Have you been frogging again?

Who, me? Ehehe. Maybe.

Ok, I definitely did unravel the scarf after about 25 rows. No, I have no regrets.

I went through my notes again and noticed I was doing something wrong. I was using only 1 ch to turn to the next row in hdc, instead of 2 ch. Also, my edges, especially in the beginning, were a bit wonky. Plus, the turning chain made the right side of the twist look wider. Just a tad.

Argh!

I toyed with the idea that maybe people wouldn't notice. Or that they would think that's normal for crochet.

Nah.

It had to go.

So I unravelled everything and looked up tutorials for smooth edges. While I was at it, I also looked up the foundation stitches. There were too many chains and I was feeling shackled by them.

I then practised until I got the elements right and went for foundation hdcs, but with a beginning of 3 ch instead of 2. I wanted to count that as a hdc and I needed the little caps to work into. Then I used the stacked sc instead of turning chains on subsequent rows and always counted that as a stitch, since it was bulky enough anyway.

Evenness achieved!

Well, evenness enough for my standards.

Now, will I decide it's too wide and uncomfortable and frog it again? Only time will tell. I will decide when I have enough length to wrap it around my neck. Until then, here's a photo of the beginning twist:

 

'Tis navy blue, I tell you! You just have to take my word for it.

The twisted cable scarf is emerging from the big yarn head

The big yarn head has been turning into a scarf. I've finally begun the creation of the Frankenstein monster scarf from the remains of the old vest. But don't worry, the scarf isn't scary.

I've been reacquainting myself with crocheting lately and decided to just dive into making this scarf already. I found a lot of very lovely patterns and stitches on Youtube and after drooling over them for some time, decided for a cable stitch pattern: https://www.throughtheloopyc.com/fairbrook-scarf-free-pattern/ I know I said I would make something lacy, but it turns out I'm not... Maybe next time.

However, mine being a super bulky yarn, I had to make fewer repeats, which meant just 3 cables. And, not wanting to make anything too bland, I decided to make it look like the cables were twisted together at the middle. I know there must be a pattern for that out there somewhere, but I figured that trick out all by myself and I'm awfully proud of it, I must say! Heh.

Here it is, well, the first twisty part anyway:

My phone never manages to get the colour right. This is navy blue.

I have been pondering if I should make 3-4 of these twisties one after the other until I reached the optimum scarf length, or if I should only do one at the beginning and one at the end. I eventually decided on the latter. It shouldn't be too busy or bulk up too much around the neck. The two ends that usually just drape down are enough to show off the accents.

Of course, feel free to give me any kind of feedback about it.

As a side note, I was trying to follow the video tutorial for this first, but it threw me off that they kept using back loop only, even if in the end that would have been too much ribbing. I had a few false starts because of that. The rest were me remembering how to crochet properly or experimenting with the design.

I have a set of notes I always keep handy when crocheting, since I'm still more or less a beginner. I have decided to put them up on my page here: My crochet notes and tips. Maybe someone will find them useful. I definitely do!

Ideas, wishes and maybe-laters

Not much to show for today, except for my huge ball of super bulky yarn that used to be a vest. It's as big as my head. It even has ears. Those were not intentional though.

I could not get the colour balance right on the photo...

It looks a bit scary. It will be a scarf, hopefully loose and airy. I have been practising crocheting after a break that lasted several years and I am so happy I took very detailed notes for myself. I knew I would have to relearn things at some point and there's no need to reinvent the wheel too, as they say.

 I'm still undecided concerning the pattern, I might just use one fancy lacy stitch... Or create my own weirdness. Time will tell, after I practise more.

I have a few ideas for other things I would like to make...

• A phone sack/strap/thing to carry my phone around the house on days where I wear no pockets. How can one be without pockets? And for a while, all the pockets on any jeans I found in stores were just too small. It's a conspiracy. Women have the right to pockets too! Ok, I'll cool down.
• Cross stitched pixel art on t-shirts. Instead of printed t-shirts, I could have stitched ones. I'm a big gamer, so I will definitely find very pixelated stuff I could stitch. I got the inspiration from another gamer who likes to cross stitch. Btw... I've never cross stitched except for on cardboard as a child. How hard can it be? I already have the hoop and a pen that writes on fabric with fading ink.
  
• A choker necklace in tatting that is less flowery and more metal. Because I'm a bit of a metal head. I might design it myself.
• I have a tatted dragon I still want to stitch to something. Jeans or a t-shirt.
• A proper cuff bracelet for my entire forearm. Maybe in tatting. Maybe in crochet. Maybe with a dragon attached to it. Hmm...

And I didn't even mention the works in progress that I still need to finish. Now, all I need is the mental energy for it.