Thrifty Crochet

The first project of August took about a week to make, but I also kept setting it aside to do smaller projects. It's the largest amigurumi toy I've ever crocheted, made entirely of scrap yarn. I have to admit, it was fairly tedious to make because of the dense single crochet stitches. This is why I don't make more crocheted toys. The pattern also does contain some errors, mainly due to the designer being Lithuanian, I think, and the instructions here and there are fairly sparse or in her own shorthand, as if she's assuming you know what to do. You have to base the embroidery off the pattern photo, too. For those reasons, it's not a pattern I'd recommend for a beginner. I figured out the problems with the pattern as I went along. I was quite happy to reach the finish line and start stuffing my big cat. I wondered if she would stay upright with the gigantic head, and was pleasantly surprised to find she did. Here she is, completed. I ha...

My latest order from Premier arrived; let's unbox it together and see what mysteries they sent. Here are Premier's Anti-Pilling Everyday Worsted Gradient in the colorway Sky Tones, a 100% anti-pilling acrylic; Sweet Roll Vivid, a 100% acrylic in the colorway Lava Lamp (such a perfect name!), and Farmstand, a 93% acrylic 7% PBT yarn in the colorway Pumpkin. I ordered these three yarns to try them out and test on the blog with one-skein projects in the near future, since that's fun and I want to learn more about the different yarns Premier offers. Their great sales, discounts and free shipping with a qualifying order have made them my go-to for new yarn. As I love mysteries I also ordered a bunch of their value bags, which come with unlabeled yarn at discounted prices in colors you can't choose or see ahead of time -- perfect for me. These two are the Value Bag Chunky Colorful Acrylic, and I'm guessing they have Premier Puzzle skeins in them. There...

The next new-to-me yarn I'm going to test is Premier Cotton Sprout Worsted Multis in the rainbowish colorway Luau. This is a 100% cotton yarn, 3 oz./85 grams and 153 yards 140 meters. I paid $5.49 for the skein. I pulled a hunk of yarn barf out while searching for the center pull, and had to work out a bit of a tangle to find the end. I made a no-pattern drawstring pouch of single crochet stitches because the colorway is so vivid, and I wanted to see the dye changes. The yarn has a smooth hand, not especially soft but not as stiff as some other cotton yarns I've used (I have no problem crocheting with cotton except for some minor tension issues when I first start, which I've been working on via practice.) The yellow sections are more like neon chartreuse. Bit of trivia: According to Wikipedia, chartreuse is a French herbal liqueur that has been made by Carthusian monks since 1737, reportedly according to instructions set out in a manuscript given to them b...

Because I've never heard of Yarn Bee Aurora Borealis Twist yarn -- and I got this skein of it in a thrifted lot -- I decided to make a one-skein, no pattern envelope style pouch and see how it worked up. Aurora Borealis Twist seems to be pretty rare now, having been discontinued, and presently retails for about $8.00 to $10.00 per skein when you can find it on Etsy or another reseller platform. There's a clearance sticker on mine that says $4.19 so this was probably pretty pricey when it was in production. I paid about thirty-eight cents for the skein in a bag lot I purchased from a brick and mortar Goodwill in Oxford. This is a 100% acrylic yarn, with 3.5 oz. and 218 yards (interesting that Yarn Bee did not provide the grams and meters equivalents on their label. That snubs at least half of the global yarn-using community, if not more. Hopefully they've corrected that.) It's labeled as a #4 medium weight and I'd say this is like an Aran, a bit thicker than...

One of the new-to-me yarns I purchased from Premier in order to review it is Anti-Pilling Everyday Worsted Painterly . This is a 3 oz./85 gram skein with 153 yards/140 meters, so a bit on the smaller side for a worsted skein. I paid $5.49 for it. It is listed as a #4 medium weight but its also on the skinnier side. On the label are the words "brush stroke print" so I think along with the line name they're going for an artistic vibe with this yarn. The colorway is Jam Session, and there are eight colorways available on Premier's web site. I found the center pull with only a little yarn barf. Painterly is a very soft yarn with a very slight halo and faint sheen that is slightly reflective, and reminds me of Caron Simply Soft. I think it's a bit softer than that brand, though. As a one-night project I decided to make a no-pattern drawstring pouch with a variety of stitches. The yarn has a very light, enjoyable hand and sings through the fingers ...

I did find a third ball of the solved mystery yarn (100% sure it's Caron Cakes Blueberry Muffin) and decided to add that to my granny rectangle so I could make it a nap-size throw. Using every bit of all three mystery yarn balls, I ended up with this. I grabbed a Red Heart Super Saver skein in Skipper Blue to finish the last row. Here's the finished throw. I would say I had something like 10-14 ounces or 400-500 grams between the three balls, so probably two cakes' worth. I could add to it with the Red Heart or some other yarns from my stash to make it larger, but the wool/acrylic blend of the mystery balls has to be handwashed and dried flat on towels as per the Caron Cakes label, so I'm going to leave it this size for easier manageability. Thoughts on the project: the acrylic/wool blend was nice. I liked the soft hand, and sturdy way the stitches worked up. Stitch definition was fine. I found just one factory knot in three balls, which is pre...

I thrifted three lots last week for various reasons; this first one I acquired for the dark blue purse and a shabby, worn wallet that I want to try repairing in a fun way. I bid $9.99 on the lot and had no challengers, so I got the bags for about $1.66 each. Try to buy Vera Bradley anywhere for that price. :) After several defeats on other yarn lots I opted for the Buy It Now option for this one, which has some yarns and colors I need and one-cent shipping. 17 skeins at $24.92 works out to about $1.46 per skein. This was the most expensive lot at $49.97, but it also came with penny shipping and no one challenged me for it. The nine skeins of Wool Ease Thick and Quick alone are worth $89.91, and they appear to be new and unused in their original packing sleeves. This should give me enough to finally make the project I've been collecting this yarn for all year.