Resist The Urge (AKA Tunisian Crochet)

Yesterday I went to a Tunisian crochet class run by Katie from Ramshambles inYork.

Source York Press

Tunisian crochet is a bit of a mix of crochet and knitting. Instead of finishing each single stitch and turning at the end of a row you work your stitches onto a long crochet needle. First off is the forward, which is a bit like casting on in knitting. You create a row of loops onto your hook until you have the desired width, the whole time 'resisting the urge' to finish off the stitch in the normal way. This is the hardest thing about this technique as it goes against everything you usually do when crocheting and it has a habit of freezing your brain while you remember what to do!

Then on the return you finish the stitches off as you work back. You just repeat this process until you reach the length that you wanted.

As I'm sitting here I realise it's harder to describe than I would've imagined, but basically it's a great technique for making quite a dense and very regular stitch that's good for blankets, bags and accessories. Yesterday we learned three different stitches but there are lots more that you can do and it creates beautiful patterns in colour too. Last night I practised on this phone cover and did a really regular pattern of two rows in each colour though the effect is quite striking when you just do one of each. The effect is different on the front and back of the pattern...

I'm really pleased I've learned another element of crochet. The class was a lot of fun and was a great way to spend a winters day. I also learned a few other little tricks and techniques from Katie and some of the other lovely people on the course. Plus as a bonus I found a pattern of a gorgeous crochet top that I might try to make when I'm feeling brave! For now I think the Tunisian crochet might come in useful in making a bag... pics will follow

Focussing On Positives

Today has been an incredibly sad and emotional day as my gorgeous fiancé has flown back to Texas as his visit to England for the holidays has come to an end.

My instinct is to just sit. Alone. In silence. And feel sad. I feel incredibly empty when we're apart and I'm finding it hard to motivate. However I have a lot to be thankful for as we have so much to look forward to in the year ahead. I have to be strong through the next few weeks (and months) as we wait for my visa to be processed.
With that in mind I feel the need to focus my energy. I can't let sadness overwhelm me when in reality our futures look very bright. I am going to work hard on the things I enjoy and am committing myself by telling you, the blog fairies, what I plan to do!

Firstly I plan to blog regularly as well as reading other's people's blogs as I find I learn a lot in the process of both writing and reading them

source www.blogussion.com

I love to crochet... I think I need to pick something challenging like a top to wear over vests in the summer which I'm sure will challenge my abilities and improve my pattern reading skills.... Something like this is what I'm fancying...

I have SO many cookery books it's redonkulous but I'm not going to be able to take them to America with me as they're not the best way to spend my baggage allowance. I have promised myself that I'll try to add as many recipes to my ipad as possible so that I have plenty of inspiration when I get there.

Reading is always important to me so I'll continue to try and read as much as possible. I'm determined to get though the backlog of books I appear to have collected on my kindle!

I need to take the time to focus on Yoga again. It was really helping my flexibility when I was doing it regularly and it helps me stay positive and balanced.

And last but not least... the runner in me is going crackers and can't wait to get going again. I've had a good rest and am raring to go!!

Granny Square Blanket

I'm very pleased to announce that after several months I've finally finished my granny square blanket! I'd never crocheted before starting but I'd been wanting to do something like this for some time and took the opportunity to get a good start on it when I had some unexpected surgery at the end of July. I wrote about my progress at the start of October but since then I seemed to have been stalling a bit with the final stage.

The border, whilst being one of the easiest elements, was also one of the most tedious in that I could crochet for ages and hardly see any change. However I kept at it, not really knowing how much border to add until I finally got to the point where I felt that more would actually be less.

I would love to be able to tell you more detail about the amount of yarn and where I got the pattern but I can't find the YouTube video that got me going, plus I used so many balls of yarn that I stopped counting (mainly so I wouldn't know how much it cost in the end). The yarn I was using has now been discontinued but I have some left so I'm working on a couple of cushion covers based on that pattern to go with the blanket.

I never imagined when I started that it would end up this huge or that I would make quite such a good job of it (even if I do say so myself!). I'm really proud of how it has turned out and it's lovely and warm, just ready in time for these cold winter nights.



 

Learn A New Skill

Time can sometimes run away with us... I mean, it's almost October already and for most of us the last year will have passed by in the blink of an eye.

Since I met Paul he's helped me realise what it means to find the time to do things you love. For him it can be anything from writing music to building motorbikes. I learned that I should pursue some of my own interests and learn some new skills too. I started off with running, and more recently have turned my hand to crochet. I had never crocheted anything before but YouTube is a great teacher!

I've had some delays while the (awesome) ladies at Ramshambles have been locating some final balls of yarn for me (the sort I'm using has been discontinued). This is the *almost* finished result... I still have one more row to attach then the border to complete around the outside.

I have to admit, I'm quite proud of how it's turned out! I can't wait to finish it and snuggle under it while creating some more masterpieces ;) 

When I look back at my year and consider what I have achieved, at least I know I learned at least one new skill

Granny squares everywhere!

With all this time to rest and recover I've made some good progress with my granny square blanket.

As I've done more and more I feel like I've speeded up quite a bit.

Middles!

This photo below shows all my completed squares so far. I plan to braid them together with the black yarn once I have them all ready to join

I think I'm just under half way, though I'm back at work next week so unfortunately I think it could take a little bit longer to do the second half! I hope it's not 6 months before I'm updating you with the finished product!

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Crochet... really?

Don't ask why but for some reason I've been inspired to make something. Not just anything... I'm inspired to crochet us a blanket for the winter. I remember knitting years ago with my Gran but I don't think I ever crocheted anything and if I did, I don't remember any techniques at all! However with the miracles of websites, blogs and youtube I reckon I can teach myself

I haven't got any of the tools yet but have been busy looking at patters. I'm not sure that I'm able to get the right materials by buying online so I think I'm going to wait until next week when I'm back in York as I know there's an awesome shop that is just full of great stuff.

I first saw this design online and really liked the look of it...

 But then I also saw one like this...

My favourite is this one which is classed as a Sunburst design (I think it's the same or similar to the first pic above). There are lots of step by step tutorials for it and it's classed as easy with several people saying they did it as their first blanket but I'm not sure if it might still be a bit tricky for my first time!

For now I'm busy looking at websites and patterns. I think I could practice the techniques on a couple of really easy designs then when I'm getting the hang of it give these a go.