Crochet
The scarf Ta-DaH! Planet Penny Happy Friday!!!
This week my blog post for the Happy Friday party with Planet Penny is a bit different. My favourite moment actually happened on Friday, but its Saturday before I’ve got round to blogging about it…
Over the last few weeks I have been doing a bit of knitting. This is very unusual for me as I haven’t knitted anything since before I was 20, which is errhem years ago now (31 actually). I learned to knit when I was in my teens and my mum was an avid knitter, making lovely wearables and doing intarsia, cables and machine knitting. She was very accomplished and enjoyed the process, but I never really got to like it.
Learning even the basics seemed tricky and I always ended up with stitches that were too tight. I much preferred crochet but even this got put aside as career, work and children took over my time.
Fast forward to 2015
Crochet and many other creative activities are now a major part of my life. I love making things and learning new skills and had dabbled with a few thoughts of knitting at various times during 2014. The big impetus to start something was a request from my daughter to make a hand knitted scarf like one she had seen in TopShop but couldn’t afford. I was also inspired by reading about the work of Vanessa Cabban of the blog “Do you mind if I knit?” after her tragic death late last year.
So, three weeks ago today I started the moss stitch scarf, casting on 33 stitches of chunky Stylecraft in a lovely burnt orange shade (its called copper) with the goal of knitting 20 rows each day. Surprisingly I kept to this and was pleased to see the scarf growing at a rate of about 10cm (4 inches) daily. The more it grew, the keener I was to keep up the rows.
A little Ta-Dah! moment!
A long, long scarf
The trouble was, my daughter wanted this scarf to wrap around her neck TWICE and still hang down to her waist. Calculations, not matter how I re-did them, told me that I had to make a scarf 2.5 metres long.
And I was under time pressure. She is studying in Boston USA this year and its freezing there. They have just had one of the worst blizzards ever – around 3 feet of snow. The scarf will be useful now, but it won’t be in two months time, so I had to get a shift on.
Happy Friday!
During the early part of the week I resolved to up the ante and do 25 or even 30 rows each day. I was even knitting a few rows in bed before the day started. Then doing some more at lunchtime. Tthen more in the evening.
I have to admit that I got a bit bored and fed up and can’t imagine just knitting. The daily rows were do-able and bearable only if I had some other crafting activity to look forward to when I had finished the rows. Even if that was sewing two squares of material together for my patchwork cushion or making just one hexagon for my chunky crochet blanket, it was incentive enough.
On Friday I reached the happy moment of the Casting Off. Then sewing in the ends. Then just adding a very small decorative border with – yes, you’ve guessed it – crochet! Weaving in the last end was one of the best Happy Friday moments so far!!!
The big Happy Friday Ta-Dah! moment
Will I knit again?
Yesterday I said not. But I will persevere and try out smaller projects, different stitches and make things without time pressure. The scarf was easy as moss stitch is only knit 1 purl 1 but one colour got monotonous, particularly after doing other crochet projects that have plenty of colour changes and variety.
In fact, Penny of Planet Penny has very kindly sent me a link to a tutorial for knitting socks. That is something that I really have to try out – and soon 🙂
Why not pop over and see Penny’s Happy Friday moment and see what the other bloggers joining in have been up to:
You did a great job, love the colour, too!
Corine24
x
Thanks Corine – just packaging it up to set off to Boston!
“Work is love made visible” (Kahlil Gibran – I think). Well done!!!! I love knitting but I would struggle to do something in one stitch and one colour for that length – I take my wooly hat off to you!!!
Thank you Sandra – now the relief at having finished is wearing off a bit I am rather pleased at having knitted a scarf xx
Well done for perservering. It looks lovely and I’m sure it will keep your daughter snuggly and warm. I’m like you any basic knitting or crochet bores me silly. I love to use colour and a variety of stitches to keep my interest 🙂
Thanks for your comment! I am back to crochet this evening and working on my hexagon blanket – bliss 🙂
A real labour of love. It is gorgeous and I’m sure your daughter will love it.
Crochet has helped me rediscover my love of knitting. Now I like to keep swapping crafts.
Have a lovely weekend.
Carol xx
I hope so Carol… She is notoriously fussy!!! Thanks for coming over the visit the blog xxx
Hooray! What an achievement…I’m not terribly good at keeping my enthusiasm going for a big project. There have to be lots of colours or different stitches so I know how had it is too keep going. The things we do for our children! Worth it in the end though, it looks gorgeous. Thanks for joining in with Happy Friday x
Well, Penny, I hope she likes it because it took hours and hours… Enjoying Happy Friday, thanks for the idea xxx