The Pretenders – A HOOKER'S WORLD

February 19, 2018

Middle of the Road Shawl

About The Project Name

I just heard it. Pretty much captions my own feelings regarding any emotional growth I might be making. Middle of the road appropriately captions the past forty-eight hours of computer-generated aggravation u-turning one-hundred-eighty-degrees back to a happy Leo. Finally, it also indicates to me that this shawl appears unfinished.

Because this shawl is made from unidentifiable balls of wool, Middle of the RoadShawl qualifies as an ODDBALL.

About Middle of the Road Shawl

Care: Consult a dry cleaner.
Dimensions: 54 x 24 (D) inches
Price: USD $50.00, 20% of this purchase will be donated to Container Recycling Institute

About The Pattern

Crochet Comfort Shawl by Caron Design Team from Yarnspirations

Easy to follow, however, I am not satisfied with the final shawl shape. As you can see below, the wingspan is not a one-hundred-eighty-degree horizon. To me that would be the ideal shape, which I am visualizing as more trapezoid. There is a chance that I did not follow the pattern correctly, and if it is my mistake, I will admit it in the next post. ?

I will be making a second, practice shawl, whereby I will be adding the missing segment…and I am going to increase the size maintaining the same, or similar, border.

About The Yarn

Unknown Yarn 1

Color: Mint Green*
Fiber: Natural Fiber, per burn test
Weight: 4, Worsted

I just found out where the name Mint Green comes from: the color the mint gel turns the mint chip ice cream. ?

Unknown Yarn 2

Color: Sunflower*
Fiber: Natural Fiber, per burn Test
Weight: 4, Worsted

Such a happy color.

Unknown Yarn 3

Color: Emerald*
Fiber: Natural Fiber, per Burn Test
Weight: 4, Aran

Yarn three – unlike the picture below, which is high in blue – the border yarn is more deep green – green-blue, if you will. And… the yarn is a solid color: the difference you seen below is daylight reflecting of the sheen of the yarn.

* Color names assigned by Hooker Leo in absence of yarn label

December 21, 2017December 21, 2017

Mystery Achievement Afghan: Solved

About The Project Name

Mystery Achievement by The Pretenders was an ideal choice for this mystery that I was able to solve and even write my own mystery.

About The Yarn

Schoeller+Stahl Portofino Soufflé

Fiber Content: 40% Cotton, 40% Acrylic, 20% Nylon
Yarn Colors: 4705 (2 balls), 4724 (7 balls), 4739 (2 balls), 4727 (2 balls)
Yarn Weight: 5, Bulky

Very pretty colors, but it has a bouclé feel, which gets very old when one has to ?, and because I was improvising, on a new technique, I have plenty of opportunity to frustrate myself. I got so frustrated at one point I broke the yarn, ?-ing. Grrr!

About The Pattern

The pattern was created in my head, as I crocheted. Until I got a pattern I liked, and then I had to chart a few layers until I was proficient enough to work without them. I was going to write a pattern, but when I realized I would have to include instructions on how to interlock crochet, I decided against it. I was having enough frustration following pattern and frogging bouclé yarn.

About The Project

Dimensions: approximately 36 inches, square
Price: USD $100.00, less 25% friends/family discount, where applicable

If you look closely at the pictures, you might notice the reversed pattern.

I would like to point out that this was crocheted in-the-round, which I challenged myself to learn, as the book I used (Interlocking Crochet: 80 Original Stitch Patterns Plus Techniques and Projects by Tanis Galik) taught only row-by-row.

February 11, 2017February 11, 2017

Message of Love

Unable to work on crochet in the evening, I started a new mindless project for night knitting while watching television: Message of Love (by The Pretenders) Cowl.

I was totally surprised to learn that this bulky-looking yarn only calls for a US 6 needle, but it seems to be knitting up fine despite the knobbiness of the yarn of which I am not a fan. My experience has taught me that most textured yarns are best used in knitting versus crochet, as one is working with live stitches versus working in existing stitches, which can be difficult to identify in crochet.

I started on straight needles, but will switch to circulars, as the length of the straights is a little encumbering.

September 1, 2016

Brass In Pocket Shawl

Click an image for enlargment / slide show…

Cast On: May 11, 2016
Cast Off: September 1, 2016
Pattern: The Age of Brass and Steam by Orange Flower Yarn
Yarn: Berroco Vintage DK (Fiber Content: 52% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 8% Nylon; Yarn Color: 2189; Yarn Weight: 3, Light, DK, Light Worsted)
Needle: US 6 – 4 mm
Dimensions: 33 (W) x 22 (H) inches

This is a gift for my oldest friend: Judy Shigekawa, whom I met in September 1963 in our kindergarten class. We reconnected a couple of years ago at a high school reunion. Her gift choice was a dark gray shawl. I hope she likes it!

While I did use the above pattern, I did add an extra repeat. I am unsure as to whether I had enough yardage for one more pattern repeat.

The project name – Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders – is relative to the pattern name.

April 24, 2012July 6, 2016

Kid Afghan

On da Hook: April 11, 2012
Off da Hook: April 18, 2012
Recipe: Kid Afghan by Hooker Leo
Yarn: Knitting Fever Euro Baby Kids Rock (Fiber Content: 93% Acrylic, 7% Polyester; Yarn Color: 05 Creme; Yarn Weight: 6, Bulky)
Hook: US J/10 – 6.0 mm
Dimensions: approximately 3 feet square

Wow! What I hoped would be a two-day project turned out to be a one-week project. I continually kept screwing up the stitch pattern and would have to frog 1-3 rows each time. The border presented a couple of problems as well: the first time I did not like what I had done, the second time I ran out of yarn. A recipe PDF is available on my Recipes page.

I bought this yarn at a “local yarn store” and despite the fact that it is 93% Acrylic/7% Polyester, the price per skein was hefty.

The name – Kid, a song by The Pretenders – was inspired by the yarn name and for whom the afghan would be most appropriate.

Recipe Proviso

I condone any profit you realize from selling your finished project
I condone duplication/copy of the recipe for dissemination among your friends
I am available for help via email: ahookersworld@gmail.com