Citron Scarf/Shawl

Citron Scarf in scrap sock yarn

Once again I fell in love with one of the free patterns on Knitty, Citron.  I started this project in a striped sock yarn. Got about 10” into it & realized that although the color/striping looked pretty good I really didn’t like the hand - way too dry & rough. 

So I started on another one using a lovely soft alpaca, Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Lace Weight Yarn. I used colorway 29 which is a very subtle, and I'd like to do another one using one of their more colorful dyes.  The alpaca is really soft and cuddly, but very light and comfortable to wear. The interesting shape makes it look great no matter how you throw it on. I ended up doing 7 repeats. Great size. Great weight. Perfect for warm climates. I didn't block it because I like the loose, fluttery look it has. I think it's a bit looser than the original pattern looks that's knit up in Malabrigo Yarn - Lace Baby Merino Yarn. I love the blue colorway that's linked here. And it's a great price. It's pretty quick and easy to knit so I think I'll give it a try.

Citron Scarf in Misti Alpaca Yarn (col. 29)

closeup of Citron Scarf

Crocheted Bag with Traditional and Freeform Elements

Finished Freeform Crochet Bag

My daughter came home from this summer describing a bag she had seee someone carrying and wanted me to recreate. Not being a knitter or crocheter, she went to my closet & pulled out my Granny Square Bag (instructions are here)

and said it was the opposite of that. Or at least that how she thought she saw it. Maybe. The bag should be striped and the straps should be squares. And it should look great with her favorite coat, which is a mix of about 10 different prints.



I pulled out my box of needlepoint yarn scraps and chose a palette..

Granny Squares for the Strap

I knew she wanted the straps to be squares, so I did a simple 3 round granny square (pattern is here. )That went really quickly, but the body stumped me.

figuring what colors will go with the straps

beginning of the body

After playing around with a few different options and flipping through many crochet stitch books I settled on the Single Crochet - Zigzag pattern from Sasha Kagan's "Crochet Inspiration." I did random colors on the striping, with mostly single rows of a color, but occasionally I did a couple of rows of a color.



At this point I stitched the bag to the straps. I then did a sort of controlled freeform flap piece that I stitched onto the back of the bag.

Freeform-ish flap piece on the blocking board.

Back of the bag

Finished bag, with coat.

I lined the whole bag with an old sweater that I threw in the washer & felted. My daughter tends to use her bags with gusto, so I was sure to use very strong stitches and a heavy lining. There's a lot going on with all the patterns in the coat and bag. But she's happy!

Design 17 Hat In Noro Silk Mountain Yarn

Noro Silk Mountain Hat Knit in Design 17

I quickly knit up this hat out of Noro Silk Mountain (colorway 3) using Design 17 from one of my favorite little Noro books, Noro: Designer Mini Knits . It's got lots of great little projects that are perfect for when you want to knit, but don't want to start on some involved project.

The yarn is gorgeous, of course, since it's Noro. And with this pattern the striping is very subtle.

Free E-books Available

I just found link to free ebooks and videos on the Interweave Press site.

Interweave Press/Crochet Me Afghan (photo is from their website)

Besides this crocheted afghan there are a number of other free books or videos as well. You will need to provide your email address to get the free patterns, but I've found the info you get from them is helpful, and there aren't an annoying number of emails sent. As I study the pattern I'm not in love with the style of the border. I'll of course go to my favorite source for edgings, Edie Eckman.

Every afghan I've made, whether crocheted or knitted, I've managed to find the perfect border, or combo of borders from this book. What I like best about the book is how easy it is to modify a pattern. You can easily add a row, take off a row, or combine rows from different patters together. A definite must have in any crochet library!