My Crochet Spot

Guess I should write.

I really dont have anything to write about, i'm on the heel flap of sock #2, and it's going slow but ok. After this sock I will figure out how to correct purl by watching multiple how to videos, thats the plan anyway. I have, however, purchased 2 books and won a bid on some roving.

Spin It: Making Yarn from Scratch by Lee Raven
and
Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles: A Manual of Elegant Knitting Techniques and Patterns by Cat Bordhi

Both great to look at and seemingly useful, i'll let you know. I am excited to figure out how to knit socks on circs, it's strange to use 2 circs for 1 pair of socks, but she claims it works and Stephanie ( www.yarnharlot.ca/blog ) is in love with Cat so i'll give it a shot. I bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8278109944&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1 and have a bid out on a lot of 4 spindles. If I get that, my total will be $42 and if I split it between the 3 other gals in my little group, thats only $10 a piece which is fantastic. Not that I asked them if they would want to do this... so if not then I just spent $42 on stuff that I can only use one at a time of and then i'll just be a dork.

Since I dont really have any progress to report or pics to show i thought i'd share my crochet story.

This first part is a small area of contention, since my memory and my mothers differ slightly, though both may be right and are not mutually exclusive. When I was young - like 4 or 5, I remember being in my Grandmother (Nanny)'s house crocheting chain stitches. I went there every summer for a couple weeks and every other winter for a week, and thats what I remember about being there - crocheting chain stitches. I dont remember being taught, I just remember knowing how to do it. My mom says she taught me how but I dont remember it, and I dont remember crocheting when i was in her house, so while it may have happened that way, it didnt stick, sorry Mom.
Nanny has many crocheted afghans in her home - most products of the 70's, but beautiful and each one etched in my brain. She has made for me an afghan that is very cool and I dont know how it was made - it's red white & black wide stripes with a textured drop diamond pattern made to look like an Indian pattern. That year that I got it, my siblings also got one, and I'm pretty sure that either that same year or one before/after it that my cousins got one too. Every baby that comes gets one - my son got a blue afghan, again I have no idea how she made it. Its kinda zig-zagy done with 3dcs the next to it are 3 tilted dcs. No clue. He loves it and uses it. He has also confiscated mine. The child does like his handknits, ur, hand crochets.
Anyway, it went on like this for years. Every year I went up to Nanny's house and every year I would crochet a chain stitch garland. I dont really remember doing anything else. THEN when I was working at Disney, one of the gals on my team was pregnant and crocheting her baby a blanket. Lightbulb. HEY, I know how to do that! So I went to the store and bought some crochet hooks and some yarn and started on the blanket that never ends. Red Heart Super Saver in White and Med Sage afghan big enough for a queen bed. **at this point Travis and I were engaged so at least I had some sembelance of domesticity coming up for which this would be used for** THis thing is HUGE, on our bed it hangs over the sides by 18 inches EACH side and it is long enough to reach top to bottom of the bed... I gave up early so it doesnt hang over that way. It is in stripes about 2-3 inches each. Some are 2, some are 3, some are in between. Sad, I know, but it was really my first project. You can tell because it was all done in SINGLE CROCHET!!!!! Crack, yes I know. But I worked on that thing pretty often, at work (we were taking phone reservations and were alowed to crochet on the clock) until it would no longer fit in a bag, then because it was so big and thick I would only work on it in the winter. 4 years later I have myself an afghan. It's a monster and very warm and big and not terribly beautiful but I hope that my child will cherish it. By the time I finished that I was working at Verizon and occasionally would pass by the crochet aisle at Michaels while looking for scrapbook crap. Then I saw this book: and inside is a pattern for an American Flag Afghan. It had to be mine. So I bought it, along with the yarn to make the American Flag - again with the Red Heart. Do you recall me mentioning that I was taught how to do other stitches than Single Crochet and Chain Stitch? Me Neither. Nor did I know how to read a pattern. Brilliant, I know. BUT, when I started reading the pattern it made sense and I was able to do it - dc's, tc's, weird stars that took frogging 14 times before they would work (now i can do them in my sleep if you are ever doing that pattern and need help). I worked on it at home and at work during lunch and breaks. My friends of course thought i was nuts, but thats ok, i could talk and crochet so they were fine. When I was done, it looked like this:

Loved it. However, my house is anything but Americana, but one of my co-workers house was Americana... or at least a little part of her house, including the couch. So I gifted this to her. She loved it and when she showed her family they wanted one too... to the tune of 3 more. Ok, what do I charge for this? Everything I had read said that a good rule was 3x your materials - ok, $30. I was excited, it gave me taco bell money and I really was thrilled that anyone would want my hobby. I bought a couple more books, sold some more afghans, and eventually had a list on my cube wall saying who was next on the list, and what they wanted. By the time I left I had made 7 afghans I think. After I left I decided that I'd start charging $50, and now $70 for my afghans. I have sold a few at craft fairs, but nothing like the business I had working at Verizon. But that's ok. I have made gifts for friends and family, and a bunch of stuff to sell. My problem is that I find a pattern that I like, and it will be a challenge but I wont use the things. Do you know how many purses I've made because I thought they were cute? Too many. And scarves? same thing. It's getting better now, I swear. Yeah, I didnt believe that either.
Then I started this blog and reading other crocheters blogs and found The Crochet Dude. I Love his blog and read it every day and he put me onto Purl and I love her blog and read it every day. SHES to blame for the knitting. Sorta.
When Jake was about 9 months old he got croup and was in the hospital for 3 days. Joy of joys. I decided that I would use that time to teach myself how to knit. I went to Michaels and bought a "teach yourself to knit kit" and got a skein of yarn from my stash and set out to it. In those 3 days I acomplished a square about 4x6 inches. I could have crocheted that square in 15 minutes. Knitting was very much a stupid craft. Why would you knit something if it took so long? Back to crochet I went. THEN the blog, and the Purl and she was knitting the cutest things and I can do that! So I bought some knitting needles and got out that old book and tried again. I tried with a scarf on big needles with big yarn and it was crap. But as you can see from the blog, its getting better. My goals are to learn to cast off and change colors and purl correctly. Lofty goals, I know. But anyway, that's it. I'm done. Have a good one.

posted by Brandee Fondren @ 3:19 PM