Dispatches to friends

#WIPWednesday

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Crochet

Triangle shawl
by Briana K. Designs

No progress on the shawl. I have been too busy with a new obsession about filet crochet - see below.

Crochet Pouch

Since my last post, I have completed the strip of fabric that will eventually carry my small crochet hooks. It was a sad moment when I realised I did not need to add more rows. I had fallen into a good routine, one that soothed and relaxed.

When folding the pouch in its ultimate position, it became clear that it wouldn't work as intended. The pattern is quite tight but a 0.6mm hook is quite small and so it pokes through the crochet fabric. The solution: a lining.

A vertical colour photograph of a tangled strip of crochet fabric next to a cut up lining. Around them are a pair of small scissors, a case for tapestry needles, and some tapestry needles cut up by the frame.

I was not sure I would get to it in time for this post because the iron was involved and that's a whole thing with long covid, but I had no more ironed shirts and days in the office planned, so the iron did get an outing.

Not being much of a sewist, I asked advice on Mastodon. Folks seem to agree a back stitch would be best but one person suggested a whip stitch. I am tempted by the latter as I have never practiced it but the more I think about it, the less I think it's going to be the best option when I consider how I want to close the pouch together.

A horizontal colour photograph of a hand and forearm resting on a grey sofa fabric seat. A strip of fabric and crochet held together by pins is twisted across my hand and wrist to show both side of the work.

Filet Crochet

It all began innocently enough. I made a bookmark with a 2.5mm hook. The project called for a 2mm hook but at the time, I had no such thing.

I enjoyed my time with the smallest hook I had yet used and inevitably my mind wondered if I would enjoy working with yet smaller hooks. So I ordered some. Long covid played up and I did not touch the hooks. Still, I browsed Ravelry, meandered on YouTube, and somehow, somewhere along the line I stumbled upon filet crochet.

Long covid is still in a not great phase but the endless ocean of brain fog has lifted a little and last week I felt able to peruse designs to make with sub 2mm hooks. There is plenty to be done but my mind has fixated on filet crochet.

I have long ago learned that there is little point in resisting my curiosity when it launches full throttle as I did last week. So I obeyed and got crocheting.

A horizontal colour photograph of a desk with a stack of printed paper. The op one shows a filet crochet chart. At the corners of the paper is a ball of cotton thread, some fine steel crochet hooks, and a pencil. Also on the desk is a pen pouch, another crochet work u progress tucked in a creamish ball of thin wool yarn, an empty jug, ink samples, etc.

A horizontal colour photograph of a filet crochet chart with a filet crochet work next to it. The work is in an oatmeal colour and is resting on a grey cloth to show the design. The hook is still on the work. A horizontal colour photograph of a filet crochet chart with two filet crochet works below it. The works are in an oatmeal colour and are resting on a grey cloth to show the design. A wooden pencil is below them. One of the work is small and square, the design not super clear. The other is small and rectangular with a clearer definition of the design.
A vertical colour photograph of a small filet crochet work held in the palm of my hand over the paper with the chart on. The cotton yarn used is of an oatmeal colour. A vertical colour photograph of a filet crochet graph on a desk. On it is a work just began in a cream cotton thread, some small crochet hooks, and an eraser to keep track of the chart. Next to the paper chart is the cotton thread ball (cut off by the frame) as well as a notebook with some wool yarn on it, and a little up keyboard.

A horizontal colour photograph of a frogged filet crochet. The thread twists over the pattern set on a grey sofa.

A lot of fun was had over the course of the week-end. In the current state of my brain, filet crochet is proving to be the ideal project. It requires just the right amount of focus to be engaging, but not so much that it sends me crashing. I am sure some patterns fall under 'too much focus' and will be inaccessible to me, but I am also sure there are plenty more I can explore without issue.

I want to go ahead and order all the colours, all the thread sizes, more hooks, all the things! But... I know myself. Whilst I am currently obsessed, it may not last (though right now, it feels like it will but then again it often does in the throws of obsession), so one step at a time, one design at a time. We'll see if it lasts. For now, I seem to linger in the same design as I work my way through different techniques.

A horizontal colour photograph of two filet crochet works of a four petals flower. They are on a wooden table. The design on the left is a little squatter than the one on the right.

Knitting

I waver on and off with knitting. A part of me would like to pick it back up and return to learning, but another part of me is glad to leave it behind for now. My brain is too often full of fog and/or pain these days, and so it is easier to listen to the part of me that wants to leave knitting aside. So I do.

I am pretty sure I will return to it. I would like to know how to knit, but now is not the right season for me.

Thoughts? Leave a comment