I am not a planner. I don’t memorize things, I’m more comfortable with improv-ing, I work better under the gun, I enjoy game plans in concept only, and rarely finish anything before the 11th hour. This trait often makes those closest to me crazy, but it’s part of my own brand of “plate-overfilled” denial. It works for me.
In true “me” form, at 4pm the day before a scheduled Austin Craft Mafia photo shoot–I embarked on what in hindsight was probably, an unrealistic task. I decided that I a.) wanted something new to wear so, b.) I needed to hand-knit (I’m still at the knotting and cursing stage with my knitting machine) that something (a cardigan) out of my Vegas yarn. Yes, for the next day. Less than 22 hours from then…and, I wasn’t planning on staying up all night to work on it either–because nobody likes a puffy-eyed white girl in pictures. 😉
I cast on and knit. And knit. Then slept. Took the kids to school. Then knit some more. About 2 hours before Jennifer was picking me up to meet the mag peeps I had to come to grips with the fact that my cardi, was going to have to be more of a “cardette”. I looked over at my mom who was in town for a vist and batted my eyelashes at her, asking if she minded finishing the ribbing on the sleeves so I could take a shower. Thank the yarn Gods for crafty moms (and the top-down version of sweater design) or man, I would’ve been completely SOL! She worked on the cuffs while I threw on some make-up and did the runner’s-stretch (aka the, “seriously, could you be any tighter?!” move ) in my newly washed jeans. We’re now down to 45 minutes and I still haven’t fully accepted the fact that I don’t have a button band, ends aren’t woven in, there’s no way to close it, etc.
Unfinished, rolled edges are totally the new black, I decide–so I sew on a button under the boobage area and poke it through a non-existent hole on the opposite side, to get it to stay on me. This is NOT good knitter’s form I know, but a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do, right?
It’s 10 minutes before lift-off and I’m still not happy with the way the top’s laying. Maybe curling edges are more of the less-trend-setting brown, rather than the newer-and-hotter black? Drat. Think Vickie, think. 5 minutes.
Earrings! Yes, earrings always make everything better. I scrounged around an old jewelry box in my closet, scored a sparkly stud from my PGE (Pre-Ginormous Earring) stage, and poked it through the collar of my cardette. Success! Was it comfortable? No. Did it stay put, if I moved around my neck too vigorously? Not so much. But did it do the job for the time being, while creating a saucy, peek-a-boo neckline? Why yes, yes it did.
Last minute Cardette, knit in Vegas in color: Casino
ACM at Craft-o-Rama
Since this picture was taken, I’ve unraveled the bottom band and the bust darts, picked up stitches and worked on knitting a torso. She’ll make her repurposed debut in normal-lengthed, cardigan glory in an upcoming video gig I’m working on. As my best friend Tammy always says, it all works out in the end–or it doesn’t. One way or the other.
what an awesome adventure for you & your readers! i was giggling and sweating bullets all at the same time. I saw your mag pic earlier and thought your cardi was awesome – who knew the amazing story behind it?! you & mom rock 😉 marg
Love the cardi , as well as the color. Looks great on you !!! Cannot wait to see the longer version. Have a great day !!
Liz
Very pretty. I am always interested to see your yarns made into larger projects as you did here. Thanks for sharing your work-a-day process and your creative process with us and how you integrate the two. We can have successes and smiles with qjksscybumps along the way.
Jaime
oh how you make me giggle!
only because i’m much like you–when it comes to knitting, i don’t plan (or follow patterns) and just dive in and start going to town, sometimes it works out, but most of the time i end up swearing, ripping it out, and reformulating the plan.
just once it would be nice to follow a pattern, and not alter it, just to see if i could actually do it!
Trisha
Love the cute cardi, and now I can prove to my husband that I’m not the only one who has to “runner stretch” my jeans!
Love it short! But have to admit that I can’t wait to see the longer version. Either way I loved reading about your adventure. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time wondering if you would make it in time or not. I’ve been there and have done that way to many times to count. You would think that we would all learn our leason some day and learn that we need to plan ahead….NAH! There’s no fun in that.
Anonymous
Super cute!! But I have to know, what are the cute retro blue ovals your are standing in front of? monica
The March YarnYAY! Box crochet project is 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵, a crochet, boomerang shawlette. The shape is more commonly seen in knitted pieces, but I love it because if you want the piece to be larger, you just keep working it in the established pattern.
𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵 is worked with a sweet, as-to-go edging and optional, appliquéd, chain-florets. I designed it to be worn as shown here, scarf-style, but with the option to go full-shawl. You do you!
𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘆𝗮 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 — 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿 — 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗬𝗔𝗬! 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝘅 (𝘁𝗮𝗽, 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗼, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗬𝗔𝗬.𝗰𝗼𝗺)
MODEL FUN FACT:
The gorgeous human modeling this shawlette, Kat Roberts, was the main featured young woman (swipe to see) in the infamous 1992, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog video “Nothing But a G Thang”. That video didn’t age well, but man, she sure did! 🤩
#yarnyay #crochetersofinstagram...
We are so excited that our friend and YarnYAY! Design Manager, @juliamadill's Overprint Bag design was published in the Spring '23 issue of @pompommag !
We love the graphic look, and environmentally conscious purpose of this crochet tote so much, that we've put together two colorful, Montoya Merino Light kits to celebrate!
Go to the YarnYAY! shop link in my @vickiehowell bio to learn more AND get a 20% off discount for the digital issue of the magazine.
Oh, and keep your eyes open for a crochet-along, coming on 3/29!
𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝘁. 𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘆'𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆!🍀
The YarnYAY! 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘰𝘹'𝘴 featured shade of 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘺𝘢 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 (Desert Jasper), feels right at home with this holiday, so 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘅 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀! See below for details.
Side note (that likely no one by me will care about): Giving away hanks on St Patrick's Day, of my Montoya Merino yarn feels appropriate as my dad used to always say that my brother and I were Spirish (Spanish + Irish). Thank you for listening.
HOW TO ENTER TO WIN:
👉🏼Follow @vickiehowell and #yarnyay
👉🏼Tag a friend with this post
👉🏼Comment on 3 of my posts with this emoji: 🍀
*𝘜𝘚 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 (𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥) 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘋𝘔. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝟹/𝟸𝟶/𝟶𝟹 𝘢𝘵 𝟷𝟷:𝟻𝟿𝘱𝘮𝘊𝘛....
what an awesome adventure for you & your readers! i was giggling and sweating bullets all at the same time. I saw your mag pic earlier and thought your cardi was awesome – who knew the amazing story behind it?! you & mom rock 😉 marg
Love it!
And I do the exact same thing. I’ve tried it the other way, the planning way but it doesn’t feel right to me. 😉
Awww wow its so cute!!!! I hope you write up a pattern 🙂
It looks super cute!
it is super cute as a short cami, but I cannot wait until we see the longer version
Denise
Been there! Actually that was exactly me on Sunday. It looks really cute, so I’d say it was a complete success!
Love the cardi , as well as the color. Looks great on you !!!
Cannot wait to see the longer version.
Have a great day !!
Very pretty. I am always interested to see your yarns made into larger projects as you did here. Thanks for sharing your work-a-day process and your creative process with us and how you integrate the two. We can have successes and smiles with qjksscybumps along the way.
oh how you make me giggle!
only because i’m much like you–when it comes to knitting, i don’t plan (or follow patterns) and just dive in and start going to town, sometimes it works out, but most of the time i end up swearing, ripping it out, and reformulating the plan.
just once it would be nice to follow a pattern, and not alter it, just to see if i could actually do it!
Love the cute cardi, and now I can prove to my husband that I’m not the only one who has to “runner stretch” my jeans!
you look marvelous in the cardette. Seriously, it looks like it was done on purpose.
PS: I miss Knitty Gritty! 🙁
Love it short! But have to admit that I can’t wait to see the longer version. Either way I loved reading about your adventure. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time wondering if you would make it in time or not. I’ve been there and have done that way to many times to count. You would think that we would all learn our leason some day and learn that we need to plan ahead….NAH! There’s no fun in that.
Super cute!! But I have to know, what are the cute retro blue ovals your are standing in front of?
monica
That’s amazing! The spontaneity especially. You mum must have rolled her eyes at how close you came;P