So, crochet…

The skills needed to do crochet have long eluded me. I can make a simple square or perhaps scarf (if I really tried), but my tension is so TIGHT that after awhile I can no longer even get my hook through the stitches to continue working on the project.

Me + Crochet = Strangulation!

Honestly, my inability to figure out tension while crocheting is probably the reason that I gave up the hooks and went with needles instead. Of course, this also gave me the opportunity to really dig into knitting as a craft… I went from barely being able to hold my needles to knitting up wearable pieces, baby blankets and Baby Yoda!

Why did I pick up the hook again?

Well, my sister (enabler that she is) gifted me with two craft magazines (one for knitting and the other for crochet) which included kind of a beginner’s project complete with yarn and little, plastic hook. I struggled for way to long trying to follow the pattern using the included hook and yarn before deciding that perhaps better quality materials were called for.

Purchasing better yarn DID indeed help and I used the size E 3.5mm Boye hook I had from previous crochet attempts.

However, no matter how closely I followed the pattern or how many tutorials I watched, what I was creating looked NOTHING like the picture!

…turns out that the US has different terms for crochet techniques than, say, the UK and the double crochet I was trying to make was actually a triple crochet!

Once I figured that snafu out, things seemed to progress pretty quickly. My stitches were super uniform and I was able to crochet the head in no time at all! It’s also nice that this yarn is so soft, because it meant I was looked forward to working with it. 🙂

As the project continued, I was having a surprising amount of discomfort, from bruised fingers to stiff/sore joints, so I made the decision to splurge a little and upgrade my crochet hook from a regular Boye one to an ergonomic Clover one from the Amour line… and it is amazing! Truly, from the first stitch, I was hooked! …unintentional pun, lol.

I finished little Miss Kitty here soon thereafter, working on her skirt, limbs, and accessories while watching YouTube or winding down before bed and before I knew it, she was ready for her photo shoot!

Many thanks to my sister, who was kind enough to take pictures for me, since mine always seem to be super boring and she seems to have an eye for these things, lol.

As I don’t really have a need for handmade, stuffed animals, I will be giving Miss Kitty a new home where she will (hopefully) live a long, happy life.

Of note, I live streamed my attempts to learn crochet while working on this ballet cat and one of my viewers asked if I took commissions! I’d never taken a commission before, but they were very kind, explaining that a family of three cats would make a wonderful Christmas present for their children.

Before I agreed to take the commission, I thought long and hard about the request… did I want to make money from a hobby? Or did I want to keep things chill? Ultimately, I did agree to take the commission, mostly because I think it’s a sweet idea to have matching gifts for siblings and because I would have loved getting something that someone made just for me! In fact, I have received handmade gifts and they are some of my most cherished.

Believe it or not, at the time of writing this blog post, I have the one commission for three cats (2 ballet girl cats and 1 boy cat) as well as another commission from a good friend for an elephant and an owl!

Time will only tell, but making stuffed animals might just be my niche in the crochet world, lol.

Is there some craft or hobby that eludes you?

Over the last few months, I’ve had a number of projects that one might consider ‘knitting in the wild’ or knitting in a public space. I remember hearing once that there was some kind of stigma about knitting or crocheting in public, but I have not personally experienced this.

Most of the time, when I’m working on something while in public, I’ll catch the odd interested glance from an adult or the awestruck stare from a child or teen. They all appear to think my chosen form of craft is pretty darn cool!

Knitting in public has been a great conversation starter with strangers in the airport, the park, a parking lot, the grocery store and more! People just really want to know what you’re making and they all seem to think it’s magic.

I’ll let you in on a secret… knitting IS, in fact, magic. 😉

One of the first difficult projects I attempted was a stuffed facehugger from the Alien movies that I was knitting up as a gift for a friend. I cast on while on a flight to Pittsburgh in 2019 and worked on it a little as I had spare time during the trip. Turns out that as soon as you finish knitting up the body, you need to stuff it! And I had no stuffing.

After scouring a number of gift shops in the terminal, I came across a stuffed pumpkin in a candy store that was in the discount bin because it had gotten chocolate spilled on him. Poor thing! And his story was only going to get worse… I purchased that cute little pumpkin and then immediately tore him open to get to the stuffing inside!

I’ve since used up all his stuffing, but I turned him inside out and sent him through the wash so that I keep using him as a handy stuffing container when I’m knitting out and about. 😀

Since the day I started carrying my knitting with me, I’ve worked on a number of different projects, but I’ve discovered that the easiest things to knit in public are socks and washcloths. They knit up pretty quickly and aren’t too complicated, if I need to pause mid-project, and they are small enough to tote around.

Do you knit in public?
What’s your favorite project to take with you?