My name is Gin and I've been posting at houseofhill.blogpost.com since 2002 and deardarla.typepad.com since February 2007. This blog is my attempt to separate out my crocheting or hooking and crafting from the daily drivel. You can contact me at deardarlasdiaries<at>gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, thoughts or suggestions. I would appreciate the feedback.
So here goes nothing.
As a child my grandmother attempted to teach me to crochet. I made a lot of granny squares knots and tried to emulate her quick fingers as she crafted dishclothes, towel tops and numerous doily, lacy things. I eventually gave up and stuck with keeping Grandma company with my sordid youth tales while she hooked away.
Fast forward about 15 years or so. In the fall of 2004 I was bit by the hooking bug again. I had this hankering to pick up a hobby. Some sort of hobby that produced results that I hoped to be good at and something to keep my hands busy with our frequent road trip habit. A girlfriend named Brenda was a crochet machine. She had stacks of afghans that made my mouth water. We decided to start with scarfs that fall. I started with the basics: a double crocheted line. over and over and over again. That Christmas the entire family got scarfs: wide, long, short, thin, fluffy.
The following spring I picked up some beanie tricks from my friend Hugh and I was off and running. I discovered that my husband has the perfect beanie head - and he doesn't like to share. Our house has close to a dozen beanies floating around that I crafted for me, or he refused to part with. Many, many others have been made and dispersed along the way.
Once I got beyond the standard single and double crochet work I started looking into books like Stitch-n-Bitch: The Happy Hooker and Not Your Mama's Crochet. I realized I could actually decipher the crazy language of the hooker. Little free pamphlets, magazines and loose crochet patterns from fabric stores and websites started to pile up with yarn in corners of our home. I had the bug and it wouldn't let me go.
Over the past few years I've delved into purses like the Julie Holetz fat-bottom bag in the Happy Hooker book, and custom designs. I've also delved into shawls and currently some stuffed animals. I am still a bit leery about crossing into the clothing realm. Afghans taunt me and I've attempted to make, what I know call the never-ending afghan, about three times. The Husband has requested a 7-foot by 7-foot product. It hasn't been the happiest of projects. I also have to thank Chloe Nightingale for her fun inspirations at Crochet Me and her tips on things like how to hand-dye yarn. There is just so much to learn and so little time to do it.
In a battle of chores yarn beats chores every time.
