What do you do when you want to relax, crochet, chill out,
and play with yarn?
All at the same time. And you don't have a lot of the yarn you want to play with. But you want to make something. And not stress out about it. What do you do?
I know what I do. I crochet circles. Some of the circles I use as small table pads, to protect tables or other surfaces from things that may scratch them. My grandmother made doilies for this purpose – I make my version of doilies. Circles. Many of the circles, though, I turn in to baskets. All sizes, all shapes, all styles. It doesn't matter if I have enough of one yarn – I just use what I have, and if I want a larger basket, I add more yarn – maybe same colorway, maybe not. Sometimes, I even make totes – same guidelines as the baskets. In fact, I'm working on one now. More on that later.
All at the same time. And you don't have a lot of the yarn you want to play with. But you want to make something. And not stress out about it. What do you do?
I know what I do. I crochet circles. Some of the circles I use as small table pads, to protect tables or other surfaces from things that may scratch them. My grandmother made doilies for this purpose – I make my version of doilies. Circles. Many of the circles, though, I turn in to baskets. All sizes, all shapes, all styles. It doesn't matter if I have enough of one yarn – I just use what I have, and if I want a larger basket, I add more yarn – maybe same colorway, maybe not. Sometimes, I even make totes – same guidelines as the baskets. In fact, I'm working on one now. More on that later.
I use all sorts of yarn – wool, cotton, acrylic, parachute
cord, torn up material, ribbon made from t-shirts and other cotton material,
torn up cotton bandanas, nylon cordé, recycled sari silk ribbon, shoelace yarn,
string, mop cotton, rope, etc. If it can be wound around a crochet hook, I will
try it!
So what do I do with all my baskets? Just look around my
house and you'll find out. In my kitchen, I have a soft basket filled with my
Keurig K-pods; a couple of felted baskets with pens and pencils in them; some
smaller ones hold rubber bands and paper clips; others hold loose change;
another one holds small note pads near the phone. Walk into my family room,
you'll see more baskets. Big ones. These baskets, some felted, one crocheted
with cut-up bandanas, another crocheted with what I call mop cotton, I use to
hold yarn and yarn projects that I am working on. They're convenient, because I
can just sit down at the couch, decide which project I want to work on, and all
my materials are there – yarn, hooks, measuring tape, scissors – whatever I
need, I just put in each basket. And if I want to move to another room with the
project, I just carry the basket with me. Some smaller baskets I use to put a
skein or ball of yarn in, so it won't roll around on the floor and get dirty
when I'm crocheting with it. You
get the idea. One can never have enough baskets!
Here are some pictures of some of them:
What about the circles/doilies? I make circles when I don't have a lot of yarn to use. Or I want to try out a yarn. Or I want to take a project with me when I'm going someplace, but it has to be a small project. So I make all sizes of circles. Small ones are great coasters. I have some in the family room so I can put a drink on them when I'm crocheting. Some larger ones are in my kitchen, protecting the countertop from marks and scratches. I use felted wool ones for hot pads on the table, so the tables don't get scorched by hot dishes or pots And, pretty soon, I just might decorate my cabinets with some circles of all sizes. And colors. And materials.
Here are some of the circles:
Circles are the basis of most of my baskets. But they are
also the basis of a lot of my totes and hats. And I keep thinking up new ways
to make circles. So I make more and more. I thought of some new ones this week,
and I'm going to work on them later. And right now, if you want to learn how to
make circles – all sorts of circles – you have a couple of choices. You can
take my class on circles – I call it Going Around in Circles – this July at the
Crochet Guild of America's Chain Link Conference in Manchester, New Hampshire,
July 23 – 27, 2014, http://www.knitandcrochetshow.com. I'll be teaching how to
crochet circles every which way – from the center out, from the outside in, in
pieces, parts of circles, joined rounds, unjoined rounds, etc. And how to turn
those circles in to baskets or totes or hats. So if you're curious about my
newest tote project that I mentioned above, I'll be bringing it to the class,
and you can see it there. Resigtration opened today, so head over there to sign
up before the classes are full. Going Around in Circles - I'm teaching it on Thursday 1:00 to 4:00. You can also order an ebook from Interweave
Crochet – Step by Step Guide to Top Down Hat Construction - http://www.interweavestore.com/a-step-by-step-guide-to-top-down-hat-construction-with-6-staff-favorite-patterns-ebook.
It includes an article written by me for Interweave Crochet, about how to
crochet circles and turn them into hats. Either one would be a good choice.
Both would be the best choice!
So have fun making circles with all those single skeins
you've collected, and I hope to see you this July in Manchester!
