WIP Wednesday: Caron Cakes Faerie Cakes and Super Saver Minty Big Blocks

I saw a picture of a project on  the Left in Knots blog of a charming hat pattern:


 https://www.leftinknots.com/home/2018/1/16/snow-drops-slouch-hat-free-crochet-pattern

I loved the colors so much I looked to see what the yarn was.   Ah, Caron Cakes Faerie Cakes, a very sweet green set.   By chance, I happened to have some, but just a few cakes.  Nearby sat some  Red Heart Super Saver "Minty".   They looked perfect together.

I made squares that were a bit large (center and four rows of Faerie Cakes, one row of Minty).   The color just unfolds so beautifully, and the Minty frames it so well.

My first cake made 15 of these large blocks.   I have four of the cakes.  So, I'm thinking  I'll make all the Faerie Cakes squares, then make a set of solid Minty squares to go around the outside to frame it.  I think the size will be just right.

I hadn't looked closely at the Faerie Cakes to see that the color runs are different in each cake till I went to take pictures.

 That really won't make any difference at all.   I love seeing the colors play out as I work.  I kept mine in order as I made them, so you can see on my first cake the way the variations played out.  That Minty really unifies the squares.  I can't say enough good things about these yarns and how pretty they are. Sigh.

I'm going to finish this,  but for the future when I get a Caron Cake, I'm going to check for an accompanying Super Saver color.  The Caron Cakes are about $8.00 each, which I find to be expensive.  This is why you want to watch the Michael's adds like a hawk.   Pro tip, hahahaha.

Scarfed!

I'm trying to branch out from afghans.  I love scarves (not the kind that you wear on your head, though I have a fair few of those too), particularly in the winter, when just that extra bit around your shoulders and neck helps keep out the wind and cold.  They can look so pretty too.

I'm trying as my first effort a simple (!!!!!!!) pattern that is really all single crochet, which I can do in my sleep.  The pattern notes on Yarnspiration say you can do it in an hour.  Agggggggggggghhhh.   I've torn it out more times than I can count.

At first I was cocky and didn't pay attention to the odd little changes at the beginnings and ends of Rows 1 and 2.

I kept getting this:

At first I thought I had a tension problem.

Then I wrote out the directions in Word, printed them, and carefully carefully followed the directions.

I watched a video.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RigByUPcrIs

And another on straight edges every time   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWxM8bA_yY4


I've torn this thing out all the way down and have lost count of how many times.  I don't know why I keep trying, except that it is pretty, and I feel as if I should be able to do it.

Carefully following my printout on the rows, I was tooling along one day, and got farther than ever before.  A bad though occurred to me, that I should look just to be sure my edges were straight.  It was going so well I wasn't checking all the time.

AGH!  Nosedive to the center!   Unspeakable.   I was so far along that I couldn't bear to tear it all out so I pulled it back to where it looked normal.

I think I'll need to let it rest for a bit before trying again.  In the meantime, I've found several other patterns that look simple enough for me to do.  Hardy har har.

This is Caron Cakes Yarn, Bumbleberry.  It is so soft and silky, and a pleasure to work with.  Some of the Caron Cakes strike me as being a bit too brightly colored, like clown colors, but this is all blue shades.

Crochet Madness

 Christmas Afghan

The New Year has been odd, so I'm now about to begin row 17 of 31 rows in the famous "afghan in a weekend" I adapted to be my Christmas Afghan.  It's getting hard to photograph the thing, since it becomes embiggened with each row rather amazingly.  It's still very relaxing to work on, and the yarn is soft and very warm covering my lap in the cold temperatures we've had.   I've learned how to attach a new color/new skein of yarn in the middle of a row while working on this.  It is so simple, and makes life easier as I make my way around this behemoth. 

 Yarn Lust and Finding Patterns

Think me a bad dog if you must, but I decided this would be a year where I learn to do scarves.  I love scarves of all kinds, and want some nice wide ones in colors of my choosing.  I am so much all about the color.

It seems to me one of the first projects any crochet book gives you is a scarf of some sort and length.  Ya, time to tackle the ez stuff I'm too stoopid to make.  Why not branch out, you say?

I confess I have been out hunting the yarn aisles as I vowed not to do. BUT.  I now hunt with a project in mind.  Either I've found something intriguing on the wonderful Yarnspirations site, or I'm looking at the yarn itself for one of the free patterns on every label.

I could write an entire post on Yarnspirations, but I'll say I really started looking at it in depth one day when I was looking for patterns for all of the colorful little skeins of Lily Sugar and Cream Yarn that I have accumulated somehow.

Yes, there are a few skeins of the soft, shiny Paton's Yarn in there too.  Soft and Shiny appear to be irresistible to me.

Caron Cakes


 Speaking of Yarn Lust, I thought I'd try the Caron Cakes yarn.  These were apparently made for the 100th Anniversary of Caron Yarns to be sold last August and not for a regular product line.  Apparently special spools are needed to create the "cakes" and there aren't many of these spools...
But people went wacky over them and wanted MORE.    http://thecrochetcrowd.com/future-caron-cakes-customers-unite-michaels-stores-caron-yarns-respond/

This sort of shortage feeds Yarn Lust.  I hope Caron knows this and will act responsibly.  I started by purchasing one skein of it, rather pricey, I thought, at $7.00, but it is big and fat and soft.

Then I find out about the scarcity, and my collector Spidey Sense goes whacko. Particularly since they are adding some new colors in January that are prettier than the originals.  Also, they plan to retire some originals and it looks like a few new colors will be introduced in June.  BOINK!!!!!   I've been to three Michael's stores so far looking for the new colors, and haven't seen them.  Don't think me discouraged!

I'm making (fingers crossed) three scarves with the Caron Cakes.  The pattern is very simple, really just single crochet.  But.  I've never made a scarf before at all and I am wondering it if is typical of them to twist up like a strand of DNA when you're just starting out.  Or is this another DOA epic bozo fail?

I love the variegation of the yarn, the softness of it, and I really like the three colors I have for scarves:  Blueberry Cheesecake (above), Bumbleberry (purple), Faerie Cake (soft greens).  None of these are the new colors, which I haven't gotten my mitts on yet.

https://www.michaels.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-siteCatalog_michaels_US/default/dw55dada9f/project_pdf/CaronCakesLookBook.pdf


So Many Scarves, So Little Time

Whilst indulging my Yarn Lusting, I liked this pattern for Red Heart's Stylish Stripes Scarf on some yarn skeins:

I like the width and the way it hangs, but I didn't care for the colors.  I bought three other colors of the Red Heart Soft Essentials (trying to use the right yarn for the right project, yay me) yarn instead:

PINK!  The Soft Essentials is very silky and a bit slippery to work with, but oh, so pretty.  Imagine me with that scarf, la la la.


Finally, who doesn't need to have a few afghans in progress, in case I should shockingly finish one.  It bends the mind, does it not?

Caron Pinpoint Crochet Blanket

This uses three of the HUGE Caron One Pound skeins of soft grey, which I like, because I have a gray couch.

How perfect, except for those centers, which are not in colors I ever would use.  I need 72 centers for the afghan, and I decided to use some of my leftover pastels for the centers instead.  It will be so very soft and pretty.  I'll share it with the beagle.

I can make these during commercials or while supper is cooking.  And, so wisely use up the leftover yarn bits.

I've "bookmarked" many more patterns, but haven't made the big step of getting the materials.  These will do for now!