Thrifty Crochet

As you might guess from my past holiday posts I'm not a fan of Christmas, and the same goes for variegated yarn in holiday colors. Yet I am trying to be more open to the possibilities, and test out new-to-me yarns, so I decided to make a quick project with this skein of Premier Basix Multi that I got in a mystery box. This is a 100% acrylic worsted weight yarn, with 5 oz./140 grams and 250 yards/229 meters, so a nice-size skein -- definitely enough to make a hat. The yarn is dense and not particularly soft, although it has a decent hand to it. I'd compare it to Red Heart Super Saver, just a bit smoother. I like workhorse yarns so no complaints there. It seemed a tad stiff but that may wash out in the laundering. It worked up with no issues, factory knots or breaks. I made the hat's brim a bit wider than I normally do to pull double duty as an ear warmer (my ears freeze when I walk the dogs in winter here.) I had this small ball of yarn leftover from the ...

To kick off the last month of summer I wanted to have fun with picking a project, so I took out my dice and randomly pulled some ideas from my crochet binder: four single projects and two books. I rolled a two, so I will start with this large stuffed cat made of scrap yarn. The pattern is by Violeta Owl on Etsy . Good thing I got this project, as my scrap yarn basket is about to explode. I chose worsted weight acrylic scraps to use in making the cat. I could mix other types of yarns in but this is the first time I've made this pattern so I want to use a consistent weight. I got thirty-five rows done the first night I worked on it, so I'm humming along. It should take another two, three nights to complete.

This month I have a little pile of new-to-me yarns to test with one-skein projects, starting with this Premier Basix Mosaic worsted in the colorway Sea. I chose this yarn because of the pretty colors and the fun look; I'm guessing it will work up like a tweed. The second skein is Premier Anti-Pilling Every Worsted Painterly in the colorway Jam Session. Something about this yarn appealed to the artist in me, and I like the unusual sparse scattering of colors in the cream. This is variegated yarn for people who doesn't like variegated yarn, maybe. The third skein is Premier Cotton Sprout in the colorway Luau. I want to try more cotton yarns so I can get more experience working with them. The rainbow colorway is cute but I also want to see if it bleeds when hand-washed. Finally I got a Premier Anti-Pilling Everyday DK Color Pack, which is a collection of mini skeins. I first heard of this via Knotty by Maxine and while I'm not joining in the online ...

To start July on a happy note I made a basket out of fun bulky yarns from GuChet to hold a collection of the more GuChet yarns with which to play. I cobbled together a baby bird out of one partial skein of Premier Parfait XL Pom Party yarn (say that ten times fast!) and learned a lot from modifying the pattern. I made a patternless tray basket out of a single skein of Chinese t-shirt yarn. I crocheted a gift bag out of one thrifted skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Polo. I crocheted a liner using Premier Parfait in crème de menthe for the art yarn gathering basket I made back in June. I made this throw out of Premier Puzzle in the Marbles colorway, an unusual, very pretty yarn, a skein of which I got in a mystery box. I crocheted a little basket to hold my rescued embroidery thread while experimenting with Hobbii wool blend boucle yarn. I made this holiday hat with one skein of Premier Basix Multi in Merry Multi. I crocheted this dishcloth out of Suga...