Musings from the Pirate Hooker

Progress is being made on the Seaside and Shells belt. I think I have about 1/3 of it done. Since I am using left overs from my yarn stash I am just going to continue working on it until the thread is used up. If it turns out that there isn’t enough of it to meet the actual belt length then I won’t worry about it.  The point of my trying this pattern was to teach myself how to crochet with thread yarn.

it took me two full sections to be able to keep the tension even. The later sections are considerably tighter than the first two.  I can work up 2-2.5 sections before the tips of my fingers that are hold the the thread for tension begin to hurt. Working with such a dark thread makes it hard for me to really see where the stitches are unless it’s really well lit, not to mention the small hook…and my fingers suffer for it.

The pattern is inspired by a technique called Filet Crochet. Until I started this project I had never heard of the term before. (No I didn’t realize that the earlier project with thread was considered Filet Crochet.) So of course, I start seeing mention of Filet Crochet all over the place on Ravelry. A fellow CLF’er  asked if anyone still Filet Crocheted and there was a resounding “Yes.” Another member even posted a picture of a piece hanging in her window that she done. Which is the only reason I didn’t post a question asking exactly what Filet Crochet was.

It was like a light bulb went off in my head. I had a ton of stuff sitting in my closet from my aunt that were perfect examples of Filet Crochet and I remember thinking when she gave them to me that it would be a great feat on my part to be able to make something as beautiful as those items. In truth now that I think about it, until I started making scarves (aka wearable items) I thought that all crochet was Filet Crochet while I was growing up.

I think my need to make something “frilly” or “dainty” stems from these early encounters with crochet. I am constantly looking for patterns that are like this and until now I didn’t understand why.

I was really thrilled to hear about the summer edition of Interweave-Crochet. It contains several patterns that use Filet Crochet. I don’t have a subscription to the magazine so I will have stalk the newsstands/bookstores until I can find it.

Congratulations Henry!

I belong to Kitty Lovin’ Hookers, a group on Ravelry. Every month they hold a contest called “Prettiest Kitty”. Members submit photos of their kittens/cats and then at a set time voting begins. It was announced yesterday that Henry was voted “Prettiest Kitty in May”.

This was the photo that I submitted for his entry into the contest;

The prize for winning the contest in May is a 10$ gift certificate to a particular Etsy store. Since I am planning on purchasing yarn I am sure Henry will take his duties seriously as Destroyer of Yarns!

In other yarn related news:

My projects are slowly coming along. None of them are finished…I was sidetracked by an insidious game known as Sims 2 this past week.

This week starts the month long process of writing and it is my hope that my evenings will be free enough and I have the will power enough to not play Sims in oder to finish at least one of the projects.

Also, my niece will be visiting for two weeks. During which time I plan on teaching her how to crochet.