A Quick catch-up

Well there hasn't been much action here has there? That's probably because I've been pre-occupied with sorting my life out and dealing with the various complications that are part and parcel of a major life-changing decision.

Stress and depression are brutal companions and hang around like unwanted friends. No matter how hard you try to be nice to them to keep them in check, they just keep niggling you, teasing you, mistreating you like only a real enemy can, albeit using psychological weapons.

I've been struggling with a situation at work for almost a year now. It's a situation that has crept up on me and that, although I've been aware of, could not put into words until recently, when it was almost too late for my sanity. When I did speak up, I began another struggle that is almost as stressful as the situation itself. As a result, I have taken control of my life and am now calling the shots, or at least trying to! I have sold my house (the sold sign is there for all to see) and I have a flight booked on the 31 May to Perth. My previous plan of visiting my brother and his wife in Tasmania on the way may have to be shelved for now.

In between the cleaning, de-junking and dealing with the work situation, I've still found time to create. I've made several more hats, and have returned to knitting, which even I find hard to ignore in the cooler months. I have a chunky jacket on the go, which I'll put details up for later. I've also made a gorgeous turtle neck jumper for my eldest granddaughter, Zoe. I found the pattern here

http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/kidsturtleneck.htm

I haven't tried it on Zoe yet, but will post another pic once I've done that.

I used Sean Sheep Elmswood in Multi Grey colour. The actual colour has some mauve tones as well, which softens the blackness. Needles were 8mm and tension was pretty much the same as the original, although the height tension was a little different. This would explain why my version is a different ratio of sleeve length to body length to the original.

I think I used 6 balls! If you are using this yarn I would suggest buying an extra ball just in case. I forgot to write down exactly how many I used and I've lost the docket from when I bought the yarn from BigW. It worked out to 3 balls for the body, 2 for the arms and 1 for the neck.

One thing I tried and loved was using 2 circular needles to make the neck in the round. Why? I sewed up both shoulders before realising the pattern called for the neck to be knitted using straight needles. I used 4dpns and my circular for a while to make up the needle numbers, then thought “Sod it!” I'll just try the 2 circular method. One Youtube tutorial later

and there was my neckline! Brilliant! I'm now itching to have another go at socks using the circulars. But that's another blog!

Next time I will show you the sleeveless hoodie I made my 2yo Grandson, Connor, and the crocheted satched that is in progress. I'll also fill in some of the gaps around the stress and depression situation if I have time, although I believe that is a blog in itself.

Cheers!

A quick note...

I've just re-jigged my blog because I realised that it makes more sense to use a more relevant name in my blog url. As I've said before, although I'm a bit of a net nerd, I'm new to this blogging lark. I have 2 followers on my original blog but can't figure out how to transfer them to this one. I'm not even sure if that can be done...oh well, here's hoping they find me soon! I guess I can put a post up in the old blog to let people know where I am from now.

Anyway, I will post a crochet article in the next couple of days...tales of my latest wool buying.

Hats, hats and more hats

I was going through my big bag of crocheted hats today, picking some out to list on Oztion. Some of the hats may become re-works so I won't be selling them. I really love making small items like hats and bags. I can finish them quickly (average hat takes an hour) which gives me a great sense of achievement and if I or one of my family need a particular colour or style I can make them up that day...very convenient.

I mentioned in an earlier post that crochet is wonderful therapy for me. On reflection, I think my latest hat making frenzy is providing me with some emotional relief, due to a situation I am facing at work. I won't go into details, but I'm currently on stress leave. I actually couldn't pick up my hook at all on Monday, which is almost unheard of for me! I think I'm getting my crochet mojo back though...I've been working on another market bag and whipped up a quick beanie last night...although said beanie was pretty bloody awful! I do hate it when you use the same brand of wool for 2 hats but one turns out a different size from the other! I used Carnival Effects from Big W. The last one I used was quite soft but this one is much firmer, so the hat is bigger, stiffer and just yuk...might have to turn it into some squares for an afghan.

Here are some pics of my recent works – I will be adding patterns soon. I'm still working on getting them technically correct, so anyone who uses them doesn't end up with the world's weirdest shaped hat, which is what happened to me the other week!

Some of my designs are based on hats that I already own and have adapted for local yarns. Some are similar to those that you see on the numerous free pattern sites on the internet. If I have made something using the exact pattern I will be sure to link to the pattern author's site/blog, otherwise I will start putting my patterns up soon. They are all pretty much what you would see on other sites, with the emphasis on using locally available yarns.


Baby beanie...I love babies in beanies! They look so cute! This one will fit birth – 3 months and was made from some baby acrylic that started life as a pram cover. I think it was 8ply and I used a 5mm hook. Again that's a guestimation...I must start documenting patterns as soon as I make them, instead of trying to remember 2 weeks after the fact....oh well...


Lady's cotton/acrylic blend beanie. This is sooo soft, it's gorgeous. A little tricky to work with but bearable for such a small item. The colour changes are hard to see in the picture but the crown is blue tones, turning more to grey as you reach the brim. Had I been making something bigger, you would have seen pink tones creeping in as well. The yarn was Panda Fuchsia, which was at Big W for $2 a ball....1 hat uses ¾ of a ball. Funnily enough this one isn't listed on the Panda site, so I'm not sure if it is discontinued or so new it hasn't been added yet.


Last one for now...Crimson variegated newsboy cap. I have spent a LOT of time getting my head around the circular increase mixed with Front Post Treble stitch thing. Lord knows why, as it's not really that hard. I've pretty much nailed it now which is great, as I'm itching to make some more berets and newsboys using different combinations of stitches. I will knit a couple as well, as I love the ones with cables, but that will take longer and I'm becoming addicted to the fast turnover of crochet. The brim looks unnaturally huge but that is just the way I photographed it. I haven't tried making the stiff brims yet, but have a couple of 2litre milk bottles lined up ready to cut templates from.

Crochet as Therapy

Actually, the title should be as *insert craft name here *therapy, shouldn’t it? The principles apply to any craft or hobby you do that gives you pleasure and takes you away from stress and tension. I know much has been said about this from both a medical and psychological viewpoint, but as is my right as a Blogger, I’m putting my 2 cents worth in!

When my marriage ended in 1998 I moved myself and the children to Perth, Western Australia. I had never lived there before, having spent most of my life in Canberra, some 3000 miles east. When I look back on it, it was a pretty bold move, but at the time that was my only option.

For most of the next year I spent many hours crocheting rugs. It felt like a bit of an obsession, from deciding on the colours, to which squares to use, to which brand of wool. That very much depended on the budget, which was almost non-existent, so acrylic invariably won the day.

Apart from being able to give the kids some warm blankets, it gave me time to clear my mind of much of the negativity that was swirling around my head. I think I was suffering from depression, which I was later diagnosed with, but at the time I just expected to feel empty and worn out. Looking back I can recognise other symptoms, like not wanting to leave the house/answer the phone/engage with people. I am much more aware of the symptoms now and am managing them better.

I had another period of intensive crafting a couple of years later. My father was dying and I couldn’t be with him, as he was still in Canberra. I wasn’t working at that time, due to the ratbaggery of my children’s behaviour. I needed to be on hand to make sure they got to school every day and then came home once in a while! I was more into Cross Stitch at that time, and I made many lovely pictures for anyone who wanted one. I mainly made small items, as it gave me a sense of achievement.

I still have a couple of the crochet rugs I made all those years ago. When I look at them now I can see where I could have done a better job, especially weaving in the ends. I have tried sewing them in and crocheting them in but little endy bits still tend to wiggle out from time to time. I won’t say I’ve cracked how to stop that from happening, but I’ve found that when I sew the ends in firmly, going back and forth several times over a few centimetres, the ends stay put. This is all good for small items, but a big-a***d blanket is a pain! I try to set aside a non-hook night once in a while to do these housekeeping tasks. If anyone reading this has their own method of fixing ends, feel free to add your comments…all are welcome. I have tried crocheting them in, sewing them in, just cutting them off…

I am now back into the crochet obsession space! This time, I am concentrating on hats, bags, scarves and the occasional rug. Again, being able to make a hat in a couple of hours is hugely satisfying. I am also selling some of my hats so I’m trying to keep a bit of a supply handy. I only sell online at the moment, on OZTION, which is an Australian auction site. I’m not keen on selling at markets but I’m happy to make something for friends, family. My daughter wears some of my work and has had some interest from her workmates, so that could be another source of extra cash. The nice part of my current activity is that I am doing it as much for pure enjoyment as much as stress relief and I can identify it as just that...a nice feeling.

When I put all this into perspective, I can see 2 angles to all this mad crocheting. Yes, there is the therapy...when I am feeling lost and not so clever in real life, I immerse myself in the colour matching, pattern browsing and creative process. It allows me to free my mind from the stresses that are always around me and to focus on one thing instead of the flurry of thoughts that are usually present.

It also lets me just admire something that is beautiful and that was my creation. Not a lot beats that.

Here is a pic of my eldest granddaughter Zoe wearing her beret, barray as she calls it! She has been asking me to make one for a while and I finally got around to it yesterday, during her and her sister's weekly sleepover at Grandma's house. When I put it on her she had a bit of a grump. It turns out she wasn't keen on the colour, and would have preferred a green version! So, when she pops round today she can take delivery of her little green barray!

The curse of the wool snob

Opening disclaimer – Whilst I respect the use of the American term “yarn” to describe all kinds of knitting/crochet fibres, I'm afraid my brain naturally gravitates towards the term “wool”. I know this term isn't as all-encompassing as the word yarn, but it makes more sense to me. I have Anglo-Australian heritage, and most of us speak “Wool”. So, bear with me and feel free to adjust your personal mindset, while I revert to form and use the term wool for most of the time (unless I forgot to edit or it just happens to fit).

Ahhh...that's better! Which brings me to today's little ramble...or should that be yarn?! Once upon a time the only fibre you had to knit with was wool. Good ole dependable wool. Warm, smelt nice, great insulator, somewhat waterproof, just don't stick it in a washing machine unless you want your size 14 cardie (Australian women's average dress size) to turn into a dolly coat.

Knitting was for many a necessity. I'm amazed at how women could knit so many garments using extremely fine wool, given that there weren't any time-saving appliances like we have today and time must have been at a premium. Limited choice of colours and plys ensured that knitting was for practical reasons more than glamour and decoration.

After the Second World War, knitting, like all types of fashion, became more glamorous and yarns (see it makes sense here!) were produced in a wider range of colours. This was all fine until the evil 80s, the decade where the hole in the ozone layer opened wider every time a teenager did their hair (figure it out!). The market was flooded with cheap imported machine knitted garments and the craft all but died. To be honest, when I flick through old patterns in my local opshop and stumble across a garish picture knit with huge shoulder pads, I can see why.

Bring on the noughties! The 21st century has given us the widest selection of yarns in history. We can now knit and crochet with angora, bamboo, synthetics that are as soft as silk (and machine-washable to boot) to name just a few. As for patterns, there is one for pretty much anything you can imagine. A quick google search for knitting or crochet patterns will keep you entertained for hours browsing through the hundreds of pages of hits. Go to YouTube and type in knitting, crochet, or even a stitch name, and you can watch video tutorials while you stitch along. I'm happy to admit that I've learned and re-learned so much by watching Youtube. Give it a go if you haven't already.

Now you would think that with the huge variety of fibres available, we would all be greedily building monumental stashes, and dreaming of piling all those balls of wool in the middle of a room and doing a swan dive right in the middle! And yes, there are some of us who try all sorts of fibres and textures just because we can. Then there is....pause....the wool snob! Yes, there live, amongst us, and not afraid to shout it from the rooftop, those dedicated souls who refuse to use anything else but that exclusive Tibetan hand spun, infused with essential oils mountain Yak wool. Marry this with a pair of responsibly farmed bamboo needles and you are in wool snob heaven.

Now, you may think I'm being harsh, and yes, you are right, I am. And with good reason. If we are to bring the humble crafts of knitting and crochet back to the masses, we don't need to scare them off by showing them a 5g ball of this wonderous fluff with a $100 per ball price tag now do we? By all means, when you have managed to knit more stitches than drop, sure, go ahead and impress all your girlfriends with the latest wool bling, but please, don't forget the more humble acrylics, acrylic blends, and of course, the fibre that started it all – good old, honest wool. Not yarn, wool.

What is so special about hand-crafted items?

Who really cares if a baby hat is handmade or bought from a chain store? What does it matter if someone has spent hours crafting an item when it will be discarded after the child grows out of it or when the item is no longer in fashion?

The reality is that we should all care. The growing global financial crisis is making many people stop and think about what they are spending their money on, and where that money is going.

There has been endless debate about the merits of buying locally vs imported, and the difficulties many people face trying to justify the increased cost of locally produced goods when money is tight. I’m not touching that argument with a barge pole! Instead, I’d like to tell you why I think handmade items will always be better value, both in money and personal terms. And who knows? Directing our focus to handmade items could herald the start of a revolution in how we buy and value our possessions.

Family heirlooms – this doesn't have to be a christening gown or expensive jewellery. It can be a jumper, rug, hat, anything that gave you pleasure as you created it and can be passed down the line. I wrote in an earlier post about a jacket I made for my first daughter. It is now waiting to be worn by her youngest son, making him the 7^th person in 20 years to wear it.

Dressing the kids – When my brood were at school I made most of their school uniforms and a fair stack of play clothes as well. I found this a great money saver, as I would buy material when it was on sale, then store it away for making into jumpers and pants. Leftovers made little outfits for my son who was then only a baby, and my twin girls even had outfits for their dollies! My eldest girl didn't usually benefit from the doll couture...it's hard to make an outfit to suit a doll whose head has been ripped off! This girl now has 3 children of her own. The 2 girls love dollies and adore pink – revenge is sweet!

Anyway, I digress. My kids and grandkids now line up to receive hats, bags, scarves, jumpers, whatever takes my fancy at the time. I do believe my sewing days are mostly over though, due to lack of space, lack of enthusiasm and lack of time due to the crocheting and knitting! I do use the machine for sewing linings for my bags, but to be honest, I only set the machine up for the first time in...well...nearly 10 years? Wow...

Following fashion on the cheap– I love the way you can re-create many fashion items with yarn. I was watching an episode of Sex and the City where Carrie was wearing a knitted (or crocheted, can't quite remember, but I'm pretty sure it was pink lol) newsboy cap. That was the start of my newsboy obsession. I have done extensive research courtesy of Google and found quite a few patterns that I love. Here are a couple of my favourites -

Mimi's Warm Cap with Brim

South Bay Crochet Beret with Brim

I also browse Etsy most days searching for inspiration.

(I haven't been blogging for long so forgive me if I should have used a different technique for linking to these pages....I'm an IT person during the day so I'm sure I'll figure it out!)

I am currently working on several hats and adapting the patterns for local yarns. I have talked about this a little in an earlier post, but will be going into some more detail and adding a few of my own designs as I develop them.

There are a million other reasons to support handcrafters, too many for me to go into here. I'm not for one minute suggesting that the handmade revolution will take over the corporate world or drive large stores out of business. The best thing for me is when someone admires something that I'm wearing and I can tell them “It's one of my own creations!”

Market Bag

It wasn't until I piled up all of my recent projects that I realised just how busy I'd been! I've amassed a large number of hats and quite a few bags as well. I will show them here and try to link to any sites where I found the patterns. For now here is the way I made my first market bag.

Market Bag

I made this one up myself, based on various similar patterns. I just started with 90 chain (I think), double crochet (single crochet if you are American) across the chain then back across the chain again using the other half of the loop about 8 times to make the bag base.

I then did a 4 chain 1 treble (DC) miss 3 dc (SC) all round, then continued with 4ch 1tr (DC) in each chain loop until the bag was as long as I wanted.

The next step was to dc (SC) 3 in each loop then 1 in the tr (DC) all round, continuing until I was happy with the finished height. Last step was to find the middle of the bag, pick up and dc (SC) 10 stitches, carry on until strap was as long as I wanted, then run a line of dc(SC) around handle and top of bag. Pretty easy really!

The yarn I used is a ribbony, slightly shiny one. It was from Lincraft and was in one of those cheap multi-packs of 5 balls for $5.00. Because I'm not sure what the composition is, I will be hand-washing only. If you want to have a go at making one yourself, add a comment and I will supply the pattern in a more accurate way.