An Abundance of Crochet

I'm sure those who read this post about my first crochet project are eager to know if I ever finished it. Well, as a matter of fact, I did. Here it is above, with my most recent project, granny squares to be made into some kind of quilt at some point in the future. You can see the squares are not all exactly the same size, a result of using different weights of yarn culled from SCRAP, and which I will have to deal with when I put them all together.
The hat was supposed to be a groovy crochet cap, and it's fine but not the most flattering style for me, I decided. My husband wears it around the house sometimes.
I have also crocheted four scarves. The two above were the easiest. The two-color one is for one of the FC Barcelona fans in the house. He has actually worn it a couple of times and claims he defended it to his friends at school ("Hey, I'd like to see you crochet a scarf sometime.") That's not so complimentary, is it?
Here are the two more difficult ones. The one on the right is single crochet alternating front and back loops. I kept forgetting which I had done and how long my row was. The one on the left also involved counting. It is supposed to have one more long row making it wavy on both sides but I ran out of yarn.
What I still enjoy about crochet is the same thing I enjoyed when I began: it is mostly about the process. I like the feeling of my hands in motion; I'm doing something but can be thinking about something else. I can do it while talking to my husband or sitting in front of the TV watching the Olympics or even at a boring parent meeting. Unlike sewing, it does not involve taking over the dining room table to lay out my fabric and taking over my desk to set up my sewing machine. And ultimately because I have not invested too much thought and agony into the product, I don't care if it's not perfect. I love making the granny squares because they involve lots of my favorite part: choosing the colors.
Here was my initial inspiration to start a granny square quilt. I know these quilts are on a whole different aesthetic and spiritual level, but I love to think about the Amish color choices when I'm choosing my colors. If you have not seen this show at the deYoung Museum, go now. It is very beautiful and moving to see the expressions of love, creativity, devotion, community and faith within a tightly circumscribed form chosen by the women themselves.

Crochet Summer Camp

Maybe it's exaggerating to call a 3-hour workshop on how to crochet a summer camp. But ever since my kids lost interest in going to summer camp, I'm all over it--and this is probably the only "summer camp" experience I'm going to get this summer. Picture a room with lots of scrappy art projects pinned up to the wall in the corner of the large warehouse wonderland that is SCRAP. Around 15 women of many ages, sizes, and orientations seated around 3 tables are gazing at their crochet hooks, crocheting intently. There is conversation--about how to get your teenager off the couch in the summer, about someone else's wedding presents, about spouses and significant others, about raves and concerts and other tantalizing snippets I didn't quite get the gist of--but it all happens with eyes fixed firmly on the crocheting.
I felt a little sorry for the guy who wandered into the room and exclaimed cluelessly: "Oh, knitting!" There was a little silence, and then the teacher answered briskly, "Actually, it's crocheting." To make up for his gaffe he feigned interest in what we were making and leaned in to look. "You're making skullcaps," he said. "They are crocheted caps," she corrected him. "This is a workshop space." He got the message.
I won't say I'm an expert crocheter now, but I did learn the basic stitches and started following the pattern to make the cap. Except I ripped out most of what you see above and started over since it was beginning to look more like a placemat. I don't really know why I'm picking up another craft, since I hardly have time for the sewing and scrapbooking projects I've started and not finished, but crocheting is different because you can bring it with you. It only takes a ball of yarn and a crochet hook. It takes less mental attention than any other craft I can think of (I've never tried knitting) and the repetitive hand movements are pleasurable. After several hundred stitches, my hands are getting the feel of it. Maybe I'll just keep ripping out the same yarn and starting over.