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Showing posts with label crochet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crochet. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Little Things


I had an idea that I would crochet an Easter garland, and ordered some lovely colors in this yarn. But it's clear that crochet is largely foreign to me. As I happily perused patterns and pictures of various crochet flowers, the one thing that didn't cross my mind was gauge. When the thread arrived and I realized how small a hook I'd be using, my vision had to be revised. The flowers are smaller than I'd like, but they work up quickly and I intend to make a lot of them.

However, lately I've been drawn to my hexipuffs. Another quick and dirty project, and one I don't even have to look at much while knitting. I do need to buckle down on the flowers if I want a garland by Easter, though.

I've been reading a little of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at night, but mostly I've been rereading Story of a Soul and The Hidden Face . I think I will read about Therese's family next, especially since her parents are being canonized soon, and her sister Leonie's cause for canonization was just opened. I've been on a Therese "kick" since reading Shirt of Flame, and I think her autobiography was perfect for me to read right now.

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Preparing


That was this morning's breakfast. It was leftover berry cobbler. I am not ashamed.


That is a little pile of stars. Four, so far. For those who don't know, that is not knitting but crochet. Yes, dear friends, I present you with my first ever crochet project! (As opposed to random granny squares.) The gold thread was given to me by my mother, and while it makes pretty stars the metallic running through it is kind of scratchy to work with. But that's okay. I plan on making a garland (not sure how long yet), and possibly ornaments to slip inside Christmas cards ...? We'll see how ambitious I feel.

I admire my friends who have gotten all their Christmas preparations done early so that they can have a peaceful Advent; stress is the worst when it comes to distracting us from the things we should be focused on. For me, though, shopping for gifts and writing Christmas cards and so on has always been a tangible way to enter into the spirit of preparation that looks forward to Christmas, to Christ. Which is why I'm enjoying crocheting these stars. :)

Last night we lit the advent wreath for the first time (we forgot it on Sunday) and sang the first verse of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," which is a tradition from my family. We don't have any greenery yet, so it's just a metal ring with the candles, hehe. That's okay for now.

I have no idea where we're going to fit the tree this year, as we now have a computer desk in the living room, not to mention baby things. (Babies are so little; why does their stuff take up so much room?) But I've set up the creche with Mary and Joseph and the as-yet-empty manger. I will start adding the animals today.

I know that this year Michael isn't going to "get" anything, but it's still so exciting to enter his first Advent! And for myself as a wife and mother, this season holds so much promise. I want to learn what it means to wait upon Christ, to watch for Him; I want that watching to suffuse every moment.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Something New

Remember how one of my crafty resolutions for 2012 was learning to crochet?

Let me introduce you to my first crochet swatch! (I was too lazy to weave in the ends.)

Now that I've learned the single, half-double, double, treble, and double-treble (sheesh) crochet stitches, I'm ready to move on to increasing, decreasing, working in the round, and so on. I'm using the excellent Crochet School videos over at Crafty Minx's blog.

It took me until double crochet to find "groove", so to speak. As I moved along, I kept finding myself holding the yarn between my ring and middle fingers, which meant having to move my entire hand to wrap it around the hook--very awkward and tiring. But I seem to have found a more practical way to hold it that still feels natural to me.

My allegiance is still to knitting, but it feels good to learn something new, doesn't it?

Monday, January 9, 2012

Crafty Resolutions: 2012

I'm not usually the type to make resolutions, mostly because I'm not good at it. My goals are always too abstract, or too big. (Praying the rosary every day? Realistically, that habit is not going to happen by the end of this month, and if it's not going to happen within a month, I will forget about it.)

But this year, I am trying to make some concrete resolutions that I can actually tackle. Some of them are things I pretty much have to do anyways (graduate, give birth to a baby ...), but maybe those are the best kind for me. ;)

I also think I'll have smaller resolutions month by month ... in other words a monthly "to do" list. But I'd rather think of these things as resolutions. :)

Recently I joined Pinterest, and I started a board there for my craft-specific resolutions, which I will now post here. (Non-crafty resolutions will come in another post so this doesn't get too terribly long!)


Knitting

In 2012, I want to knit:

-baby sweaters
-a baby blanket
-a sweater for myself
-a shawl for Nicole
-lots of hexipuffs
-an afghan

I also want to learn brioche, and possibly entrelac.

I imagine/hope I shall knit more than just these things, but those are the resolutions. :)


Crochet

I want to learn to crochet this year. I am pretty sure that knitting will always be my first love, because I simply like the way it looks better, I feel that it can produce things that crochet can't (crocheted socks just look odd to me!), and because I am fairly good at it (I can't lie--this is an important factor). But knitting cannot reproduce the structural quality of granny squares:



or pretty lace-covered rocks (believe me I've thought a lot about this and I don't think it's possible with knitting):



so obviously I must learn to crochet.

The problem is, see, that I am a perfectionist. I have always loved taking on new crafts (scrapbooking, polymer clay, beading, wire jewelry), and I will love them for a while and then leave them. Knitting hasn't been like this for me, and if I try to psychoanalyze myself--apart from the need to create something tactile and beautiful, and the feel of yarn and needles in my hands--I think it's because I knit and can make mistakes and it still looks good.

Beginner-level projects bore me. I know that I won't be able to make those lovely rocks right away; I've had to make some crochet chains for a few projects and they haven't exactly been pretty. But my mom picked me up some crochet hooks of varying sizes at an estate sale ... so I'm resolved to be patient with myself and really try to learn.


Sewing

I GOT A SEWING MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS. I have no idea how to thread it and set it up yet, but this year I will learn to use it, and I will MAKE THINGS. Specifically:

-curtains
-knitting needle cases
-a mobile?



I may be getting ahead of myself.


Other crafty possibilities:

-I would like to work with felt, make something simple but pretty like these leaves.(Or these--but again, I am too ambitious.) One of my many loved-then-left hobbies was needle felting, which I wasn't very good at; but this year I'd like to buy some nice, wool felt and make things with it.

-I also keep seeing these awesome embroidery projects. Here is another case of perfectionism: I used to do cross-stitch (one of my projects is hanging in my parents' house), but the thought of taking that up simply doesn't grab my interest. It's all these beautiful things I see online that are way out of my range of talent. So perhaps my embroidery will be limited to things like the leaves. We'll see!