J'adore Doris Chan

Man oh man do I adore Doris Chan. Her designs are beautiful and well thought out, and her patterns are well written. Couple that with the fact that she's wonderfully sweet and very helpful, and you have an incredible lady.

So why the random praise of Doris? Well I ordered her book, Everyday Crochet last Friday. I received it on Tuesday and began working on the Cameo camisole that night. Well last night I ran into some confusion with the body part of the pattern. I contacted Doris on Ravelry, and within a couple of hours, she responded. I was stoked that #1 I was doing it properly and #2 she responded so quickly. So now I'm working on my top and it's all thanks to Doris that I'm no longer stuck. I'm thinking I might go down a hook size for some waist shaping, but other than that I'm going to work as instructed. I just hope I can manage to finish it by next week.

*In other news I finished my Shoulder Lean and man does the Amazon yarn stretch. I'm thinking I might wash again and throw it in the dryer to try and draw it up some.

* I keep seeing these Namaste bags and I really want one. Perfect combo of two of my loves... huge purses and yarn (they're designed to hold projects as well as everything else).

One the Hard way or my random arm warmer

Size J Hook and half a skein of Vanna's Choice

This started out as the wrist warmer from Crochet that fits, but by the time I modified it to fit my forearm it definitely didn't look like Mary Jane's pattern. The problem arose when it came time to sew it closed, the wrist area is actually a bit loose, but the forearm wouldn't even close so I whipped out my hook and added four rows of varying lengths. This made it look a bit like the back of a skirt but it also allowed for a larger forearm. I did this because every since my surgery, cold makes my wrist hurt.

I'm on Ravelry and Twitter

Come check me out nappythreadz on both.

You have an addiction....

When you have crochet patterns in your blackberry and your ipod touch... This realization is brought to you by the Letter H, Happy Hooking :)

Crochet Christmas Randomosity

Okay, so no pictures today. Just a nice list of things that I need to make and package before Christmas. I have only managed to finish a neck warmer for my favorite newlywed. That still means I need to do a hat for the set, and a hat for "that man". I need to make a little purse for my friend's daughter, but I think it might be forced to wait until after Christmas. I don't like to make her wait, because I promised it to her soooo long ago, but I also have a paper to write, and a final to prepare for :(. I'm kind of happy to say it though, I've been abandoning my craft time in favor of quality time. Maybe I'll say more later lol. Oh yeah and let my not forget the top part of a sweater that's staring at me from across the room. I'm working top down and in the round based on the Sweet template on Crochet me. I started working it up in Lion-brand wool-ease, but I realized it'd be more cozy in homespun (I LOVE the Lagoon color) It's this amazing teal with wisps of plum-my purple. It's just gorgeous. Not the most expensive yarn, but hey I'm on a budget. I am going to finish the wool-ease version, maybe do something tunic length. (I have a butt load of the yarn; I purchased it for a project a year or so ago, and it didn't work for the pattern. There may be pictures... in January.