Jengibre

A Teetotaler at the Stoli Hotel

I had the fortune of going to an event here in Chicago called the Stoli Hotel.  It was a promotion from Stoli (the vodka maker) to get people to drink their alcohol.  My was it an experience--and I don´t even drink alcohol.  It was amazing.  The warehouse was set up like a hotel. There were four rooms a blue room (Stoli blueberry), an orange room (Stoli orange), a cream colored room (Stoli vanilla), and a red room (Stoli raspberry).  There was the Stoli Spa where they gave complimentary massages, facials and manicures.  There was even a section for Club Stoli--where they played this ultra fast techno music that was a bit too much for me.

Anyway, I felt like a VIP.  So I tried to look like one.  I wore my "vacation in the Hamptons" seersucker outfit, designed (and made) by Michael Knight while he was on the third season of Project Runway (it was the outfit he wore for the "Jet Set" episode).  But my hair was a mess, so I crocheted this hat from Afya Ibomu´s "Get Your Crochet On!".  Its the Lively Up with a bib.  For the crown of the hat I double stranded Red Heart Super Saver Color: Earth & Sky.  For the brim and bib, I double stranded Red Heart Super Saver Color: Espresso with Caron´s One Pound Color: Nutmeg.  The combination I think was off the chain.  Hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Random Thoughts

I have a lot of things to report.  First off, I am going to be selling my crocheted items at The DIY Trunk Show on November 17.  I am nervous as hell.  I´ve never done anything quite like this before.  I´ve decided that I am goin to be selling a lot of things that I´ve already been making (like the mesh poncho, mesh wrap, mesh jacket, Mandisa head wrap).  But I am also going to make some scarves, hats, different types of ponchos, and sweaters as well.  I´ve thought about throwing in some baby items, but that might be a bit too diverse.  I am nervous because I haven´t really started making a lot of merchandise.  So I am going to be a busy bee in the month of October.  I hope I don´t fail. sigh.

Secondly, I have been a yarn whore again.  I won´t say how much I spent, but I´ve been buying yarn at Smiley´s Yarns (they had a sale) AND at Joann´s (who had a sale and free shipping).  The big thing at Smiley´s was that they were selling Lion Brand Bouclé for $.99.  It´s like, I couldn´t let that stay in the store.  I also bought enough Lion Brand Thick and Quick Chenille (in black) to make me a pea coat.  i am pretty excited about this actually.  I realize that I don´t make enough items for myself.

Well, I bought damn near a hundred skeins of the bouclé in random colors (which will make some great wraps for the DIY Trunk Show).  And I bought a lot of regular worsted acrylic and homespun from Joann´s.  So i´m pretty geeked.  There´s a new place that I  have decided to look for cheap yarn: yarnsale.com.  I also want to get some large tunisian hooks from goshyarnit.com.

Finally, I´ve designed a nice v-neck sweater vest.  I am very excited and cannot wait to post pictures.

Verano Overalls

Who said that wearable crochet is just for the ladies? 

The Verano is a personal gift to myself, and my homage to the overall, which was super popular in men´s urban fashion circa early 1990s.  I tried to make a simple design that a dude could rock and have fun with.  The Verano, which is actually a shortall (not a pair of overalls), is meant to be worn in the summer, and is perfect for lounging around, walking on the beach, or cruising the city pavement with eclectic style.   

The bulk of this project was done in 100% cotton, Peaches & Creme (color: Ecru).  The strips of variegated color are acrylic, Red Heart Super Saver (color: Earth and Sky).

Diamond Mesh Poncho

Who would have ever thought that a granny color like country rose could look cute?  Again, I paired this country rose Red Heart acrylic yarn with Moda Dea´s Cache (color: siren), and I think this chunky poncho has just enough weight without being too bulky or too light.  What I love about it is that it can be worn asymmetrically off the shoulder, or it can be worn more conservatively on the shoulders.  I think this is a clothing item that can work well for  women of various ages.

Diva Divine Wrap

What makes this wrap so divine is its versatility.  It can be worn in two different ways.  You can tie it behind your back and be a bit demure or throw the wrap up over your shoulders for a super dramatic effect.  Either way I think it brings out a lady´s inner diva.  I think any woman who wears this wrap will get a little bit of attitude.

I worked this wrap in my favorite yarn, Lion Brand Homespun (color: prairie).  I am not a big fan of this color.  It looks a lot better on the skein than when worked up.  I would like to re-do this wrap in harvest...

Mesh Jackets

Finally I have taken pictures of my work!!!

I have made these mesh jackets with a simple double crochet mesh stitch.  I want to snaze it up a bit in the future however, and think about changing the pattern to something more like a honeycomb or another open -work pattern that is a bit more complex than the double crochet mesh. 

The rose mesh jacket (above) is made from Red Heart acrylic (color: country rose).  The bell cuffs and jacket trim were done with Moda Dea´s Cache yarn (color: siren).  It´s funny.  A very good and dear friend of mine gave me 6 pounds of country rose, and I thought to myself, "What am I going to do with this ugly color?"  It ends up that when paired with the right material, country rose is OFF THE HOOK.

The harvest mesh jacket is made from one of my favorite yarns, Lion Brand Homespun (color: harvest).  I think that this is a yarn and color that works well for both men and women.  I am currently in the process of designing an autumn sweater for men that uses this yarn.  I think that this mesh jacket looks soft and comfy and its definitely ready for a fun autumn afternoon picking apples in rural Indiana.

Mad About Plaid?

I have a birthday coming up.  On Monday.  And I am broke--but I want a nice bday present.  So I started looking through my crochet and realized that I very rarely crochet myself anything.  I have a few unfinished projects.  One is a newsboy cap in the works (made out of my favorite yarn made by Red Heart: Aran Fleck).

The second project is one that I thought I officially abandoned--until I remembered my original vision and thought--this is fly.  This second project is a plaid kilt.  Making crochet plaid in the intarsia method is tedious.  B Ut it provides a level of detail that is off the charts.  One of my biggest problems with plaid is that that there is CLEARLY a wrong and a right side.  And when you turn your work you can very easily see all of the color changes in the back of the work.  That is a no-no.  So I´ve had to learn how to crochet with my left hand (I am a righty)--or you have to simply slip stich by inserting your hook from the back of the work to th front of it.

Let´s hope I get this plaid kilt done.  Btw, I am making it out of chunky yarn--Bernat´s Softee Chunky
in Berry Red (bright red), chocolate (brown), natural (cream), and heather (gray).  Let´s pray that I will stomping around in the kilt very soon.

I have SOOO many projects to take pictures of.  I will do that this week for sure.

Yarn Whore

I have a problem.  I cannot stop buying yarn.  This isn´t a problem, but I am poor.  This past weekend I checked out WAL-MART (what I like to call Satan´s time share on earth; see their employment and commercial practices).  I only buy one thing from WAL-MART.  Yarn.  Because when it comes to cheap inexpensive acrylic you can´t beat the variety.  They carry a lot of my favorite bulky yarn: Bernat´s Softee Chunky.  I got it in a lot of colors.  I am currently in the process of making two afghans for my youngest nephews, and a cap for their dredlocking papa (my big bro).

Sunday I went to my favorite couture yarn shop--Loopy Yarns.  Sunday was the first day of their 70% off sale on discounted yarns.  I bought a whole bunch of brown, beige, and green tweeds (that kind of remind me of this outfit by my favorite designer, Michael Knight.  I also bought some bulky yarn that is part alpaca, wool, and nylon.

I should be posting a lot of pictures of completed projects soon.  Stay tuned.

Out of the hair

I had a few people ask me what the headwrap looked like without being wrapped.  Here it is.  The tails allow you to tie a bun in the back.  A few people have said that they wished they had hair so that they could wear the wrap.  The great this is, because of the tails, you could tie this on the head of a bald woman.

I got a mention from the wonderful Erica at Erica´s Attic.  She does these amazing afghans with a variety of graphed designs.  I don´t know how she does it, but I like it!

The Mandisa Headwrap

I saw a headwrap and thought that if I made one designed in tunisian crochet that it would be off the hook!!! There is something about the vertical bars and the horizontal strips adds a nice texture to this piece.  And isn´t my model stunning?  It is named Mandisa which is swahili for sweet.