This is new ...

Crochet!?!? Striped scarf from Happy Hooker my beginning chain was too tight so it is curling a bit as my stitches are getting looser as i get the hang of it. we'll see how it turns out. im just glad to be using up the yarn from Taylor's jumper finally

learning lace and how to crochet

this weekend, in addition to running in the freezing cold, I learned a new skill and started a new project. On Thursday evening I stayed with Grandma and I had asked if she would teach me how to crochet. I am not sure I am really ready to take on a new skill set, but I have seen some really cute crochet patterns lately and some knitting patterns also require crochet for finishing and edging so I figured it wouldn't hurt to know a little about it. It was much harder than I expected and after an hour I had little to show for my efforts. I did learn the chain stitch and single crochet (as evidenced in this picture to the left), but I am far from starting any big projects. I will keep practicing and ask Grandma for more tutorials when I am down south, but this is not an immediate skill that I want to be proficient in right away. It is fun to learn something new though!
I was very happy to start a new knitting project on Friday morning sitting at the airport. I cast on 120 stitches on to size 4 dpns (the pattern called for size 2! but I am knitting this for a grown-up, not a child, and I know my stitches are a little tight anyway so figured 4 would be okay. Plus I could not bring myself to purchase size 2 needles. way too tedious!) and got most of the ribbing done before I got on the plane. I didn't have too much time to knit while I was in Arizona, but got a couple of the lace pattern repeats finished by the time I got off the plane again in California on Sunday. I am enjoying this lace pattern though and I think it is of similar difficulty to the stitch pattern on the lacy wrap I bought yarn for a year ago and haven't been brave enough to cast on for yet. Once this hat is successfully finished, I think I will have the confidence to cast on for that wrap.