One of my most recent attempts to save some cash was to teach myself to crochet. I would love to make some hats for the kiddos, and I am DYING to make H a pair of leg warmers. You can teach yourself to do anything with a little time and youtube. I figured the easiest thing I could do was to make myself some new dishcloths, especially since my old ones were from the pre-husband and kids era (and completely full of gaping holes.) And really, could it be that hard to make a square?
So obviously, when I got to the yarn section of the over-sized super center, I went to straight to the yarn that… matched my kitchen of course! I paid no attention to what it was made of, the size, anything. But the browns, creams and maroons in the Cherry Chip yarn I picked out were going to look fabulous as I washed my dishes with my new dishcloths. I needed a hook too, and I picked one out that I thought looked like it would work nicely. Hmmm… letters and numbers on top of the package… I wonder what those mean? Oh well. The one I picked was an awesome shade of metallic purple, and you can never go wrong with metallic purple.
I raced home and sat in front of the computer with my yarn and needle and put my youtube teacher on pause and repeat until about when I had finished my first masterpiece. Ummmm, yeah…
so sad...
Not only did it look like a trapezoid, but apparently my fabulous Cherry Chip was made out of acrylic – which does not hold water too well - and I left pools of water all over the kitchen table while trying to clean up the next day. So that evening I brought my sad dishcloth and my defeated attitude to work with me to see if I could get some help. One of the perks of working at a nursing home is that my residents are a wealth of information on all this old school fun I am getting myself into. They told me my crochets were WAY too tight, I was missing the last stitch on every row (which is why it was shrinking), and I needed to get 100%cotton yarn for my projects. I don’t remember Ms. Youtube telling me any of those things.
The next day I went to the local craft store in town and got myself a beautiful new cotton yarn called Early Americana, which will also look fantastic in my kitchen and a new hook (that actually fit the yarn I was using!) I am now on my third dishcloth, although I think I will have to throw Ms. Cherry Chip out. Everything is still a work in progress. Like I said, I am learning as I go. But I know I have it in me to figure this all out, and I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough and I can pass on this knowledge to her. It is such a fun and relaxing past time, and at the end you have something truly beautiful to show for it.
