The ‘Paint-by-Number’ Dress

I got this from a pattern in a recent edition of Crochet Today. The dress is done all in one, with no seams to sew together, which has only reinforced my love of crochet even more! This is how much I’ve been able to do so far:

Paint-by-Number Dress

I have a few more rounds to go to add length (I’m following the instructions for a dress to fit a 2 year old) and I have sleeves and trims to do before it’s finished.

The Squares

I mentioned this in a previous blog post.  I’m not sure where I am going with this yet, but I have made 7 of the squares and plan to make as many as I can from a large bag of pink yarn I bought from eBay. It’s going to end up as some sort of blanket, but I’m not sure if I’m going to try and add some other colours into it as otherwise it won’t be very big.

The Mandala

I came across this pattern through Ravelry and the link to the blog post is here.  I plan to adapt it slightly to make it large enough to cover a table we have in our living room. I’m using up some of my yarn stash with this one, as I have so many scraps of colours and odd balls left. I hope Mr Farr-Jones likes it.

The Teddy Bear

Amigurumi rocks. I love making stuffed toys, and have decided I should really try and make more of them.

I came across a pattern for a vintage bear, and have now completed everything except for his face, and any embellishments I may want to add to make him extra cute.  Here he is, faceless:

Vintage Bear

The Mug Cosy

I feel like I’ve blogged a lot about these. Such a simple pattern, and I keep getting requests for them. I  have several on the go now, and have just posted some more to friends.

I have also just received the yarn needed to make a throw for a good friend who has just got married. I’ll be sure to tell you more about it when I have started it.

So, overall, I’ve been very busy! But I’m struggling with prioritising my WIPs which is probably why everything feels like it is taking a long time to do.

How many WIPs does everyone else have on the go right now?

I’m sure I mentioned previously that it wasn’t very big, so I think I have probably made a big deal out of nothing.  However, what really killed me were all the ends I had to weave in.  This is by far my least favourite part of crochet and knitting.

The pattern is the Argyll Afghan, from one of my favourite books:

Crocheted Throws & Wraps, by Melody Griffiths

This is the 5th blanket I have made from the book now, and there are still several I would love to attempt at some point.

I’m now busy making some more tea cosies – so far this weekend I’ve made 4, and I may just keep going!  This really is a great pattern, and I can make one in under an hour if I focus on nothing else.

What is everyone else making over this rather rainy bank holiday weekend?

It’s a great way to keep yourself motivated. I made quite a few squares while I was also working on the never ending blanket. It kept me sane, and it probably would have taken a lot longer to finish the blanket if I didn’t have a square to distract me every so often (although that sounds like a contradiction).

A lot of my fellow bloggers have been bitten by the square bug recently. It feels like not a week has gone by without reading another blog post about the crochet square. So, I thought I’d share a photo of the one I’ve enjoyed making a lot of recently, and also a few links to a few of my other favourites I’ve seen out in the blogosphere.

Jule’s Art Blog – A Find From The Basement
Crochetbug – Square 64: color me rainbow
Anastacia Knits – Friday fo

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this square yet. So far I’ve made 7 of them. It’s a bit too old fashioned for a baby blanket. Perhaps I’ll just make as many as I can in complimenting colours and see where that takes me.

What is it you do to get through a challenging project?

I count myself lucky to be part of the Internet generation. Having all the information I need at my fingertips whenever I switch on my computer, my tablet or my phone is almost like expecting there to always be electricity or water. It’s almost harder to be without access to the Internet than with.

But part of me wonders whether we have lost something amongst all the benefits that an ‘always on’ society brings.

I learned to crochet by myself, using only the Internet for help and guidance. Having YouTube was like having a virtual tutor at my beck and call. Forums and fellow bloggers provided me with advice, hints and tips. I found patterns for virtually anything without having to hunt through book shops and libraries. I even got praise for my completed work through Facebook and Twitter.

But I never had the experience of sitting with someone and learning my craft and the bonding this brings to your relationship. Mother teaches daughter (or son) and a family tradition survives. Lessons are learned from someone wiser who has already made the mistakes so you don’t have to. Learning what is perhaps a unique way of doing something. I feel like in some way I’ve missed out.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the Internet is a marvellous resource that gives us all access to things we would never have imagined before. I imagine it has a large part to play in helping lesser known skills and crafts survive. But what I’m concerned about is losing that social aspect of craft.

I’ve grown up right on the cusp of the Internet age, and still have friends and family who have followed the more traditional method of learning. But as our society evolves and adapts to having a wealth of human knowledge at their fingertips, will this disappear? Is this part of a wider issue the Internet brings to our society?

Feeling a bit restless, I decided to get out my issues of The Art of Quilting magazine which I’ve been receiving since subscribing at the beginning of the year.

One of my New Year Resolutions was to learn how to quilt, but I was also afraid that I wouldn’t have the patience for it, or the time, with everything else I wanted to try and achieve. So I figured that spending £3.99 per issue, which gives me the materials I need each week to create a new square, was a big motivation to learn. However, it’s taken until now for me to seriously give it a go, and I have a backlog of 12 issues (and squares) to work through.

I’m still trying to get to grips with my sewing machine. I bought it at the beginning of last year, but I’ve hardly used it. So I set aside Sunday to create the first square in the series, and this was the result:

I have to say I am really pleased with it. I was expecting it to be a really fiddly endeavour, with the seam allowances, pinning and construction, but it was really quite straight forward to do.

Of course, the first square is the easiest to attempt (the double four patch), and what awaits me in later issues does scare me a little. But for a first attempt I couldn’t be happier!

Has anyone else tried their hand at quilting? Are you subscribing to the same magazine? If so, what are your thoughts?

In other news, I’m quite excited. Because I haven’t got enough going on right now (read that line laced with sarcasm), I’ve decided that I want to try something new. After a bit of googling, and asking the Twitterverse their opinion, I’ve decided to give Tunisian crochet a try.

I’ve ordered a book on Amazon, and once I figure out what I want to make I’ll be ordering the Tunisian crochet hooks.

Has anyone else had any experience with Tunisian crochet? From what I’ve read, I think it could be something special. It would be great to hear your views.

Wish me luck! This is going to take a while, hence why it is the never ending blanket!

I’ve been busy working on a blanket for a friend, as mentioned in my previous post. When I say busy, I actually mean picking it up and putting it down a lot, and procrastinate in-between! If it was a project for myself, it would likely hit the UFO pile by now. But it’s for a friend and I’ve committed to it, so I have to follow it through.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it when people ask me to make things for them, and the blanket itself is going to be very nice when it’s finished. It’s just that the pattern is rather monotonous, and as its done all in one go rather than in separate squares, it feels like it’s going on forever. There are so many colour changes as I go along, that weaving in all the ends is going to be a nightmare.

What doesn’t help is the fact that i don’t have an actual deadline from my friend. So I’ve been taking my time, and unfortunately that’s meant having little drive to follow through.

None of this helps to motivate me.

I have so many projects lining up that I want to get started on – some more mug cozies, some bunting, and a large blanket for a good friend who is getting married soon.

I’ve got the rest of the Easter weekend to try and make a good dent in this project. I set a deadline for myself last week to complete it by Easter Monday even if it means doing nothing but crocheting all weekend. I’ll let you know how I get on.

How do you motivate yourself to get through the dreaded project that you wish you never started? Mr Farr-Jones tells me I should stop finding distractions and just get on with it. His constant nagging is helping. “Are you working on the blanket tonight?” I’m asked every night after I get home from work.

So I guess I’d better stop writing blog posts and get on with it! Is blogging another way of procrastinating?

“The yarn is on sale, it’s a bargain so I must have it!”

“Wow, that bulk lot on eBay is such great value for money!” (although eBay isn’t always a great place to buy yarn from)

“I’ll just order a sample ball in each colour to see what works best, and I’m sure to use what I’ve got left.”

Half the time I don’t even know what I’m going to do with the yarn that I buy!

Add to all my impulse purchases the leftover balls of yarn I have from finished projects, and it’s turned into quite a collection.

I try to convince myself that it will all come in useful one day, that there will be this one project where I can use a particular ball of yarn. In fact, in an attempt to justify keeping all of my yarn, I’ve been making a large ‘leftovers’ blanket in between projects. However, the fact is that yarn is accumulating in our home far more quickly than I can use it.

All of this made a recent clear-out of my yarn a very difficult task. I went through my boxes and several bags of yarn and made a pile to give to the charity shop. No matter how hard I tried, for every ball of yarn I picked up, I had a reason to keep it:

“I could use that in a great blanket for someone.”
“That will come in useful if I ever decide to make another cardigan.”
“That one was far to expensive to give away!”

Suffice it to say that the pile of yarn destined for the charity shop wasn’t a large one.

Searching the Internet on the subject of yarn stashes, I find that a lot of people have a similar obsession. Being asked to part with a gorgeous ball of yarn is unthinkable. Where does this obsession come from? Is it just human nature, to collect hoard things?

So what do I do? The battle I’m fighting with myself is a tough one. However, to put my ‘problem’ into perspective, I came across another great blog. Reading that blog, I realise my yarn addiction is far from severe (yet!). I am also limited to the storage space in our modest two bedroom flat and of course the cash to fund too many extravagant yarn purchases (although secretly I’d love to have access to the size of the stash in that post!).

“But is there ever a yarn purchase that’s too extravagant?” I ask myself. Perhaps I just need to learn to gag my inner voice!

I was a volunteer on the CSR committee and helped organise two specific events during my time there. The first was a bake sale, where we managed to raise over £400 for Beating Bowel Cancer, a great charity who do lots of work to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer and support those who have been diagnosed.

The second was a class over a lunchtime where I had to teach my colleagues how to crochet!

I started regretting it shortly after I had been volunteered for it. Out went the group emails, the adverts in the employee magazine, and interest came flooding in. By the day of the class, around 20 people had signed up, and it was obvious that I was completely out of my depth. I had no idea how I was going to be able to teach everyone even the basics in just one short hour.

After the first few minutes I realised I had set myself up for failure. There were too many people to teach without support, and I completely underestimated how difficult it would be to try and keep everyone moving through the lesson together, especially with such wide variations in ability. I think I ended up with a few people who had managed half a dozen chains, most with no chains at all, and only a small handful who managed to get round to doing the first row of double-crochet (or single-crochet to my American readers).

By the end of the lesson, most people had given up. I felt completely dejected. People left with a bad first experience of a craft I love, unlikely to ever pick up a hook and a ball of yarn again.

Back at my desk, exhausted (and hungry – I’d given up my lunch hour and not had time to eat!), I saw an email from one of the participants. She, and a couple of her colleagues who went with her to the lunch time session, were still interested in learning. Despite the bad experience, they wanted to know more! It made my day.

We organised some lunch time get-togethers over the weeks that followed and I successfully taught the basics which allowed these new ‘happy hookers’ to go off on their own and start their own projects.

I don’t know how they all got on as our busy work schedules meant the group didn’t survive much past the first few lessons. And then I moved on. But I hope they are still as hooked as I am.