Stitchboard Admin message #182
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 19, 2013 at 10:05:00 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #1)
 
Sherry,

Uuuugggghhh, I'm doing the same with my stupid loose ends!  I just thought if I could get the dishcloths done, that part will be a breeze, but now I'm kind of regretting it, as I know it's going to be a pain.

For my dishcloths, each couple will get four of exactly the same pattern, though a different one from each other.  Who knows, maybe that's a bad idea because they'll see the same pattern looks larger or smaller from cloth to cloth...oh, well...they're dishcloths! 

That's for sure, they are so much better than anything one could buy...certainly better than sponges, as well!  And like you said, probably nobody will care about size differences, anyway, even with the same pattern.

Awww, how sweet of your friend!    She sure knows what you like! 

So what will you be making for her birthday gift?

I'm with you...cables often don't "pop" enough.  If anyone can make them pop, you can! 

Well, my TV watching is at a standstill because of the holidays.  I suppose I'll have to just plan to make a couple of dishcloths on the days I don't watch TV before I get started with computer stuff for the day.  I can't sit here and crochet or knit...I've tried, and forced myself to do that when making the coasters, but it's really not conducive to relaxing, which I prefer to be when crocheting/knitting.

So still with 7 down, 9 to go. 

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Stitchboard Admin message #184
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 20, 2013 at 11:45:37 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #3)
 
Sherry,

LOL!  I think my screw is far looser than yours! 

I don't know...we must be gluttons for punishment!  I guess it's that when we stop torturing ourselves, it feels soooooooooo good.  

Ooh, do you know your friend's colors?  I love how useful and versatile these will be, and fairly inexpensive for the materials, too! 

You're welcome...I know you're going to make something incredible! 

I bet the lizard scarf will be really cute when it's done, and probably looks pretty cute now as a WIP!  Please take pics if you can. 

Argh, time.  Where does it go?  Now my numbers are reversed on the dishcloths, BTW...7 left to go, 9 done.    Tomorrow night I plan on some TV watching, and hoping that number will be down to 5 left to go, 11 done (4 left to go, 12 done would be even better, but not counting on being able to accomplish that!).  I figure it takes about an hour for a dishcloth, depending on the patterns.  I've started working the more labor intensive ones first, just to get them done.  I have 3 done of one design, and that's the most I have of any of them.  Seriously thinking about starting tomorrow night with that same one, then going on to the other one, of which I also have three.  Then I have (IIRC) 2 of the one design made and only 1 of the easiest one.

It will be a huge relief to get the more labor intensive ones done, leaving the simpler ones.  Then I'll just alternate the last 5 dishcloths in the two designs, so I don't make the same one twice in a row and it won't be so dull! 

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Stitchboard Admin message #186
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 21, 2013 at 7:37:46 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #5)
 
Sherry,

Stone and slate go well together...LOL, not my particular colors, but they do work! 

You mean textural elements with stitches?  Love that!    I think that will really make the stone and slate pop.  

Hmm, I can't imagine what kind of time constraint you might have had...not like it's a holiday or anything!    Sigh.

Those lizard eyes are going to be sooooo amazing! 

LOL!  Knowing my luck the only thing that would be accomplished with the clock stopping is I'd miss out on something timely. 

Woo hoo...glad you finished the blue and yellow scarf and that you had enough left over for fringe...pictures please!    Are you going to fringe it?  I tend not to put fringe on things, especially not for me...last time I had a fringed scarf, it kept getting caught in the zipper of my coat. 

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Stitchboard Admin message #188
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 22, 2013 at 10:07:20 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #7)
 
Sherry,

Exactly...it's a lot easier to bear when you're not working with those colors for yourself! 

Yes...why do things the easy way when you can do them the hard way?    I know that one well, sigh.  Also, it will make the color combo easier to bear, to add some pop to it. 

Oh, yeah, there's so much variety in the eyes!  They're really fascinating.    Hopefully not too many choices that it's overwhelming, of course! 

It seems guys are much less interested in fringe.  I like the looks of it, but have noticed the ends don't wear well when washed and also, they tend to get caught on everything when used in an item like a scarf. 

Super...can't wait to see your pics! 

I don't know where I am on the dishcloths now.  I want to say that I'm about where I was yesterday...5 left?  Sigh.  I went back and did the one pattern that seemed to be the quickest, and noticed it wasn't done right the first time.    And it had nothing to do with playing around with the pattern, it had to do with misreading it.    I couldn't figure out why, even though I'd left out the last two rows, it wasn't even close to the picture's edges.

It's because I did the one row (last row) completely wrong.  So I did it almost the "right" way, and then it looked very different.  So I cut the ends and decided the next time I'd use a more comfortable (H) hook for it, and this would be one of my "discards."  I now have a set of four very different "discard" cloths, not counting the wonky one from the coaster set!

So they won't go to waste.  But all I did today was "replace" the messed up one.  Now I have three of that one left and two of another one, IIRC.  (That's the diagonal crochet one.)

Probably will work on that on Tuesday, unless I can grab an hour or so tomorrow.

Had to shovel that offensive word today...ugh.  Between that and all of the ice underneath, I know I'm going to be very sore over the next few days.    This time it was wet...the last two or three times, it was light and fluffy.  This was more of a nightmare, made worse because it was icy underneath.  In a couple of places, I managed to get the shovel under the ice, broke it up and shoveled it away, so there are clear spots on the pavement, but it was still miserable, and there's still some ice left. 

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Stitchboard Admin message #190
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 23, 2013 at 7:57:25 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #9)
 
Sherry,

They're so fascinating!    Would love to see what you come up with for crocheting!  

You're definitely limited to colors on hand, so I understand why you wouldn't be able to reproduce them as you'd probably like.    But if anyone can do something eye-catching and lizard-eye-ish, you can! 

You know, just a thought...if you're willing to go to a lot of effort, you could double some embroidery floss...just thinking that's 200-something(?) colors to choose from.  You might be able to do some marbling by combining two strands of blue, then two strands of a different blue, etc.  At least with crochet, embroidery floss works great, because you can catch the stitches a lot easier...sigh, with knitting, not so much! 

GMTA again!    I agree about fringe 100%  It's different if it's a material that will hold up...for instance, I used to have the cutest fringed jacket, where the fringes were flattish and cut out of fabric, not made of yarn.  So those held up.

I also had a couple of shirts with added fringe, made with what I now know to be some kind of rayon chain fiber...looped.  So the ends weren't on the actual "ends," and thus, they didn't fray.  (I also had one with the same rayon chain fiber, but those weren't looped, they were cut, and thus, they frayed like crazy.    I had plans to ultimately knit or crochet some new, longer, and looped fringe out of the rayon chain fiber...but it never happened (never could get the fiber) and now I count the shirt as pretty much stolen (had it in storage), which means someone else got it, and maybe they pulled the fringe off completely, bought some new fringe from a store, wore it as is, or threw out the whole thing.  Not that I really care, since that wasn't anything I had the chance to ultimately do with it. 

I love that diagonal pattern, and it's so fast and so much fun for making dishcloths!    I'm thinking I'll make at least one for our "misfit collection," even though it won't be an actual misfit, more an on-purpose thing, because I enjoy making that pattern so much.    BTW, I have a crocheted blanket (have no idea who made it...not me!) in that same pattern, so it's kind of fun that I'm now making something in that same pattern!  it was made out of two strands of yarn, perhaps Simply Soft, because it feels very soft to me. 

I'm using an H hook for all of the patterns now (12 down, 4 to go, then all of those ends!), so I put the F hook away in my case before losing it, sigh.  

Thank you...believe it or not, I'm not sore.  I'm hoping that means I won't be, but somehow, with the way my shoulder was hurting from scraping up some of that ice at the time, I won't be surprised if I feel sore over the next 24 hours.    My shoulder kept aching and I had to keep stopping to wait for the pain to go away.    Ugh, remind me again what purpose that offensive white four-letter-word crap serves? 

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Stitchboard Admin message #192
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 24, 2013 at 8:16:36 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #11)
 
Sherry,

I had forgotten that you add the paint...that's going to look fantastic!  I'm sure your hands are steady enough for this...marbling isn't an exact science, after all! 

That diagonal pattern is really a very comfortable, TV-watching no-brainer, once you have the hang of that first slip stitch...wish I'd known about it years ago, as I would have been making afghans and such with it.    LOL, I'll admit it took me ages to figure it out at first.  I wish the tutorial had simply said to flip that first set of doubles for the slip stitch, because looking at the pictures, though it shows where the hook goes in, it doesn't actually show it flipped until the end.  If it had said to flip it first, then to put the hook in that space with the chains, I would have said, "Oh, that's easy!"

I'm thinking about towels in that stitch, too.  I probably won't have enough thread left on the cone for a towel after finishing the dishcloths, but maybe I'll buy another cone, in a color I really like.    It's got some purple and pink, and hubby apparently didn't care for it.  Oh, well...I like it, I'm making the towels, so tough! 

I think I'm down to almost three dishcloths left.  I have another diagonal OTH, with maybe about three of those "squares" of doubles left to go, plus a round of sc edging.  Not bad.  I hope to get some work done tomorrow night - TV shows, don't you know!    New Doctor Who. 

Oooh, you're done with the loose ends!  I'm so jealous!  I'm looking at my dishcloths and dreading that job. 

Yeah, that white crap has a purpose...to make my life miserable! 

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Stitchboard Admin message #194
Re: Tunisian gauge
December 26, 2013 at 12:30:29 AM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #13)
 
Sherry,

Oooh, that would be wonderful if you could show your painting process with the lizard eyes! 

That sounds so much easier on the diagonal pattern!  (I'm having a "wow, I could have had a V-8" moment! )  I'm all finished with all of the crocheting (breathing sigh of relief), so I'll make notes of your excellent way of starting when I make some dishcloths/towels for our use. 

I just finished crocheting the very last gift one about 10 minutes ago!  (At least, this set, sigh.  Still at least 4 other sets for non-clients.   Yes, very late.  )

Now to work in the ends. 

Thank you...I know that hint is going to help a lot when I get to working on our dishcloths! 

I'll try to remember to get a pic of the 16 after I work in all of those, ugh, ends.

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