Still Frustrated

Just here to say I still haven't gotten anywhere with the magic circle, and I've now looked at several different tutorials. I think I found one that I will like, but it doesn't actually use the magic circle method, and I don't actually know if it's going to work for me, because every time I tried to play it last night, it would go black at a point I really needed to see! Somehow, I kept ending up with extra stitches at the end of each round, and I actually had a big blob of yarn; I don't know where that came from or where it was supposed to go!

I'm hoping to sit down tonight with some decent WiFi and get this all worked out, but if not, it will remain a spring break project. I can work on my potholders until then!

And if anyone is counting, I have probably torn out my magic circle starts about 15 times now. It's FRUSTRATING!

Frustration Level

As a teacher, I am on the lookout for when my students hit their "frustration level" with a project; it's that point where they really need some support or they're not going to be able to move on. If they don't get the support (or sometimes they just need a break), they tend to give up and throw in the towel. 

Of course, we don't want kids to throw in the towel, but some of our best learning happens right before our "frustration level" peaks. This has been good for me, because this week I hit my own frustration level in my project. 

It's the magic circle, again, and it's giving me FITS!

I want to master this so I can make dish scrubbies. I bought the special yarn for this, as you might remember, and even got a bigger hook to accommodate the thicker yarn. At this point, I don't think I will ever be able to start a magic circle without the step-by-step tutorial, which I now have to watch about five times before I get mine started. BUT! I am able to at least get the circle started and do the first round. I am not terribly pleased with this magic circle. As you can see in the picture, the hole in the center is not all the way closed up, and it is supposed to be. I'm not sure if that's the yarn thickness causing that or what, but the whole point of the magic circle is that you do not have a hole in the center.

I can live with that hole in the middle though. The bigger issue I'm facing is that I still cannot figure out how to get this thing to lay flat! You may not be able to tell in the picture below, but it is taking on a bowl shape. I need to find a written pattern for scrubbies, and I think I have one saved on my pinterest board. (I have learned that I prefer a written pattern to a video if it's something I know how to do. If I need to see how to do something, I prefer a video to a diagram.) I think I might be missing a chain or two or a slip stitch at the end of each round.

I will be in a Hobby Lobby town this weekend, and something I need to buy is a stitch marker. Very helpful in a circle project for seeing where one round ends and another begins!

I also need to pick up some more yarn! I thought I could finish a potholder, and you can see how close this one is to being done, but I need just a little more. I think one more skein will finish this and do another one. Do you like these colors? 

I hope you are not at your "frustration level" with your project, but if you are, do not give up now! This is where the best learning happens! Stick with it!

Projects in Progress!

I've managed a little more crochet time this week, and have finished two more pot holders!

You can't really tell on the brown one in this picture, but I think I need to tear some stitches out of it. It got a little doubled over on the back and it does not lay flat. Do you like the green and blue one? I would have liked it better if one skein of yarn would have been enough. You can tell where I had to start a new one. 

This is the next pot holder I'm working on. I hope I have enough yarn to finish this! I might have to rip out some practice projects and tie some strands together in order to finish this one. I'd say this is about half way done, in case you were wondering what they looked like in the middle of the process.

I have a couple of new things to try once I finish a few more potholders. My friend who attended the Fiber Space workshop with me gave me this book: 

I'm not even sure what a Granny Square IS, but it comes up a lot in crochet-talk, so I'm excited to take a look at this book. I'd love to be able to do something like the yellow and purple project on the cover!

I am also getting serious about my scrubbies soon. I bought some yarn that is specifically FOR making scrubbies, and it's a little bigger, so I think that will help me see what I am doing. 

I hope to put those two together in one scrubbie, but first I have to master that magic circle, which has given me LOTS of trouble. I think this will turn out cute, though. 

I have some long car rides ahead of me this weekend, so I hope to finish my pot holder, or maybe finish two! 

How are your projects coming along?

Fiber Space Recap and Picture OVERLOAD

Let's discuss Fiber Space! 

Fiber Space was the retreat I attended this past weekend to work on my crochet skills. It is held every year in January and February at Heartland Farm. Crocheters, knitters, spinners and weavers all come together and retreat to work on their craft. There are beginners as well as some very talented people who have been crocheting, knitting, spinning or weaving for quite some time. Here we are going over the schedule for the retreat.

Once we got all of the introductions and housekeeping items taken care of, we went off to separate areas of the strawbale building to work. Sr. Imelda had a pattern for handwarmers (which, by the way, sell in the gift shop for $30), and it looked like something I could accomplish. This pattern utilizes a half double crochet, and that is a stitch I wanted to work on, so I decided to make these.

One of the issues I was having with the half-double crochet was getting a wedge-shaped product (which I wrote about here). I knew this had something to do with the way I was finishing my rows, but I wasn't sure what. I was able to get this figured out at this retreat. (Answer: chain two at each end.) Here is my FIRST handwarmer!

This was a little big, and I ended up ripping two rows out of it later. I could acutally probably rip out one more. But, as you can see, my edges are pretty straight and NOT in a wedge, so I am fairly pleased with these. 

I finished my other one at home, and there are some problems, as you can see. One is longer than the other, one is looser than the other, and even though these are made out of the same yarn skein, they don't look like they even match due to the variegation of the yarn! But! They're mine and I made them and I love them I guess. I still might take a row out of the one that's a little too big yet. These were very simple and something I could make easily for a gift.

I also worked on my double crochet and made this: 

It's just a dishrag, I guess. It's cotton yarn, so it should be fine for that. I learned that double crochet is not great for pot holders because it's a looser stitch and too "holey" for grabbing something hot. 

One thing I really wanted to master was a circle. It didn't go very well. My circles just end up looking like big knotted blobs. I worked on it some at home, after the retreat, using a video tutorial for a magic circle. 

I definitely need some more practice on this! I don't think it's supposed to come up into a bowl like that. It should lay flat. But I want to master this because I want to be able to make hats and scrubbies. I will need to buy some yarn that is suitable to scrubbies. 

Even though this retreat ate up a large bit of my weekend (and kept me from attending one of my kids' sporting events), I'm REALLY glad I went. I learned a lot, and crocheting is very relaxing to me, even the stuff that's hard that I haven't mastered yet. I met some very nice people, too. I realize not everyone has an opportunity like this for his/her given project, but if you do ever have a chance to take a class or get some dedicated time to work on your project with others doing the same, DO IT! You won't regret it. Here are some more pictures of our weekend.

The start of my handwarmer.                          Patty, across the table from me, has never crocheted.                                                                              She came with her daughter in law, who crochets a lot.

 
    My friend, Clarissa, attended this retreat       The silo is my favorite spot on the farm.
    with me.                                                          If it had been nicer out, I would have crocheted in                                                                                    there!

Sr. Imelda was in charge of helping the crocheters.

I don't think there's anything she CAN'T teach you to do!

One last thing: you might remember that I was waffling between learning to crochet or knit when we first started this process. One of the expert crocheters at the retreat asked me if I knew how to knit, because apparently I hold my crochet hook more like you would a knitting needle. Sr. Imelda suggested a few times, "why don't you try it like this?" but I just couldn't do it! I taught myself my own hook hold and it works for me, but it was definitely weird to everyone else! 

Progress, New Yarn, AND Fiber Space Starts Tonight!

I haven't worked as much as I would have liked to this week on my single crochet projects, but I did get to the Hobby Lobby this week for some more yarn!

I had to get more of the brown because I ran out of that mid-pot holder and couldn't finish without it (hence not getting much done this week). It was about 20 degrees out when I bought these, but I was still feeling in springtime mood, so I went with the green, and I think those would make nice St. Patrick's Day projects. 

But I almost have my third pot holder finished: 

I just need to stitch up the back of that and then this one will be finished. You can probably tell where I ran out of yarn toward the center of the back. 

The big news is that Fiber Space starts tonight! My husband and kids keep asking me where I'm going again tonight and tomorrow and I really don't want to answer this question because I know they will make fun of me (and may not be excited that I am missing a swim meet to go), but I am pretty excited. My goals for this weekend are to learn to do the other crochet stitches: double, half double, and maybe treble. I just googled and saw that there are 20 "basic" crochet stitches! I could work on this for the rest of my life and not learn them all!

What are your weekend goals for your project?

I'll Keep This Short...

...but here's my second hot pad!

I kind of want to keep this one since it matches my countertops so well!

There's plenty more of this yarn, though, so let me know if you like these colors! I can (and will) make more!

Edited to add: There is NOT plenty more of this yarn, sadly. I started on my second one of these with this yarn and got about three-fourths of the way done and ran out! I will have to pick some more up next time I am near Hobby Lobby!

My Second "First" Project!

I'm actually very excited to report that I have completed a project (like a real one)! Here it is:

My daughter said I did such a good job stitching up the back that she couldn't tell which side was the front and which side was the back. Can you?

 

(Left is the front; right is the back.)

This only took me about three days. I got to work on it a lot during a very long swimming meet on Saturday.

I found this pattern here, and I like it because it only incorporates single crochet. That gives me a good opportunity to try to perfect this method, as I plan to make several of these.

In fact, I already started on my next one! This yarn goes quite well with my countertops, don't you think?

Saturday also provided a good opportunity to get to Hobby Lobby and purchase some more yarn. This hot pad I am working on now would actually also be perfect as a blanket with my new furniture! I don't know if I will ever graduate to making blankets, but I need to keep this yarn label in case I do.

I do understand why beginners are encouraged to start with a lighter-colored yarn, though. This has some light areas in it, but they grays and browns can be hard to see. I had to back up a few times and make corrections.

Some things that have changed in the process of working on these the last few days: 1. My hands have relaxed a lot. When I first started, I was very tense, and my hands would cramp up pretty quickly. I had to take a lot of breaks. I had a death grip on my crochet hook. I noticed last night, that I was able to work for quite a while before I needed to take a break. 2. I have sped up quite a bit as well. 3. My sensitivity to the yarn hasn't been so bad the last few days. My eyes are watering and itching a lot less, so maybe I am not allergic after all, or maybe I'm adjusting. Good news either way.

We had a late start today, but I was kind of hoping for a snow day so I could stay home and crochet more! It's getting to be a bit of an obsession!

How is your project going?