Introducing...

...Mocha Roca! (Ravelry link)

Since I am off from work this week, I decided that I wanted to do something somewhat impressive that I could conceivably finish in a week. Something from Doris Chan's Everday Crochet came to mind. I started this late Monday afternoon, and by dinnertime yesterday I had finished the yoke and joined the armholes. Now it is straight crocheting until I get to the bolero shaping at the bottom of the cardigan. So I think I have a shot of finishing this in a timely manner. I am using Caron Simply Soft Brites "Berry Blue", and I will use white and yellow in the body and sleeve bands. I did have to go from a J hook to an L hook to get gauge, but so far it fits me perfectly.

If this continues to go well, I will post updates over the next few days to show my progress. Wish me luck!

Rocky Road Shrug Pattern Corrections

Between my mom being in the hospital and my having no internet connection at home last week, I forgot all about posting the corrections to Doris Chan's Rocky Road Shrug pattern. So let me do that this morning. (My corrections are in bold.)

Row 2 (WS)(INC): Ch 5 (counts as dc, ch2), *sc in first ch-sp of shell, ch 3, sk next ch-sp of shell, sc in next ch-sp of shell, ch 3, V-st in next sc, ch 3, sk first dc of next shell*, sc in first ch-sp of shell, ch 3, sk next ch-sp of shell, sc in next ch-sp of shell, ch 3, sk first dc of next shell; rep from * to * once, sc in first ch-sp of shell, ch 3, sk next ch-sp of shell, sc in next ch-sp of shell, ch 2, dc in 3rd ch of tch, turn.

Row 8: Ch 4 (counts as hdc, ch 2) [omit "sk next ch-sp of shell"] *sc in next ch-sp of shell, ch 3, sk first dc of next shell, sc in first ch-sp of shell, ch 3; rep from * 9 times, except omit last ch 3, instead work ch 2, hdc in top of tch, turn.

The more I thought about it, I realized that there isn't a mistake in row 10. You just have to read it very carefully, because there should only be 2 increases or V-stitches, which set up each sleeve. It can just be confusing if you read the row too quickly.

You may be wondering why I haven't posted another picture of the shrug. Well, it's like this - I started the second sleeve and promptly ran out of yarn. I was really surprised, because I have had yarn left over with every other Doris Chan pattern I have made. I have no hope of getting more yarn at this point, so I am going to try making both sleeves 3/4 length. I'm not sure when I will get to that, though. I'll have to see how my time goes. Luckily I have other Doris Chan patterns to work on in the meantime!

An FO to Start the Year...

... or what I did on my Christmas vacation! I had some spare time last Tuesday afternoon, and I decided that I just had to start the Blue Curacao Shawl from Doris Chan's Amazing Crochet Lace. I can tell you two things about her patterns - they crochet up very quickly, and they are highly addictive! Once I started the shawl, I had trouble putting it down because it was so much fun watching the pattern emerge with each row. I finished the crocheting on Thursday afternoon, and then I had time yesterday to weave in my ends and block the shawl.


Unfortunately, the yarn was not that great to work with. It is a wool/camel blend, but I have no idea how old it is. There were a lot of knots that I had to cut out and one spot that was frayed down to nothing. I don't know how well it will wear, so I think it is going to be my workhorse shawl. I will definitely make this shawl again, though, with a nicer and softer yarn. Actually, Dee wondered if I ever got to Webs last week. Oh yes! We made it up there on Friday, and I got some wonderful yarn on sale. I will post later this week about all of the yarn I bought, but one of my purchases was some Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a dark blue heather that I intend to use for my second version of this shawl. I want to take my time with the second shawl, because I think it might end up being my Craft Adventure entry this year.

So, not a bad way to end one year and start another! Happy 2007 to everyone!