The Infamous Yarnaholic

New Free Pattern - Halia!

2009-05-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I have a new pattern out, and it's a freebie! It's called Halia, and is (at this time) exclusively available through Ravelry.

These photos were submitted by one of my testers and are used with her permission. She can be found as Naelana on Ravelry. At the risk of possibly having to locate a different tester when I need one, I highly recommend her. :) She provides excellent feedback and communicates very clearly. Also, as you can see from the photos, she does an excellent job.

I have to say that I am completely overwhelmed by the positive response I've had to this pattern. In just the few days since it was uploaded, over 60 people have added it to their favorites. Several have left comments on it, and even more people have queued.

The idea for the stole came from a Japanese stitch dictionary. I've removed a couple of extraneous stitches and worked the design from the center outward, but otherwise it's worked as it appeared in my dictionary.

I like finding names of literary authors or figures or elements to use as names for my design, and had posted on one of my favorite groups about name suggestions. Syracuse suggested Halia as a name, and I have to admit, I was originally a little disturbed by the backstory.

Then I started thinking about all the strong women I knew who are survivors of various forms of abuse, and thought that this pattern would be a good way to honor those women, and direct people to charities that they might not know about, such as Threads of Compassion. It's an "on your honor" sort of thing, but I've requested that people donate scarves/shawls to a local women's shelter or to Threads of Compassion if you choose to use the pattern. I'm more interested in the spirit of this request being honored than the letter. Thanks for listening!

And without further ado, here is the direct link to Halia on Ravelry!

All work and no play...

2009-05-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Makes me a busy girl! I've been designing quite a bit lately. I've worked on several new projects for The Unique Sheep.

Miss Austen

This is a circular love knot shawl with a beaded bullion shell edging.

More to come later!

Elizabeth Nicole Designs Terms of Use

2008-08-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Nicole Designs
Terms of Use

You may:

• Reproduce items in unlimited amounts for personal use, gift use, or charity use. If the charity item is to be auctioned, raffled, or sold, please contact me first.
• Produce up to 6 shawls per year per design for sale offline. Small accessories and other items will be noted on each pattern individually.

You must:
• Receive permission from me to sell items online.
• Attribute the design of any items made for sale in the following format: This is [insert name of design here], designed by Jennifer Benson of Elizabeth Nicole Designs. Pattern is available at http://www.ElizabethNicole.Etsy.com.

You may not:
• Reproduce any pattern in any format or distribute it in any format. For free patterns, please provide links back to the website where they are found.
• Mass produce items. If you are making items yourself and selling them directly, this does not constitute mass production.

2008-07-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't really know where to begin. A lot has happened since I last blogged. I'm designing a shawl (Miss Austen) for The Unique Sheep. I contacted Laura and asked if she was interested in crochet shawl designs, sent her some swatch pics, and she said yes! So now I get to play with Tinsel Toes in their Orange Gold colorway, which is absolutely stunning.

I've never worked with handpainted yarn before, so this will be a first for me. I'm really excited about the opportunity, the exposure, and of course, THE YARN!! At this point in time, I'm unsure of when the pattern will be released.

My husband and I are getting ready to send munchkins to Grandma's and Aunt Amy's while we run off to Eureka Springs next weekend! I can hardly wait. We have barely been alone since our honeymoon! Obviously, since we've had our son since our marriage, there was some alone time in there somewhere, but not much. ;)

I've posted a wish list to the side, since family members usually start asking me what I want for my birthday and Christmas about now. Both are in December. Hint hint, MOM, AMY, and GRANDMA! :D Also, if anyone from RAK wants to know what I want/like, well, there it is.

Oh, I have a new design book coming! It's a Japanese stitch dictionary, and I've heard rave reviews about it. I should be getting it around the first of August, and then I'll see if I can actually put some of my design ideas into yarn. I'm really excited about it!

I hate chiggers!

2008-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

I really hate the little boogers. I don't know if you have these little critters where you come from, but here in Missouri, we have plenty! I'll ship you some if you want to try them out. You will receive an official certificate of insanity along with a box full of freshly mown grass, guaranteed to have chiggers in it. For the curious who still have some grasp on their sanity, this Wikipedia article explains a little more about the critters.

What this article doesn't tell you is exactly where the little boogers like to bite. They tend to go for areas with the most warmth, which in turn tends to be near the unmentionables. While I myself do not have any chigger bites in the areas in question, they are near enough to convince me to suffer in silence without scratching, at least in public. I don't feel like explaining exactly what I'm doing to the stranger next to me in line at Wal-Mart. Hydrocortisone is my friend right now!

For those of you who have left me comments on my previous posts, thank (both of) you! I did see them, I'm just not yet adept at figuring out how to reply to them.

I finished my pattern for Night's Candles this week and got it uploaded to Ravelry and to my Etsy store. Now that I've got it published, here are some pictures!

With most of my designs, familiarity breeds contempt. I usually like the combinations my testers come up with better than my own. While the ones I've seen in the testing phases are lovely, I'm actually pretty proud of this one!

I'm working on Miss Austen right now. Hopefully she'll cooperate with me. I'm making her in mohair and I really shouldn't work on her when I'm sleep deprived. I've already had to frog rounds 2-3 times. Blech. I haven't decided whether to self publish her or to submit her somewhere. Hmmm....

I've also come up with an idea for another shawl, based on this painting and the poem that goes with it, particularly the following excerpt.

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

OK, OK, so it's not weaving, it's crocheting, but I really want to make one in this colorway.
It reminds me of the colors in the blanket.

Granted, the poem itself is rather depressing. I was so totally in love with it in high school. I also had a thing for Edgar Allen Poe. I think I must have been emo before they called it emo. Oh well.

Look at me, rambling on. I guess I'm making up for lost time. :D

Pleiades!

2008-06-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Pleiades is finally finished! Ok, so not so much my version, but one of my testers finished her version and has graciously allowed me to use her pictures.

The shawl was crocheted by Riohnna, and photographed by her husband.

The pattern is for sale on Ravelry, but I don't have it added to my Etsy store yet.

I've finished crocheting Night's Candles, but I can't finish the pattern. I want to have specific pictures of certain techniques I use to ensure stitch uniformity and to make sure the construction is clear, but my sister took off to Puerto Rico with my camera. She left me hers, but I am a self-proclaimed procrastinator, and didn't download all my process pics before I gave her the camera.

I ~~told~~ asked her rather ~~emphatically~~ nicely to send me my process pics via email, and this is what I got:
(Fair warning! May not be safe for those with weak stomachs!)

Apparently, several weeks ago, my youngest daughter, JaLynn, found a lizard that the cats had half eaten, and decided it needed to be documented for posterity. That, or she just wanted to play with the camera. ;) There were several photos, and one of them was a completely awesome artsy shot of the sky and trees. If Amos hasn't deleted it, I'll post them when she gives me my camera back.

AAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!!

2008-06-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Nope, I'm not turning into a pirate. I'm just really frustrated. Pleiades is not being cooperative. My original version calls for multiple slip stitches, mostly into chain stitches. I really don't like doing that, so I've tried to rework it so that it comes out without all the slip stitches. It's relatively easy, but I'm one of those who has to actually see what I'm doing with the yarn before I try to write it down.

Changing to the non-slip stitch version has also introduced multiple pulling issues. The stupid thing won't lay flat. I'm thinking that the slip stitches are the way to go.
I've got some awesome testers working on it that I will use in the future with their consent.

I also somehow got the bright idea to test a second shawl at the same time. Wow, was that ever a bad idea! I have to take a break from Pleiades and write up the edging for Night's Candles. From now on, these go into the testing phase one at a time! *Sigh* I'll get this whole "designer" thing eventually. (Please, Lord!)

Flower Trellis Shawl Pattern Now Available

2008-05-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

My Flower Trellis Shawl pattern is now available for sale. I still have to figure out how to add some sort of Etsy widget to my blog, but for now you can go to http://www.ElizabethNicole.etsy.com to order the pattern. If I'm out of stock, please convo me and I'll list more ASAP.

In other news, I'm working on two new shawls, Night's Candles and Pleiades. I have testers for them and hope to have the patterns ready for sale by the end of June. Here's a swatch of Pleiades. Please ignore the baby yarn; I'm on a yarn diet and can't get anything else for a while. :) She's really wanting to be made in a silk blend yarn or in a nice slinky soft cotton, but I'm unable to accomodate her for the time being, so she'll just have to put up with Bernat Softee Baby.

I'm not publishing any photos of Night's Candles until it's available for sale due to the fact that it would probably be pretty easy to duplicate and I want to get the pattern published first. However, I've googled my little heart out and I still haven't seen anything like it yet. It's going to be lovely! Lots of beads and laceweight.

Brainstorming

2008-05-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

The Flower Trellis Shawl is finally done. I'm taking pictures to put into my pattern to help explain the stitch better. Although I've taken notes on the edging, I have yet to write up the pattern for it. Anyway, here is the FO.

I've come up with more patterns! *Looks skyward* Thank You, Lord! Ok, ok, so they're not patterns yet, but I do have the ideas...

Three Circular shawls: Night's Candles, Pleiades, and Dryad.

One triangular shawl that I don't have a name for yet. And a few more ideas for others that haven't really taken shape yet. I'm so excited! I think I'd crochet 'til my arm falls off if I could (but then I'd have to learn to knit with my toes, and I'd stink up all my good yarn).

Anyway, I'm really excited. I don't know if this whole selling patterns on Ravelry and Etsy thing is going to work, but I'm really hoping it will, at least to some extent. Maybe I'll make enough to pay for my yarn...

I was going to blog today, but...

2008-05-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

I have too much to do! We have a revival at our church all this week. We're going, of course.

My Flower Trellis Shawl is coming right along. I only have 80 or so more flowers to go. I've also gotten a few more ideas for other shawls. Ok, only one really. Two are knitted and I have no idea how to write or chart them. One will be based on the hymn My Father's World, and the other will be based on a compass rose. Theoretically, anyway. The other is a crocheted shawl, and I've never seen anything like it.

The yahoos are screeching, so I have to detatch myself from the computer. More pictures...er...later. Ish.

One of my FO's and a QAL KAL!

2008-04-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'm organizing my first KAL! We're doing Queen Anne's Lace by MMario. The pattern is available through joining the MMario KKnits Yahoo group. You can also join the QAL KAL on Ravelry. The pattern is absolutely lovely, and a joy to knit. This is my first circular knitted object, so after only about 15-20 false starts, lots of advice from my laceknitters Yahoo group, from MMario KKnits, and a knittinghelp.com video, I finally figured out how DPN's work. I think this circular lace stuff is going to be addictive. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics to post yet, even though I'm on round 33 now.

I finished my Heirloom Baby Blanket (available on www.coatsandclark.com) last week sometime, and it is absolutely beautiful. You really have to pay attention to the pattern, and not do the things I do (like assume I know what the repeats will be and just start making up what I want to do myself), because then you'll have to rip out three rows and do them all over again. Of course, these will be the rows where you've had to join new yarn and have already woven ends in as you went. I do have to say, though, that the end result is totally worth it.

I made it for the grandbaby of a very sweet lady that I used to work for. Little Wyatt was born premature and weighed only a little over two pounds. According to his grandma, as of his one month birthday he had more than doubled his birth weight, and is off of his ventilator. I'm sure if he turns out to be anything like his grandma, he'll be a real sweetheart.

I have some new features planned soon, such as a list of the resources I've used to help me learn to knit, and some of the free patterns that I like the best. However, soon tends to be a relative term with me, so don't hold your breath too long. I have to teach myself how to create hyperlinks and how to do some other fancy footwork, too.

Stash Cash!

2008-04-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, there's a new site called Revolution Money Exchange. It's like PayPal, but they don't charge fees for selling...which is great if you want to sell off some of your stash. Also, if you sign up before May 15th, they give you $25.00 free! I've already got mine and am eyeing even more wooly goodness! Click the button below if you're interested.

Ravelry, here I come!

2008-04-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

I'm on Ravelry now! Yay me! Since I've begun Ravelizing, I'm hoping it will give me incentive to blog more often. I also have a grand total of one friend, the lovely Vixen. She's swapping me my smurf butt blue mohair for some laceweight yarns she has. I can hardly wait!

I have a new pattern in the works! It's a Flower Trellis Shawl in Knitpicks Sweet Peas colorway (discontinued :( ).

Note the lovely picture on the right of my carpet. There's not much to the shawl just yet. If all goes according to plan, there will be 630 flowers that are 1" in diameter (across petals) making up the body of the shawl. It's crocheted, and I haven't decided whether to add a chain lace edging or to make it a love knot edging. I may save the love knot edging for the first knitted piece I design...which won't be any time in the near future.

Anyway, I'm queenmamajen on Ravelry, so look me up if you get the chance! I'd love to meet other knitters and crocheters!

Wow!

2008-02-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on here in forever! Quite a lot has changed since I last posted. I started homeschooling my oldest daughter, who is doing absolutely awesome!

I'm teaching myself to knit. I have some cash/silk from Colourmart that is begging me to work with it, but since I have 3 shawls, a baby blanket, and a curtain to knit/crochet, it's going to be a while.

*Sigh* Ah, well. Life goes on.

Maybe sometime soon I'll get batteries for my camera and actually load some pictures of the yummy yarns I've procured, but for now, it ain't hap'nin'.

In the beginning....

2007-08-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

I learned to crochet when I was 11 years old. My grandma Marie helped me make the world's ugliest purse out of cream colored acrylic yarn. It was pretty much a big square with all kinds of mistakes in it. I got bored with it pretty quickly.

About 7 or 8 years later, I decided to pick up a hook again. I made a 4'x6' afghan for my Grandma Pat. While decidedly better than the purse, it still is far from being a masterpiece. I worked as a telemarketer for a while (you can put up your crucifix and garlic, I'm not doing that anymore) and while we were waiting for our headsets to beep in our ears, indicating that someone had picked up the phone and progressed from, "Hello?" to "If anybody is on the #!#%#@% line, you had $#!$ better talk now or I'm going to !#%!^@^! hang up!!!!", there wasn't a lot to do. So, I crocheted. Then, once again, I got busy being young and stupid, and didn't touch a hook for years.

Now, I'm a full time stay at home mom of 4. I crochet primarily for stress relief these days, and lately I've been a very prolific crocheter! It's one of those "You don't have to be crazy to do this job, but it helps!" things. I plan to post some pictures of finished projects soon. I'm just lazy about putting the pictures online. I've made 3 seraphina shawls (and am on my 4th), 4 of my funky monkey skinny scarves, 1 adult version of the pumamouse sleuthing shawl, and about 4 kids' versions of it, a poncho for the daughter of a friend of mine, and about 6 or 7 dishcloths. I also have a delicate web wrap in the works. It's made of cream colored silk chenille that produces shudders of delight in all who touch it. I've got a scarf in the making of this funky thick/thin rayon chunky yarn, and I've already made a wrap out of it for my sister Rebekah. I also made a baby blanket for my cousin Amanda. Yeesh! I've made more than I thought I did. All this has taken place in just the past few months.

Speaking of prolific crocheting, I think I've injured myself. I never thought of crochet as a sport, but I definitely have a sports-type injury! My wrist hurts when I crochet and it hurts all the way up my arm. I think I'd better take a break for a day or two.

Disco Queen Ponytail Holder

2007-07-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Materials Needed:
1 skein of novelty yarn (I used a worsted weight novelty yarn)
Size I (5.50 mm) hook
1 Thick “Ouchless” ponytail holder

Stitches used:

sl st = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
tr = treble crochet

This pattern uses American crochet terms.

Note: A worsted weight skein will yield several ponytail holders, but you may have to use most of or all of a skein of light weight eyelash yarn.

Round 1: Join yarn with sl st in ponytail holder. Ch 1. Work sc all around the ponytail holder (for the size I used, I came up with 46 sc. The best way to figure out how many sc to work is to count the number of sc it takes you to go around the ponytail holder with normal spacing, then scrunch the worked stitches together and double the number you came up with. Example: I had 23 sc worked normally, so I scrunched them together and worked another 23 sc in the remaining space.) Join with sl st to first sc.

Round 2: Ch 4, tr in same stitch. Work [2 tr] in each sc around. Join with sl st to top ch of starting ch 4, finish off. Weave in ends.

Congratulations, you are now a disco queen! These are great for using those wierd little scraps that aren't enough to really make anything. They also make awesome stocking stuffers for teenage girls. They look neat and are relatively inexpensive too. I made them for my Girls Only Missionettes class. We’re having a treasure hunt as part of our lesson next week and this is the “treasure” they get to find. Enjoy!

If you have questions, or just want to send me a picture of something you've made using my patterns, you can ~~e-mail me at theinfamousyarnaholic@hotmail.com~~ contact me as queenmamajen on Ravelry.

Crochet Pattern: Funky Monkey Skinny Scarf

2007-07-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

Howdy! I decided that I'd start this thing and see how it goes. This is the first pattern I've ever written, so if you find any mistakes, PLEASE let me know! This is my Funky Monkey Skinny Scarf. Amy, if you ever see this, I've named it in honor of you! This pattern uses American hook sizes and terminology, mostly because Brit terms confuse the heck out of me.

Materials needed:

Size K crochet hook
Main Color: 2 skeins sport weight black chenille (don't know what brand, I got it on eBay)or 1 skein divided in half
Color A: 1 skein vintage Red Heart baby yarn in light pink Color B: 1 skein Bernat Kiss in bright pink (I have no clue what the color actually is because I threw away the label a long time ago.)

Gauge: We don't need no stinkin' gauge.

Note: This pattern uses at least 1 strand of MC throughout.

Chain 200.

Row 1 (foundation row): With MC & Color A held together, SC in 2nd ch from hook & SC in each ch across, until last ch. Pull up 2 loops on hook (as if you were going to make another sc), and cut Color A, leaving several inches to weave in. Join 2nd strand of MC and pull both strands of MC through loops on hook. Ch 1, turn.

Row 2 & 3: SC in each SC across, ch 1, turn

Row 4: SC in each SC across to last sc, pull up 2 loops on hook. Cut 1 strand only of MC, join Color B, and pull MC & Color B through loops on hook. Ch 1, turn.

Row 5: SC in each SC across to last sc, pull up 2 loops on hook. Cut Color B, join Color A, and pull through 2 loops on hook. Ch 1, turn.

Row 6: SC in each SC across, ch 1, turn.

Row 7: SC in each SC across to last SC, pull up 2 loops on hook. Cut Color A, join 2nd strand of MC, and pull through 2 loops on hook. Ch 1, turn.

Row 8: SC in each SC across to last SC, pull up 2 loops on hook. Cut 1 strand only of MC, join Color B, and pull through 2 loops on hook. Ch 1, turn.

Row 9: SC in each SC across, ch 1, turn.

Row 10: SC in each SC across, finish off & weave in end(s).

So, to recap, you'll have 1 row of MC & Color A, 3 rows of MC & MC, 1 Row MC & Color B, 2 rows MC & Color A, 1 row MC & MC, and 2 rows MC & Color B.

Also, I've found that it's easier to do this pattern (and to hide the ends) if you weave in ends immediately after pulling your new color & MC through the 2 loops on your hook. You can wait until the end to weave them in if you want, though.

You are more than welcome to use my pattern(s) to create gifts for family or friends, (or complete strangers, if you have a mind to), but please do not sell them on eBay or in the South Central Missouri area, as I may decide to do this myself sometime in the future. Also, please do not reproduce my pattern(s) anywhere else on the web. Instead, link back to the page where the pattern is located. You are, however, allowed to print it off for personal use if you so desire. Enjoy, and most of all....have fun!

If you have any questions about my patterns, or if you'd like to send me a picture of something you've made using one of my patterns, you can e-mail me at theinfamousyarnaholic@hotmail.com

Getting Started

2007-04-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Jen and I'm just getting started on here. I've started this mainly to post finished crochet projects, but this may wind up being a little bit of everything by the time I'm done. Who knows?