I remember having time to blog...

Perhaps I will soon be able to find more time to return to blogging my yarny adventures.  For now I leave you with this amazing hat given to me by an even more amazing person:

The hat pattern is called "Insulate!" and can be found on Ravelry HERE.  

I had this hat pattern on my favorites list for some time now and one day I was going to make it, one day.  I had recently come across the pattern and had wistful thoughts of starting said hat but alas, I did not.  When I pulled the hat out of the gift bag tonight I was in awe and best of all... it was GREEN!  Yay!

Long overdue

As is the way with all blogs, the best intentions end up landing in the back of the closet collecting hairballs hacked up from the cat.  So it is with this one.  And like all blogs, coffee and a little time on one's hands will revive it.  So it is today.

Sitting here with caffiene filling my veins, a few rows of knitting worked up, and the empty cups from the crochet/knit group that just left gives you the setting.

All came to share their art and with it came a part of their life.  The hands today created for self, selflessness, and for the sake of stitching.   We make no longer make because we "have to".  That part of life is left to history books.   Without the "need" present in our life we are left to fill our "desires", and because we must create... we transform those "desires"  back to a "need."

This is evident in the needful desire of one individual today.  I helped a knitter come to the darkside.  The cause she is learning the craft for brought her to hooking and will keep her coming back.   The passion to make has her learning an entirely new skill set, and she was fearless.  The knowledge came with struggles:   the hook popped out of loops, snagged the wrong threads, was too tight then too loose, pulling back had to happen to fix a problem, and sometimes we plowed on with a "good enough" attitude.  6 stitches eventually became 12, then 18 (don't worry it was planned) and will keep growing.  It must.  She "needs" it to.

Left Handed Crochet

To start, wrap the yarn around your fingers of the hand NOT holding the hook, try one of these ways:

Hold your work with your MIDDLE finger and your thumb, use your INDEX finger to keep tension on  the yarn:

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When at the end of the row you need to chain one so that you go "up" a row, this will create your "turning stitch":

To do this: wrap the yarn around the hook trying to move the "HOOK" to do the work. 

Pull the wrap of yarn through the first loop on the hook: 

Now you're ready to turn.  Flip the work, keeping the hook above the work stationary, do not remove it from the yarn loop.  Keep the work that you end at closest to you and let the other side sweep away:

You've turned and you're ready to work back across:

Skip the first "hole" and go into the second!  Pick which one you think then look at the next picture: 

 Go through that hole from front to back under the two legs of the "V":

 Wrap the yarn around the hook (try to move the hook to snag the yarn):

 Pull the yarn through the main body of crochet and pull up a loop, you now have two loops on your hook:

Wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull through both loops on the hook: 

You now have one loop on the hook and are ready to make the next stitch.

When you get close the end of your work the last stitch will get hard to see.  

There are three stitches remaining:

Two stitches remain: 

One stitch remains, but it's hard to see...

Go through the two legs of the "V" and make your final stitch of the row.

 If you turn too soon and do not make the final stitch your work will look something like this and you will not have enough stitches:

If you do not skip the first "hole" your work will grow off the edge, this picture shows an extra stitch in the row: 

The following pictures show the steps used to make a single crochet, you can see the hand positioning.  The first series of pictures uses the "KNIFE" method of holding the hook, go farther down to see the "PENCIL" holding method:

Note how the hand NOT holding the hook has the index finger keeping tension on the yarn, you will move your index finger up and down a little bit as your forming the stitch to take up the slack.  Allow the yarn to slide through your fingers as you need it to form stitches.  Try to use the hook to wrap the yarn instead of moving your non-hook hand:

The following series of pictures shows how to make a single crochet holding the hook in the "PENCIL" method:

Right Handed Crocheting

To start, wrap the yarn around your fingers of the hand NOT holding the hook, try one of these ways:

Hold your work with your MIDDLE finger and your thumb, use your INDEX finger to keep tension on  the yarn:

When at the end of the row you need to chain one so that you go "up" a row, this will create your "turning stitch":

 

To do this: wrap the yarn around the hook trying to move the "HOOK" to do the work.  

Pull the wrap of yarn through the first loop on the hook: 

Now you're ready to turn.  Flip the work, keeping the hook above the work stationary, do not remove it from the yarn loop.  Keep the work that you end at closest to you and let the other side sweep away:

You've turned and you're ready to work back across:

Skip the first "hole" and go into the second!  Pick which one you think then look at the next picture: 

Go through that hole from front to back under the two legs of the "V":

 Wrap the yarn around the hook (try to move the hook to snag the yarn):

Pull the yarn through the main body of crochet and pull up a loop, you now have two loops on your hook:

Wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull through both loops on the hook:

You now have one loop on the hook and are ready to make the next stitch.

When you get close the end of your work the last stitch will get hard to see.  

There are three stitches remaining:

Two stitches remain:

One stitch remains, but it's hard to see...

Go through the two legs of the "V" and make your final stitch of the row.

If you turn too soon and do not make the final stitch your work will look something like this and you will not have enough stitches:

If you do not skip the first "hole" your work will grow off the edge, this picture shows an extra stitch in the row:

The following pictures show the steps used to make a single crochet, you can see the hand positioning.  The first series of pictures uses the "KNIFE" method of holding the hook, go farther down to see the "PENCIL" holding method:

Note how the hand NOT holding the hook has the index finger keeping tension on the yarn, you will move your index finger up and down a little bit as your forming the stitch to take up the slack.  Allow the yarn to slide through your fingers as you need it to form stitches.  Try to use the hook to wrap the yarn instead of moving your non-hook hand:

The following series of pictures shows how to make a single crochet holding the hook in the "PENCIL" method: