Only the Beginning?

It will be interesting to see how much time I make for crocheting from now on, with the close of the semester here. Of course, my plans are to stick with it and work towards mastering the art (which I am so far from!). It's the whole making time thing that I have difficulty with, unfortunately.

Knowing that I need some more practice with different stitches and reading directions, I decided to follow an instructional video and crochet a heart this week. Hopefully, seeing someone else do the stitches will help me regain confidence in the essentials. That is, if I can get her to slow down a little! As you see, no picture this week. That's because this project hasn't made it very far....:(

I have enjoyed reminiscing this week, in preparation for the presentation tonight. Reflection, seeing how far I've come and how my thoughts have changed, can be very encouraging.

New Leaves

I haven't exactly gotten past the dishcloth phase, but I did try something new this week. I found some neat patterns for dishrags with a scrubbie in the middle, so I made a trip to the dollar store to buy some scrubbies and got to work! Honestly, I was afraid that the directions (...sl st in next 3 dc, sc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in each of the next 5 dc's, dc in the next 2 dc, 2 dc in the next dc, hdc in the next dc, sc in the next 3 dc, sl st in the next 5 dc, sc in the next dc...) would be too difficult, but I'm actually pretty pleased with what came of it all. I feel as thought I've turned over a new leaf in pattern-reading. I also have pretty much mastered crocheting leaves...ha:)!

What good is it if I don't share it?

What good is my new skill If I don't share it?  This week has been a lot of crocheting two minutes here and three minutes there.  With no hour block of time to find a pattern and how-to video for the hat, I decided to continue to perfect what I'm already comfortable with and share the products of my new skill with others.

My boyfriend is one of the best cooks I know.  Good cooks have a lot of dirty dishes, so I made him this dishrag.  We have enjoyed the weight of my last rag in our kitchen, so I made his very similar.

I need to experiment with some new designs...we'll see what my schedule looks like next week!

Adding Character

I learned something new today!  I ended up not having enough thread to finish the dishrag, so, instead of throwing it all away, I grabbed some leftovers of another color and looked up a video for adding a new color (or a new ball of yarn) to a project.  It was actually pretty simple.  As you can see, the colors don't exactly compliment each other, but it now has character!!

A Set!

With the end of the semester fast approaching, placing me in desperate need of an escape from researching/typing, an hour spent on the couch crocheting last night was just what I needed.

Some of my recent dishrags, after use, have proved to be a bit thick, making them better potholders.  SO, I finished the last to be a potholder and, with leftover yarn, began a dishrag with some spacing, making it a bit lighter and more flexible.  And there you have it (see below...and no, the dishrag is not yet complete) - a set!

I know I keep saying that I'd like to move on to something bigger, but my purse and my planner can't currently handle much bigger, so I'm going to do small projects with the 100% cotton thread that I have leftover (so far, it's my favorite to work with).  I think I'm going to look at some hat/beanie patterns to see if that's biting off more than I can chew.

Consistency

I haven't had the time that I'd hoped for to crochet this week.  This time a few weeks back I would have been thrilled to almost finish a dishcloth in a week.  As time goes on, I'm finding myself looping a little faster.  I still have SO MUCH to learn, but I think that my work is becoming more consistent, so maybe I'm almost ready for something a little more difficult...we'll see.  Below is the dishrag (or potholder?) that I'm currently working on...another new stitch down!

somewhat productive

I feel that I have been somewhat productive in my crochet efforts lately (which is definitely a feeling that I needed).  Below you will see two dishcloths that I have finished.  Surprisingly, I have no plans of pulling these apart.  Realizing that I will not be an expert over night, I am enjoying experimenting with different stitches and filling the dishrag drawer in our kitchen!

I am still using the videos and finding them helpful.  There have been a few steps or stitches that I have not been able to find a video for.  I have entertained the idea of creating a few how-to videos someday for others that are just beginning with just the basics.

After signing up on a website, I received a catalog from a yarn company in the mail this week.  It was pretty much what I expected.  I only wish that I had thought of the idea of kits first!