Crochet - Yer Doin' It Wrong

You know, I like being a member of the Crochet Guild of America. Even if it's true that I knit now far more than I crochet, still, I like that sense of belonging. Especially since having been featured in Interweave Crochet's reader's gallery.

But, I cannot help but cringe at what the crocheting ladies of the guild consider to be fashion-forward examples of their illustrious craft. Each Crochet! Magazine (the guild's own publication) that finds its way into my mailbox every other month has me gasping in horror. Why they continue to insist on publishing (and naming as Editor's Choice, no less) the spectacularly tacky works of Tammy Hildebrand is beyond me:

And that photo doesn't even SHOW the "edgy, asymmetrical hem." Seriously, people, it doesn't matter how many times you try to convince us that asymmetrical buttoning is trendy or daring; you will always look like Seymour Krelborn.

Of course, Crochet! Magazine wasn't satisfied with merely one eye-searing masterpiece from Ms. Hildebrand. Oh no. Take a gander at this beauty:

I get good laughs out of my Crochet! Magazine subscription (which, after all, is free with guild dues), but if I actually want to crochet anything out of a magazine and not open myself up to public ridicule and personal mortification, I think I'll wait for my Interweave to show up.

Muppet Scarf Debut

So, the Muppet Scarf is finally done. And by done, I mean, I finally got to the end of the second skein of dark orange Sirdar Snowflake, bound off, weaved in, and called it a day. Well, I called it a scarf, anyway:

The odd thing is, as it grew in length - to a whopping 136 inches - it also sort of grew on me. This yarn that I thought was so tacky and horrible when I first laid eyes on it, slowly began to put thoughts in my head like, "My, wouldn't this look nice against denim?" and "Well, orange *is* very autumny after all..."

So, having finished it last night, I wore it to work today, and actually got lots of compliments on it! The kids were especially impressed by how surprisingly lightweight it is. My own lovely assistant John took this picture out by our field.

Muppet Scarf

A few months ago, in a raffle at my monthly CGOA guild meeting, I won some of the most truly hideous yarn I have ever had uglying up my stash. Now, I was not attempting to win this yarn. Unfortunately, it was attached to a crochet pattern book that I *did* in fact want to win, badly enough that I had put all my raffle tickets in for just that one prize. And I did win that book. Hooray!

But I also won two skeins of dark orange Sirdar Snowflake and a whole mess of skeins of popsicle blue and pale pink fun fur.

The fun fur I will probably, eventually, either unload on the gracious people at Goodwill, or on someone who actually thinks fun fur is, well, fun.

As for the Snowflake, I haven't been able to escape the notion that this yarn looks like the wool of some unlucky orange muppet, and that someone, somewhere, will thoroughly enjoy wearing a long furry scarf that looks like it was vomited up by Sesame Street. So, to that end, I pulled out my biggest circular tips - let's do this as quickly as possible, shall we? - and got to work. Plain ol' garter stitch, 20 stitches across, on the size 11's, seems to be producing a nice, fluffy, airy... dark orange muppet pelt.