Knitting & Crochet – Pure Sugar

Sheep & Wool 2024

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Carol — No Comments ↓

I have been knitting since November 2005 and crocheting since 2009, and I live just outside of Rhinebeck, so it is no surprise at all that the annual New York Sheep & Wool Festival is one of my favorite events! This year I went with a friend who has just learned to crochet and we had such an amazing time! The weather was gorgeous, and while the festival was certainly busy, I think Sunday is always a little less crowded so I didn’t feel completely overwhelmed by people.

There were so many gorgeous yarns — soft fibers, brilliant colors — just an absolutely delight! It was so hard choosing what to bring home because I oohed and ahhed over just about everything. I picked up some fun goodies, of course: a solar dying kit from Hilltop Farm Fiber Arts, Sparkly Sock yarn in Spruce from Flying Goat Farm, and Iachos yarn in Helm’s Deep from A Hundred Ravens. I left with so many ideas and so much inspiration! Here are a few scarves/shawls I loved and might make:

Wishmaker Shawl by Helen Stewart (knit)

Woollsia Shawl by Ambah O’Brien (knit)

Affair de Coeur Shawl by Tammy Hildebrand (crochet)

Naturally I got treats for my daughter and husband too. I picked out three sugar-free dip mixes for Drew to use in his dessert creations and a crazy caramel, peanut butter & M&M apple for Laura. I couldn’t leave them out!

I think before I jump into a new project I am going to spend a little time reorganizing my yarn because currently there really isn’t a lot of rhyme or reason to my method. I also want to redo all of my pattern binders. Currently I have stacks of printouts that need to be filed. I love a project to work on while watching TV at night, so I think I will probably start there. If I can do both of these things it will help me plan for next year!

Crochet-iversary

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

When I checked my Facebook memories this morning, I saw the following post from 12 years ago:

I still remember it! I was pregnant with Laura and after several failed attempts, I had decided that I was finally going to learn. I thought it would be fun to look back on my journey!

learning to crochet — First stitches! February 2009

just fold up the sides — My first dishcloth! Completed February 4, 2009

crochet baby sweater — Baby sweater – March 12, 2009

ripple afghan — My first completed blanket – May 3, 2009

attic24 bag flower detail — My Attic24 bag – May 2009

baby hat with oversized rose — Baby hat – April 2011

Country Christmas Crochet Garland — Christmas Tree Garland – November 5, 2012

Crochet jellyfish — Octopi Amigurumi – May 2016

C2C Blanket with Caron Cakes Yarn — C2C (Corner to Corner) Blanket – November 2016

Atlanticus CAL through part 4 — Atlanticus blanket in progress – July 2017

Triangle scarf — Triangle Scarf – December 2017

It’s so fun to look back on all of the projects I’ve completed over the years (this is just a small selection)! Last year I honestly didn’t do much crochet, save for some dishcloths. Seems I lost my cro-jo a bit. But I feel like it’s so worth it to make time for the things that make you feel good, and I am definitely in need of a creative outlet.

So maybe this weekend I’ll actually pick up my hook (or knitting needles — I haven’t knit in ages, either) and see what inspires me!

River Rock Blanket

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Hooray! I did actually finish the blanket today! According to my Ravelry notebook I started working on this on Feb. 18, 2018. I actually thought I started sometime in December 2017, so it took less than a year of work, crocheting off and on.

The pattern is called the River Rock Blanket by Acquanetta Ferguson. The pattern is available for free on her blog, Olive + Brook. It’s actually really simple to do — just variations on double crochet. I opted to do my own border and worked two rows of single crochet around, and then this simple shell stitch border:

Shell Stitch Border

5 DC, sk st, SC, sk st
Repeat around and sl st into bottom of first DC.
(Feel free to fudge it on the spacing in order to get your shells just where you want them)

The blanket is huge and I am very much looking forward to getting cozy with it tonight while watching TV!

So. Much. YARN!

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Oh boy, what a project I am working on! When we had our heating issue and had to empty closets and move everything in order to access the pipes, I became all too aware of how much yarn I have. I found Michael’s bags with a few balls of Sugar ‘n Cream. I found baskets with a couple skeins tucked away. And my storage tote was overflowing. I decided that I really needed to go through and organize it all, so that is what I did today.

I started out with everything just thrown together.

I decided that I was going to get rid of any yarn that was terribly tangled, and say “goodbye” to any unfinished project to which I no longer had the pattern, or was over a year old.

I’ll be honest: it wasn’t easy. There were some Stitch-cation squares I let go of, some half-complete dishcloths with yarn that was broken or tangled, and a cowl I had started with Red Heart Unforgettable. Love the colors, but hated working with the yarn!

Does anyone remember the planned pooling craze? Yeah, I wanted to try it out and got frustrated, I guess. Found this in there, too. I just cut off the portion that I had done. Tension is so important when you’re doing that technique — no point in trying to pick it back up now!.

I just had to get rid of these things for my own sanity. Also, any clumps of “yarn barf” went right in the trash. The point of this exercise was not to spend hours detangling!

Then it was on to trying to decide how to organize everything. I’d love to have beautiful open storage, but we have cats. And the cats love yarn. Therefore, totes are the most practical storage, if not the prettiest.

I now have one for acrylic yarns (my go-to), one for “fancy” acrylics (like Caron Cakes, some that have glitter or sequins, etc.), one for cotton dishcloth yarn:

And finally one smallish box of specialty yarn (anything I purchase at real yarn store, or at the Sheep & Wool festival):

I’m not 100% done yet. My acrylic tote is still overflowing, but tonight my plan is to break out the yarn winder. Some of the half-used skeins can be wound into compact cakes and that should make a difference for storage (not to mention it’s probably better for the yarn).

So yeah… I really think I can go on a “yarn diet” for a few months and try to use what I have. However, I think part of my problem is that it never was really organized before, so if I wasn’t sure if I had a color I’d buy it instead of digging through everything. That shouldn’t happen now!

Ta-Da! Simple Crochet Triangle Scarf

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Carol — No Comments ↓

I am still in love with Caron Cakes yarns. The wool/acrylic blend is so soft & squishy – I really can’t resist it! I think this colorway, called “Turkish Delight” is my favorite. I knew I wanted to use it to make myself a cozy triangle scarf.

Because I wanted a pattern that I like to call “TV crochet” I search for something with a repeat that would be easy to remember, and minimal difficulty. I settled on Simple Triangle Gradient Shawl from Three Sticks Design. I had to rewrite a portion of the pattern in my own words (the way it is worked at the peak of each row), because I found it a little confusing as-written, but overall it is a good pattern. I also changed the picot edging up a bit. Instead of chaing between picot stitches, I slip stitched. I just prefer that look.

My notes for this project on Ravelry.

I have been wearing this scarf out several times a week, and even a couple times at work as a shawl. My co-worker made this with neutrals and it is just stunning!

With this project over, I think it may be time for me to finish up my Atlanticus blanket!

Ta-Da! Simple C2C Scarf

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Sometimes it seems like I never finish a project. I start something, get really excited about it, and then abandon it for the next pattern I fall in love with. But occasionally I do actually finish something, believe it or not!

Back in mid-September, Michaels had a big sale on Caron Cakes yarn. Laura fell in love with the Blueberry Shortcake colorway and asked me to make her a scarf. First I tried altering the Winter Rays Scarf from Left in Knots.

A post shared by C a r o l ??? (@caroliscrafty) on Sep 14, 2017 at 5:25am PDT

It really wasn’t working out with this weight of yarn, so I ripped it apart and decided to just do a C2C (corner to corner) scarf. It’s a pattern I’ve made before, and relatively quick. I was cruising right along with it until last week when I had to frog about 16 inches because I started the decrease too soon on one row! Ugh! That was no fun, but at least it’s such a quick pattern to work up that recovery didn’t take too long.

I modified the Corner to Corner Throw pattern from Red Heart to make this scarf. Basically, it’s just a rectangle and you hardly need a pattern because the technique is pretty easy, but I always have a hard time getting started, so I like to refer to that pattern.

What’s my next project? While I should turn my focus back to my Atlanticus blanket or that granny shrug, I think I am going to try to quickly whip up another Caron Cakes project, and make myself a triangle scarf. Hopefully I can start on that today!

Currently Crocheting…

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Hello, friends! Finally checking in (yes, I really am still here) with a couple crochet projects I’m working on. I have two going at the moment — one is pretty mindless and can be done anywhere, and the other takes a little more focus, but is one that I am just loving! Shall we take a look?

First up — my granny cocoon shrug. I pinned this pattern quite some time ago, but never really got around to starting one for some reason. A few weeks ago, I hit a fantastic yarn sale and decided to purchase enough navy yarn for this project. Originally, I wanted to use the Painted Canyon yarn from Hobby Lobby, but it always seems to be out of stock. I don’t have a navy sweater and thought it would be a great basic color to have.

So round and round I go making this large granny square, and then I will seam up the sides to create the armholes once it’s big enough. I like to work on this while watching TV or bring it along when I have to wait anywhere (brought it to the shop when I got my oil changed this morning, for example).

But the more interesting project is the Atlanticus blanket! I decided to join in the CAL (crochet along) — something I’ve never done — and it’s been such a joy working on this project. It is challenging enough to be very interesting, but it’s not frustrating. I’m just taking my time, counting my stitches, and loving how it all is coming together. A crochet break is definitely a must on most days!

I’m just using stash yarn for this, so I will go until I run out I guess! Funny thing is… I just realized how the blanket matches my hook case! How funny is that?

I’m currently up to round 20. I can’t say it’s a difficult pattern even though it looks complex. You do have to pay attention to your stitches, obviously, but it is just so fun to work on.

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve been so hooked on a pattern (no pun intented! OK, well maybe a little bit intended). I just can’t wait to see how it all comes together!

Crochet Jellyfish

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Carol — No Comments ↓

I just wanted to share these two jellyfish that I crocheted over the weekend. If you are a crafter and on Facebook, then you have undoubtedly seen this pattern going around. They are so easy to make, and relatively quick. This pair went to my niece and nephew, and I plan to make one for Laura. If you want to give these a shot, head over to One Dog Woof for the pattern!

{Tutorial} Sew Easy Loopy Scarf

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

It’s been a couple years now since I made my first loopy scarf, but I still enjoy creating them and if you’re looking for a last-minute handmade gift, this is perfect! One scarf takes about an hour to complete from start to finish (maybe a little more for your first one). The best part is that you don’t need to know how to knit or crochet. Yes, it’s true — you really can make a funky handmade scarf without those skills, as long as you have a sewing machine. Grab a drink, put on a movie, and let’s get crafting!

Here’s what you’ll need:

A sewing machine
One skein of Homespun yarn (or a similar bulky yarn)
Coordinating thread
Basic sewing notions

Set your sewing machine to a zig-zag stitch. Adjust so that the stitch is somewhat narrow.

Next, decide how wide you want the scarf. My prefernce is approximately six inches wide, mostly because that width makes the looping easy. There are about three inches on the left and I use a rubber band to mark three inches to the right (for a total of six inches).

Now you’re ready to start looping! Holding the end of the yarn, make “loops” going from one side to to the other. Keep doing this this until you have about 1.5-2 inches “looped” and then carefully move up the yarn so that it’s under your needle. Slowly start sewing (let me stress the importance of going slow when working on this scarf), being sure to backstitch at the beginning. Try to get the yarn strands really close to each other, but don’t bunch them up into a pile.

When you finish sewing together the first few loops, make sure to leave your needle down to secure the yarn while you continue making loops. Repeat this process until the scarf is as long as you’d like!

Just in case the directions aren’t clear from the photos, here’s a short video that explains how to sew the scarf together.

Hopefully that will clear up any questions. As you sew, you’ll see that your scarf appears flat as it comes out the other end of your machine. Once you’re done, you’ll just fluff out the scarf and voila! You have no-knit, no-crochet scarf that sews up in no time.

This project was originally featured as a guest post on Sugar Bee Crafts.

{Catching Up} Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool 2014

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

You might think that as an avid crocheter and sometimes-knitter who lives right here, I’d go to the famous NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (commonly referred to simply as “Rhinebeck”} every year. Well, truth be told, the crowds often make me rather anxious and the traffic near the fairground can get snarly so it’s been a while. This year, however, was different. I found out that one of my oldest blogging friends (who lives on the complete other side of the country), was going to be there. No way was I going to miss my chance meeting the lovely kadyellebee!

I don’t remember if Kristine and I originally “met” on a wedding planning e-mail group, or via our blogs, but we’ve known each other since probably 2000. No matter, it has been a very long time of knowing someone online. Kristine noted that we knew each other long before either of us picked up a pair of knitting needles! Needless to say, it was an absolute thrill to meet this lovely and talented lady. Kristine is as sweet in person as she is online and I hope someday our paths will cross again!

It was an absolute perfect day to wander around looking at lovely things. I visited some of my favorite yarn shops, felt lots of beautiful wool, and was inspired by so many of the designs I saw. I didn’t spend too much money this time around. I felt a little overwhelmed by the variety of colors and weights and my head just spun as I wondered what to do with it. However, I did fall in love with some of the yarns from Maple Creek Farm.

Their gold-flecked yarns drew me in, and I ended up purchasing a hank of silk/superwash merino in this gorgeous shade of red. (The needles were a freebie!) I also picked up a felted stress ball that smells deliciously of peppermint, a vintage hankie (50 cents! How could I say no?), and a quilted sachet made from vintage fabrics.

It was definitely a fun day out and maybe I’ll even go again next year 🙂