Black Olive Is: In The Loop

The Chevron Classic

What can I say? Seriously, who doesn't have one of these laying around the house somewhere? I don't think anyone can take up crochet and not – EVENTUALLY – make at least ONE chevron blanket. Just sayin'.

All I know is that I personally own three, in garish 70's colors that were all the rage back then (really though, how could brown and mustard ever have been in vogue in ANY era?). Granny kept cranking these babies out all through my youth and, people – THEY. NEVER. DIE. I've washed them, eaten on them, been sick on them, had pets crawl all over them, taken them to college (and you can imagine the scenarios they've lived through there), moved them around to various apartments – and STILL – they live.

What is the allure of the chevron pattern itself? I don't really know. I'm sure there's some primal, instinctual, Joseph Campbell-esque reason why it keeps showing up in odd places, but that's a little too deep for this post.

Instead, let's all look at the pretteee colors and how they add the "modern twist" to an old classic.

Disclaimer:  Just so everyone knows, I've since retired those blankies. I mean, how much wear can they endure? I still pull them out when I'm sick, but only because they remind me of my Granny and – LIKE GIANT BABY – I like to feel close to my Granny when I have the sniffles.

Disclaimer #2: This officially makes it THREE crochet projects on the hook. When I dive in to something new, I DIVE IN, PEOPLE.

Disclaimer #3: The colors are really hard to capture. The brown is a gorgeous deep chocolate and the green is a nice pale lime – not the weird yellow that shows up on screen. The blue is pretty accurate. There you go.

Babies and Monkeys and Bunnies. Oh my.

A long while back, before Woolcott shed this mortal coil, I paid them a visit on one of my yarn crawls. At the time, everyone around me was procreating and part of my yarn crawl mission was finding yarn for about three baby knits. I scratched two off the list, but could not seem to find the right yarn for the "Baby Bunny Jacket" – a very cute little knit from "Vogue Knitting: Baby Knits Two." Woolcott was my last stop on the crawl and also my last hope.  I was desperate and in a rush, so I committed one of the cardinal sins of knitting: I trusted the shop owner's recommendation and, when I got home, I just PLOWED RIGHT AHEAD without knitting a gauge swatch.

Fast forward to about a month ago where I suddenly realize –– as I've finished knitting the front and back –– that (shock!) the gauge is TOTALLY off and I now have an almost-finished jacket that is both too wide and WAY too large for this baby -- who is about to arrive in a few short weeks!

 

 
 Why? Have I learned nothing in the past 8 years of my knitting life? 

The thing is, baby knits go so quickly, that by the time I noticed, it was too late! I decided to go ahead and finish the hood and sleeves and since then, I've finished the ears and i-cords. All that's left is the finishing and an i-cord edging. 

But there was no way I could give this enormous jacket to a newborn right before Spring. The timing is off. Next Fall it'll be too small and right now it's just too big. So, since this jacket never really seemed right for this baby, I started looking for something else and found THIS achingly adorable thing: "L'il Monkey Afghan and Hat" from Debbie Stoller's "Happy Hooker."

I know it's crochet, but baby's mom LOVES sock monkeys (and it's also the perfect project for beginner crochet), so I went ahead and ordered the yarn and am already two monkeys into this thing after just a few hours.

The best part about this project is that it seems like it's quick and the yarn was insanely cheap! It needs to be crocheted in some sort of machine washable yarn and for some reason, crochet plus acrylic equals perfect union.

All kinds of blasphemy right? 

Anyway, I'm saving the jacket for the right baby, and I'm hoping to finish this delicious sock monkey extravaganza in the next week or two, so I can finally visit the little cutie-pie with hand-crafted items in tow. 

Sick and Tired. Literally.

Lest you all think I've gone M.I.A. again, I have not. Instead, I've been sick with a rather nasty sinus infection. I wish I could unscrew my head, vacuum it out and put it in the fridge for a bit to reduce swelling. Just sayin'.

Interesting Tidbit Which Explains The Relationship Between My Mother and Me (or is it "I"?)

My Mother has recently discovered the gym and all of it's social aspects. By social, I mean that I remain skeptical about her motives for joining since every few days she relays all of the conversations she's had with random strangers and a few "social regulars" (this is my term for those like her, whose motives for joining I also question), and one has to wonder when she actually EXCERCISES. 

The other day, she approached me with the excitement of someone who has just stumbled onto The Next Big Thing. Of course, this is information she is relaying from one of the many conversations she has daily with these social regulars. (I'm currently unemployed, and I'm fairly certain that this is one of the many topics discussed). 

MOM: So, I was talking to this guy at the gym and he was telling me about this place on the internet where you can make some extra money.

ME: Great.

MOM: He said there's this thing called eBay? Do you know what that is? He said it's a place on the internet where you can sell your stuff (she might've actually used the word "junk," but I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt).

ME: Yes. It's been around for a VERY long time. I used to be a Web Design Director remember? I know about these things.

MOM: Well, I don't know what that means, but maybe you could finally get rid of all this stuff and make money.

ME: I don't really have anything that I'm not using right now, or that would be worth the cut as far as money I'd make versus money I spent. Plus, there's no guarantee things will sell anyway.

MOM: What about all that yarn?

ME: !!!!!

Do I even need to explain? Suffice it to say, the following things might've been said in a very loud, irritated manner:

1. "Of COURSE you go RIGHT for the yarn! OF COURSE! Yes, let me take the ONE thing that gives me PLEASURE and GET RID OF IT." (That might've been a tad melodramatic, but whatever...).

2. "See? This is a PERFECT example of why we have "issues."

3. "YOU DON'T GET IT."

4. "I am 40! (Not sure what this means, but it feels good using it as some form of credibility).

Suddenly it was high school all over again, with me trying to explain my need for these things (back then it was the comfort of books – AND REALLY, WHAT PARENT ISN'T THRILLED THAT THEIR KID IS INTO BOOKS and not, let's say, DRUGS?), and her not getting it.

Can you believe that shit?

Anyway, I am sick and I am tired and therefore there are no knitting/crochet updates or pics at this time. Instead, I leave you with this: