Doug Does Hats

Doug has been working on creating hat shapes without a pattern, or trying out some challenging patterns. His latest effort looks like a toque and wasn't really sure where he was going with this design.

He made a top hat for a Victorian style get together. How did he get the stovepipe to stay upright? with plastic canvas.  Plastic canvas is frequently used in purses, totes, etc. to provide stability. Doug has donated the hat to our Holiday Sales event. 

Doug made the newsboy to challenge himself and he was curious how the stitches worked to result in a curve. Sorry we didn't get a picture of the top that would have shown off the design a bit better.

Knitter's Fantasy

Knitter's Fantasy occurs every spring in Youngstown. Created by several knitting guilds in northeast Ohio, they take turns running the conference. A different number of us have attended the last few years to take in some classes and enjoy the yarn market and fashion show. They ask as part of the entrance fee that a hat be donated to a children's shelter. Theresa, Marlene, Karen and Rebecca are holding up the latest hats we brought before adding them to the collection box.    

Phyllis Works on Problems

When we have a great many diverse squares donated to us, it's always a quandary how to handle them to get a pleasing and useful result.

Somehow Phyllis ended up with several of these, but I feel she enjoys the challenge: seeing what she can come up with.

She has done several things. She has totally "frogged" a square and recycled the yarn. Sometimes yarn that is available or has been donated just won't work. It can be difficult coming up with a pleasing combination.
What looks like 4 squares are really 6 squares, but Phyllis thought it needed a border and the red looks great. That one is earmarked for as a lapghan to go to the vets.

On the other two Phyllis started out with nice squares but she had to design the rest. She sometimes borrows a little yarn from the design and uses it to make a more pleasing edging. Other times she finds a fairly good match. The end result are two infant blankets for the Linus Project.

Boat to Tote

Pat finished her tote! She's been working on it for literally years and restarted it several times. Then deposited it into my hands 2 weeks ago.

Her work was dubbed the "boat" by her daughters who thought its size was "overboard." But to get a good size tote, you actually have to go large when you lose 1/3 of the size during felting.

I also thought it would be nice to put the sweater Randy was working on for her daughter in the blog, too, thinking it was finished. (A Jared Flood design called Cobblestone). But it's not finished. It's peeking out from under Pat's boat back in January.

Why isn't it finished? Because Randy has been printing up book markers about her process of knitting. (She made a block print for Three Rivers Crochet several years ago.) They are being sold in Seattle at the Pike Street Press. So it looks like she's either knitting or making art about knitting!
I made the straps for the tote, felted them, and sewed them on. I found the leather button and made a slit in the felt for an opening. You can also see the bag drying into shape over 2 rolls of paper towels.
But the best picture is Pat showing off the tote and I am so pleased that she was pleased with the final product. I'm not sure she really had confidence that all that work would result in something she liked. 100% Patons Cool Wool.

Personal Projects

Everyone seems to have been very busy lately. I want to thank each of you who send me pix. I really need the help!

Doug crocheted up this hat for the vets. It certainly looks like a challenging pattern. I was wondering how Doug was going to fare, since he was a newbie to the group. Everyone who is new arrives with varying skills and Doug just said he hadn't had much time to crochet and wanted to get back to it. Well, it would appear he has quite a few skills and is anxious to do more for the vets.

Those blue kneehighs are being made by Krystle. We are thrilled she graduated from Pitt, but sad because she will be heading back East, at least, until a job materializes. She does fantastic knitting and crocheting and I hope when she starts working, she'll still have time for yarn. We also hope she keeps in touch.

How about that fantastic shawl Karen is wearing. Karen has been working on this shawl for awhile. She fell in love with the yarn, and found the colors entrancing. It is Sari yarn, made from the scraps leftover from silk saris made in India. The pieces are collected and recycled in Tibet (I think). Each ball is unique and worthy of an interesting pattern. Once Karen was finished knitting, she had to search for the appropriate beads that are hanging from the shawl. She wouldn't even allow us a peak until the shawl was totally finished. It's a work of art.

Well, here's a doily from Crochet Traditions crocheted with Lizbeth thread. If you follow the blog, you've already guessed who made it. Paulette! Again she has produced another item reminiscent of a bygone era. Of course, I wanted to know if she was going to make everything in the magazine. I wonder if Interweave has any idea how happy they've made her?

Theresa's Commissions

Theresa does her part for our charity donations by making requested items and having the check written to the charity.

In the case of the R2D2 hat, she was accused of preying on another's weaknesses. She knew Chris was going to a sci fi con and hurriedly whipped up this hat just in time for Chris to realize this hat was exactly what she needed to take with her.

All kidding aside, Chris thinks she can get a sale for a stormtrooper hat, too. Theresa finds these designs in needlepoint and then totally designs a hat around it. It takes a lot of planning. She does seem to be getting awfully good at this type of hat.

She also made a cowl for Karen. This is the second cowl she made from the yarn Panne, using the accompanying pattern. The first one was for me since I won the yarn. I earmarked the remaining yarn for a second cowl to be put into the holiday sales. Karen liked it so much, she said she would make the donation. Unfortunately, it was finished just in time for this early spring and Karen hasn't had a chance to enjoy it. I wore mine through February and found it to be cuddly warm tucked into my coat.

By the way, the donations are already in the hands of the Pittsburgh vets.

Shanti Joins Us

March 10th was our big joining day with everyone wielding needles with yarn for sewing. Shanti came to the group for the first time that day and she could have felt very left out and her crochet problem ignored.
But Theresa immediately befriended Shanti and helped her with the problem: a combination of not being real experienced in crochet and what I call "opaque" instructions. After sometime working together Shanti had a good feel for the granny square patterning and was quite proud of what she had accomplished.
Shanti arrived the next week with a great start on a granny square but needed to learn how to change colors. She is showing off her first attempt at a color change here, but by the end of the meeting she had successfully done another change.
That is how you join Three Rivers Crochet. Show up and join in.