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Signing Off...

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I have decided at this point to discontinue the blog posts for the foreseeable future.  This blog has been an adjunct to my crochet and knitting instruction classes and those have, of COVID-19 necessity, been discontinued, and I have no idea when or if I will be holding classes again.  I did consider virtual classes online, but there didn't seem to be much interest.  Also, there is much online instruction on YouTube and various fiberwork blogs; there is no need to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.  The emphasis in my classes was to provide individualized personal attention and foster a sense of community as we traveled our fiberwork journeys together; that really can't be reproduced adequately online. Those of you who crochet and/or knit, I hope you will continue to do so, and embrace the calming quality of fiberwork during this stressful time.  I thank you for your attention to and appreciation of this blog, and hopefully we will journey again together a little further al
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Long Ago and Far Away...

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Not long ago I was participating in a local knitting/crochet group when the conversation came around to the first item we'd ever knitted or crocheted.  A couple of the members still actually had that first sweater or scarf!  I couldn't claim that, but I knew there was a picture of me wearing that first finished project, and I found it while rummaging through old pictures this weekend. I wrote a bit awhile back about how I first started crocheting , but I didn't mention what I'd crocheted first.  The McCall's magazine that touted crochet as an accent to sewing offered a free pattern for both a hat and a scarf, and this is the hat in the picture.  I decided to make the hat first and went to Woolworth's to buy a skein of their classic yarn in orange, since I was in high school and our school colors were orange and black.  It was Christmastime, and I wanted to be sure I could make this first test hat before making hats for others.  I worked on it at home, but th
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Comforting Crochet...

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Monday is my busy day; I teach a crochet class, go to a knitting group, and some weeks have a long meeting to attend.  And then I write a blog entry and various newsletters; it's a pretty full day.  But not this Monday. I developed a cold over the weekend, so I've canceled my usual activities and have chosen instead to "lie low" until I recover a bit.  I could take some over-the-counter medicine and just push on, but as I get older I'm increasingly unwilling to do that.  I'm reminded of a friend about my age who a few years ago kept pushing through a cold and ended up with pneumonia, sidelining her for six weeks.  No thanks! So this gives me time to do some comforting, rhythmic, zen-like crochet.  On top of making me feel better from my cold, it's a good antidote to all the terrible news out there these days.  Coronavirus is in my area and those of us over 60 have been advised to stay home as much as possible.  I'm not usually one who enjoys stay
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Happy National Crochet Month!

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March is National Crochet Month!  How will you celebrate?  For me, it's a time to appreciate having learned, and continuing to learn, the skill that's stood me in good stead these past 50 years!  One of my favorite crochet activities is learning new stitches and techniques.  In the picture you see my favorite crochet stitch, the Catherine's Wheel.  It's not a stitch I learned recently, but I remember buying a stitch encyclopedia many years ago and being excited to try each new stitch, and this stitch quickly became a joy to produce. However, there is also joy and beauty in the most basic of stitches; here is a collection of, in clockwise order:  the Shell Stitch, Ribbed Half-Double Crochet, Ripple Stitch, and the Chevron Stitch.  In our classes, we make a point of learning a new stitch every month, to increase our skills and stitch repertoire.  For the March Square of the Month, however, I've asked my students to make a square with their favorite stitch
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Crochet or Knitting?

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I had to chuckle on reading a comment from a lady who had just received two very nice, and pricey, crochet hooks for a birthday present, and both hooks were the same size!  She was very appreciative, but asked her husband about the two sizes being identical.  "Don't you need two of those things?" he asked, thinking instead of knitting. Or the people whose spouses ask, "What is it you do again?  Knitting?  Crochet, you say?  What's the difference?" Crochet and knitting are both methods of looping fibers to make fabric.  Knitting consists of multiple loops on needles, loops that build on each other and are dependent upon each other, while crochet consists of only one loop on one hook at a time; each stitch is complete and independent of the others (in traditional crochet; there are other crochet techniques where that's not the case, but that's for another discussion).  Knitting can be done by hand or machine; there is no machine that can produce
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