be making this patten again but plan to go down a needle size and cast on 10-20 fewer stitches for the strap.

Bustin' stash and going green... How awesome is that?

Bye Bye Red Heart

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Originally uploaded by pudmuddles.

I am happy to report that my stash has been purged of nearly all the Red Heart acyrlic. This blanket worked up quickly using two strands, rows of half double crochet on a 9.0 mm hook. I call it "(Red) Heart Burn". It's a nice blanket which will no doubt be durable enough to take abuse from my kids but so far, it hasn't come off my bed. I'm keeping this one to myself for now :)