Hooker Status: Official!

The week up in Lapland (Saariselkä), plus the assistance of a knitting friend did the trick. The latter was very important - I knew she'd pick it up quicker than me and so the competitive spirit got a hold of me good and proper.

I've now made samplers of the most common stitches and am planning my first real project. I'll post some pictures of the samplers later. They aren't great by any means, but they are crochet and that's what matters to me.

I'm off to the wool shop today to buy some odd balls (heh) and some stitch markers. It appears that my addled pregnancy brain doesn't allow the complex task of counting...

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First Baby Ring Sling Completed!

At last started (and then finished a few hours later) the baby ring sling. I had bought a special hemming foot for my machine, but found out that it didn't fit. After a short sulk, I came back all the more determined and did the hemming by hand. Dead easy, so easy in fact that it seems a bit pointless to exchange the foot for the right one.

The pleating was pretty tricky, mainly because the material I chose is very thick. Two machine needles later though and it's all fine and dandy. Tried it out with Monkey (the Chihuahua) and an Elmo toy (less wriggly), and H and I have declared it a success.

I'll definitely be making another one in a lighter fabric. And I'll post some pictures tonight.

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I Will Become a Hooker

Not an ambition one hears often! Of course I am referring to knitting's supposedly lesser cousin, crochet. I am now the proud owner of 3 books about crochet and still I cannot get beyond one row.

So, since I am spending next week in Lapland with H and two close friends, I hereby declare that I will become a hooker during that time. We're going to laze around, reading and having spa treatments (or at least the girls are - the men will probably do something active), so seems a good time to learn. I aim to have completed a square of crochet by the end of the week and I will post the proof here. There, that should motivate me enough.

The books I have are great, by the way:

• Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller
• Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty
• Baby Crochet: 20 Hand Crochet Designs for Babies 0-24 Months by Lois Daykin

If I don't learn now the baby will be born and nearing 24 months before I've crocheted anything!

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Origami Boxes Made from Magazines

Spotted these on Craftster a couple of weeks ago and thought they looked cool. You just tear out a page from an old magazine and a few quick folds later, you've got a folded up box. Then watch something inane on the telly for 30 mins and you end up with a stack of them. Open one of them out into a box and you've got a storage box for them.

I'm sure there must be lots of uses for them - sharing out snacks on the sofa, putting nut shells in, collecting food scraps for the compost bin (you could even put the box in), to name a few but a few. If you used serviettes, could be great for parties, or even themed parties using specific magazines or newspapers.

Got me thinking about doggy bags (the unpleasant ones, not those with leftovers in) - there must be a way to fold newspaper to make an ecological poop scoop. Any ideas?

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Mini Christmas Tree with Origami Cranes

A bit late, but here it is - our origami Christmas tree. I started out with grand ideas of a proper sized tree with hundreds of traditional origami cranes, but scaled down to this cute tree in a pot in the end. And that had a lot to do with mis-ordering of origami paper (always pay attention to the sizes!).

I'm pretty pleased with it and my fingers now know how to make cranes without my brain being involved. Quite a long way off before I hit the magical 1,000 mark (the maker of 1,000 cranes is bestowed with good luck, apparently).

Funny thing - left it so long the tree itself is totally dead. One touch and it crumbles to dust. I suppose Christmas truly is over...

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