Unraveled Wednesday: 6/26/24

I'm happy to join Kat and the Unravelers today with something a little different. Monday was a fairly nice day weather-wise, but it was 93 yesterday and today it's supposed to get up to 95. I couldn't face working on my HotM shawl; my hands feel even stickier when I knit with wool and it lies across my lap and makes me feel even hotter (and grumpier). So I started thinking about Christmas presents again. 

Ryan insists that I've knit him quite enough socks, hats, fingerless gloves, and even Hitchhikers, but he has said that he could use some potholders. I spent time perusing Ravelry and while there are knitted potholders, a great many of them are crocheted. That is definitely not my forte, but I would be working with cotton and it wouldn't be in my lap making me hotter, so why not give it a whirl? 

I found a pattern that seemed easy enough (I can do single crochet and count!) with the added benefit that it made me laugh. Topflappen (rav link) means potholder in German, so I started crocheting topflappen. 

My first attempt was with Sugar 'n Cream yarn and a crochet hook that was too small. I stopped and unraveled because this topflappen was far too stiff, in fact, almost bulletproof. I unraveled it and went in search of better yarn and larger crochet hooks. 

After making an even bigger mess of my stash closet, I did find some Peaches & Creme which felt slightly nicer, and a few bigger crochet hooks. My next attempt wasn't quite so stiff, but it's still not a real pleasure to crochet.

I think I'll finish this one, wash it, try it out, and see if it's gift-worthy. I also have some Dishie cotton which feels nicer, so I may try that, but I think that I just don't enjoy crochet very much, so there's not much use blaming the yarn and hooks. 

I did have what seems like a good idea while I was writing this, and it might be worth pursuing. I found a couple of dragon potholder patterns that I think Ryan would like (they're knit - hooray!) that I could make, knit plain backs, and sandwich them together so they would be thick enough for serviceable potholders. That might happen sooner rather than later if this summer continues the way it's started.

I read three books last week and due to some long-ish reviews, I'll put them all in a separate post on Friday. I'll let you be the judge of whether they are long-winded or detailed!

What are you making and reading this week?

Unraveled Wednesday: 12/27/31

There is not an "official" Unraveled Wednesday linkup this week, but it's such a part of my week that I can't resist one last post in 2023. How about Unraveled: The Year in Review? Also, a big thank you to Kat for hosting all of us all year. Like I said, it's a big part of my week and I appreciate your hosting, Kat!

I'm one of the world's slowest knitters, but I managed to complete 12 projects this year. 

I would call most of them successes. Half an 1898 was an experiment to see if I could knit a warm headband after knitting John an 1898 hat for Christmas last year. I've never worn it but it turns out I don't like or use headbands too much. I gave away the Sophie Scarf, and have worn most of the other items regularly. Except for the Sparkly HotM. It's still too small but I can't quite give it away because I like the yarn. The biggest disappointments were the Warm Waffles for Winter I just finished for the boys. After I tried them on, I had the nagging feeling that they might be too small for their huge hands. They can get them on but the thumb ribbing is tight. I offered to fix them but they both said they were fine (even though I know they're not). Next time I knit them fingerless mitts, I'll use the Jacoby pattern that I've already modified for Ryan's large hands, or make hats. Ryan told me that he could use more potholders (he only has two). After looking at potholder patterns I may be crocheting some more this year. Many of the ones I like are crocheted, so I guess I was not done with crochet after my snowflakes. 

And as a last interesting (to me anyway) note, Ryan had a suggestion for the snowflake that I wasn't able to figure out. He recommended that I try typing the instructions that I was having trouble with into ChatGPT. I was skeptical but I tried it with just one round and was rewarded with simple steps that I think I'll be able to follow! I haven't given ChatGPT the whole snowflake yet and taken my crochet hook in hand but I'll be crocheting with AI later this week. 

How was your making this year?