It all comes back to Manchester

Posted on August 20, 2016 by honey

I’m very excited. I’ve just published my first ‘paid for’ pattern on Ravelry. The Manchester Shawl is available to everyone here: buy now with Ravelry (and PayPal)

Manchester has figured heavily in my life – I was born there, as my Aunt crocheted a traditional granny square shawl in the waiting room for my mother to wear during early morning feeds. We moved frequently over twenty years, but after every move away we always moved back to Manchester – to within 2 streets of where we lived before in fact!

That original shawl is now mine, but much like me starting to fray around the edges and show it’s age. It has been worn around my mother and me as a baby, it’s been a superhero cape, a den, a secure ‘hiding place’ and a portable hug. It’s be worn in all weather, dragged through mud, tossed carelessly in bags and used to wipe benches dry… So I needed a new shawl that could withstand abuse required.

Luxury yarns were right out from the start, and the yarns I used are best acrylic – lovely soft modern squishy machine washable acrylic. The pattern I found and adapted was originally published in the Manchester needlework pattern book (yet another tie to Manchester!).

I had nothing to lose and decided to take a risk on the colour choices – everything else I have is ‘safe’ colours and in the winter months everyone wears dark or neutral colours and I wanted something a bit more eye catching in the grey days. I’m delighted with how the teal and orange pop together – and it’s certainly eye catching!

Having made one, I decided to write down the pattern – and made another for a friend who also needs a portable hug that can take a bit of abuse from her two lovely boys. She’s a lot taller than me, so an upgrade to Aran weight and a larger hook produced a positive blanket of a shawl (she’s 5ft 10″ and it’s ankle length on her). A bone-deep goth, bright colours just weren’t going to cut it, and the Women’s Institute aran rich purple was perfect – dark but rich and jewel like in saturation, this shawl gives a pop of suitably goth colour to her generally black ensembles.

Writing a pattern though takes HOURS. Not just a couple, but the best part of a working week – somewhere between 30 and 40 hours. I’m sure they can be written quicker but I take great care to make sure that my patterns are as understandable and as clear as possible. Writing and rewriting and rephrasing and rereading takes time. So I made the decision to charge. Its a token amount, as there is no chart (those are coming for another pattern) but I really hope you will enjoy it!

Reflecting on improvement

Posted on August 11, 2016 by honey

As regular readers to this blog may have worked out I have a touch of a type A personality – and as I get older it gets more obvious. In my crafting life I constantly strive to improve, searching out different ways of doing things, modifying materials, patterns and techniques to get the result I want.

But it’s not just crafting – Mr TuesdayFortnite will happily tell you of the time there were 32 different swatches of ‘grey’ on the front room wall as I took two weeks to decide exactly *which* grey to paint the whole room. I recently had to change channels when a make-over show hung pictures on the wall *crooked*! (shudder).

This perfectionism extends to my teaching as well – whether I’m teaching dance (my professional training), MS Word to work colleagues or my crafting classes. After every teaching session, designing a pattern, rearranging a room (or my stash!)…. I sit and reflect and review on what went well, what can be improved and how I can be better.

We did the Crochet Beginners class on Saturday last week, and it went really well – with everyone producing lovely work and starting on their individual crochet adventures.

Sometimes the best ideas start with ‘why?’ and sitting in the car on the way home I had one of those moments – I wrote the course way back in 2011 taking notes from other crochet teachers at the time on how to structure a class. Being new at teaching crochet I accepted the wisdom of my ‘elders and betters’ on the circuit – and didn’t question it. But why?

Here, 5 years on, I have the knowledge and the confidence to question that structure – and I’ve broken down what we do on the classes and am starting again from scratch – no assumptions on ‘that’s how it’s done’ or taking ‘because that’s how it is’ as an answer. Exciting times!

projects update…

Posted on November 26, 2015 by honey

ICE has finally thawed and finished and while I initially wasn’t convinced (I’ll be honest!) I have found myself wearing it a lot the last few days. It’s a lovely wearable shape, and the colour I’ve chosen goes with a lot of things!

I think the pattern as written has the sleeve a little short – but that could me having a *much* tighter gauge than the designer (though my swatch came out right).

Of course it was also a good opportunity to practice my continental style knitting. I like the knit stitch and will use that again, but I’m really not a fan of Norwegian purl. It might make more sense if doing rib stitches, but for doing stockingette it makes no sense at all!

I also picked up and finished two (yes TWO!) little crochet projects. After procrastinating for a long time (as regular readers will know I have ideas and then they have to ‘simmer’ for a while) I finally opened my copy of Mary Korinor’s Crochet Lace and did two projects.

One is a baby blanket for a work colleague and the other is a stash busting shawl using up 5 balls of kid silk haze “acquired” at a swap meet.

baby blanket and haze shawl

Mary has a very interesting approach to her work – including the all important “how much to leave for the border” calculations. Of course Mary was English, and I have made several “design features” out of the fact that I frequently forgot this and mixed up which stitch I was supposed to be doing. I find Mary fascinating in that often she will describe in words the stitches for the centre and inner borders and then give just a chart for the outer/edging border. I found this approach very interesting as charts for the middle section would be very useful, and if you can’t read charts then you can’t finish the project.

I’m really pleased with how both projects have turned out, and am tempted to just go ahead and do the other shawls in the book out of curiosity – in particular the two ‘granny square’ based shawls as mine are both over 20 years old and starting to look a little tired.

I really enjoyed the kid silk project, and am now playing with some stitch variations to work out how to make a capelet shape that hugs the shoulders with a beaded edge. I might even be able to make it a one skein (or two at most) project. I need to dig through my stash and find my fyberspates faerywings as I think it would be particularly gorgeous in that.

I’m about to come to the end of my current contract and have a few weeks while I job hunt. During that time I plan to write up some of my patterns and publish them – so watch this space!

The problem of a new project…

Posted on October 25, 2013 by honey

So my finishing of projects over the summer leaves me in the odd situation of having no major projects on needles or hooks.

Ok, I have a few rows on a secret project to finish, and a thrummed muff that is staring at from the corner but I want to start something new. As you know well, a new project has to fulfil several ‘rules’, and these rules will change depending on what the project needs to fulfil.

I want to use up some of my gorgeous laceweight or lighter yarns
I probably (therefore) want a shawl -but I’m not sure I want another triangle
I have a long coach journey in the middle of next month so whatever project I start can’t be too fiddly or complicated
I don’t want a boring project
I’d quite like it to be blue, don’t know why, just would – you know how it goes.

Now, I have lots of projects that don’t fit the ‘must be done on a coach’ requirement – small beads, complex lace charts, fiddly stitches… In fact I was surprised at how many projects I have that fall into that category.

The list of projects that can be done on a coach is much, much smaller but also contains stuff that is full of rows and rows and rows of boring garter or stockinette stitch. So, I have:

The Tirrold Jumper – laceweight, purple, bottom-up jumper sweater with an eventual interesting lace panel at the top. The yards of stockinette and rib have to be done at some point!
The Textured Shawl – I have a raft of dark green mirasol K’acha marked for this. DK weight, enough variance to be interesting but it’s triangular
Thin Ice – easy pattern with a little variance to keep it interesting, blue, lace on the bottom edge and beads if I want to add them. also triangular
Finally, Laura is a crochet project that I’ve had in my queue for a while. It’s beaded, so not appropriate coach crafting but I have some lovely fyberspates purple lace that didn’t work for the project I bought it for or I could go a little heavier and use the 4ply seasilk I have. I also don’t have a crochet project on the go at the moment, so I might just “cast” this one on as well – despite the fact I’d have to buy beads!

So, having done all that I think I’m going to cast on the Thin Ice and have that as this month’s project -and maybe take the Tirrold as a ‘back up’ project for the coach if I’ve got to the complex bit of Thin Ice by then…

Of course in the process of trying to decide what to do next I emptied out my entire stash onto the study floor and even had a bit of clear out (gosh, go me!) – as do I really need that half skein of bright orange acrylic? i’ve tagged the yarns I have for specific projects and made a list – I might even check it twice! have lots of things to for the next few months now at least.

Right, best get started then..

Zurich 2013

Posted on October 19, 2013 by honey

Zurich is a genuinely beautiful city set in stunning countryside. My five days there were packed with things and I barely scratched the surface. Apologies in advance as my camera wasn’t working so there are no photos to share.

The city as cosmopolitan as you could hope for, with one of the most comprehensive public transport systems I think I’ve ever seen – buses, trains, funiculars (whee!), trams, bike hire – it was all going on. It’s also impressively expensive in some respects – it made the London Travel card look positively cheap, and eating out is definitely for special occassions.

Switzerland seems to be very proud of it’s dispirate groups, and the city reflects that, with very different atmospheres in it’s different districts and areas – some of it feels very English industrial, some of it very French town square (missing only the boules) and some of it undoubtedly Swiss.

The city centre is well worth a visit, particulalry the old town, if you are only passing through. However if you have more time – a tour on the lake (which issomuch bigger than I thought it was, and we went on the day of the Annual Swim across in which 56,000 people took part!), a walk up (or down!) Uetliberg for it’s stunning views across the lake and the surrounding land and visits to both the Fraumünster church (famous for it’s Chagall stained glass windows) and Grossmünster with it’s stunning “alternative” stained glass windows by Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti added in 1932.

We also took a trip out of town to visit a local Palace, which was fascinating and meant I got to travel through several Swiss villages – all of which look exactly like you would expect them to from chocolate box depictions over the years – wooden shutters and steep roofs with over-abundant flowered window boxes. It was lovely.

I was more than ably looked after by A, her husband and excitable Bob clone Max. And of course staying with crafting friends meant there were visits to yarn shops and crafty goodness. I was surrounded by spinning wheels (seven to be precise!) and spindles and lots of books I don’t own and an impressive stash. A’s crochet friends welcomed me with open arms (despite my Swiss/German being even worse than my French) and I saw some outstanding samples of filet crochet used as curtains, tablecloths, dresser runners….

I only went into two yarn shops while in Zurich, but they were chalk and cheese. One was on the ‘main drag’ in the Old Town and was set up like many high-end luxury yarn stores in the UK. Yarns were grouped by colour and then by weight (cobweb at the top, bulky at the bottom) around the walls of the store – which was very pretty, but pointed out an almost non-existance of varigated yarns. Haberdashery was limited and nothing had a price. I did pick up a set of square knit pro circular needles as I hadn’t seen them elsewhere, but little else appealed to me. It had a good range of yarns but I got the feeling I couldn’t afford any of it before I even started.

The second store was more ‘hidden’ – and in the start of a theme I was to revisit in Vienna, this store had been taken on by an enthusiastic knitter when the original owner retired. Now, I have to say that the owners were lovely, very friendly and I really enjoyed the time I spent there (and I did buy stuff, more about that in a second). The shop was HUGE, two large rooms, but it was very, very, difficult to see how much space there really was – or what was in stock. The owner was working towards her PhD – Piled higher and Deeper – in stock management.

There were some really lovely bits and peices – and some surprises (Rowan Silk Haze for £25 anyone?) but you really had to dig and ferret, and not everyone is comfortable doing that. It’s a shame as this could be a really lovely shop.

Anyway, on to what I bought…

Kauni XEQ lace weight – 150grams over lovely rainbow long colour stripy-ness…

and this puff of fun may have found it’s way into my bag..

It’s Zealana Air – a 40% cashmere, 40% Brushtail Possum down and 20% mulberry silk blend that gives nearly 200m for 25grams. yeah, you read that right – Possum! How could I not? I also bought a swirl pewter shawl pin and a double ended tunisian hook (just of the completeness of the collection you understand!) – however most of my ‘haul’ came from Austria – so I need to leap on a train and travel…

Warning! Long post reversing…

Posted on April 20, 2013 by honey

Well what a week it’s been – learning and discovering so many things, teaching and giving and actually being productive for a change… although of course the path is never quite bump free

First up was teaching the new Crochet Shaping course, exactly 1 year to the day since I taught the Crochet Beginners class with Purlescence. We had a lovely crowd of intelligent, inquisitive people along for the ride, who are the best type to have on a class as they help point out the bits I’ve forgotten to say or taken for granted. I adore having a class full of people who ask questions! The new tech worked pretty well – a couple of tweaks and I think we’ve got it sorted, and I’m beavering away now putting the finishing touches to the Tunisian Basics course which runs in June.

I think the nicest complement I got from the day (and I’m paraphrasing as this is a week on, if you’re reading this and you remember exactly what you said please let me know and I’ll correct what follows) was:

It wasn’t like a workshop at all – it was like popping round to a friends for a bit of crochet and a natter and learning stuff by accident.

Learning can come in many forms, so of it literal and involving conscious effort to learn on your own behalf. I’ve had two instances of this in the last 7 days. First up I signed up for some knitting courses on Craftsy. I’ve done several of their courses before and found them useful and informative. The two I signed up for this week were Franklin Habit’s Heirloom Lace Edgings – if you are a knitter and want to know more about lace edgings and different ways of attaching them to your work (and why snowflakes should always be knit in yellow yarn) then this is an indispensable course. I also signed up for Lace Shawl Design, which I’m not enjoying quite as much but again is packed full of information. It’s aimed at knitters but I can see applying some of the info to crochet designs.

Another type of learning is that from which you learn something from even though you are doing something else at the time – for example, don’t photograph the missing bits of your stash for Ravelry, put it all away and then upload the photos. You won’t remember what the brand is and how much of it you’ve got by that point, I guarantee it! My other ‘non-learning-learning’ session this week was teaching the Shaping class. Any teaching involves just as much learning for the teacher as the students (or it should) and of course by 3am Sunday morning I had not so much ‘rewritten’ the course as ‘reordered’ it – for when it runs again in the future to give a more cohesive and logically structured course.

I also got two new stitch dictionaries in the shape of Robyn Chachula’s Visual Encyclopaedia and Edie Eckman’s “Around the Corner, Crochet Borders”. I love my reference books and I’m finding them indispensable in preparing for the texture and colour course in September. Robyn’s book is very well put together – I’ll do a review soon I promise, but I’m already using one of the stitch patterns.

I’ve started a new baby blanket, which may result in a new free pattern. I’m loving this reversible stitch, and the Vinni’s (as always) works beautiful for baby stuff.

I’ve made lots of progress this week on loads of different things. I’ve also finally cast on the first sleeve for the Jan Sweater. Having been knitting this sweater since August 2011 I’m really looking forward to finishing it, and while I still have two sleeves and the seaming to do I’m already fantasizing about the next project I will take up once I finish this..

I’m also on the last 3 rows of Honeymeade – although these rows are over 450stitches long so may take me a little while.. I have finally had to admit (temporary) defeat in the face of Frechen. My head is just not in right space to focus on this at the moment, so I’m calling a halt instead of getting more and more frustrated with it. I’m going to back away from it slowly for a couple of weeks and pick it up again next month.

In the course in the photographing of the stash I may have taken a couple of snapshots of the yarn I got from Purlescence to make the samples for the Texture and Colours course in September (gee, aren’t I organised?) This is Rooster Almerino DK.

and it’s lovely. A blend of 50% baby alpaca and 50% merino it’s squishy and soft and the palette of colours are strong without being overpowering – sort of deep subdued pastels if that makes sense. The colours are saturated without being overly bright giving a lovely rich luxurious feel to the palette. I’m just whittering now, their gorgeous. That’ll do. Of course I didn’t just buy yarn (who could?) but I was very restrained. I bought a lovely clasp for my Anais jacket..

and I also picked up one of Tulips new interchangeable Tunisian hooks, along with cable and (for some inexplicable reason) a pack of FOUR cable stops. Why they don’t sell them in packs of two I don’t know – I know we’ll all lose one down the back of the sofa, but trying to remember where I put the other three will never work!

I haven’t had chance to play with it yet, but I will let you know how it goes when I do.

Last weekend I popped up to the familial home to visit, well, my family. My mother decided that this year. instead of buying me (her eldest daughter) an easter egg. she would go unconventional (if you’ve met my mother you’ll know this is a habit of a lifetime). Along with a fabulous Vogue branded umbrella in navy blue and silver, and several ‘subtle’ reminders that it’s a Vogue umbrella (the furl strap to fasten the umbrella, the handle and the mechanism button are all branded suitably) I got a a book. Not just any book of course, but a copy of:

Not only does the title make it sound like owning a shawl is some form of terminal illness, but the introduction boasts of a whole career option I hadn’t thought of previously. Apparently during the 1980’s nearly every Canadian department store had it’s own Qualified Scarf Consultant. I want to know what’s involved in becoming a Qualified Scarf Consultant. I so want that on my C.V.!

The whole thing is wonderfully 80’s and slightly dated, though to be fair a lot of the ideas are just as usable and applicable today. I flipped the book open at random to give you a taste of the illustrations…

At the start of the post I mentioned a ‘bump’. Well I must have caught my ringshawl on something and snagged it.

The beauty of crochet is that if a thread breaks then each stitch is independent and the whole thing doesn’t just unravel on the spot (phew!) and I do (luckily) have the 2grm scrap of yarn remaining from the original project in order to darn it up and make it good as new. (Hence me going through my stash in the first place to realise that I hadn’t photographed it all for my Ravelry stash pages)

It also forces me to sit down and study my shawl – which should help me start writing up the pattern, something I’m determined to do before the end of April.

hairpins do more than hold your hair up

Posted on March 17, 2013 by honey

First up, I got another couple of repeats done on my Honeymeade shawl, completing the first set of charts and about to start the second. Aoibhe Ni has produced a really interesting way of combining crochet and Tunisian crochet, turning things (literally) around and producing a really interesting visual texture.

Detail of the Honeymeade – showing Crochet and Tunisian sections

I’m still loving how the yarn is working up, and it feels so fabulous. the touch of stelina makes it sparkle (you can see it a bit in the photo towards the bottom right and top left). On the right you can see the ‘crochet’ section – and on the left you can see the Tunisian section (split almost exactly in the middle of the photo) The method of increases results the beautiful pleating you can see in the top left – but that will mostly block out when the shawl is finished.

I know I spoke about my hairpin tunic last week and how enthusiastic I was about it. Well, pride come before a fall and I quickly discovered that, despite what the label might claim (why do I trust those?) it is nowhere near an aran weight and while the pattern calls for 2 ‘stitches’ to the inch, and I’m getting nearly 8! So I’ll have to buy some more yarn. boo hiss. But I need your help, dear reader.

The tunic is this one, from Crochet So Fine by Kristin Omdhal:

I’ve found an appropriate yarn, Delphine by Louisa Harding, but I’m having a tough ole time deciding which colourway to go with..

now, obviously this is more a summer tunic, so I’d like to go fairly summery – which means the charcoal is out. And I look really ill in pure white – so that’s the Ecru out. I’m also not a massive fan of the bright pinks, which removes the Watermelon from the equation. I know that I don’t own much lime green or orange, but when I do people complement the colour on me. I’m just not sure I can carry off such a large area of such a colour. At the moment I’m drawn towards the navy or coffee or the natural (as I can see those over pale summery colours) but I’d value your opinion… what do you think?

Finally I’ve been back to the Consultant and have permission to start trying to come off the drugs over the next 5 weeks. Fingers crossed it’s worked and I can stop taking them and be wonderful and pain free from here on in!

Simple Pleasures

Posted on March 10, 2013 by honey

I know, I’m late. Apologies. This isn’t Friday, it’s Monday – but that just means less time until the next update right?

The past week has been a week of squeezing in simple pleasures. Those little events that give a momentary frisson of great joy.

First of all was picking up a project (my Honeymeade shawl), that has laid dormant for nearly 12 months and making a little bit of progress. Only 4 repeats of one of the charts, but given each chart repeat takes just under 30 minutes, that’s not bad going. During that process I rediscovered just how much I adore the yarn that finally agreed to be this wrapper (after 3 disasterous other, aborted, attempts) – the fyberspates 4ply is just gorgeous and the colouring is working up beautifully – I’ll try and take photos this week for you. Making any progress at all on any project is a minor win after being so unable to do anything for so long – but for some reason this one felt like a particular achievement. There’s still a long way to go on this project, but I just know that it’s going to stunning when it’s finished.

As you (probably) remember I had to frog the front of my Jan sweater completely to get the rib section the same length as the back. Over the weekend I finally caught up with where I had got to previously, the small victory of finally working with virgin, non crinkley, yarn warming the little cockles of my heart (and signifying the section where I have to concentrate on the armhole shaping, but the end of the front is in sight!). With a tail wind I might even have a back and a front of a sweater by the end of the week! Then of course there is the sleeves and the making up to do, but that’s not the end of the world.

I love teaching, and there is little that is as exciting as a completely new course or workshop. However, doing all the prep is not my favourite activity. Finally completing all 26 swatches (yes, I have an entire alphabet of swatches) for the Crochet Shaping workshop in April was a moment for a little happy dance. All the little samples are finished, labelled, blocked and pristine – ready for handling and pouring over by curious students.

Finally I felt like doing something I haven’t done in years, and the Hairpin Lace tunic in Crochet So Fine has been looking at me for about 2 years. Along with the ribbon yarn that I got for free just as I got back into crafting seriously. I had been waiting for an opportunity to use my Ed Jenkin’s hairpin loom (that I also picked up about 2 years ago), and picking up a skill that I haven’t touched for many years (and it coming back to smoothly and easily) gave a lovely glow of satisfaction to my Sunday evening. Again photo’s to follow. The loom is just gorgeous, and the art-silk ribbon so soft that it’s another project that you know from the outset is going to turn out better than you hoped.

Finally I saw a fabulous poster on Saturday that I wanted to share with you…

It will all be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end!

Review – Chiaogoo Bamboo & Steel Crochet Hook

Posted on February 9, 2013 by honey

Notes: I’m a natural left handed, ‘knife’ holder – but can work pencil hold and right handed. I’ve worked all 4 styles for this review, but mostly for my natural preference. My preference for hooks is straight, tapered with a deep throat. I also have very small hands. Obviously using a hook for an hour is different to using one for a month and some of my ‘issues’ might simply be due to habitual practice and adversity to change 😉

For this review I tested a 1.8mm hook.

First impressions

A lovely smooth handle which is warm to the touch and feels very secure in its attachment to the hook.
Laser etching of the size (in metric and US) is clear and easy to read.
Very light in the hand, with the weight being slightly forward (like a dart)
Has a tapered, deep throat and a pointed head
Slightly shorter in overall length than my ‘vintage’ steel hooks (and by slightly I mean a difference of less than ½”
Touchable and I found myself wanting to hold the hook just to see how it fit in different parts of my hand.
A 1.8mm hook is a slightly strange size as longer term UK crocheters would be more used to a 1.75mm or a 2mm sizing.

Working with yarn

The Hook

The hook is very slick and smooth on a variety of yarns and threads, creating a sense of almost no friction. The tapered head and deep throat are very good at picking up, and holding onto, the yarn and it was easy to get up a decent speed (for a new hook, there was very little ‘learning curve’).

The length of the metal hook part is suitable for most stitches (including shorter bullion stitches). Though the hook shaft does taper slightly wider into the handle I don’t think that would bother most users. You’re not going to be doing Tunisian, but the start of the handle is about the same place as the thumb rest on most of my other brands of crochet hook so has the same shaft length to go at as a standard hook (the Lantern Moon hooks have almost no thumb rest and don’t have this issue)

The head is a nice point which inserts into the stitches very nicely with a clean motion and made easy work of the crochet thread, 2ply and cobweb weight yarns I tried with the hook.

I’ll be honest, I adored the metal section (the hook and shaft) of this tool.

The Handle

The handle is so smooth it almost feels waxed or plastic (surprisingly) – but it is warm and comfortable to hold. It has a nice stable grip and is very easy to hold in terms of touch. I found myself picking it up just to feel it, and automatically held it in pencil hold, fairly far down on the shaft.

I have a slight preference for the thin straight hooks with a relatively long handle and I found in knife hold that the end of the handle of the Chiaogoo was short enough that it rubbed uncomfortably on the outer edge of my palm – however I have very small (almost child sized) hands, and that might not be an issue for a ‘normal’ person as the end of the hook should nestle more into the palm. Pencil hold completely solved this problem. Incidentally I have this exact same problem with my shorter straight hooks, so it’s not an issue specific to this hook.

There was a little learning curve in finding the ‘right’ place for me to hold the hook. The shaping goes from a lovely flat plain at the back of the hook to a more rounded shape at the front. When you pick up the hook, your thumb wants to sit at the point of change, but I found in practice that this positioning was too far back for me and I wanted to work further up the hook. I also found in this ‘natural’ hold (the one you want to adopt on picking up) that it was difficult to get the little bit of roll needed to move the hook, which used a little bit more wrist action than I was used to – but nothing drastic. For me I found moving up the handle slightly to the more oval lozenge shaped barrel solved those problems.

Pros

Very light
Comfortable to use in Pencil Hold
Very fast hook
Nice deep throat
Warm to touch

Cons

Uncomfortable for me in Knife Hold
Hand placement on Handle shaping needs a little thought/practice to find the ‘sweet spot’
Slight ‘plastic’ feeling of bamboo
Some might find the hook too ‘fast’ (slick)

Would Suit People who prefer

Pencil hold
Warm feeling hooks
Broader holding areas
Light hooks

Would I buy one?

This is a really nice tool, but I don’t think I would, simply because of my own personal preferences of working style.

If I had bought one as a trial I wouldn’t be disappointed and would consider it money well spent, but I probably wouldn’t buy any more (maybe in a sale, but even then only maybe)

I loved the hook but wasn’t over keen on the handle, if I could get that fabulous hook on a straight shaft I’d buy the set!

For “scientific purposes” I handed Mr TuesdayFortnite the Chiaogoo, a Clover SoftTouch, One of my Vintage steels and a Lantern Moon for comparison. My partner, a natural right handed, non-crocheter picked up all the hooks like a pen. He also naturally held the Chiaogoo down on the shaft but preferred the feel of my Clover soft touch and was surprised to hear the Chiaogoo was bamboo. Having taught him how to chain, he discovered he is actually a knife holder and found the Chiaogoo much less comfortable to hold in knife hold (and he has bigger hands than me ;-). His favourite overall was the Clover, but he could also see the appeal of the Lantern Moon.

Finally finishing projects!

Posted on February 9, 2013 by honey

I’ve had a great week catching up on several bits – and a bad week in that it’s been a stress filled and eventful week.

I finally got around to photographing all my outstanding stash (from last October!) so I’ve added a huge heap of yardage to my Ravelry stash pages and made a complete mockery of my ‘2013 Yarn Diet’. Must. Not. Buy. More. Yarn. Well, at least not for myself!

I also finished a couple of projects! Yeah, go me!

I finished a cushion ‘front’ that I had been doing in that popular ruffle yarn, you know the stuff. I loved the colour but didn’t want a scarf, and it so happened that the colourway worked well with my existing living room decor. It’s only taken about a year to get around to finish this..

I also finished the baby blanket, and I’m really pleased with how it came out. The Nikkim Cotton was perfect and it’s gone beautifully soft during blocking. I just know it will wear well in use – perfect for busy parents.

I also made headway on starting the samples for the Beginners Tunisian Workshop I’ll be teaching in June, and made a great ‘sampler spa cloth’ in Paton’s 100% cotton.

The cotton I can’t recommend highly enough if you’re looking for a tight twist cotton – it comes in 4ply and DK, in range of fabulous colours. It gives great stitch definition (as you can see), has a gorgeous eggshell-like soft sheen and I loved it so much I’ve picked up a range of colours to use in the class for the lucky students to take away with them..

Today I’m finally getting around to blocking the samples for the Crochet 102 (Shaping) class, and I have plans for some KnitPicks multi-colour I acquired…

Tuesday Fortnite

unraveling the yarn

Tag Archives: crochet