Crafting Balance 3KCBWDAY7

Today's topic is about the balance you strike between your yarn based crafts.

Well, mine is very much weighted towards crochet. I do an occasional bit of knitting. I'll often have a knitting project on the go that I pick up every now and again. This is true of the Simple Shawl

Simple Shawl

Perhaps the clue is in the title of that project, simple shawl. You see my knitting is very much at the beginner level. I can cast on, knit, purl, cast off. I have to use You Tube to remind myself how to do most other things. I struggle to get my tension right. In fact I cannot use straight needles, all my flat knitting is still done on circulars. I'm scared of double pointed needles. As much as I would love to BE a knitter, I'm just not.

My knitting is slow, no matter how much I try. I feel awkward when I knit. In comparison, crochet feels natural. I picked crochet up so much faster. I love how quickly things work up in crochet.

If I had all the time in the world I'd focus more on knitting, on improving my tension, on getting faster because there are some fantastic knitting patterns out there. The reality is that when it comes down to it I just can't make myself spend a week making a pair of bootees (yes, it did take me that long to knit bootees!) when I can make so much more if I crochet (a blanket tends to take me about 4 weeks).

 

Improving Your Skillset 3KCBWDAY6

I feel very confident in my crochet skills. I suppose I must because I teach other people. I do have a confession to make though - I have NEVER used crochet cotton. I don't have the patience to use such tiny hooks and thin thread.

I can use magic ring and foundation single crochet and often do. I can use the American terms and the British terms in the same class, switching between the two depending on which the student prefers.

But then I think about my knitting skills and I wonder how accurate it is to list skills. I can knit flat and on circulars. I can magic loop. Yet I still can't pick up dropped stitches...if I drop a stitch I have to frog it :-o

So, I shall simply list the things I'd like to learn this year:
How to pick up dropped stitches when knitting!
How to take knitting back a row (this is so simple in crochet but terrifies me in knitting)
Something new - maybe Tunisian crochet

 

FO Friday: Harmony Shawl

Usually Orla will have a nap for a couple of hours in the early afternoon and I use that time to do some studying as I really need peace and quiet for the latest course. Yesterday though she didn't nap until I was collecting Erin from school. This meant I didn't have chance to study but it also meant I had time to do a "pick up, put down every 5 minutes when I'm needed, don't need to be counting stitches" project!

I had a bit of a browse of the patterns on Ravelry. I was looking for something that was quick to make, wasn't tricky (i.e. didn't need much concentration) and was interesting.

Firstly I stopped on the CloudBurst Shawl by Tuesday Fortnite but then I spotted the Harmony Shawl by Bodhi Sasa. This is a rework of the CloudBurst Shawl, giving it a centre spine and wings. It was the shape of the Harmony Shawl that really appealed to me.

I decided to use some Fyberspates Scrumptious DK, a gorgeous blend of merino and silk, dyed in Blue Lagoon colourway that I bought quite some time ago at Baa Ram Ewe. It's lovely to work with, though winding it into a ball was a pain in the neck. It seemed to keep slipping off and I lost count of the number of times I had to rewind bits.

The pattern itself is very quick to make - it suggests 3 hours max for Worsted weight yarn and an 8mm hook. I used DK yarn and a 6mm hook so I expect mine was a little slower. The only thing it needs now is blocking. If I had a complaint to make, it's that it was easier to follow the chart than the written instructions and I don't often say that! The written instruction refer to the ch-2 space and with the little one around I hadn't taken a huge amount of notice where the ch-2 and the ch-1 spaces were.

I couldn't bring myself to do the fringing, it's not really my style so I finished on a Row 5 repeat rather than a Row 6, did a row of single crochet and then a picot edging.

I would definitely recommend the pattern for last minute gifts.

 

Craft Your Perfect Day 3KCBWWC

Ok, so I'm really struggling with Day 5's topic of finding a new way of blogging. Perhaps it's because the techie person in me wants to do something very technically challenging and the creative side of me wants to do something that's simple but creatively impressive. So, I'm doing the Wildcard option instead today!

So, what does my perfect craft day involve?

Well first off I'd love to spend it at RiversMEET, where I go to a sewing group and where I teach workshops in crochet, felting and dyeing. Not only is it a great space for crafting but I just love drinking tea from a vintage china tea cup and the lemon drizzle cake is to die for!

The whole place is so inspiring, perhaps because I got to see it being taken from a pub to this:

Secondly, my day would have to involve lots of friends who craft. We would all sit around drinking tea & coffee and eating cake (lots of cake!).

Thirdly there's be lots of crafts to do. We could do some crochet and some knitting and some sewing and quilting. We'd all share our skills. we'd read some of the books & magazines Joanne has in her craft room.

Fourthly we'd craft until late! After all, the coffee and cake is bound to keep us going late into the night...