Sunday, February 25, 2007

hook line and sinker


I've often vaguely thought that one of the few half decent looking ways to use up scrap yarn is to make one of those big multicoloured crocheted blankets. Made out of what the internet has recently informed me are called Granny Squares. I have loads of scrap yarn, so I'm halfway there! Only problem is i can't actually crochet. But today I was quite bored and have mild knitting RSI, so i sat down with the Readers Digest Guide to Needlework (huge hardback book written in the seventies or eighties, procured from a second hand bookshop for about 2 quid) and had a stab at learning crochet. This was more tricky than i thought. The book assumes a certain basic level of needlework proficiency that women probably all had in the more self sufficient times the book was written, but I unfortunately have ten sausages for fingers and a head full of broken biscuits. Amazingly the result turned out vaguely identifiable with the picture, despite a giddy variation in stitch size and tension and a somewhat laissez-faire attitude towards dealing with ends that led to a couple of near-catastrophic unravelling incidents. And I have calculated that at my present crocheting speed, if I give up work, sleep and food it will take me approximately seven lifetimes to create a blanket big enough to cover one knee.

3 comments:

CatR said...

A very trendy colour-way there! (Downstairs have just painted and wallpapered in a very similar, mustardy yellow.) Congrats on biting the bullet and learning - it's everywhere at the moment.

rubbishknitter said...

thanks! I like a bit of mustard. Especially on cheese on toast.

Alice said...

Love your squares - never mind the yarn snobs; who gives a .. whatever?
I learned crochet from a book too - I hate being bad at stuff so i nearly gave up a few times. But it's easy once you get into it. I'm enjoying the grannies now too :)