In Which the Pirate Levels Up.

Day Two: 29th March. Skill + 1UP
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

I had been talking about learning to crochet for some time, but never seemed to get around to picking up the hook. When a friend announced that she was pregnant again, I decided that I’d learn to crochet as a birthday present to myself, and that my first project would be a blanket for her new baby. Not only that, but the blanket was planned to be a riot of colours in hexagon shapes.

First I successfully crocheted an edging onto my Winterlude Hat(tm). With that success buoying me, I crocheted little bobble-buttons onto a sweater. I spent one sunny Sunday morning reading Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. And then, with some of the yarn left over from the sweater, I tackled my very first hexagon. It now holds a place of honour on my desk as… well, as a coaster to keep my tea from dripping. But it’s quite good at its job!

The practice hexagon went so smoothly that I dove right in to making thirty-nine of them for the baby blanket. So this year I’ve discovered that I really like to crochet! I don’t know why I put off learning for so long. It’s lots of fun, and incredibly faster than knitting (although it does use more yarn), and I want to crochet more things!

The next crochet project I have in mind is a set of white dishcloths. I am getting tired of buying box after box of Dobie pads, which are really good for cleaning but which also have a tendency to tear and get disgusting very quickly. My brother suggested that I try using cloth dishrags, saying that they’re more economical, they last longer, they clean better, and they’re awesomely washable. Well, I don’t know how economical it will be to make a set of my own dishcloths, but I can believe the rest of it. I especially like the idea of having enough dishcloths that I can use a new one every day, and toss them in the bleach load (whenever that gets run). I went out and bought a ball of pure white kitchen cotton, but I’m not letting myself begin the dishcloths until I’ve finished all the baby projects I have going on!