Yarns, Trials and Errors

I had lots of crochet plans for the past week-end (it's been a long one, because Monday was a national holiday in Germany), but in end... I achieved almost nothing ;)

Look what I’ve bought before the week-end:

The package on the left is a sock knitting set. They’ve got those sets once or twice a year in my favorite discounter (ALDI) and I usually buy a few packages and knit some pairs of socks for John and me. This year however, I’m afraid I’ve simply bought this yarn out of habit, because – with all those crochet ideas spinning around in my head – I don’t think I’ll be in the mood for knitting boring socks and I definitely wasn't the last week-end.

I had great plans with the variegated blue yarn in the front – I wanted to try the broomstick lace technique and make a scarf for my Mom (you can’t start with handmade Christmas presents too early, right?). It’s such a lovely yarn, very soft and I love the colors, but unfortunately it’s too thin for the pattern I had in mind. I’ve made a few rows, but it didn’t turn out right, so I had to rip it again. This was the second dead end.

The white and purple yarn in the background is a yarn I’ve been sneaking around all summer long. You can’t see it on the picture, but it’s a really extravagant yarn with tiny shimmering loops. Way too expensive actually, but guess what – it was for sale at the drugstore last week and cost only half of the usual prize! I’ve interpreted this as a sign and bought a few balls without really knowing what to do with it. I've tried a few things (mainly little ideas for Christmas decorations), but nothing worked out right - the third dead end.

What you don't see in the picture is a huge amount of colorful yarn I need for a great new project - you don't see it, because I couldn't buy it yet :( - the shop ran out of the yarn I wanted, so I have to come back at the end of this week. The next dead end.

Finally I've decided to try the broomstick lace technique with the way-too-expensive white yarn I've bought:

As far as I've read, broomstick lace is made with a regular size crochet hook and a really biiiig knitting needle for the loops. Needless to say, that I couldn't find such a big knitting needle in the shops, so I really had to use a broomstick, you can see it in the picture :)

Here's a close-up, maybe you can see the structure of the yarn a little bit better. If not, you just have to believe me, that it's an incredibly pretty yarn :) When this scarf is finished, I'll probably keep it for myself, because I don't think my Mom would like a white scarf (never mind how pretty the yarn). I have to go back to the yarn shop anyway, so I'll probably buy another yarn for my Mom's scarf.

On Sunday afternoon, John and I spontaneously joined some friends on a little two-days trip to the Czech Republic, enjoying the last hot days of the year, so that was the end of my (this time dissapointing) crochet adventures for the week-end.

See you back here soon, hopefully with more crochet the next time :)