Monday, March 15, 2010

Tatting Hiatus, Crochet Resurgence

It was bound to happen. I think I may have overdone the tatting lately. If I do too much of one thing, I tend to get sick of it and need a break. So, for the next two, maybe three weeks, I will be working on some crochet projects instead. But, don't go away. I will try to do a little tatting during this time; St. Patrick's Day is only a few days away. I do plan on blogging during this time, but it may only be once a week instead of twice a week, but we'll see.

The first crochet item on my todo list is a new pair of slippers. My old pair was getting pretty worn.

The pattern I used has become a favorite of mine, both for the ease of making them, but also for how nice they feel. The pattern is from Jane Davis' book Felted Crochet. The slippers are made using two strand of worsted weight (or one strand of bulky weight) wool yarn with one strand of eyelash/fur yarn. After they are crocheted, the back is sewed up, and the ends are hidden. The slippers are then tossed in the washing machine with a little soap (and possibly some baking soda) and run on a cycle or two of hot wash, cold rinse. They are then dried. Once dry, the slippers have shrunk and are now felted. As I said, I love this pattern, and since I really don't like wearing socks (when I'm at home, I have to wear socks to work), I go through at least three pairs a year. It's nice that I can make a pair in a couple of hours (usually closer to an hour and a half). I also generally keep some compatible yarn in my stash at all times.

The next item on my to do list, is, actually kind of surprising, based upon my last paragraph. It is, a pair of sox, er, socks.


Well, one sock anyway. As you can see, I'm working on the second one. I'm using a sock yarn, called Bernat Sox (no kidding!) and following a basic crochet sock pattern from the Bernat pattern book called Socks to Live In. This is the first sock I have made (crocheted or otherwise), and I think I did a pretty good job of it. I know that socks are generally knitted, but I chose to crochet these instead since I really, really, really, don't like knitting. I think that has been mentioned before. Anyway, as I mentioned, I am working on the second sock, which I think will be a bit more challenging, since I have to make it match the first one. Hopefully, I will be able to show the matched (I hope!) pair of socks in a few days.

That's it for now. I hope everyone in North America who had to change to DST has gotten used to the change. This is one of those times that I am glad that Saskatchewan doesn't switch to DST. Though we're not immune to the change; all TV shows on non-Saskatchewan channels come on an hour earlier. Don't worry about me-somehow I'll cope. Till next time.

3 comments:

  1. I know what you mean by overdoing and needing a break from a specific craft. I've usually got at least two projects going so I can switch back & forth. That tends to lead to ufo's but saves my sanity.

    I absolutely abhor DST. We had it until I was about 10 and then it went away, only to return 3 years ago. 90% of the people I talk to about it are against it. We're not sure how they managed to vote it through but we're dealing with it for now.

    And nice slippers! I tend to wear my socks for slippers in the winter.

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  2. With all your shows on earlier how will you survive? What will you do? More crochet? This comment has alot of questions marks eh?

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