30 July 2009

yarn barf...

I lightly tug on the yarn end peeking out from the center of the skein and feel some resistance... uh oh, I pull harder and....
blech... yarn barf... all over my lap.

I just loathe the notorious yarn barf, especially when I am itching to get my hook around a new strand of fiber. This seems to be a common problem and, for me, quite a nuisance... winding the mess into a ball and the sometimes laborious unknotting and untangling. Though this most recent incident was by no means the worst I have experienced... imagine skeins spilling their guts so badly that only a thin outer shell remains... this was not the first and likely will not be the last. What to do... what to do... I think I will have to visit my trusty friend Google to see if there are any tricks out there to avoid the yarn barf...

29 July 2009

crochet Journey...

Wow, what a great weekend... I know it is Wednesday but technically my week started yesterday. Anyways, I traveled to Boise, Idaho to spend some time with my brother and we went to the Journey and Heart concert... it was absolutely fabulous! Journey is one of my favorite bands and it was a remarkable experience to see them live. Tell you what, I could not stop smiling and, oh, I got a sweet t-shirt (see the photo above).
Having taken a brief weekend hiatus from all my crochet projects, it is time to return to my crochet journey. Here's a preview of what is coming... purses and amigurumi...

comments enabled...

I just realized today that even though I enabled comments when setting up my blog... for reasons unknown to me... people were still unable to leave me their own two cents. Well that problem is now solved and the comment form is embedded with every post. Just click on the comments link below the post and let me know what is on your mind...

23 July 2009

confessions of a yarnaholic...

Hello... my name is Whitney... and I am a yarnaholic.
I have been lovingly asked to address this issue and informed that I cannot buy another skein until 50% of my collection has been used, and not a skein sooner... and what did I do today... bought 3 hanks of hand painted wool. "I... I... I just couldn't help myself, they were so beautiful" said I to my hubby, all while making my best pouty face.
Yarn... so many different kinds, all so full of potential. I love the look, the feel, the menagerie of colors, and sometimes even the smell; so many different choices that the eyes cannot take it all in at once. Needless to say, over the years I seem to have accumulated quite a bit of yarn... yarn gathering dust from all those neglected projects, scraps (I am no stranger to the term "pack-rat"), random skeins I just had to have for the unique color or texture, others left behind from overestimating the needs of a project, and a staggering amount of clearance novelty yarn. And when I mean staggering, I am not exaggerating... but at $0.25 a ball, how could I pass that up, right?
Just today I finished organizing my yarn smorgasbord, filling two large plastic totes and the inside of my craft ottoman... but even with this large surplus I found myself only being able to part with a couple skeins. Well I call that progress, and after running my hands across each lonely skein, project ideas rapidly moving through my mind's eye, I look towards the future... excited and eager to delve into my heap and hook my next skein of yarn...

Joey wants to keep all the yarn for himself...















comfy...

20 July 2009

ouch!

one word... ouch! I spent most of last night finishing a purse and starting an amigurumi toy for my dog, Joey. Both projects consist of very tight stitches, and boy do my fingers hurt. I think I will have to mod my small hooks tonight to make them more comfortable...

19 July 2009

first time for everything...

Ever since I set up my blog, I have been scouring the net for a blog background that suited my tastes. Needless to say, my searches were fruitless. What's a girl to do but to do it herself. So last night was my first attempt at Gimp (basically a free version of Photoshop), and the end result... my blog background! I spent 6.5 hours on this last night, a couple more this morning, and that's not even considering the hours spent looking for the perfect picture for inspiration... speaking of, I would like to thank Corrine Papier @ {Papier Pieces} for the great striped background paper from her Thinstriped paper package. It was just what I was looking for with the woven appearance. She certainly has some unique digital paper, definitely check her out. Well, it was a lot of fun working on this (with some help from my hubby, who is more versed in photoshop than I), and I am for sure going to make some new ones... :)

17 July 2009

amigu... what?

I recently stumbled across amigurumi... so adorable, by the way. Check out this link and you'll see what I mean -
I usually just crochet afghans, baby blankets, and the occasional purse, so I'm quite excited to try out something new. But rather than using a pattern, I am attempting to come up with my own so I can share it here on my blog and make a how-to video. My sister is going to have a baby in January, so I think I will start there and make some baby toys... a teddy bear maybe...

16 July 2009

in the works...

So I have set up a YouTube account... yes, that's right, how-to videos! There isn't anything there yet, but hopefully soon. I am studying for the GRE at present... meh... so it may be slow coming, but watch for it because it is coming.
Here's the link -

15 July 2009

my first blog post ever...

So I finally started a blog, something I've been thinking about doing for a while now. My husband has been enjoying his website/blog, so I decided it was time to blog about something I enjoy... crochet.
I consider this venture as a way to connect with people and motivate myself to try new things. So yes, this is The Crochet Cafe, but there will be more than crochet here. This is a new creative outlet for me... oh so many possibilities.