Necessity = Mother of Invention

Projects

My original holiday gift plans have been totally turned on its head (thanks to over-estimation and sickness) and last night I had a near panic attack about how I was going to manage getting everything done in time (this unfortunately involved yelling at my husband, but he's much better than I and forgave me and even did the dishes for me when he had already made dinner).

So, I have a new plan.

Unfortunately, the beanies-by-Hannukah got tossed out the window. Nathan and his step-brothers don't typically exchange gifts anyway, so they'll get beanies after the holidays "just-because". And this after all my agonizing. Oh well. At least I'll know what I'm doing this time!!

The shawl for MIL was not going to get done in time, so it became a large belt (she likes them). The "shawl" wasn't really long enough anyway, so this is what I did:



I borrowed the corset lace-up idea from a pattern in SnB Happy Hooker.



I'm quite please with how it looks. I just hope it fits. If not, there's enough holes in it to make it tighter. Or she could also wear it as a scarf.

Now, on to my last two fiber projects... Sis #2 gift and Mom gift. I decided to knit these two items since I've made crochet gifts before and I wanted to add a different feel (plus, I think I made a scarf out of the one of the yarns I'm using and I don't remember for sure who I gave it to, so if it's the same person, at least it's a different pattern).

For Mom: A ribbed skinny scarf using Homespun yarn (2x2 rib).



I decided to make it ribbed to give it a little extra texture and thickness. Plus, I know how to do that already.

For Sis #2: A ribbed purse.



I'm branching out on this one.....it's a 4x2 rib! This is actually a yarn I bought pretty much cause it was on sale (and it looked cool and fancy). It's an Italian yarn made of 60% virgin wool, 30% Alpaca, and 10% acrylic. I'm not making a scarf because the yarn does irritate my skin a little and I don't want to risk it irritating my sister's skin. I can work with it without too much irritation, though, so that's good. I am making a simply pocket purse with a flap and I think I'll add some sort of border to the flap using crochet.

This project is also going to be interesting because it will by my first project with... *gasp* ...a decrease! I'll need to decrease a bit once I get to the flap, especially since it will have a border. The only thing I haven't decided what to do about is the handle. I think I may buy one, or make one out of something other than knit. If you have any ideas, let me know! (If anyone reads this anymore...I've had a comment dry spell lately).

Patterns and Pattern-Writing

Lastly (and slightly un-related to the rest of this post), I have been wondering about patterns and pattern-writing. When does an altered pattern become your own? Case in point: MIL's Shawl-turned-Belt/Scarf. Since it is now a completely different item (even though I followed the pattern exactly except for excluding the beads, making it shorter, and adding some chains), can it become my own pattern?

I wouldn't call a pattern my own if I changed something simple on a complicated pattern (ie: altering a border on a detailed blanket, or excluding beading). On the flip side, if a pattern is simple, and I make a couple alterations to spice it up, I would call it my own (ie: changing the patterns on a basic granny-square blanket pattern).

I'll have to look around some more and see if there are any websites that address this (maybe crochetme.com or knitty.com will have something about it...). Again, if you know anything about this, please let me know! I'm curious about it, before I start posting my patterns.