It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 9: So Many Projects, So Little Time. (Oh well - I almost made it rhyme!)

[Fairislefandango]

A thread for woolly crafters of all types and levels.
Previous thread here

@InTheNightWeWillWish I could really feel your pain as you wrote that, but you made it funny, I’m glad the sloth is finished and out of your life

Glad the inspection went well @Fairislefandango!

That sounds lovely @StillNiceCardigan! What kind of stuff did the yarn store sell? Was it super fancy or is just much more expensive in the US?

We’re bailing on my cousins wedding as it’s a bit soon for mum after her op and the food they’ve planned isn’t anything she can eat. I was only going with her because she would have gone with my dad so I’m off the hook too. Slightly regretting the wool shops but ah well!

Hi, everyone - I've been AWOL for a while because I'm still doing battle trying to attach the damn handle to my bag without a horrible ridge with zero success. Every time I take it back and try again, it looks messier because the stitches are stretching.

So, I've decided to step away and either do the other handle or (more likely) a couple of other projects - a striped mug sleeve for takeaway coffee cups, and a cowl-type thing worked double stranded - while I calm down.

Poncho will happen, but not for a while - I'm going to ask for the yarn for Christmas.

@InTheNightWeWillWish if you can beat the sloth, I can beat the bag handles or just decide to ignore the ridge!

Oh no @QuantumWeatherButterfly! could you completely ignore the instructions and sew it with some kind of whip stitch to join them? That would give it a nice strong edge.

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound There was a huge variety of yarn but the cheapest balls were about the equivalent of £10 and I think they were less than 100g. The US is very expensive generally as they have inflation and the current exchange rate is terrible. There was lots of beautiful hand spun yarn in the market in Seattle too but I didn’t dare look how much that was!

We’re back home now and I’m working out my colours for my temperature blanket catch up then I will decide on an autumn project but definitely no sloths or anything with a handle

@QuantumWeatherButterfly it’s a battle between not getting more and more frustrated and just wanting to get it over and done with. Hopefully a bit of space from the bag will help. Maybe put a dc rim around the top of the stitches to sort out those that have stretched, then try the straps again.

@StillNiceCardigan I’m so far behind on my temperature blanket. It is getting to the right weather to have a big blanket on your knee though!

The bastard sloth was well received. Even though it’s sides weren’t sewn together and it was held together with stitch markers. It does take a bit of my resentment away. But not much. My friend is due her baby in the next few weeks! She’s 37 weeks so he could arrive at any point… and I’ve lost one of the squares for his blanket. I originally did a 4x3 blanket but one set of squares isn’t lying flat (even after blocking) and it was pulling the rest of the blanket out. So I’ve taken those ones out but I’ve lost one of my good squares. It’s all stitched together and I’ve done 3 sides of the first round of the border while I keep trying to find it and I’ve got as far as I can now. I either need to accept it’s gone where the lidless tupperwares go and make a new one (playing yarn chicken) or abandon the blanket and go for a cardigan and hat combo in different yarn. I think it’s going to have to be do a new square because I’d used (what I thought were) the scraps of that yarn so my friend has wrist warmers in the same colours.

It looks like I'm going to have to learn crochet. One of the guys we're really trying to keep in school really wants to learn. She doesn't want to do any of the crafts I actually can do. So, from zero to simple amurigami- realistically how long might it take me?

@MerylSqueak going from crochet and trying to learn to knit, the tension is done with the opposite hand. So you might struggle with that. I’ve had to practice continental knitting, so you might need to do left handed crochet. There are various blogs about how to learn after you’ve already learnt one.

One thing to note with crochet is different terminology between US and UK so you need to check which terms your pattern is in. Amigurumi can be relatively simple though because most only use one stitch - the single crochet if a US pattern or double crochet if UK (it’s the same stitch). You’ll just need to increase and decrease the stitches. Amigurumi isn’t flat so you also aren’t going to see any wobbles. I started with Bella Coco’s granny square and it took me maybe 6 hours (for a 20 minute video). I think she also does amigurumi tutorials though. I would probably start with a cotton aran yarn as your stitches will be easier to see. I prefer to work quite tightly with amigurumi but for your first few, work with the recommended hook size, there’ll be some gaps in the amigurumi and you might be able to see the stuffing to begin with but that’s fine for a first one. You might want to also look up using yarn scraps as stitch markers for amigurumi, that will mean you don’t have to undo the whole thing if your get a round wrong.

Thank you. I haven't yet taken the plunge but it's coming although I have little enough time for knitting as it is...

I learned crochet after knitting and I didn't find it very hard (and I wouldn't say I'm a natural at crafts!). The only thing that I found it hard to get my head around at first was the concept of the 'turning chain' , which is why I stuck with granny squares for ages before braving crocheting in rows! I think it's probably harder to go from crochet to knitting!

Well I've found a way to fit a bit more crafting into my busy schedule- I'm starting a lunch time knitting and crochet club at school!

Oh that sounds good @Fairislefandango!

I'm sat here with my temperature blanket on my knee but I'm too tired to actually do any knitting. I keep waking up at weird times and that combined with commuting into London for the last three days means I'm knackered. I'm certainly back to reality with a bang after being on holiday.

I get to work at home tomorrow so can have a bit of a lie in thank goodness.

Thanks for your advice about crochet. I am yet to begin as I am overwhelmed with all the new things I have to teach. I'm sure they're all fine ultimately but it's all new.

@MerylSqueak I tried to learn a few times and always gave up frustrated. Bella Coco videos are just the best - well paced, so clearly explained and great close up images. She has a whole series for beginners covering the different stitches. They are great!

I found the way people hold the crochet hook in videos really hard to copy. Apparently I crochet like a knitter and that’s why it all looks so weird to me! I find written instructions and charts easier to follow than videos.

I'm the same @StillNiceCardigan , I don't get on with videos at all. I'm not sure how I crochet, I'm not a knitter but a friend who also crochets says she's never seen anyone crochet like I do!

I think I probably crochet like a knitter too!
Sympathies on the overwhelm, @MerylSqueak. I feel a bit the same. I've gone in to start a class and inadvertently greeted them in the wrong language teice so far!
On the upside, knitting and crochet club is go! Posters up, notice in the student bulletin. I've mentioned it to a few of my classes and a few girls in each class are very interested, so multiply that by a lot of classes and I may have quite a crowd! I'm wondering about asking the lovely owner of Northern Yarn if she'd like to come and do a little talk for us one week. Her shop is about 30 seconds' walk from school and she might drum up some customers!

My mum said to me she's never seen anyone crochet how I do 😂
A crochet and knitting club at school sounds so good! I would've loved that!

It's funny how differently people do both knitting and crochet! My knitter friend got a set of beautiful, expensive Chiaogoo interchangeable circular knitting needles for her birthday (having never used circulars before) and had to return them. She just couldn't deal with them because she normally only ever uses the really long straight needles, with the end tucked under her arm!

@Fairislefandango my mum struggles with circular needles for that exact reason! And because she taught me, that's how I do it too. Or at least, that's how I attempt to do it given I am a knitting failure!

I am very sad none of the girls I work with want to go to knitting club or be taught to knit. They all want flipping crochet. I blame you amurigami!

@MerylSqueak but amigurumi is cute! I actually like amigurumi because it is mostly one stitch and most patterns have a very similar pattern, it’s just increasing and decreasing at different points. So once you’ve got the hang of amigurumi you can pretty much do any amigurumi pattern. That’s probably not helping though!

I don’t like how long my needles are when knitting, my puts them under her arm but that doesn’t work for me going from crochet to knitting. Maybe I need to try circulars. I actually need to do some knitting - I’ve had so much crochet to do, I’ve neglected my attempt to learn to knitting. The bastard sloth was stuffed and sewn up by the 8 year old (with some supervision from grandma). It actually looks quite cute now 😂 I’ve nearly finished my friend’s baby blanket - about half the final round of the border to do - and her matching wrist warmers - bar sewing up. I’ve been cracking on with my mum’s blanket and that’s coming along nicely, except I’ve lost the pink ball and I’ve come to a bit of a stop on that now. However, with granny squares and wrist warmers that change colour every row - I have a lot of ends to sew in. I think I need a weekend of self discipline!

Circulars are fab! Apparently some people aways use them instead of straights, even when they are knitting flat.

at flipping amigurumi! It's not really my cup of tea either. I expect some of the girls who come to my club will be doing it though! Hopefully there will be other club members who know how to do it so that they can teach any newbies. I'm happy to teach people the basics of knitting and crochet, but amigurumi not so much... I very much admire other people's cute creations, I just don't really do cute myself

So far, I don't love amigurumi. I find it too fiddly - tiny hooks, cotton yarn with no give. Unfortunately DD7 things it's amazing, and every time I pick up my hook to make something I will actually enjoy, asks me when I'm making something else for her. So far, I've done an octopus, and I have half a cactus hiding somewhere in my craft bag.

I quite like amigurumi but I don’t really have a need for more cutesy things round the house and I don’t have a small child who would appreciate it. I might do some Christmas stuff though. I saw a pattern for some gingerbread people last year that looked fun to make.

I love amigurumi! Even with the tiny hooks and stiff cotton yarn.

Here's the start of the Nativity set. A shepherd. I've also made bits of clothing for other characters. But now I've run out of stuffing. I knew I was running low but forgot to bloody order some. Hobbycraft is only a 15 min walk away but I've had flu. Might go tomorrow after church.