My New Obsession

It's been far too long since I did a blog post.  Since my last one I've turned 50, for which I failed to get anywhere near to achieving my goal of being able to do the splits.  Oh well, never mind.  I've also found out I'm going to become a grandma, which is now only three weeks away.  I'm trying not to peak too early with my excitement, and keep it under control.  However, this upcoming event has been the catalyst for my new obsession.

As we haven't had much money this year, and I couldn't afford to buy things to spoil the baby, I decided I would make things instead. I used to knit all the time, but stopped quite a few years ago. This seemed like a good opportunity to start again.  I began looking at patterns for things like booties, and was finding that I was drawn to the crocheted ones rather than the knitted ones.  I never learnt to crochet, and had only really seen the granny square blankets that my mum had made for my girls, which I had never liked.  Now I was coming across all sorts of really cute hats and booties and toys to make and figured I would teach myself to crochet so that I could make some of them.

As usual with most things these days I googled "how to crochet", and discovered that there were hundreds of video tutorials on YouTube that showed you the very basics and even went through how to make all sorts of projects step by step.  I knew that getting the tension right was important with crochet, so the first thing I tried was just a simple square, to see how hard it was.  On the same day I then tried a flower and even a slouchy hat.

I also made a bag, which I haven't photographed, which I now keep some of my projects in.  Kirsty saw this bag when she was home one day and said that she wanted one.  This gave me the idea for my first proper project, and I made a bag for her birthday.

I think it looks small in the photograph, but it's actually about the size of a satchel.

Then I started making things for the baby.  Two blankets came first.  One for the cot (no photo) and one for the pram.

Then came hats for Katy and Kim, which I also failed to photograph.

I was working in the shop one Saturday while Robert was busy elsewhere, and Katy was telling me about the Christmas presents she was planning to get for her friends.  One of these friends was texting her at the time, and the conversation went something like this:-

Katy's friend:  Please tell me what you're getting me for Christmas.
Katy:  No
Katy's friend:  Is it a dragon?
Katy:  No
Katy's friend:  Is it a dead dragon?  Have you killed a dragon?
Katy:  No, it's not a dragon.  Why would I get you a dragon?
Katy's friend:  Make it happen.

This got me thinking, as I had seen patterns for toys, and I said I would make a dragon for her friend.  I had some leftover wool, and Katy ripped apart a couple of her old toys for the stuffing, and I made my first little animal.

I have learnt that this type of crochet is called amigurumi,  and is very popular.  They are fairly easy to make and don't take very long.  The baby now has some of its first toys.

I have been informed that the unicorn has won the competition to be baby's first toy.  Although Bekah hasn't seen the cat yet, and I'm now making a teddy bear.

This is not a toy, it's a beanie hat for the baby.

Robert has been pestering to crochet something for him, but what do you crochet for a fella?  Then one night I had inspiration.  Robert's phone vibrates during the night when he gets emails, and our bedside tables are wooden.  The vibration is quite loud and has been known to wake me up.  By now I had learnt enough skills to figure out a very simple pattern and set about making a bed for his phone to cushion the sound.  Unfortunately it doesn't cushion it quite enough and I have plans on how to pad it even more.

Now, all I want to do is crochet, and anything that gets in the way of me being able to crochet just makes me mad.  I think I am perhaps a little obsessed.