Comments on: The Devil in the Craft Store

By: kathy

kathy — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:10:33 +0000

i’m lurker, and an obessive crafter (yay crochet!) and i just had to post a comment! i think the hats are cute! i have the same issues with this yarn the only one i’ve ever been able to make “cool” is the camo one, i make reggae tams for my husband’s band members. anyway, love your books!
peace, love, and glitter,
kathy

By: Ellen Bloom

Ellen Bloom — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:57:03 +0000

Yeah, well…I’ve got the curse of wanting the variegated yarn too. This type of yarn looks different when knitted than it does when crocheted. There are many different kinds of crochet stitches to give this type of yarn a BETTER look. Next time, try the Granite Stitch.

http://www.crochetme.com/issue_1/stitch_dictionary_two.html

Remember…She who dies with the most yarn, wins!

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:10:06 +0000

The great thing about that kind of variegated yarn is that because of the evenness, it looks very impressive to non-knitters (who find the randomness of hand-painted yarn unappealing). Lavish the love on someone who has no idea and they will be very happy. Sad but true.

By: McB

McB — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:17:01 +0000

Louisa – it’s a baby afghan in six colors, worked with two strands. In the photo the colors seem to bleed into each other like a rainbow.

The wedding gift afghan is done in denim, royal purple and winter white, using an afghan stitch. I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

By: RandomRanter

RandomRanter — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:41:03 +0000

Yeah, I am convinced that like the skinny mirrors in clothes shops the craft stores have special lights. And amnesia inducing fumes or something. I had this same issue with the Patons SWS, I have learned to embrace it and keep buying more of it. It’s not quite as crazy as this stuff, but that’s just because there are longer bits of color, such that the ball conceals a few of the colors and you get partway in and realize they stuck all this brown and green into your pink yarn.
And there is a yarn pattern for fuzzy dice that may just be calling out to this stuff…

By: Louisa

Louisa — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:30:14 +0000

What is it? McB, the “knitted” dress on that page looks like Crochet, too.

And, the woman in it is gorgeous. I don’t think it’s very high quality yarn, though.

Every time I pick up my hook, DH & DD lock gazes and say, “Mom’s going to knit a volkswagen cover.” I don’t knit. I crochet, but they’ve never gotten that right.

Pattern? Pattern? Oh, maniacal laughter here.

Jenny, your hats are very refined and well-behaved, compared to mine. And there’s nothing wrong with the “yellow” one, either. You’ve masked that green very nicely. This would look smashing on a redhead with some spunk.

By: McB

McB — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:53:11 +0000

Jenny, you are such a bad influence on me. I’m nearly done with my wedding gift afghan (and only 2 weeks late, so I’m quite proud of myself) but rather than resting on my laurels (and where did that phrase come from?) I downloaded a pattern yesterday and hit my local Michaels last night. But I avoided the variegated.

By: colognegrrl

colognegrrl — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:31:09 +0000

Wow! I just stumbled over the picture of somebody who got REALLY carried away with the crocheting and I just need to share that someplace:
http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/random_fug/index.html

I can’t really tell whether it’s variegated or plain, because I was blind as soon as I saw it.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:26:17 +0000

Well, exactly. They’re rotters, not Our Guy.

I’d heard about the Evanovich/Cannell book, Bithalynn, but I still don’t have a grasp on what they’re doing. I think she’s writing a supporting character, but I’m not sure.

By: Penny-scope dope cherrybomb

Penny-scope dope cherrybomb — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:12:31 +0000

I love the hats…well with the exception of the yellow one. Ugh! I love varigated wool too. I knitted several teddy bears with varigated yarn and on them it looked great but I had plain colours as the pads of their paws and their muzzles so that contrast made it acceptable and little kids just loved them. They could drag the bears around by their ears, arms or legs. Those bears are all over the place. Some even got sent to the U.S.

I am waiting for You Again.

BTW in my youth I heard men making bets about getting a young woman into bed. The rotters!

By: Bithalynn

Bithalynn — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:59:25 +0000

Okay, this is really off topic, but I just read that Janet Evanovich is writing a book with Stephen J Cannell, well already wrote it I guess as there are excerpts on her website. Other people may already have brought this to your attention, I’m not especially “plugged in” to the goings on in the publishing world.

Anyway, it looks like you and Bob may have started a trend! I’ll be interested to see how their effort compares to yours.

By: Marcia in OK

Marcia in OK — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:56:01 +0000

Hey Jenny, I’m raising a 3rd generation crocheter, and she’s seriously into varigated yarns. She’s got the exact same ones you’ve used, plus the neon colors and the primaries, and the pastels. Just this weekend, we bought the brown and pink.

You’ve done a great job with those “characters” and I bet you’d find someone who’d pay money for them.

By: Charlene Teglia

Charlene Teglia — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:01:00 +0000

Hey, what’s wrong with a little amnesia? Worked for The Bourne Identity. Love the hats!

By: francois

francois — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:13:25 +0000

Variegated yarn is strictly for socks. That said, I love amnesia plots. That said, I keep buying wool when I know deep down I am probably allergic to it. I am a sucker for bad yarn and hackneyed plots. There must be the original brilliant amnesia book out there somewhere, that inspired everyone else to write theirs. Where is it?

By: The Great Dane

The Great Dane — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:01:08 +0000

It has never occurred to me to make something entirely out of varigated yarn. I originally started with using it for embroidery such as a huge butterfly or flower on the back of a sweater. Later I took to making stripes around the wrists and shoulders of a monochrome sweater, but the best result came from making black sleeves and body, then gather all the parts on a circle needle and knit the shoulders in varigated. These sweathers looked like those garments from ancient Egypt with the huge collars.

By: ZaZa

ZaZa — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 01:54:20 +0000

Ack. I meant Mollie. Sorry.

By: ZaZa

ZaZa — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 01:52:06 +0000

Jenny said…

I’ve tried to save books like this. You Again is this hat.

Strop said…

I also yearn for You Again. I think it must be my long lost true love. It’ll probably get published the day before I die.

Yeah, Jenny, you snuck that in there and thought we wouldn’t notice. No chance.

I’ve never like variegated yarns. I’ve always been of the “looks like barf” school of thought. Eerie, in fact, to have you echo my thoughts. The handpainted stuff should be illegal. They make it in such gorgeous color combinations, that it’s almost irresistible. I did break down and buy some wool and silk, though, to make a couple scarves for gifts. I’ll see how they look if I ever do them.

That last hat, I like it a lot. It’s got a cute, flapperish cloche look to it. Miss Molly could carry it off, although maybe not in those colors. Well, she could carry it off anyway, but those colors are not really her. But you’re her mother, so why am I blathering on? Hmmm. Why don’t you make a pattern for it, or have someone do one? You could sell the pattern for fundraisers. Still rambling.

If you haven’t seen the blog youknitwhat, go look at the lovely variegated garment.

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:48:09 +0000

I still have some of the stuff my grandmother and aunt did. Argyle socks, shawls, a sweater that would fit a fullback.

You missed a stitch in tha purple & blue stuff.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 18:39:28 +0000

You know, maybe that’s why I’m drawn to variegated yarn. I’m subconsciously reaching back to the tie-dye of my youth. Hmmmm.

By: Louisa

Louisa — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:26:51 +0000

I love your knitting.
It looks like crochet.

You haven’t used the really awful stuff: the chrome yellow with the red, blue, and green chunks.

My grandmother made me a vest out of that when I was in college. I was a size 12 or 14, and the vest was tunic length, so there was a LOT of it. I’m blond, too. Did I wear it? You bet I did. I loved it, even though it was not purple/blue/green paisley. Wore it with a black turtleneck and pants, though. There were 15,000 students at my school, and it was the sixties. One more bad outfit was not going to make news. And, let me tell you, I still miss my grandmother. I think that vest is in my cedar chest even now.