green

Completed: June, 2004
Berroco Suede / 100% nylon
Color No. 3737 – Roy Rogers [1 ball]
Hook: H

Ever since I first saw Berroco’s Suede yarn, I knew I wanted to try it. It’s a lightweight yarn with the look and feel of suede, but easier to work with and much more animal-friendly.

I’d recently taken a beginning crochet class and was surfing the Web for possible crochet projects when I stumbled on the Kathe hat: a net-like skullcap made out of beige Suede. The detailed image on their site looked simple enough, so I bought some yarn and jumped in.

Suede is a great yarn to work with–easy to crochet (or knit), with nice tension and a beautiful finish. Even though this was only my second crochet project, the yarn still makes it look good. My version of this hat is slightly different (I think Berocco’s version uses double-crochet stitches and includes a solid border along the rim), but it’s pretty close.

Oh, and yes: Suede does come in blue

Completed: May, 2004
Lion Bran Homespun [1 skein]
Hook: J

A couple of my knitting buddies and I had occasionally alked about learning to crochet. Some patterns call for crochet embellishments; it would help us get a feel for using a crochet hook; and it would potentially open up a whole new world of patterns and textures at our disposal to help reduce our growing stashes. When we found out that a beginning crochet class was being offered at one of our favorite yarn shops, we decided to take the class together.

While I can’t say the instructor was very good, I was able to pick up the basics and learned how to do simple crochet stitches. After the first class, I decided to practice my stitches and started crocheting a head band, later
deciding to decrease and shape it into a hat. This was my first attempt at a crochet hat and I was making it up as I went–I later learned that hats are typically crocheted crown to brim, for instance–but it still produced a servicable cap. The stitches are uneven and the row joins stick out like a big scar up the seam of the cap, but I did succeed in making something cap-shaped, and it does fit on my head!

yeah, and you thought knittin’ was for grannies… it’s DANGEROUS, baby! (and you thought the worst that could happen was repetetive strain injury…)

Here’s a shorter story with a few more pictures

and here’s the original post the woman made on an MSN group.

:-O

If any of you come visit me at work before October 7, you can see this year’s staff art show, Getty Underground. My piece in this show is a knit wire swatch Untitled (Copper Garter).