Knot Sew Crafty

Granny Granny

I've been making Grannies lately.  I hate sewing in the ends, thus I've only finished these two.  All the others have ends of yarn hanging all over the place and look rather unkempt, so I'll keep them out of sight until they are more presentable.

Some of you may remember that I started trying to make Granny Squares about a year ago.  I finally made a super-wonky one on my 40th birthday, last June.  I didn't make another one until about three weeks ago when something clicked in my brain and I suddenly understood how Granny squares work. I find that that happens to me a lot:  I don't get it, I don't get it, I give up, I try again, I give up, and then, after a while, everything becomes clear.  An inconvenient and exasperating way to learn, really.

I don't mean that I can do them perfectly all of a sudden--I know that those Grannies are still pretty wonky--but somehow they make sense to me now.  

And that is quite a relief to my knot-sew-crafty brain.

Totoro

Totoro Song

If you haven't seen My Neighbor Totoro by Hiyao Miyazaki, you might want to consider staying in the air-conditioning and watching it this weekend. I have seen it about 25 times because Willa adores it. I don't quite know how to describe it, so I won't even try, except to say that it's strange and beautiful and touching and quite funny, too.

Willa loves Totoro so much that I might try to make her this.

Eli's Blanket

I am posting this picture not because I think it is so beautiful, but to prove that I have been doing something crafty.

It's double crochet, made from a Lion's Brand yarn--I can't remember the name, but it's one of the chunky ones--in a color which I thought was brown, but is called "taupe." I always thought that taupe was beiger than that. Hmm. I still haven't quite figured out how to make a decent looking border, so I skipped it altogether. Nice and simple and toasty warm--perfect for hot summer days?

I hope Eli will like it. He has very discerning tastes for a two week old.

Granny? Is That You?

I think I finally made one!

I followed the tutorial at Craft Stylish and this is what I ended up with:

Now, of course, I have no idea what I thought was so difficult about it in the first place. I guess the faulty double crochet was making it impossible. And I also probably overthought the whole thing, which I tend to do.

I beat my deadline by about ten hours.

Ahhhhhh...

By Jove, I Think She's Got It

I think this is finally a proper double crochet stitch. See, it actually helps if you read all the directions, instead of reading the first few words and making up the rest.

I may actually be able to complete a bona-fide Granny Square before I turn 40. Keep your fingers crossed for me...

*#%/#*%&* Granny Squares!!!

Ah, the Square of the Grannies!

(This platonic ideal of Granny-Squaredom was not crocheted by me.)

Blind, arthritic, ancient grannies can make them, but I cannot seem to crack the "simple" granny square. Whatever I end up with does not look like any granny square I've ever seen.

This is the point I usually get to before giving up. It doesn't look like anything and I have no idea where to put the hook next.

Sad, sad, sad.

Perhaps crochet is not for me.

I'm going to spend some time with the Crochet page at About.com, Stitch and Bitch Crochet and a YouTube Crochet Tutorial and if those don't help, I'm going to throw out my entire stash of yarn. OK, I'm not really going to do that because I love yarn too much. I'll put it in a basket and set it in my living room so I can admire it.

Help me, Debbie Stoller!

I have a fear of knitters

There. I've said it.

I had been looking forward to going to Colorful Stitches in the Berkshires for a long time. I extricated myself from the family for a precious hour during our trip and headed to downtown Lenox. I entered that store and it was even more beautiful and fabulous than I had imagined. Unlike other yarn stores I've been to, they actually even had crochet books and hooks for sale, but I was still overtaken by feelings of inferiority because I CAN'T KNIT. The salespeople were very friendly but I couldn't shake the feeling that I am still unworthy of such incredible yarn. Maybe I'll stick with Lion Brand Yarn, which I can buy at those huge, impersonal craft stores, until I feel more confident, or at least until I master casting on.