It's just a bunch of knots!

Ok, so I’ve taken a little guff from some people for my new hobby (ok it’s not brand new, but I’ve only been doing it for about a year). Several folks have implied that it’s a girl’s hobby; other people have laughed or snickered at me. Through that I have gotten positive feedback too. What is this hobby you ask? Crochet. Yep, crochet.

One day in early spring last year some friends (Anne Marie and her husband Chris) went with Cat and I to Michael’s craft store. Chris makes letterbox scrapbooks of old family photos and mementos and he need some adhesive. Cat, being the Scrapbook Queen, told him she’d help him pick out some good stuff. Well, Anne Marie is not really into crafts and I couldn’t care less about tape and glue and other sticky stuff, so we decided to wander the store while our spouses bonded. I came across this “Teach Yourself Crochet” set that came with several hooks, some stitch markers, a instruction/pattern book and other various stuff for $10 (the hooks were worth at least that by themselves). I thought I’d buy it just for the heck of it. I had seen several of the students knitting and crocheting and it didn’t seem too hard. So, I taught myself. And I liked it!

I have made several shawls (which my mother can attest to the greatness of!) and a blanket. I got bored with squares and rectangles though, so I started making hats. Those we fun, but they only come out in the winter (though that does last more than half the year up here). So recently I decided to move on to a new variation on crochet – thread crochet. Instead of using yarn, you use thread. Ok, not like sewing thread, it’s too small (though you can use that for some projects). It’s more like little string. The hooks are mini too (1.5mm, yep millimeters).

You can make all sorts of cool stuff. And Cat totally approves. Why, you ask? Because the main thing you make with string crochet are doilies. Anybody who really knows my wife knows she loves doilies. She goes to garage sales in the summer just to look for them. Her sister and her went and found a whole box at a sale once and you would have thought she had found a million dollars. So now, she can get me to make her doilies (the “Easter Bunny” even brought me a pattern book chuck full of them). She already picked out the first one she wants me to make!

Anyway, the real reason I started this blog was because I finished my first “real” doily the other day. I had made one before. Technically it is a coaster and it was more of a “do I like doing this” test. But then I made the bigger one, and it turned out great. I’m actually quite proud of my accomplishments, so I thought I’d post pictures of them. So without any further ado…

The Coaster








And this is my first doily