• Crochet - New Yarn

    Addendum

    January 13, 2022 - By 

    Even though I have several projects in progress, new yarn arrived today. The allure of the new yarn was too great and I started a new set. The colors are pretty, easy to work with and washable* (which is a request from some organizations.)

    Also, as I was looking for something on my computer, I saw something that jogged my memory about other things I made last year, I’d forgotten about the blue hats for #hatnothate. I should keep a written tally of completed items, some of the donations are to the same groups or similar items from year to year. The hats, like the mittens and infinity scarves were amuse-bouches or palate cleansers to keep the crochet love alive.

    Hello Gorgeous yarn
    Started a new hat for a set…

    That’s it, I think those are the only things made that I forgot about from 2021… (Until I’m looking for something else on my computer.)

    Updated 2021 tally:

        • 118 hat and scarf sets
        • 12 red scarves
        • 5 infinity scarves
        • 12 blue hats
        • 3 pair of mittens

    *I’m going to stop counting for 2021 because I may have missed something else.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - Donations - Hat and scarf goals

    Crochet Goals 2022!

    January 5, 2022 - By 

    I’ve finally made an complete (read: accurate) tally of what I made last year and set a goal for this year.

    Last year the goal was initially 60 sets, that was extended a few times and I almost doubled the original goal.

    2021’s total of donated items was:

      • 118 hat and scarf sets
      • 12 red scarves
      • 5 infinity scarves
      • 3 pair of mittens

    For 2022 I’m setting a goal of 100 hat and scarf sets, 25 hats and 12 red scarves.

    There are a few “passion” projects that I’d like to work on, which makes this goal seem reasonable. So far, I have one hat made and the accompanying scarf is in process so I’m off to a good start and we haven’t even had a full week in the year. [The photo of the hat and scarf in progress just looks like a fuzzy blob but in real life, the set is nice and soft and should be very warm for the recipient.]

    Plus, this goal allows me to add make items for other groups or any projects that pop up later in the year. Infinity scarves and mittens weren’t on the official list but I made 5 infinity scarves and 3 pair of mittens – who knows what projects will fall into my lap.

    Happy Crocheting!

  • Crochet - Donations - hats

    Try something different

    November 30, 2021 - By 

    Why not try something different? I’ve met and exceeded the hat and scarf set goal, made some other items so why not try mittens? A local yarn shop is sponsoring a mitten drive. After watching a few YouTube videos, I got the basics committed to memory and started. The first mitt fit my hand and I immediately started on the second so I wouldn’t have an unfinished pair. I’m already thinking of what changes I want to make for the next pair. Though the mitts fit, I think I’d use a larger hook and make the mitts a little wider, at least for myself.

    A hat pattern that I have memorized this year is The Divine Hat. There are several videos online but Fiber Spider’s version is easy to follow. I’ve made the hat at least 10 times since finding this video in September. Once I memorized the pattern, I have been able to make the adjustments that I need for different yarns and hooks based on my gauge. Once I finish making my holiday gifts, I will make myself a hat in that pattern with a coordinating scarf in some Noro that I purchased because I like the design that much.

    Tests and trials, but no tears – maybe a bit of ripping out stitches but so far 2021 has been a fun and productive crocheting year and there’s still a month to go!

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - hats

    Developing Hatvision

    October 11, 2021 - By 

    Though I’ve made dozens of hats, I want to get better at making them. To improve my technique, I look at patterns and stitches to see what I can incorporate into future hats. Particularly I’m looking to see what works, what doesn’t and to develop a better eye for hat making.

    What I mean is not just making hats that will fit a human. I’m beyond the fear that a hat won’t fit a person. What I want is to be able to do is look at a hat and see if I can envision it in other yarn weights or look at yarn and see if I have enough for a hat or if I can envision a hat made from oddballs. When I say made from oddballs, not a random amount of stripes but effectively using the odd bits yarn I have in creative ways. I am confident in where the stripes will lie when I use certain self striping yarns for particular patterns in a scarf or afghan. How they work up in different hat patterns is a different story.

    My eye for hats hasn’t developed yet. I make plans for afghans and can see the best use of oddballs and color combinations. While hats are smaller, it’s the varied sections: height, crown, brim, circumference means there’s more variables to take into consideration, not to mention style. Is this a close fitting beanie or a slouchy hat? So many options.

    My hat making skills have improved and they look good and fit. It’s the learning curve I’ve imposed on myself. It’s not that the skills I have aren’t transferrable to hats, it’s just that I’ve made more afghans and scarves than I have hats. Also, I look for improvements I can make after each project and try to make changes. I’m still learning and willing to try different things. (And I’m still developing an eye for hats.)

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - red scarves

    Hello September!

    August 31, 2021 - By 

    August has been busy!

    There’s nothing better than enjoying the cool refreshing air conditioning and working on a project.

    July was Red Scarf Month and exceeded the goal to 12 scarves for Foster Care To Success.

    This August, I made 5 infinity scarves for a local youth agency and a dozen hats for #hatnothate.

    After finishing the blue hats, I have returned to hats and scarf sets and extended the goal for the year from 60 to 100. Currently, I’m at 76 sets and counting.

    Even with all of the projects, I have been able to go through my working stash and purge yarn or match small odds and ends with others for stripes or blocks of color. New and old pattern books along with online tutorials keep the joy of crocheting alive and make me try new things.

    Four months left in 2021 and 24 sets to make… I should meet the goal, and may exceed it. The most important thing is that I’m having fun and find crocheting very relaxing!

    Happy crocheting!

     

  • Art of crochet - Crochet - Hat and scarf goals - red scarves

    Summertime possibilities

    July 29, 2021 - By 

    Summertime and the thoughts turn to crochet? Maybe not for everyone, though for me, crocheting is a year round pursuit. This month, I’ve been finishing my red scarf goal and I’m on my twelfth scarf and the goal was 10. Before the end of the year, I hope to complete 5 infinity scarves and a few hats for a couple of groups and 28 more sets.

    Crocheting never gets boring because there is always something to do and watching YouTube videos or looking at patterns makes me thing of different things that I would like to create. There’s always another project to start or new ideas that come to fruition. More complex projects require more concentration and there are times when I just want to mindlessly crochet. Working on a variety of projects has make me seriously consider the yarns that I have in my working stash. Instead of shuffling a bag of cast off yarn from one spot to another, I decided to just put a bit in the donation bag. For the first time in a while, I can say over 90% of the yarn that I have is yarn that I will use…eventually.

    Purging yarn that I don’t like brought others to light. For the red scarves I had enough around the house to make 10 and then I started planning for future projects by putting coordinating colors together. There were a couple of hanks of a yarn that were the same color but not the same dyelot, so I used that as an opportunity to practice my color work. The yarns aren’t close enough in color to continue the work without a noticeable difference but by crocheting two rows of one color and two of another they blend together nicely. I had an oddball of a yarn from a previous project and decided to use it with a coordinating color as an accent.

    While scrolling through Facebook, I saw that the Hat Not Hate deadline had been extended to September 13. I just happened to have a two tone blue yarn and started working on a hat by testing a pattern that I recently saw online. With a little manipulation, the motif that is for an afghan began to take shape on a hat.

    For me, crocheting is like being at a picnic or a buffet, there’s a lot to choose from and enough to go around to make it interesting. I don’t get full and try new things to practice new skills but also go back to the tried and true for a bit of fun.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - Dyeing

    Another May Dye Pot

    June 23, 2021 - By 

    There is nothing like getting your hands a little messy. When Easter egg dye was on clearance, I bought a few packages and used some of the colors. Since I had purchased several kits, I put the similar colors together, wrapped in plastic so that they would stay dry. Three colors that I thought would be in the red/orange/purple family weren’t. The colors ended up being orange, yellow and blue. After adding the vinegar and water, there was no turning back. My lovely assistant, my mother, selected the order of the colors before the tablets were dissolved based on what we thought they were. After they were dissolved, we changed the placement of the colors and put the blue between the yellow and orange then the dyeing adventure began. I used rubber bands to separate the hanks in approximate thirds, then soaked them a little to help the colors bond with the wool better.

    The hanks were soaked, doused with all the dye for the particular section and massaged to ensure better coverage. Once the dye was exhausted, the hanks were wrapped in plastic and micro waved in two minute intervals until the water ran clear. The hanks were allowed to sit for a little to cool.

    The yellow and orange were much more vibrant than I anticipated, the blue color ended up being a periwinkle color. Everything turned out well. I like the Swish Worsted base which is a superwash and can be machine washed and dried. I don’t know what it will be like in the future or how much it will pill since it is a Merino base but it’s soft and worked up well. I only dyed two hanks and for the future, for a hat and scarf set, I would dye three which would give me 660 yards and would be less limiting for projects that require more yardage. The previous dye project had a similar yardage but I’m planning to make a scarf with those two cakes.

    There are still some dye tablets left and some bare hanks. Next time, I might go for a speckled look or “paint” several colors on to the hanks for a riot of color.

    The yarn was used to for the 60th hat and scarf set, officially completing the hat and scarf goal for the year. I’ve continued making hat and scarf sets, but wanted to make something special to meet the goal. More hats and scarves = more people who will be warm this winter.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet

    May Dye Pot (a.k.a. Let’s Dye Some Yarn)

    May 20, 2021 - By 

     

    Between meetings on Wednesday, I decided to dye some yarn. While standing up after a long period of sitting and fixing my lunch, I selected some colors of unsweetened drink mix purchased especially for this endeavor and put a pot on a stove. The color wasn’t as dark as I wanted so I added some red food coloring.

    While I worked in the afternoon, the dye pot simmered on the stove. The finished product is pretty, though next time I need to use less water for a darker color. The color ended up a dark coral color which I’ve dubbed Coral Plaza, after a movie theatre I remember as a kid. I hadn’t done stove top dyeing with drink mix only setting yarn in the microwave which requires less water. I like food safe colors for these experiments so I can still use my pots and dishes. The color is lovely but next time I think I will go back to the microwave method with less water for more intense colors or wrap the yarn in plastic wrap and steam it.

    The yarn isn’t quite dry yet, I’d like it to be completely dry before winding it. Coral Plaza is lovely and I am ready to try again. I want a deeper red, maybe gel food coloring next time? Stay tuned…

    Happy crocheting!

  • stashbusting

    Purge and make room for more

    April 28, 2021 - By 

    More yarn has been purged from the working stash. After looking for space to put new yarn and wondering why I didn’t have any even though I have been using up a lot, I realized that there were some yarns that I didn’t like, weren’t going to use and felt no remorse adding them to the donation bag. One large container of yarn along with other yarn that I have abandoned have been added to the donation bag. A set of auxiliary hooks that I bought from Amazon and aren’t quite standard sizes have been added to the bag too. Now there’s space for the yarn I want to use.

    As more yarn is added to the working stash, I give in to the temptation to start another project. Multiple projects is like reading multiple books at a time, As long as they aren’t the same pattern it’s not an issue just picking up where I left off. If I’m working on something with basketweave, I try not to start another project that requires a different number of repeats. Yesterday, a box arrived and a new yarn that I had never tried before was in the box, so I started a hat.

    The yarn is also on sale, so I may buy more and keep it for later. There’s another yarn that I tried a new pattern and since it requires more attention than some patterns since this is my first attempt at it, I haven’t used it as my fidget crochet to keep me focused during webinars or meetings. Then I had a hat that I started the other day because I’ve made countless variations of this hat and let my fingers do the walking. More projects, more to finish and more projects to learn from. Every time I finish I think what would change if a larger or smaller hook were used. Do I like this yarn enough to stock up if it goes on sale? Can I combine the remaining yarn with something I already have to make stripes or an accent color in a different project? Lots of thought goes into a project even before the starting chain.

    More yarn, more fun and more things to keep people warm.

    Happy crocheting!

  • New Yarn - trial and error

    Giving up on a project

    April 7, 2021 - By 

    It’s ok to give up on a project. Some projects don’t work out. There’s some yarn that I have that was from a friend’s family that looked lovely. There were two colors of the yarn, both boucle: a cone of black and a royal purple. The purple I unwound from an unfinished project of that my friend never finished. The yarn is lovely, soft and fun, and I thought that would be an attractive yarn to use for a set.

    We fought. After finishing the hat and working up about six rows or so of the scarf, I threw in the towel because I was tired of fighting the yarn. I took the finished hat, balls of the purple that I had unwound from my friend’s project and put them in a bag for donations along with the large cone of the black.

    Life’s too short to work with yarn you don’t like. I’ve been getting rid of things in my house that take up space. I have been reading about minimalism lately and though it’s not for me, I can identify things that I want to get rid of – the boucle yarn was it. Actually, I doubt that creative people can really be minimalists. Though I did like having the yarn knowing that my friend had used it or bought it to use for projects and had even started on something, it was a struggle. I have other things to remember my fried by and this yarn does not give me fond memories, so I am letting it go so that someone else may enjoy it.

    Happy crocheting!