• Crochet

    2024 Crochet Goals

    January 1, 2024 - By 

    After purging yarn I don’t like, and wouldn’t use from my working stash, I decided that in 2024 I’m going to use up the yarn I have and make 2024 a free form creative crochet year. The only goal that I am making for myself is to make 12 red scarves for Foster Care to Success. Whatever I make will likely be for donations to different organizations, but I’m just going to go with the flow, use what I have, and experiment with new techniques to improve my skills.

    The final tally for 2023 was:
    100 hat and scarf sets
    20 hats
    12 red scarves

     

     

     

     

     

    While I didn’t meet my 2023 goals, I am happy with what I made and the joy I brought people. My goal was to make 100 hat and scarf sets, 25 hats and 12 red scarves. I completed 100 sets, 20 hats and 12 scarves AND two baby blankets, a ruana/throw and a hexagon sweater. All the while a scrapghan was languishing and not being worked on. After I finished the 20th hat, I watched Barbie and added a few rounds to the scrapghan. It’s moving faster than I thought, so I will likely make a few of these and donate them because I don’t need that many blankets and I have several mystery balls of yarn.

    Making hats and scarves is a quick process. I miss making afghans, which is what I did before COVID restrictions forced some organizations to stop accepting larger items like afghans and lap robes. I’d like to use up the yarn I have or at least more of it in various projects. If I don’t have enough for a set, I could make a hat or mittens. There’s a giant bag of oddballs that I will start working on for random hats and I know there’s likely a gift or two that I will make this year.

    Shades of gray, black and purple multicolored crocheted hat and scarf set
    99th completed set of 2023

    While I “hit my numbers” in hat and scarf sets and red scarves, I made 80% of the hats I wanted to make and 4 gifts that I didn’t anticipate making in the beginning of 2023. If you only make one stitch… you’re a crocheter. I’m happy with what I made and the joy that the gifts brought to people for the gifts I made and the feeling that I was able to help people I may never meet.

    Happy 2024!

    Happy Crocheting!

  • Crochet - Donations - Hat and scarf goals

    Close to Christmas

    December 22, 2023 - By 

    When people say to me, you crochet fast. I say, it’s not a race or a competition, it’s a craft. I’m proud of what I made this year, thought it’s likely that I won’t meet my goals and that’s ok. I made two baby blankets and experimented with a few new techniques. I bit off more than I could chew by starting later than I should have for a few Christmas gifts. One was already mailed, another finished tag sewn on and ready to wrap and I’m in the homestretch for a third..

    Having goals may seem like too much pressure, it’s not pressure but accountability.

    I did complete 12 red scarves and dyed the yarn for one of the scarves; currently at 97 completed sets, and 17/25 hats completed. Plus, I made two baby blankets for shower gifts this year. I didn’t feel pressured to make anything and all the gifts were well received. There is so much more space in my workroom, since 90 sets were donated.

    Though I may fall short, I’m impressed with what I made. That’s when I remind myself that it’s not a race or a competition, it’s a craft. There’s still time to make more items before the thirty-first.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - hats

    So long, July!

    July 30, 2023 - By 

    Basketweave style hat and scarf with blocks in a rust colored yarn

    Some people don’t like to crochet or knit during the summer months when it’s hot, or will switch to lighter weight yarns. What I’ve noticed just from looking at pictures of sets that I’ve made from the past few years, certain patterns or motifs are seasonal. Or, at times I become fixated on a pattern and try it out in different yarns.

    I make a few specific patterns during the summer months because I want to try something different and generally I will have reached the halfway point of my goal and don’t want to get bored. I’ll make something I’d like to try in a particular yarn. Maybe it’s the yarn I have and have used before or want to improve upon something. Whatever it is, I’ll notice there might be two or three of the same designs or maybe slight alterations or modifications to a certain design or motif because of something I’ve seen or revisited in one of my pattern books, or got an idea from YouTube. Whatever it is, it seems like I haven’t made that in a while so I’ll make certain patterns. As long as it’s something that is fun and I’m still enjoying what I do who cares?

    Crocheted charcoal colored hat and scarf set with rows of shades of purple

    Crocheted scarf with front and back post stitched blocks in a multi-colored yarn

    Now I’m in a period where I am using up different colors not necessarily small amounts where they’re oddballs but combining different yarns for a small a bit of a color or mini skeins where combined if it’s enough to make a hat and scarf set but too much just for a hat. Some experiments are more interesting than others. I have some mini skeins I bought two sets and combined similar colors in the same color family to make a hat and scarf set with charcoal as a neutral. I think I’ll do that again with another color family and a lighter gray. As I keep trying things and experimenting with yarn in my working stash, I have a better idea of what I want to make with the mystery ball of yarn that I’m creating. Instead of using it alone, I would likely combine it with one of my current favorite neutrals – charcoal to pull it all together.

    Front and back post crocheted hat in a multi colored yarn with hues of blue and purple

    For me, sets are for summer, winter, spring and fall… As July closes, I’ve surpassed the halfway point for completed sets (61 and counting) and four scarves. Hats, well, there are only two solo hats so far. The plan is to make a bunch of hats when I have a lot of small remainders from sets in the fall, for very unique, one of a kind colorways. Stay tuned it’ll be a hat making extravaganza in October or so.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - hats

    Hello…July! Well, almost…

    June 28, 2023 - By 

    I haven’t posted in a while, but that does not mean I haven’t been crocheting.

     

    I have been working with a lot of different yarns, I bought some, and was gifted some on a trip (used some of that up already). I’ve been using some that I already had by creating new color combinations with different colorways of one of my favorite yarns with oddballs and making fun color combos. I had to take a little break because I needed to make a shower gift in a hurry. It’s the end of June and most excitingly… I have passed the halfway point of my hat and scarf goal, made a single hat and also made two red scarves. Things are going well, summer has just begun which means lots of outside concerts and movies where I can sit and watch and crochet.

    Here are a few things that I’ve been working on…

    I went into my working stash and pulled out some yarn that I bought at a great discount. After a test run, I bought a lot, so I try to only use a bit of it each year until it’s used up. That way groups won’t get six or seven sets in the same color in a donation batch. The browns (Lion Brand, Shimmerie – discontinued) was my most recent at-work project until I only had a few inches to work on and brought it home to finish. The multi-colored self striping yarn is Red Heart’s discontinued Colorscape in Rome. I really like this yarn, and it was discontinued when I happened upon it. I’m looking for a similar yarn that I would like.

    Premier makes great yarn and I buy from them frequently. Puzzle is one of my current favorites, their sister company, Universal Yarn also makes Major which is the same weight, just different colors and price point. I have a smallish stash of leftover oddballs from projects because one ball of Puzzle or Major won’t quite make a set. So, depending on the pattern, I have varying amounts of the yarn leftover. I decided to take a few colors and use them to make one-of-a-kind colorful sets. Puzzle uses the similar colors but doesn’t follow the same color changes as Major. I had a bit of some yarn from Ice Yarns, a Turkish company. It’s very similar to Puzzle and Major, but doesn’t have specific names and as it happens with me… It was discontinued. The weight is about the same, so I included some of the Ice yarn with the Puzzle/Major combos. I like the variety. Most of all, the yarns are machine wash and dry and soft. I could buy just another ball of the Puzzle but the dye lots may not be the same. The experiments with the colors were interesting.

    There are a few more small balls that I wound into cakes to get a better idea of how much I have and what I can combine into sets. For one set, I played a bit of yarn chicken, and I might just make a few warm hats with what I have combined with a Puzzle yarn that’s in shades of gray, to save me from the frustration.

    Overall, I like the outcome and use up the bits and pieces (something I learned from my grandmothers, not to be wasteful).

    Happy crocheting!

     

  • Crochet - trial and error

    Dyeing Experiment early 2023

    March 11, 2023 - By 

    Every year or so I have the urge to dye some yarn. Usually, I will buy some Easter Egg dye kits at the end of the season and make some interesting creations. I have a large bag of expired food coloring that was being tossed out from an office move, as well as specifically purchased drink mix packages for dyeing. I still had a couple of hanks of yarn that I had purchased to dye as well as several undyed hanks that I received as part of a mystery box. The goal was to dye at least enough for a couple of scarves to donate to one of my special groups in the fall.

    I started out with bare yarn, soaked it in water and added several containers of food coloring and the red drink mix to the dye pot with water and some vinegar. Then I let the yarn simmer. For this larger amount of yarn, I got out the dye pot that is only used for non-food/craft items. Think tie dying a shirt, not just yarn. The yarn simmered and took most of the dye and became a lovely darker coral-ish color. I wanted a deeper red for one of the hanks, so I purchased some RIT dye and then overdyed one hank and it took on a glorious, lovely deep red shade with darker sections where it was darker in the first dyeing.

    The results are great and both dyeing experiments for early 2023 turned out well. For the future, I think I will use more food coloring, and less water to make the color more concentrated. Either way, it’s for fun and I enjoyed the process and like the results. Most of the yarn is really a mystery because I received it unbanded from a mystery box from a company that I’m not familiar with, so the yarn will truly be one of a kind and will make a special gift.

    Since I have no plans to use it right away, I will wait to wind it and start a project, But for now, I’m just happy admiring my handiwork.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Creative reuse - Crochet

    Back to Basics

    February 8, 2023 - By 

    I like using openwork stitches that work up fast. My favorite is the Granny Stitch. The term loosely lumps many fan or shell stitches together when they are worked in a square or other multi-sided work. The Granny Stitch isn’t the warmest to use for hats or scarves, because of the spaces but is wonderful for blankets.

    Bulky yarn isn’t my favorite but I was gifted two giant balls and figured why not make a lapghan in a granny rectangle? It’s working up nicely and bulky yarn gives an almost immediate sense of accomplishment. A lady asked me about blanket yarn when I was buying yarn in a large store and I said I had an idea for a project, but it’s not my favorite. The yarn was gifted to me.  It’s soft, feels like velvet and  is not too difficult to rip out, if necessary. It’s just not something I would choose, it’s looking nice so far.

    After a few false starts, the afghan I started making using one of my mystery balls has taken off! This time I started a using a rectangular Granny Square. The mystery balls are composed of leftover yarn wound up with black between colors. Same stitch, different yarn: Fun happy project. The bold, irregular sections of color are offset by the black. It has been almost three years since I completed the last mystery ball, and there are five. Each one is roughly the size of a small bowling ball. Now that I found the right stitch to showcase the colors, I’m enjoying the project immensely.

    Lapghans aren’t part of this year’s goal, but I miss making Granny Square afghans, and lapghans work up quickly and they will be donated. The use of Granny Stitch, especially in the blanket yarn will yield warm and cozy blankets similar to thermal blankets. I miss making afghans, which I used to regularly make and donate but stopped when I switched to smaller projects. Making lapghans using the Granny Stitch is a happy medium and allows a lot of variety and flexibility. Depending on how large I make the lapghan, I might be able to make four or five from the mystery balls.

    The fans in the motif don’t use as much yarn as others, so I should be able to make a few colorful pieces, all while using my favorite stitch.

    I’ll keep you posted on my lapghan progress!

    Happy crocheting!