It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 10: New Year, New Yarn, New Thread!

[QuantumWeatherButterfly]

Time for a new thread for all the lovely yarn crafters!

Old thread here: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/artsandcrafts/4557189-its-crochet-knit-natter-9-so-many-projects-so-little-time-oh-well-i-almost-made-it-rhymee_

Thank you for the new thread. I have been starting a temperature blanket today seen some fantastic ones online so interested how it will develop.

Hello! I’m doing the “at yarns length” blanket KAL, it’s my first and I am pretty convinced I won’t be able to keep up, but I’m going to try…

Checking in thanks for the new thread!

Hello! I'm new to this thread but would love to follow along. I'm currently making a mermaid toy for my little girl.

It's taken me a few months so far but am now back on it and have nearly finished the body ready to start on the clothes.

Really looking forward to seeing everyone else's creations.

Ooh can I join? I'm halfway through a blanket for DH but I messed up tensions so am not happy with it but also don't have the heart to frog so it's in the naughty corner. DH won't care and would like it finished so need to crack on as when it's in use no one will know.

I’m waiting for my wool to be delivered to start a temperature blanket. Still deciding what length to do the starting chain.

Thanks for the new thread, @QuantumWeatherButterfly ! Lovely to see some new faces too! Amazing mermaid @Sunrun!

I am determined to choose and maybe even cast on a new project with my handspun alpaca tomorrow, even though I have lots to do before going back to work the next day!

Yes, lovely to have some new joiners! Welcome, everyone!

I've had an excellent start to the New Year, DCs played nicely with their cousins all days so I spent hours with my crochet. As a result, the body, bottom welt and collar of my kids Granny-Go-Round jumper are done. Just the sleeves and some sewing in to do!

I'm feeling very accomplished. Mostly, the instructions are clear but the ones for the collar are a bit odd - however I managed to battle through and it actually looks really good. Whether it will fit DD remains to be seen! I'm bang on the gauge, I just might have underestimated how much ease she would need. Oh well! I made the biggest size so nothing I could really have done.

Hello yarny friends. I'm sick (again) so can't concentrate on crochet. I didnt finish the nativity set. My mum got 1.5 gloves for Christmas and I'm about 5 rows into my pattern test, we should be about 80 rows in according to the time scale. Oh well.

Ooo @Sunrun I love her patterns. I almost finished a doll a couple of years ago, I got to where the eyes would be and found a mistake on the ankle. So I frogged it all!

Checking in. Thanks for the new thread.
Happy New Year everyone.
My first project for the year is to finish my Attic 24 Dune blanket. I think i started & abandoned it about 2 years ago after about 10 or so rows. I had to buy 2 of the colours again as i had raided them for other projects.

I think I might make this hat with my handspun alpaca. Under the projects tab, there's one that someone made in a brown/cream mix like mine, with a fur bobble (which I already have).

Hi just stumbled on this thread, coincidence as I just started a crochet project tonight. Been a few years since I last had a go at something. Making one of these hanging baskets with t-shirt yarn so nice and chunky.
Had to google a bit to remind myself of the stitches and need to dig out my stitch markers or I'm quickly going to lose count!

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/810295555/

Checking into the new thread ☺️
Lovely to see some new people here too!
I love that mermaid @Sunrun

Checking in on the new thread and always lovely to have some fresh faces!

I’m really not happy with it. If it hadn’t been for my mum specifically requesting this one, I’d have frogged it and turned it into something else. But my mum loves and DD loves it, so I imagine when we visit my mum DD will be snuggled under it with my mum which will also make my happy so I guess that’s all that matters.

It’s beautiful and the snuggles will make it even more beautiful

Oh it's great @WeCanLiveLikeJackAndSally so bright and cheerful! So sweet that your DD loves it too!

Hi everyone! Stumbled across this thread. I've been crocheting since 2020 lockdown, self taught. I mainly make amigurami toys for my dd.

Can I ask where you get your inspiration for projects? I've just joined ravelry and I follow a few crocheters on instagram. Am struggling to be inspired by any projects I've seen. Anyone suggest anything??

Happy new year xx

Hi everyone
I’d love to join too.
I used to be a great knitter and am very keen to start again. I would also like to start crochet but have very little experience so will start small.
I’m intrigued by the temperature blankets. Any advice on normal versus circular needles for knitting would be most appreciated! Thanks

Sorry should say ‘for knitting blankets’

I’m not a knitter but my mum is I think the needles thing is down to personal taste from what she says. She generally doesn’t use circular needles and goes for normal ones as that’s what she is happier with.

most of my inspiration seems to come from Facebook posts which make me go “ohh” or trips to our local amazing yarn shop

Wow, brilliant - lots of new faces!
@Whyisitdarkalready - I kind of have the opposite problem tbh. There are gazillions of things I want to make, but I'm quite slow and don't have a lot of time! I don't do toys etc. I tend to only use crochet for blankets and household items. With knitting I like hats, socks and jumpers. I'm particularly keen on Fairisle, so I'm always drawn to colour work. I've got so many things favourited on Ravelry!

@Fairislefandango Yeah, I do see lots of lovely projects but as you say it's difficult to find time for bigger projects. I like smaller ones I can complete fairly quickly with only an hour a day to dedicate to crochet. I have a very active puppy who doesn't tend to lie still for long. She ran off with my ball of wool last week and unravelled my work!

@Whyisitdarkalready I’m a member of a few FB groups. I’ve gone across a few genres and also joined some that aren’t really me but just to give me a bit of a broader range of inspiration. I also have collections on Etsy and so Etsy does some of the work for me and will suggest other patterns I might like. I like having a mix of projects though, so some short, some long, some with more difficult stitches and some that are really simple. It does mean I have some abandoned WIPs which used to bother me but this is a hobby I do because I enjoy it, there’s no point forcing a pattern if I don’t enjoy it. I think when I don’t feel inspired though that’s when I’m more likely to try and do my own patterns. I’m still in the trial and error stage of working out what I want and what works.

@Whyisitdarkalready I am quite new to crochet, and I can't (really truly can't - I've tried so hard!) knit.

I've made a couple of toys and don't enjoy it, and blankets don't really appeal to me* because I strongly believe craft should be purposeful, and I don't really know anyone that wants or need blankets. So, I look mostly for garments and accessories.

Most of my inspiration comes from Facebook groups - I find Crochet UK and Hooked on Crochet UK both quite useful for this. After that, I spot quite a lot by browsing on Pinterest (although with some caution as there's no indication of pattern quality here). And if I want something specific, such as something to use a particular yarn, I use Ravelry.

I then use Pinterest to keep track of all the stuff that interests me, and pick projects from there.

*exception - I'm strongly considering taking on a stupidly big and complicated blanket as a learning exercise