Strangers on the train

On the train home from work today, there was an old man. He didn't speak English, but he signaled me for my attention. He pointed at my crocheting and pointed at his eyes and then made negative motions. I gathered that he was trying to tell me to stop crocheting on the train or else I'll ruin my eyes. I didn't want to bother trying to argue with an old man I couldn't even communicate with so I put my crocheting away. Oh well. Instead I took out the pattern and started reading ahead on the edging and sleeves.

Yesterday a friend I met from World of Warcraft asked me for a knitted scarf. That should be easy enough. I shot him a series of questions about his preferences (because I know he's rather picky about some things) and decided to do a black scarf with one off-center vertical dark red stripe. I figured that it might take too long to knit and so I'm going to crochet it. I also thought this would be a good chance to practice some Tunisian Crochet. I could either do it length-wise or width-wise. If I do it length-wise, the dark red yarn will only take 3-4 rows. If I do it width-wise, then I'd need to do 3-4 stitches of red on every row, meaning I'd have to do intarsia. I suppose it would be a good opportunity to practice that too...even if that means it would be really annoying to do. If I crochet it the easier way, length-wise, I'd have to use regular crochet because my hook isn't long enough for an entire scarf. However, regular crochet isn't as thick as Tunisian crochet, and so wouldn't be as warm - and that was one specific characteristic my friend asked for.

On my way home from work today, I decided to go to Jo-Ann and the local yarn store, Skein. It was a nice little yarn store, with all the yarns nicely stacked in little cubbies everywhere. There were a ton of books, magazines, and binders full of patterns. There was also a table in the back where you can get knitting help. There were a bunch of people there knitting when I arrived at 5:30pm. I decided it would be a good idea to make a lace scarf/shawl for my mom for Christmas, but the mohair yarns were so expensive...either I'd have to make it smaller or I'll have to find a cheaper alternative. I didn't end up buying any of the books or the yarn because it was too much for me to justify when I already had another project I had planned to start. I did however buy a Tunisian hook because I wasn't sure if Jo-Ann would have any. At Jo-Ann, I bought 3 balls of black Vanna's Choice yarn and 1 ball of cranberry worsted Wool-ease. Not bad for $10. I didn't even have a 50% off coupon on me.

As soon as I got home I tried Tunisian knit stitch with the black and red yarns together. Perhaps I was a little too ambitious. It was hard to tell where I was supposed to put the hook, and some of the stitches didn't look quite right. I took out the red and used only black with regular simple Tunisian, and the crocheting started to curl severely after just a few rows. I looked it up and found out that it's *supposed* to curl. Tunisian is back-heavy on the yarn, causing the yarn to pull in a way the curls the bottom edge, the same as a knitted stockinette stitch. It helps to crochet very loosely and use a larger hook, but I don't think my hook is big enough for the fabric to not curl. I think I'll just crochet this normally and save the Tunisian for something simpler. OR...I could try using the knitting loom I bought! I would probably need to double the yarn and then learn to do intarsia on a loom.

I got an e-mail tonight saying the ribbon I ordered has been shipped. w00t! Must...finish...wrap...

Stitch Cafe & Butterfly Wrap progress

Last night I made Lawrence drive me out to North Hollywood so I could visit a yarn store - Stitch Cafe. It was a small store with many shelves, baskets, and racks full of yummy yummy yarns. We went specifically on a Thursday because that's when they're open until 9pm. Other days they are only open until 6pm, and of course Lawrence doesn't get off work until 6:30pm. Wednesday night looked like a get-together night because there were a bunch of people knitting together in the front section of the store.

I went specifically looking for Hanah silk cording to use in my Butterfly Wrap. The Artemis website lists Stitch Cafe as a retailer that carries Hana silk ribbons. Silly me, I did not think that meant they may only stock specific ribbons. At the store I realized they didn't have the cording I needed. They only carried the regular silk ribbons. Regardless, the ladies at the store were very willing to help and so friendly! They immediately made me feel comfortable, and also pointed me to the yarns out back that were on sale for 30% off. Even though I didn't find what I specifically came for, I loved browsing through all the beautiful yarns, and I even bought 2 hanks of sale yarns. I don't know what I'll use them for, but they're beautiful nonetheless. I suppose it would be easier to just buy the silk cording online instead of calling all the different yarn stores to the one that carries it at least an hour away. Now...what color should I get? :( Should it match the dress? Complement the dress? Shouldn't I pick a color that would be easily matched by the other clothes in my wardrobe? Then again, what other clothes do I even have that would match this wrap? Ahhh!

On another note, so far I've finished 7 rows of the back panel for the butterfly wrap. It definitely isn't perfect so far, but I'm torn between wanting to get it done as soon as I can for the concerts,
and wanting to start over now that I have a better insight into how loose to make the stitches. I reread the pattern and this wrap is worked top-down. That means that my *worst* and loosest rows, the initial ones, will be right up at the top. Being so loose, the might make for a strange fit up top. I don't know if the size I chose is correct either, it does seem a little big so far. Maybe it's supposed to be like that? I can't really tell until I finish the other panels and start putting it together. I suppose if it's too big I could wear it for the concerts and then gift it to someone else. I'd really much rather make something nicer the first time around. Even if I decide to restart it in a smaller size...what if that smaller size is too small?

O_o I'm probably just going to continue and hope for the best. If it turns out to be way too big, I could always frog the panels and start over. It shouldn't be too difficult if I don't actually knot the yarn ends together, and it's not like I have to use lots of small lengths of thread.