• crafting - Crochet - crochet motivation - Mystery balls

    Semi-motivated

    June 16, 2020 - By 

    The number of completed items grows weekly and I have tried a couple of new patterns. No difficulty sleeping, no difficulty crafting, just a lack of motivation to do a whole house purge that I thought I was going to do. It was ambitious, I admit. The slide show features three months’ worth of work from the first day I began working from home in March until today. There were other projects that were started before sheltering in place began not featured.

    I thought I would have a well organized and completely purged home by now, especially after three months of COVID-19, sheltering in place, plus the addition of black lives matter protests and a few days of curfew to quell looting. It has been exhausting. Weekdays, I work from home and it’s not so different than being in the office, except the dress code is more casual and the commute is shorter. After working the last thing I want to do is do any work.

    I have been doing a lot more cooking. Easter was the one time I did order delivery. I enjoy my cooking generally during an average week, I’m not home often to do it. Now I’m home all the time and my dishwasher hasn’t been used as consistently since I’ve moved in. I have sorted and tossed a few things, but I haven’t been motivated to do purging, especially since unless it’s garbage there is no where for it to do. My donation bags are filling up. Even the books I’ve borrowed from the library were automatically renewed… now I can return them.

    After working, making meals and cleaning up the kitchen because everything can’t go in the dishwasher… I am always motivated to do anything except watch movies and crochet. Crocheting helps me keep occupied. I have a sewing machine, but I don’t sew well and have no material, so mask making was out. I have lots of yarn. Part of the cleaning and purging process renewed the feeling that I have toward worsted weight yarn. I don’t really like many bulky weight yarns and dk or lighter are aggravating. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those are on the heavier side of dk. Double stranding could work, but I’m not really a fan of that either.

    Trying new things and combining different colors to use up the yarn that I had was definitely a way of purging and adding to the donation bin. Out of all the things in my home, there’s still a lot of yarn, but it’s probably the most organized, because I also didn’t want to buy any yarn until I used up what I have or at least more of what I have.

    Not wanting to throw anything away or be wasteful especially with food or yarn are traits that have intensified during the past few months. I can always use up the last bit of something in another dish or add the yarn to a mystery ball. Reading on the way to and from work was a regular part of my day, now I have to make time to read and even then it needs to be something interesting otherwise, I lose interest. Crocheting is something I do everyday: it’s calming, relaxing and I set goals for items to give away. It would seem that setting the goals would be more stressful, it isn’t, I crochet fast. I set goals for reading and I’m a fast reader if I’m interested in the book. Besides, if I don’t meet my reading goal I’ve only disappointed myself.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - crochet motivation

    Being creative while sheltering in place

    April 18, 2020 - By 

    Crocheting is something I do everyday. Now that I am sheltering in place, I do more of it especially since I have more time to watch movies. My commute time has dramatically decreased and during long webinars and meetings crocheting makes me focus on what the speakers are saying and not zone out (plus, it makes the time pass faster). Not everyone can work from home. Find something to keep yourself calm. Some people bake, sew, do puzzles or write. It’s not a contest, everyone can go at their own pace. Use crochet or other craft as therapy to help cope with the boredom, isolation and loneliness.

    I have a lot of different shades of red and black. I decided to put them together. My grandmother had some towels that she used to hang in her bathroom for special occasions that were red and black. Her favorite color was red and so I figured why not use up what I have, which was part of the plan this year anyway to use up yarn that I have. No better time than to be creative in the combinations. I didn’t have enough of the same manufacturer of yarn, a couple were darker with a crisp black and another giant skein was a softer black. No matter, I decided to just make it so that there are three rows of black after each section of red. A section is complete rounds of red from the same shade. It may be one, it may be five, just complete rounds. I’m making a giant Granny Square and changing colors as I go, so that there are no ends to weave in. It’s another one of my plan as you go afghans. The reds are leftovers or smaller skeins of red that I wouldn’t use for a hat or scarf because there’s not enough for set. If the reds are close enough to match, then they may be combined to extend a section. I like it so far, because the colors are bolder than I probably would have put together otherwise. While sheltering in place, I’ve been creative with recipes, why not with crocheting as well?

    Much of the yarn that I use, also known as working stash, is in plastic totes by color. A quick stroll through the red bin yielded more to add to the afghan. The shades are different but fun. This is definitely a stash buster project.

    Solo hats were not on the agenda but as I’ve been going through the yarn I have, I’ve been finding leftovers from previous projects that aren’t enough for an afghan or a scarf. That’s how a hat came to be, I had almost enough yarn for a hat. Then I found a similar yarn in a different color way for a contrast and just decided to put them together. It’s very warm because of the chunky yarn. The hat looks better on than just laying flat on the table. I found some other yarns to use for a hats because when there’s a little of one color and a little of another in a similar yarn but not enough for an accent in a scarf, and the colors coordinate – a bold hat. I found a skein of yarn that I really like and I can make a hat. Baby hats may be on the horizon as well. Though the little red hat projects has ended, other groups seek donations of baby items and I found enough yarn to make a baby hat or two from previous baby gifts.

    This year my goal was to use up the yarn that I have or give it away if I don’t like working with it. I’ve acquired some interesting ones from thrift stores and clearance sales that others may not have liked but that I’ve enjoyed working with.

    I miss eating and laughing with my knitting and crocheting group while sharing a meal, but we still share photos of projects online. Use this time to focus on your craft, continue on the projects that have been languishing, or be bold, unravel them and start something new. Use your craft to keep yourself from unraveling.

    This is a stressful time. I am working from home, and some don’t have that luxury. While I can’t sew masks, I can crochet. Cold weather is a part of life in Chicago and warm accessories and blanket are always needed. So, I’m taking time to continue doing what I do – making things for others in the way that I can.

    Happy crocheting!

  • afghans - crafting - Crochet - crochet motivation - Donations

    New year, new goals

    January 9, 2020 - By 

    Yes, it’s the second week of January, well, the first FULL week of January and I’ve finally set my 2020 crochet goals.

    This year, I am committing to making 15 afghans, 15 hat and scarf sets and 40 scarves.

    I really missed making afghans.

    What I missed most about working on afghans is that when you work on them in the winter and they are large enough to cover your lap, your legs are warm. In the summer you can put and afghan off to the side or use it to block the breeze from the fan or ac, but in the winter it is a definite bonus. Without a goal in mind, I already started 3 afghans and a scarf.

    Though an outlier in the year’s goals is baby items: I might make some baby items, I might not. Another goal that I can’t measure is to use up yarn that I have or get rid of yarn that I don’t want from my working stash. Last night, I was looking for yarn to combine with some skeins that I was using to work on an afghan. I found some yarn to use, but in my search, I rediscovered yarn to make a couple of scarves. Surprise yarn is always great to find. As I was finishing my last scarf of 2019, I found some yarn that I didn’t like using, it was too bulky and I put it in the donation bag right away. I plan to do more of that this year. Someone else may like using it.

    There will be some colorful afghans made this year, because I am committed to using up what I have and not buying more. Not quite crazy quilt type, think neutral with pops of color. Getting rid of yarn that is taking up space is definitely on the agenda. I have purchased some yarns that I’ve liked from thrift stores probably from people like myself who didn’t like working with a project and just threw the whole thing into a bag to be donated or maybe a family was donating a deceased crafter’s unfinished projects. If you have the option, work with what you like and can afford. Life is too short to work with materials that you don’t like. I’m still going to experiment, try new yarns and also try to get to a non-big box, local yarn shop. I will definitely crochet (almost) daily in 2020, crocheting is like breathing and not even a goal.