Babydoll frogged and redone

I never got around to making the newsboy cap last night because I decided to give the dress another whirl before completely frogging. And I am glad I did. After using a H hook and rethinking the set-up single crochet (crochet in every single stitch vs. crochet in every other stitch), I finally got it to fit me!

Updated progress picture:

Yay! No flare, or can't-even-fit-over-head syndrome!

And my WEBS order finally arrived today! I came home from work and checked the mail, but no luck. I live in an apartment complex, and quite often packages can get stolen which left me fretting. That is, until I noticed a UPS truck located a building away from me. Wasting no time, I dashed upstairs, printed out a copy of package tracking record, and leaped back down the stairs to the UPS truck. I showed the guy my sheet and lo, and behold, HE HAD THE PACKAGE!!!! Whew! I was so relieved! Last Christmas, my friend Christine sent me Friends Season 6 and it was delivered to my door, but ended up stolen. Thank god, I was there to safely rescue my $100 order of yarn. (Hey, it was on sale!)

Pictures of my new yarn. Is it weird I held them up to my cheeks, cuddled them, and whispered sweet nothings into their...strands? :-D

And a side view...

Sorry I am not a very good photographer. I own a Canon PowerShot SD550, but I have yet to learn the cool intricacies of my camera.

The list...

2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Woodland Mix (for a Irish Hiking Scarf or Newsboy Hat)

5 skeins of Cascade 220 in Burgundy (for a Bluebell Boatneck)

5 skeins of Cascade 220 in Olive Heather (for a Bluebell Boatneck)

3 skeins of Cascade 220 in Dark Plum (for a Back to School U-neck Vest)

3 skeins of Cascade 220 in Straw (for a Back to School U-neck Vest).

Now that I have actually seen and fondled Cascade 220, I am sorely tempted to go back and buy more next month. (What has happened to the frugal girl I once was?!) This is the best sale of the year for Cascade 220. They were only $4.89 per skein. Hopefully, it will last me about 6-9 months worth of projects?

Well, I'm off to do more work on my babydoll. Ciao!

Babydoll progress

I spent most of the past weekend working on my Babydoll dress. Of course, there might have been a short expedition to downtown La Jolla where I might have "accidentally" bought two back issues of Interweave Knits (Winter 2005 and Winter 2006). The Winter 2006 had at least 5 patterns that I really love. "Love" is the keyword. I don't think I'm nowhere near that level to create them yet, but one can always hope. And I also "accidentally" bought another bottle of Soak (this time in the Flora scent) because the salesgirl seemed genuinely nice and helpful. Okay, okay. It was not an accident. I can't seem to help myself when it comes to knitting/crochet related materials. The good news is that the back issues were only $2 each. :-)

Back to the topic, the lovely Babydoll dress. Unfortunately, my dress is not coming out quite so lovely. I finished assembling the bodice and actually wove in all the ends (to prevent future laziness in finishing the dress). However, the lace section started coming out too small. Therefore, I frogged and tried again. I didn't want to frog the ribbing section or else I would be basically starting over from scratch. After adding a round of increases and doing a couple inches of lace, it was coming out flared and too big! Gah! So I frogged again and did another couple inches. Still too small. I frogged all the lace last night and now I am seriously considering to rip out the ribbing section and start anew.

Frogged section (note the wide flare):

What do you think? When I try on the bodice section, it comes out very close-fitting. (Plus, if you look closely, one of the shoulder straps is longer than the other one and one of the bodice halves is wider than the other.)

I think I will let it sit tonight, and work on something quick and easy. Last month, I bought this Etsy pattern and yesterday my Joann's order of Clover circular needles and that truly hard-to-find size L crochet hook arrived. Tomorrow, my order from WEBS consisting of Cascade 220 and Berroco Ultra Alpaca will be arriving. I never thought I would actually say this, but I think I might have to turn to knitting to take a break from this dress.

Speaking of knitting, I love seeing how knit and crochet fashions are becoming trendy in stores. I was cruising the Bloomingdale's website earlier and I found this sweater.

Isn't it pretty? It's on sale for $82.99, down from $139. (Which to me, still isn't a sale!)

And I found this American Eagle Babydoll Cardigan on Ravelry...

It's on sale for $34.95 at the AE website, but I haven't seen it in stores.

And look, crochet sweaters are becoming popular! I am so happy for crochet! Although I knit too, my first love will always be crochet and I feel sad whenever I hear/see knitters dissing crochet.

Interweave Crochet

My Interweave Crochet magazine for Spring 2008 arrived yesterday!!! I am so happy!!! Now I can't wait to break open the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece I ordered last month to start working on that baby doll dress.

That top on the cover looks rather tempting too. It is the China Doll top patterned after a traditional Chinese dress.

Also, this Butterscotch Cardigan looks amazing...

And another peek at the China Doll Top...

With back view...

Sigh. So many gorgeous projects!

This was also included in the mag, but I'm not sure if I would consider making it. It is a bit different from stuff I usually wear.

The Geometry Dress...

Scarves Galore

I know...I know...it's been way too long since I last updated. But not to worry! I am still crocheting/knitting. Recently, I've been leaning towards knitting more after I discovered the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern online. I love that pattern so much I am working on my 3rd scarf. Usually, I get bored by a pattern after one time, but surprisingly I find this pattern to be comforting yet still interesting.

Projects made:

First Irish Hiking Scarf - Used 2 skeins of Patons Classic Merino Wool in Dark Grey Mix. This even included thick, fluffy fringe. It was the first time I ever made fringe, and I gotta say, I love it! It really feminizes the scarf and makes it so much prettier! (Pictures to follow soon, I promise!)

Second Irish Hiking Scarf - Used 2 skeins of Patons Classic Merino Wool in Chestnut Brown. Again, same pattern. I will gift it to my co-worker Debbie for her birthday next week. It's a bit sad that is beginning to get warmer here in San Diego, but I suppose she can always use it when fall comes around again.

Third Irish Hiking Scarf - Used a little less than 2 skeins of Patons Classic Merino Wool in New Denim. For my father. I think it will be a perfect match for his blue Dallas Cowsboys jacket. However, I will leave off the fringe in hopes of making it a more "manlier" scarf. I only have a little bit of yarn left, and I'm afraid it won't come out to 60" as I had hoped. The other two scarves were about 57" before adding 3" fringe to both ends.

In other news, I finally trekked down to downtown La Jolla two weeks ago and bought a bottle of Soak Wash from Neroli in La Jolla. It is a upscale lingerie boutique. It's a rather strange place to buy something intended for my handknits/handcrocheteds. The LYS nearby, Knitting in La Jolla, only carried Eucalan, but the bottle she offered me looked really old and disgusting. Sure, it was $5 for about 14 oz. but I decided to fork over the $15 for the better quality and better smelling Soak from Neroli. In the end, I bought the Limited Edition scent called Celebration. It is a heavenly smell. The best part is that you just mix one teaspoon of it with 1 gallon of water. Put in your clothing and let it soak. Then you just pour the water out and roll in a towel to squeeze out the water. And dry! No rinsing! Makes handwashing stuff much more enjoyable! :-)

Speaking of washing, it also led me to buy this sweater drying rack from Bed Bath and Beyond this weekend. I bought two so they can stack on top of each other to save space. It works better than the pop-up dryer I bought from Linens and Things. Unfortunately, that one wouldn't fit on top of my dryer, and when popped up, it couldn't seem to support the weight of a water-laden sweater without tipping over. But hopefully these ones will work out! I also got a fabric shaver from Target and spent an hour shaving my favorite red shrug last night. Am I a dork to love these laundry inventions?

In crochet news, my bf got me a pattern booklet at my LYS in Mission Valley. It is for making amigurumi Pooh & Friends characters. For amigurumi, it looks amazingly like the real Pooh! Luckily, I know I have some gold and red Patons wool in my stash that will be perfect for making Pooh.

A preview...

He also spoiled me with this Candyland Winnie the Pooh edition board game yesterday. When I was in 2nd grade, it was my favorite board game. And childhood dream to one day own it! Hehe.

So that's what I have been doing lately. That, and browsing Ravelry like a mad woman. Man, do I love that site! So many things to learn and read about!

Babydoll Dress

I received my trial issue of the Winter 2007 Interweave Crochet magazine a couple weeks ago, but I wasn't sure if I was going to fully subscribe. Of course, this was until I realized they put up the preview for the Spring issue earlier this week.

And there it was...

The pattern I had fallen in love with at first sight...

The babydoll dress!

And sleeve detailing...

Yay! I was so excited that I immediately paid for the subscription. Hehe. I checked the IC website earlier, and it said my mag will probably be mailed out on 4/17. But it comes out on newstands on 4/1! Sigh. I don't live near any places that carry IC. After taking a stroll around my neighborhood Von's last night, I discovered they carried two knitting magazines: Interweave Knits and Knit Simple. Can you imagine that? Two knitting magazines, but not one single crochet magazine! Oh, the injustice in this world!

I think I will go order the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece for this pattern to appease myself.

Weekend update

Over the weekend, I managed to get more progress done on my second Short 'N Sweet.

What I have so far...

Yesterday, my bf and I went to Barnes and Noble where I ended up drooling over this book. So beautiful! Makes me want to run out to Michael's and buy a bunch of knitting needles. I read reviews online about circular needles and I actually want to try them out. They sound like they are better on the wrists, especially for a longer piece of work. It's a good thing for my bank account that I don't live too near craft stores and LYSs. :-D Bf had to take me by the hand and literally drag me out of the bookstore.

Also, I have been lusting over this book for the past month. I am especially in love with that blue, crocheted cardigan. It looks just like a crocheted version of the Printed Silk Cardigan in the latest issue of Interweave Knits! Pictures of that here. Since I am nowhere advanced enough to knit the Printed Silk Cardigan, it would be nice if I could manage the crochet one. Must resist urge to buy! :-)

In other unrelated crochet news, bf and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on Saturday. Pictures of gifts below!

My very first Fruits Basket wallscroll (or wallscroll of any kind for that matter)!




Fruits Basket manga all the way up to Volume 18 plus the Fan Book - Cat!

And a Yuki bobblehead figurine! I am a lucky girl indeed. :-D

I got into Ravelry!

Finally, I got into Ravelry today! Woohoo! I heard so many wonderful things about this online community of knitters and hookers that I just had to join. It took probably over a month for me to get my invitation. Apparently, it's National Crochet Month this month. No wonder I was a March baby! :-)

In other crochet news, I started working on a hat last night with my new Bernat Softee Chunky that I picked up on Sunday. If you look closely at my previous bookshelf picture, you can see it on the top shelf. (It was only $1.87 per ball at Wal-Mart.) Even though I haven't bought yarn at Wal-Mart in years, I couldn't pass it up since I could never find Softee Chunky at Michael's. For an acrylic yarn, it feels surprisingly soft. Also, it's really bulky. I am used to working with worsted weight yarns so the bulkiness felt a bit awkward to me initially.

Update at 10:10 pm: Finished the Ribbed Newsboy Hat. Since I didn't print out the last two rows of the pattern, (and the pattern has been pulled off the author's website), I changed the brim to make it wider and more tapered than the original. I found my inspiration in Hip Hats and Cool Caps by Afya Ibomu. Although I didn't find any hats in there that I was dying to make, she did have some really good brim instructions. Here are some pictures of my finished hat!

Sitting by itself. I took the picture before I shaped the brim. Brim looks much better now.

A side view of the hat.

Birthday weekend and yarn galore

Saturday was my birthday, and I must say, I had a really happy weekend all due to my wonderful bf. First, we headed down to downtown La Jolla where we got Belgian crepes from my favorite crepe restaurant. I haven't been there in 2 years! Back at UCSD, the lady who owns the restaurant would come every Tuesday to the UCSD Farmer's Market on Library Walk and I would always buy a lunch crepe with turkey and avocado, or a strawberry nutella crepe. Or a lemon crepe when I was feeling health-conscious and/or economical. It was every bit as delicious as I remembered.

Afterwards, we went to over to the La Jolla library to pick up a crochet book that I requested. The book doesn't look too impressive, but I always enjoy going to that branch. The furniture there is so awesome compared to other branches!

Then came the highlight of the day! Maybe even highlight of the month for me. Knitting in La Jolla! The magical LYS that I've been reading such good reviews about. It is a little shop located next to Hard Rock Cafe, but I couldn't believe how many beautiful, designer yarns were stacked inside. And not just yarns, but needles, hooks, books, buttons, and other notions. I was drooling and foaming at the mouth. Surprisingly, the prices weren't too bad. I mean, prices are always higher in LYS than online because they need to understandably make a profit. But, I discovered there were some yarns that weren't too much higher than they usually sell for online.

So happy was I that we spent 2 hours in the store. Yes, and they flew by. Bf was so good to put up with me and didn't even complain once. Later, he had to buy a Rubik's Revenge cube from Geppetto's down the street to cheer himself up from being cooped up for so long. Hehe.

After much consideration (I am rather slow at making decisions), I decided to purchase 5 skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic in a royal purple color for my next Short 'N Sweet. I couldn't decide between purple or light orange. Bf thought light orange would be good for spring, but I literally don't own any orange apparel. According to him, "orange is in for Spring". And sadly, after looking at the many clothing retailer ads in my email, I think he may be right! Oh well. Maybe I'll go back one day to get the orange. ;-) My best find in the store was the Tahki Stacy Charles Crochet 2nd Edition pattern booklet. I was lusting over that last week, and was about to purchase it online for $18, not including shipping. But I found it in the store for only $10! Score! So happy! And the owner told me that they didn't have the book until I spotted it wedged in between the crochet books in a corner. :-)

The rest of the day went by smoothly, and we had dinner at Spice & Rice. Another restaurant that I have not been to for 2 years. It was yummy. Then we finished the night by catching Definitely, Maybe on a whim and later, Ratatouille. All in all, a very full and happy birthday!

And now onto the pictures!

Beautiful Debbie Bliss alpaca silk in Aran weight that my bf gifted upon me, among other delightful birthday gifts. Not exactly sure what I will do with it. It comes out to about 210 yards. Perhaps a hat or scarf?

My lovely, Tahki Cotton Classic with the gorgeous Tahki Crochet pattern booklet!!!

And finally my long-awaited, new bookshelf! I was beginning to run out of room on my smaller bookshelf due to my rapidly growing collection of DVDs and toy figures. Picked this up from Wal-mart yesterday for a really good price and bf helped me put it together in an hour. I think I will save my top shelf for my WIPs and the crochet/knitting books that will surely fill it in the future!