Spring Beret

Pattern: Spring Beret (Ravelry link)
Yarn: bernat Satin Solid
Needle size(s): 4mm and 5mm
I'm in love with slouchy berets now. I already have plans for at least 5 more. I've had this on my to-knit list for a really long time now, and fortunately, Round Two of the Firing Range on BSGFPB kicked me into making it. I'm so glad I did. They're probably the most fun hat to knit, super quick, and not too complicated for the result. I love that there's no decreasing in pattern, and actually the decreases are fun.
I think I need some bangs now, these hats seem to look best on people with bangs.

Wee sock ornaments!

Just look how wee they are!
Pattern: Tiny Sock Ornaments
Yarn: Some Noro, Regia and Araucania leftovers
Needle size: 2.25mm
These are horribly addictive, I just wish I had more leftover sock yarn. I don't usually knit socks, I usually use sock yarn for shawls, and use up every last bit of yarn, and I used up most of the sock yarn I had laying around for my sock yarn blanket.
I'm thinking of beading the string I'll use to hang them, so they're a bit more sparkly. I do love my sparkle.
They're a bit fiddly at first, there's only about 16 stitches for most of it, and the first few rows are kind of annoying. The very first sock I made, it took me a good half hour just to deal with the small stitch count. But once I got the hang of it, I was addicted. And turning the heel is so much fun on wee socks! Will definitely be making more of these.
I can actually totally see myself making hundreds of these.

Anna Baltzer Wings of Peace

Pattern: Anna Baltzer Wings of Peace
Yarn: Cascade 220 (x3)
Needle Size: 5mm
Stitch Count: 20,350
I loooved making this, the rows seemed to take forever towards the end, until the stitch count was drastically decreased and the rest was knit in managable sections. I looove that too.
I love the way it's constructed, and I adore the stitch pattern. It's a little bit big (in width) but I think that may be because of loose gauge.
This pattern was a bit demanding, definitely something you have to pay attention to. But I love patterns like that, and I feel like I knit them faster for some reason.
This pattern was written in honour of Anna Baltzer, it's really nice to see patterns with a meaning behind them.

Counterpane with Leaves WIP

I decided that because my parents so desperately need an afghan, that I would make them one for Christmas. It's funny because all my mother knits are blankets and she only has one handmade one, and it's falling apart.
Of course, I chose a pattern (counterpane with leaves) that required quite a bit of seaming, as I always do, because I absolutely hate seaming and I have to complain about something. I still have about 60% left to do, fortunately the blocks (when seamed together, ugh) end up being about 25"x25" so it's not like I'll be spending more time seaming than knitting as I did with my sock yarn blanket. The photo only shows the inner square, my favourite part, and needs some serious blocking.
Quick post, but I've got lots of seaming to do...

I love me some instant gratification!

I adore knitting (obviously) and would consider myself a process knitter rather than a product knitter, but sometimes you just need to get something finished to get some of your knitting spark back. The perfect solution is, of course, dishcloths.
I didn't start out making dishcloths, I just jumped into things, but I kind of wish I had. I probably wouldn't have been so discouraged. But I also never really "got" the whole dishcloth thing for a really long time, it really wasn't until about last year that I fully understood it. And it is definitely something that you can't explain, you just have to experience. So, I like giving them as gifts for that very reason.
I've made a few dishcloths this week, three to be exact, all of which will end up as gifts, I'm sure.

Pattern: Butterfly Dishcloth
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton
Needles: 5mm
I LOVE this one, it's so pretty, and bonus points: it's reversible.

I'm kind of digging this side more, I think it pops a little more.

Pattern: My Coffee Cup
Yarn: bernat Handicrafter Cotton
Needles: 5mm
This one, I totally didn't think I was doing it right and didn't think the image would appear at all. That is, until I finished, and then finally it made sense, not too pleased with how it turns out. i'm not a fan of blocking dishcloths, it makes me feel a little weird. But I think, if I were the blocking-of-dishcloths type, it would definitely be blocked.

Pattern: Baked With Love
Yarn: bernat Handicrafter Cotton
Needles: 5mm
This one is actually much larger than a traditional dishcloth, but I think it'd make a perfect potholder. So cute, love the heart!
I loved watching the images come out, row by row it would slowly come together and make more sense. And sometimes I have no idea how it's going to turn out and wonder if I should frog. I love the image-cutesy-dishcloths, but I know that they're not always the most practical. I'm gearing up for some "serious" cloths soon.
And yes, it was all made from a giant skein of Bernat Handicrafter cottons, thanks for noticing. I don't even know how I came to own this yarn, but I'm kind of sick of the colour now.
I really need to stop taking photos in the middle of the night, they don't produce blog-worthy shots.

oops! Don't worry, I can fix it!

One of the worst things ever after completing something, patting yourself on the back for job well done is when you set your work down and admire it for a bit before weaving in your ends...and you find this:

At first it just looked like it was slightly off, no big deal. And then I moved it around a bit and, no..no it can't be. But yes, it was. Fortunately this yarn is a stubborn one which is what frustrated me about it the first time I tried frogging it and failed horribly, and cried a bit about it because this yarn is delicious. If it weren't a stubborn yarn, this would have ended in tears. So, I took out my needle, and in a calm manner I carefully stitched it up, and no one (except myself, the internet, and everyone that compliments me on this) will know. Everything is fine, I can't even tell where it was now. I would've loved it even if I could. It's perfect.

Pattern: Wisp

Yarn: Chiffon by Yarn Chef

Needles: 5mm

I looooove this! I love it more than my black one, it's just so soft. I adore this yarn so much, I adore  Yarn Chef definitely check her out. Even though it barely weighs anything, it's quite warm. I can't wait to wear it today, I was so excited about it I worked an outfit around it. I'm not sure if I'll wear it any other way but as a scarf, so I haven't added any buttons, but if I wanted to wear it as a capelet I'll probably end up just using a shawl pin. I can't seem to find any buttons that wouldn't pull and distort it. But I do love a good button hunt.

I'm not really a hood person either, but because it's so light, I might give it a try. It just seems a little tedious to do the whole ribbon thing up the back. We'll see.

This has really helped me not go crazy by overthinking things. It's a simple pattern, but it still needs a little bit of attention, and every few rows I would stop and stare at it a bit, pet it a bit, and generally admire it.
I'm sad it's over. But I've already added this pattern to my knit-list for Christmas gifts, so I'll revisit it when I finish up some other things. I could probably make the same thing three times in a row, but it can't be too healthy.

Wisp WIP...The Second

As soon as I cast off my first Wisp, I immediately cast on for this one using some gorgeous yarn that I had gotten as a gift quite awhile ago. I originally was using this yarn for something else and thought I had ruined it with frogging because I totally lost my place in the pattern and had to start again. I kept this yarn for a long time after that because I knew that even though it was a small bit of laceweight I could surely use it for something!
I'm almost done now, and I absolutely love it! It's so soft and the needles still weigh more than the scarf does.
There will definitely be more Wisps in the future...possibly for Christmas. Now that I know a small amount of laceweight can go pretty far with this pattern, I can use up all my partial skeins. And this excites me to no end.

Round two

As a continuation from yesterday, after wearing my garter fingerless mitts before going to bed, it bothered me all night that the lines on the hand didn't match up with the lines on the thumb. So I woke up and re-did them. Yeah, that's right, I couldn't sleep after not sleeping for a day because the lines on my fingerless mitts didn't line up the way I wanted to and it was haunting me a bit.

I ripped out the seaming, knit an extra 10-15 rows because I have fat hands and it wouldn't have fit otherwise, changed the tumb a bit, and then because I need some frill..I added in a crochet border along the top. Coupled with a much better photo, I'd say round two was much better.

A little competition

Well, friendly competition over on the BSGFPB forum. Pattern was posted at 4PM, all knit, seamed up and photos by 7PM. There was a nap involved too.

Pattern: Garter Fingerless Mitts
Yarn: Bernat Satin Solid
Needle Size: 4.5mm
I hadn't slept in about 23 hours, so I stayed up and went for it. I finished the knitting in about an hour, and then I totally blanked on the seaming. I couldn't figure out how to put it together. I tried multiple ways and this was the way that worked, so I went with it. This is probably why I never knit mitts flat, I absolutely hate seaming. I had to take a nap after the knitting and the seaming frustration because I was ready to toss it across the room.
I also had to re-do the thumb multiple times because I kept reading it wrong. This is why you need sleep.
And now...to bed.

Wisp

Pattern: Wisp
Yarn: Sublime Kid Mohair Blend
Needle Size: 5mm
I'm not a fan of photographing black, and this is actually the first all-black item I've knit. It was a nice fast knit, I loved working on it. Easy to keep track of where you are, not complicated pattern to follow, some good conversation knitting. This is going to be perfect for winter, it's big and warm and can easily be squished into a ball for purse-storage.
It came out a little bigger than I expected, but I like it, I can easily wrap it around myself and I love folding it over for a collar-appearance. I loved working on this so much, I cast on immediately after I finished for a scarf-sized one. I think I'll make a couple for Christmas presents as well.
And to prove it isn't just a big black boring rectangle:

Traveling Woman

I love this shawl, don't really care for the colours though. I think I'll overdye. I took these photos at night, so they're not all that wonderful, but I needed to get my post in for today.
It was a fun and fast pattern, and I was adding up the stitches for NaKnitMo, it sure seemed daunting towards the end with a couple hundred stitches per row.

Pattern: Traveling Woman
Yarn: AraucaniaRanco Multy
Needle Size: 4mm
I really liked this pattern, the stockinette was nice to sort of get into it, and the lace was super simple and mindless. It's a little smaller than I usually make my shawls, but I guess I'll be wearing it as a scarf more often than not. The pooling is unfortunate, I hate camo. It looked so pretty in the skein, and I'm sure if it were a smaller project it would've striped beautifully. And as the shawl got bigger, the pooling became less camoy.
The second photo is truer to the colours.  I'm still undecided if I like them.

Wisp WIP

I've been wanting to make a wisp for a long time, and finally I decided to start one. I'm making it a stole width so it's 94 stitches wide. It's taking a lot longer than I expected but it's a nice knit because it's sooo light, wispy even. I'm hoping to just use up all the yarn I have. I'm using Sublime's Kid Mohair Blend and I have 6 cakes, so we'll see. I'm currently on my 7th repeat and have just finished the second cake.
I'm also participating in NaKnitMo this month (as well as NaBloPoMo) so I'm keeping track of all my stitches knit (and hopefully blogging everyday). I'm going for 100,000 stitches in a month, but after only a few days of knitting I'm already approaching the 30,000 mark, so I might go for more.
We shall see. I'm really enjoying making this pattern, it's easy to keep track of, the stitches fly by, so far I only had one issue but it was totally my fault because I didn't count my stitches. So the first few rows are a little off, but I wasn't going to frog mohair.

Travelling Woman WIP

I am loving this shawl. I love most shawls, but this one is really going by quickly! It's lace, but it's not so complicated that you have to hide from everything as to not make a mistake. And I love shawls that start out with plain stockinette just to get me started and in the groove of things.
I am not digging the yarn. I mean, I love the yarn, it's probably my new favourite yarn. I've made my Clapotis with it and I plan on making various other things with the amount that I bought over the summer. The colours look great in the hank, and they'd probably look great on another project, but this just gives me the camo feel. And you can't wear camo in the city. But I'm not giving up on it, maybe it'll even out when it gets bigger.

Discouraged.

I got so discouraged with very annoying variegated yarn that I was using to knit scarves for StreetKnit that I kind of gave up on the charity knitting for a bit. I felt bad and did a handful of scarves right away. I failed my 60 scarves in 60 days challenge, but I'm hoping to make plenty for StreetKnit's Enchanted Forest at City of Craft 2009

Pattern: Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks
Yarn: Red Heart...something, not sure.
Needle size: 6mm
I actually really enjoyed this pattern, after doing the first couple of rows I initially wanted to rip my hair out because I hate purling more than two stitches together at once. But once I got into it, it was enjoyable and just flew right by in a matter of hours. Don't really mind the pooling, but it isn't my favourite.

Pattern: None, just garter stitch.
Yarn: Bernat Soft Boucle
Needle Size: 10mm

Pattern: None, garter + switching yarns every other row.
Yarn: Bernat Soft Boucle
Needle Size: 6mm
This seemed to take forever, I have no idea why. Maybe it was the garter, maybe it was the tiny stripes, but this just did not want to get done!

Pattern: none, 2 rows single crochet (black), 1 row single crochet (variegated)
Yarn: Red Heart Comfort Prints
Hook Size: 5mm
This was the yarn that drove me mad and made me not want to work on scarves anymore. It's sort of an obnoxious yarn when it's not broken up and is sooo overpowering it really doesn't matter what pattern you make, it'll all end up like clown puke. I don't think it looks too horrible when it's all split up and mixed in with the black a little. This one was super long, it's done lengthwise and I just kept chaining and chaining until I realized how long it was. And because I'm stubborn, I couldn't rip back, not after I put all that time into it anyway.

Fresh Start

I've decided to whip my blogging into shape that I'm going to participate in NaBloPoMo this year. I love all the November challenges and have participated in maaaany of them. Basically, you blog everyday, which is kind of an issue for me that I really wish to overcome. I'm just going to pretend that I do not suck at blogging, and try to jump right back in. Ideally, I would love to blog everyday for good and not just for this one month, but we'll take it slowly.
It was my sister's birthday last week, so I made her some earings and some stitch markers to match. She desperately needed some stitch markers, I just couldn't watch her knit her looped yarn stitch markers into her work one more time.

With matching stitch markers:

I adore making stitch markers now, and have ordered I don't even want to tell you how many jumprings just so i can make more...in varying sizes! I was never really a beaded stitch marker kinda gal until recently, and now i can't get enough of them.

Storm Cloud Shawlette

As stated in an earlier post, I needed a project that I could work on while I was sick. I had no attention span whatsoever, and I was always tired. Most days I was only up for a couple of hours. So I needed a project to fill the gaps when I was awake but couldn't do much at all. Enter a garter stitch shawl with just two rows to remember. Something I could easily put down and pick up in the middle of the row, something I didn't really need to keep track of and could cart around the house with me without having to find my notes or row count.

Pattern: Storm Cloud Shawlette
Yarn: Estelle's Cadenza
Needle Size: 5mm
I ended up running out of yarn because I added an extra increase row thinking that because I had much more yarn than what was called for, I could easily add an extra increase row and use up all my yarn. Well, I used it all up but I was a few rows short on the ruffle..and ended up binding half of it off with some old kidsilk. But it works.
I rarely ever wear blue, and I've had this yarn for over a year now not knowing what to make with it. Hopefully it goes with my complexion.

Gail (aka nightsongs)

I finished this almost two weeks ago, but I'm not a big fan of blocking, so I didn't get around to it until yesterday. I love what blocking does, it's magical really, but I hate actually doing it. I really want a blocking table, if I had one, I'd probably block immediately after I cast off.

Pattern: Gail (aka Nightsongs)
Yarn: Cylon yarn I won in a bonus mission for BSGFPB, it's by Christina Marie Potter.
Needle Size: 4mm
Total time: 5 hours
About the pattern: I found it to be incredibly confusing, and would have given up on it if it weren't for the unchart which I find really funny because I hate written instructions and would much rather follow a chart. It worked nicely though so I'm not complaining. It's a really nice pattern, and I loved walking into the blocking process because I never really appreciated the pattern as I was working on it because it's so hard to see.

As you can see, I had to bind off in red. I also had to bind off several rows before it actually ended, even though I had more yarn than what was called for. It's either a yardage issue, or gauge really is important. It's a a bit short, but it's still wearable, and I actually really like the red bind off now.
The yarn is fabulous, all of Christina's yarns are, I don't think she has any cylon yarns still available, but she does custom orders. It's this one, if you're interested in a custom order of it. I love how it worked up, it almost looks like a centurion with blood spattered on it.

Storm Cloud Shawlette WIP

I've been sick this week, and because it's the first illness of the season (and even this whole year) I'm rusty on being ill. I can barely think, so I needed something pretty mindless to work on because I can only sleep for so long, and I can only watch so much TV without doing anything else.
So, I've decided that my project this week will be the Storm Cloud Shawlette. I started it last week actually, but put it aside after a few rows because it was way too mindless. And then I realized I wasn't increasing at all. Sigh. So I had to restart it anyway. Clearly, it wasn't mindless enough.

I'm loving how it's working up, I'm hoping to use up all my yarn, so I've added in an extra increase row. After awhile the rows take sooo long, but I barely even notice it because my mind is in such a fog, and then I wonder "am I still on the same row?" fortunately, there's really only two rows, and if there isn't a yarn over in the row below, I know it's a yarn over row.

Laminaria WIP

I've wanted to make this pattern for a really long time, I wound some Malabrigo Lace in the Verdes colourway for something else originally, but it pooled a little weird, and I didn't like it. So I tried many times to find something that was a good fit, all the while this wound ball of lace is staring at me. I can almost hear it stretching out. After a month or so..I knew I had to start something because I was terrified it was going to get all stretched out. I saw someone else's Laminaria in the same colourway, I figured this was my only shot. It kind of takes away from the lace, but it still looks nice. If I didn't start right away, I'd totally never use this yarn.

The star stitch is fun, but those k3tog parts are really annoying at first. I'm about 5 rows into the transition chart right now and I'm excited for the lace part!
Because I only have one skein of about 470 yards of lace, I'm going with the shoulderette version and hoping it will block out significantly.

More swap items

And to match the stitch markers, because you have to match when you're knitting:

Butterfly

Red Stars

Green Stars

And a necklace that doesn't match...I know, anti-climactic.

Stitch Markers!

I originally made these for a swap, so I didn't post them when finished because I didn't want to ruin the surprise.
This was the first time I had actually bothered making stitch markers, I usually just make do with what I have, but I love making them now, so much fun and so quick!

Butterfly

Red Stars

Green Stars

Glittery Roses

It's definitely a new addiction of mine, and will be making a ton for myself, I'm sure.

Lavalette

Pattern: Lavalette
Yarn: Cascade 220 (2 skeins)
Needle Size: 5mm
Total time: 5 hours
I had a few skeins left over from my Corona, and they were already wound so I figured I'd use them up before they get stretched out and ruined. This shawl was the end of that yarn, I didn't even have enough to finish! I had about ten rows left on the last section and I had to stop and do the final rows and had about 10" of yarn left over when it was all bound off.
It's a nice, fairly mindless knit, but it isn't so boring because it has the eyelets to break everything up. I love making shawls, but after awhile it becomes a total uphill battle when you work from the centre of the neck out. The only real advantage is if you run out of yarn, it isn't so bad because you can just stop, if you have to decrease to a point, it's a little trickier.
I made it in worsted weight rather than the lace called for because it's getting really chilly, and it's nice to throw on at this time, plus it matches my Evangeline mitts! Because it's made with worsted weight, even though it's ten rows shorter than the actual pattern, it's not really noticable, and is still a really good size.

Quickie FOs

I love quickie projects, especially ones that can be done in one sitting. I used to do a lot of smaller crafts that were much faster than knitting, and it felt so good to crank out a few things in a day.
First, a skirt for my niece:

Pattern: Caiden's Skirt
Yarn: Bernat Satin (1 Skein blue, tiny tiny bit pink)
Needle size: 5mm
Total time: 3 hours
The pattern is for 12mos, but my niece is almost 4. She's tiny, but not 12 mos tiny. So I modded it a bit, it's a little big because I overshot the sizing, but there's a drawstring and she won't be getting it until later as a gift.
Mods: I cast on 198 stitches, and worked it in the round because I absolutely hate seaming.
On row 5 of the ribbing for the waistband, I did *K2, TO, P2TOG* across. I worked the chain, weaving it in and out of the eyelets, until I thought it looked good. Didn't bother measuring it.
Next up on the quickie list was Evangeline:

Pattern: Evangeline
Yarn: Cascade 220 (1 skein)
Needle Size: 5mm
Total time: 1 hour
I was originally going to make these elbow length, but then I remembered those look horrible on me, so I went with just the wrist length. These were so fast, each mitt only took half an hour and that included weaving in all the ends!
I'll probably end up making these again in different colours because they were so fast, and they're really nice, and a fun pattern as well.

Owlings

I made these for my best friend Jessica, it was her birthday last week, and my goal is to make her tons of silly owly things. There's a story.
When we were obnoxious teenagers, we would sleep in her backyard. Yeah, in the middle of the city, when it was cold, whatever, we didn't care. We were the loud jerks at all hours of the night keeping you up by laughing, and just being generally loud and dumb kids.
The first time we did this, for whatever reason, we were convinced that a neighbour's satellite dish was, in fact, an owl. So, even if it were, big deal, right? What's an owl going to do? We were terrified, or at least I remember being terrified of an owl that wasn't really even there. And we continued to be terrified of owls from then on.

Ever since then, we'd buy each other silly owl gifts to scare each other. And I vaguely recall these super creepy giant-eyed super-realistic owl candles that I would scare her with frequently. I had them in my room, and she'd always have to turn them the other way because she didn't like them looking at her. To be fair, they were really creepy.
I never thought owls were a big deal until this happened, or more specifically, the gift-giving owl-scaring happened. You can find weird owl things everywhere and on the strangest things. But instead of buying owl things, I'm going to make owl things until I cannot make anymore. I figure I have a good 10 years left of making owl things before I run out.

Pattern: Owlings (Ravelry Link)
Yarn: Vanna's Choice
Needle Size: 3.75mm
Total time: 2 1/2 hours
Quite frankly, I'm in love with these. I think I'll make some for myself. I love Fetching, which is what they're based on. But come on, how can that owl cable be any cooler? I was thinking of adding eyes (beads) But I think it might make them a bit busy. Maybe just eyes for the ones in the centre.
I also totally almost kept them, my hands were so cold right after I made them and I was knitting along on my Corona and I almost swiped them for me. But then I wrapped them so I wouldn't be tempted. I sense a fingerless mitt binge in my future.
I love fingerless mitts, most of them are so quick, you can easily knock a pair off in an afternoon.

Pretty pretty petals...

Pattern: Pretty Petals Potholder
Yarn: Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet(Size 10)
Hook Size: 3.7mm
I know, I'm a little late for pretty petal springy things, but I just fell in love with this when I saw it and I immediately had to make it. It was so much fun to crochet, I need to make more!
I've also fallen in love with crochet cotton. For some reason I have A LOT of it. I have no idea how I got it, why I got it, or what I'm going to do with it, but I'm glad I found out I like it because I need to use it up. It's taking up quite a bit of space.
Any favourite patterns for crochet cotton thread? I was looking at a few tablecloths...but I don't know if I'm that crazy in love with crochet...yet.
Maybe I'll make a couple more of these, I did give this one away already...

Finally...my Juno Regina

I finished this at the beginning of the month (I think it was Sept. 2) and then I put it on the dining room table to be blocked and never got around to it...until now. It sat there mocking me. I hate blocking, I love what blocking does to a piece, but I hate it. I think if I had a blocking table, I'd be all over it, but I hate sitting on the floor, and everytime I looked at it I just thought about how annoying it would be to sit on the floor and carefully block it all out.
And it needed some serious blocking because one end was majorly bigger than the other, I think it was because that end was dragging while I was knitting for so long. It's all blocked out now, and even. And I love it, too bad it's gotten surprisingly chilly for a lace shawl. And while I'm very excited for all the wintery shawls I've knit up over the summer, I'm upset that it's too chilly to only wear this one.
It was sitting next to my Corona for quite some time, and I know I'll be wearing those two together. I LOVE red and purple together, and these are the exact perfect shades that I love together so i cannot wait to finish my Corona now.

Pattern: Juno Regina
Yarn: Diamond Luxury Collection Baby Alpaca
Needls Size: 2.75mm
I kind of want to make another one now, it was actually really fun to do, even if the middle section was mindless. But I do enjoy some mindless knitting from time to time. The ends definitely made up for the 42" of the same two rows.
I made mine a total of 7 repeats to make it wider, if I ever make it again, I think I'll just stick to the 4 because it does grow quite a bit while blocking anyway.

I've totally failed...

I don't think I'm going to get all 60 scarves done in 60 days. I blame variegated yarns. Somedays I'll knit and frog the same yarn all day, and sometimes this will go on for multiple days. I'll try knitting, I'll try crocheting, nothing works for some yarns. And everything needs to be visually appealing, it doesn't matter if I'll probably never see it again, I can't give something to a charity and have it look like clown puke, I just can't.
So, I got a little discouraged. And I've decided that when variegated yarns are pissing me off, I'm just going to dive into my oddball stash and made some stripey goodness.
I've managed to make 5 scarves this month, I'm horribly disappointed in myself, and I'm going to try to get 5 more done by the end of the month. But we'll see.
The latest:

Pattern: No pattern, just grabbed a stitch pattern from a stitch dictionary. It's called "Slipstream"
Yarn: I think this was Vanna's Choice, but I can't be sure. Oddball stash yarn.
Hook size: 5mm
Everytime I crochet, I remember how much I love it. And then I remember how much I hated it before I knew how, and how I avoided it at all costs. Silly me.