why we have a thing for a set of crochet hooks in a case...we're not quite sure. there's something about the uber organisedness of having all the same hooks in the same case which is highly desirable, perhaps due to the fact that we tend to lose the things very easily, and having a designated spot for each hook can't be a bad thing. in our searches we came across a vintage boye set which looks like it belongs in a vintage painting (or to the lady in the painting - you get the gist..).
from the knitting beyond the hebrides virtual conference, a thorough look into knitting with space dyed yarns.
got a handheld a wondering how it can help you with yr knitting? enter palm knitting.
the plan for the handknitters guild is to knit an afghan to raise money for their operation (remember the fiasco with the waratah this year? well, the guild are super organised, and asking knitters to start making squares now for next year...). this time 'round the afghan is going to be more of a swanky afghan - done in tones of cream, cafe au lait, mocha, caramel, and any other posh word you can think of for light tones of brown, donna hay style. (we already have plans of entering the raffle, and if we win, a very large vat of suitably hued dye will be at the ready...)
initially we were in love with the concept of a hardcore cable design from one of the barbara walker "treasury of knitting patterns" books - once upon a time, we had an idea of making throws based on people - marilyn monroe's would be a cream, white, and novelty yarns number which would look fabulous over a chair such as the one on the cover of 1000 chairs. nigella lawsons would be chocolate brown, made from jo sharp's silkroad ultra (in truffle, right?) and then there was trent reznor's. it's got to be black. and bloody expensive (noro cash iroha?) and have a ton of detail, and nine inch tails (leather tassles?). so trent's throw was going to be based on this weird sort of 37 stitch cable, the likes of which we'd never seen before.
given the cable won't fit into the sizing of the square needed for the throw (all the squares need to be knit in 8 ply), we've found the chump change cable (thursday entry) which should do the trick for the afghan. as for trent, marilyn and nigella....another day.
we'd love to make the dress from the interweave crochet issue. we even shelled out the $25 to order the issue from elann.com when interweave kindly informed us that no, sorry, not getting a copy even though you've ordered, because it's sold out.
however, the thought of wading through 4 (four!) pages of instructions is scaring us just a little. we need psyching up to just do the tension swatch. then there's a little search to find some interesting errata, combined with the "gee, haven't we got enough to do already?" (another story in itself, coming to a screen near you...) jonesing, and we're not so sure.
