Yarn and a hook are possibilities.
There are 10, 080 minutes in a day. How many of them do we spend doing things we don’t necessarily want to do? Like waiting for something or traveling to a place? Reading while on a bus works for some, unless you get motion sickness.
Of the 1440 minutes in a day, I spend 45-60 of those crocheting. Some days more and some less but every day I make time to crochet. During my lunch break at work and also during talks or large group seminars where there is a crowd and I’m just listening are opportune times to get a few rows done. When I watch television, I’m generally working on a project. In a group setting, especially with my regular knitting and crocheting group I can be more social if I am crocheting than if I’m reading a book. It is more open than being closed off with a book. Weekdays, I may crochet less and weekends more but several hours a week, there’s a hook in my hand.
For me, it takes about four hours to make a scarf if the stitch pattern isn’t too complicated. Over the course of a week I can make a scarf. A baby hat can be completed in one sitting. Of course life and other obligations sometimes interfere and some weeks I’m more productive, but as long as there’s some progress, it’s not an issues, especially since it’s not a race and any day where I have crocheted, I have been productive. I’m sure I’m like other crafters and the only thing that seems to cooperated and work out is your craft.
People often ask – “where do you find the time?” I have the same amount of time that everyone else does, I just choose to use some of that time to crochet.
The shower gift was a big hit. Here is a picture of the baby blanket and hat. The blanket is to use now and is a 38 inch square in a washable white yarn in a shell stitch. The hat is for later – sized for a 3-6 month old child so it can be used in the fall.
The scarf that I 
Somewhere with my winter accessories there is a subtle aqua colored scarf that I dyed with drink mix. There’s no coordinating hat. I’ve also dyed yarn a lovely shade or camel with old coffee which my father wears often. But the yarn that I dyed with the Easter egg dye is just waiting. I think now is the time to make a scarf to add to my donation bag. There is enough for me to do a basketweave pattern, which tends to use more yarn. Using yarn that you’ve dyed yourself is more fun than selecting yarn for any other project, it’s the right yarn, color, weight for the project or you just wanted to try it out. The home dyed yarn is just that: I just wanted to try the process out.
This yarn put the fun in functional. I plan on using up every bit of this yarn, even though the schlubby bits drag on the hook. What I like most is that the otherwise plain gray gets some excitement and pops of color. To showcase the yarn, I choose to just stitch this in single crochet. I can’t remember when I last did a scarf completely in single crochet, but this yarn begged for simplicity to show off its beauty. This is an unidentified yarn… I don’t know which manufacturer made this yarn, because I bought this in a mill ends bag and haven’t seen anything like it since. So, until I’m finished with it, I will enjoy the process and hope the recipient enjoys it as well.
I finished the scarf with the 
There are times when project just isn’t working out. It’s the yarn or the hook size or the pattern. Something just isn’t making the project pleasurable. Since the majority of the items I give away, I like to be able to feel good about what I am making and happy about it as I am making it. When I am feeling negative or angry when I am working on a project that negativity is not a good environment for the craft. Thursday night, I looked at a languishing project that has been around too long with too little progress because the stitch pattern and the yarn were not complimentary.
Currently, I am working with a yarn that I thought I wanted to use for a gift project. I don’t.