Dispatches to friends

#WIPWednesday

Published on

Crochet

Triangle shawl
by Briana K. Designs

My niece gifted me two balls of cotton yarn back in October with the promise that I would crochet her something. At the time, I had only been crocheting for a few weeks and so not knowing much of what would be involved to crochet her something, I said yes. I put some boundaries in place on what type of garment I could realistically make her. She picked a shawl. Fast forward a few weeks later and I had found three patterns I was confident I could tackle. She picked the one linked above.

A horizontal colour photograph of a bamboo desk with the start of a crochet work on it. The hook is attached to it. A trail of yarn leads back to the ball. It's white. Around are a keyboard, sheep shaped stich markers, and the corner of a woven pouch.

The yarn she gifted me was not suitable so I ordered some in shades of whites and pinks and got to work. Almost. The pattern begins with a magic circle and back in December I could not make sense of it.

Fast forward again to the past week and here we are: a start, at last. The magic circle felt effortless this time. The yarn felt very fiddly which is not surprising as it is fingering weight but I'm getting used to it. Gradually I am finding my rhythm with it, a sort of focused meditative state that melts away all thoughts but that of finding the correct placement for the hook.

A horizontal colour photograph of a triangular small white crochet work on my knee. I'm wearing blue jeans. A crochet hook is attached to the work. Next to me.om the sofa are two pillows. The top one is teal and holds an open paper with a crochet pattern diagram on it. The ball of yarn is nestled by my side.

From a somewhat difficult work, this is transitioning to a work I want to return to often. It also helps that the yarn, a blend of alpaca and merino, is so extremely soft, I just want to keep holding it.

Granny squares blanket

A vertical colour photograph of a brown and green granny square resting on much crossed legs (I'm wearing mustard coloured jeans). Around my legs are a grey waiting room carpet, a round coffee table with some leaflets and a woven empty rectangular tray.

Shortly after learning to crochet I became obsessed with granny squares and promptly decided to make a blanket. It's a long haul project for multiple reasons. One, I'm choosing to use yarn from British breeds only and from small makers. It's expensive so I need to save my money and spread the cost over time. Two, I want to spin the white yarn that I will use as border and probably part of the design too. I am not that good or that fast at spinning. Three, granny squares are great for when my brain is mush and full of long covid symptoms (but not too much). This means I prioritise other projects when I'm well enough for them.

All that is okay with me. I am in no rush.

A horizontal colour photograph of my legs in mustard jeans crossed on a grey sofa at the edge of the image. In front of me is a mess of wool bundles ready to be spun, an open book about sheep with a pen in it, more wool packed, and tucked in a corner a blue ball of yarn with two knitting needles stuck into it. A teal pillow is at the other end of the sofa. A brown throw drapes messily on the back of the sofa. Next to the sofa is a salmon carpet and a colourful striped carpet.

Knitting

Learning to knit

Shortly after learning to crochet, I knew I would want to learn to knit. Crochet appealed to me for one reason and one reason only: there is one hook to manage rather than two needles. This felt simpler, so I started with crochet. I'll admit that I didn't care much for the look of what I had seen made with crochet at that point. I now have very different opinions but retain the ones about socks and vests and jumpers. Those look better knitted (to my personal preferences).

A vertical colour photograph of a book about learning to knit. Two colourful wooden knitting needles rest on it with the very beginning of a knitting something on them.

Learning to crochet via videos was incredibly difficult. Long covid has made learning new things rather tedious so with knitting I wanted to try a different approach. Videos make a lot of sense as you can pause and move frame by frame if needed (and it was needed with crochet) but all this close attention, the juggling of frame, of sounds and movements bring on brain fog. So I purchased a book. Although aimed at beginner, the book I chose is not the greatest. Instructions are lacking and I could not figure out what to do to get past row one. Do you keep doing the same thing? Do you move the needles from hand to hand? Why does my last stitch look so weird compared to the others? The list went on. I am good at questions.

I called my mom and she too was confused. From what she described and what I saw, I suspect she knits in the English style (I could be very wrong) and the book is teaching me Continental. Luckily for me, my brother learned Continental. He is self-taught and a very new knitter himself but by virtue of being 90% through a scarf, I turned to him as a teacher.

We spent two hours on a video call, laughing and almost knitting. By the end of our chat, I had a small piece of work on the go. The following day, my partner and I took a day trip to Chepstow to enjoy the sun. I took my knitting with me - well the small practice work anyway - and things felt easier. The needles were not quite so unwieldy. They had settled from widely swinging about to not being a danger to anyone on the opposite side of the table.

A vertical colour photograph of an outdoor pub table with two half pints on it (a Guinness and a light ale), a packet of nuts, and a blue ball of yarn with two colourful wooden knitting needles stuck in it.

This week, I have tackled the knit stitch. Next, the purl stitch... wish me luck as I return to the book for this one. I borrowed a supplementary book from the library with many more details. Let's see if I can figure this out on my own (I am not confident my brother knows the purl stitch...).

Thoughts? Leave a comment