Colour fun

It all started last year when my local residents association did a drive to get people to knit squares for blankets. I had an idea for project, which I wrote down and left it at that. Early this year my mom found something online that triggered my idea again. So, I got surfing and discovered that so many cool things are crocheted, not knitted. It's the one hand-craft that I've never gotten the hang of (not that I'd ever really tried).

Turning to the net again, I learned the basics of crochet and in the process found this fun and friendly knitting and crochet blog; her colours are vibrant and her posts have got me all enthusiastic about trying my hand at various projects.

It took me a while to settle on a yarn. Pure wool gives me goosebumps (like scratching a blackboard) and so do some of the synthetics. I found locally -made and hand-dyed natural options: 70% cotton twisted with bamboo thread, 100% cotton and 100% bamboo. The blend is a little uneven and rustic; the 100% yarns are even, smooth and silky. Love 'em. And the colours rock.

Through the blog I discovered a crochet book of motifs - shapes, which I ordered online. It arrived this week. And so begins my crochet adventure!

Handcrafts like knitting and crochet have a bad wrap; they're associated with old folks. And yet they're fun, rewarding, colourful and they keep me off my computer ;) And, I think I almost prefer crochet to knitting because it is faster and more interesting.

I'm not very fast and I'm still gaining familiarity with the basic stitches and reading patterns as I currently work on my 4th motif in as many days. I hit the yarn store yesterday and loaded up with some lovely colours. The 100% cotton is my favourite for the crochet motifs because they show the stitches better than the blend, which I love for knitting and chunkier crochet.

The headwarmers... they're divine! I love my fleece-type sporty headwarmers, which I use big time for winter adventure races to keep the cold from my ears. These are pretty versions (band is knitted, flowers are crochet) and will be perfect this winter.