I’ve asked my Knitting to cover its ears as I disclose the following because although Knitting knows it is and has always been my first love, enthusiastic goings-on about another method of playing with fibre is a potential for being miffed, particularly when a stick and yarn is involved.
A day or so ago I mentioned feeling a breakthrough about my hither-to rather ho-hum response to crochet. I’ve done a fair amount of crochet over half a century – hats, blankets, cat rugs, sweaters, bags, a bushtit nest, clothes peg baskets, outdoor vessels. But it never – quite – caught my full interest.
Now, into my seventh decade, either just the mere expanse of time lived (wow!) or/and the experiences across that time has shrugged the attitude into "if it doesn’t feel great, don’t do it, focus on things that do."
Well, crochet is feeling better and better and turning into Crochet.
I took that amber chenille and a crochet hook and began to play, to let the hook and yarn lead the dance. Made a chain of four stitches or so. Then a treble stitch or two somewhere along that chain. Maybe it was a double. I didn’t keep track: I was just having fun using whatever stitich came to mind, single, double, treble, halves, in whatever combination – twins, triplets, etc.
The hook fell out at one point and I marveled that the stomach clench was so short-lived as I only had one stitch to reclaim, not a whole row as so easily and quickly can slide off a needle and require careful and often tedious rescue. (I wonder what would be considered true swearing at such times: I feel I have been quite inventive in my invictives.)
Another thing with Crochet – I can flip back and forth between front and back; I know I can with Knitting but there are always ‘siblings’ to be considered. Crochet seems to be more an only child adventure.
The resultant piece of Crochet is – a piece of Crochet, but, of course, I wonder what it ‘could’ become.
I suppose I could let it grow to fill the outline of a scarf, a sweater, blanket, curtains, hat, wrist warmer, towel etc.
A snip of the chenille, pass the cut end through the single stitch – that building block is done!