my poncho grew

One of the things I learned with going through my Mom's things is that if you are a maker you usually get those things you made or gave back!  I had worked on a hat for my Mom and gifted it to her a year or two ago.  It came with me. 

I thought it was a cool pattern and I documented my work here.  It did not really look like a crocheted hat.  It also did not wear like a crocheted hat.  I had been gifted yarn to make my own hat from that pattern but after wearing the one I made my Mom I decided that yarn needed a different purpose.  

So, I took apart the hat I made my Mom.  I found the skein of yarn for the hat I was to make.  I had also been gifted two small skeins of some lovely grey yarn.  I decided I was going to add it to the edge of the poncho I had made earlier this year.  Make it a better size to wear around the house.

I turned out well.  I used the single stitch I like, which is a single stitch and then a chain.  After the first row of single stitching with a change of color, I used a double stitch.  It gives it a bit of an eyelet feel.

My rocking chair and spinning wheel are right next to the air conditioning.  Or, it can be a drafty corner in winter because the chair is between two sets of windows.  It is now like having a blanket while I work.  I find normal blankets are great for my lower half but this keeps the top half warmer.  And there is room for a sweater underneath.  I do not lose it like I do shawls.  Though, I still really like shawls.

I would say this is a win.  There is going to be more bits and bobs of leftover yarn from other projects that may be of the same tones but I think this is the right size.  I will have to see if those become a shawl or a poncho.  I will just have to see.

simple things

I crochet every day.  I try to sew every day and spin every day as well but crochet usually is a given.  I have tried every style of hook.  Metal, plastic, wood, bone.  I like metal.  A well finished wooden hook is a thing of beauty. 

I have really liked to come to like Furls hooks.  They are nicely ergonomic.  I like the pewter hook and I have one of their wooden ones I really like.  I do not like the wooden hook pictured on the right very much at all.  The finishing is not as nice as I would have liked.  Especially for the price.  I put it in my Etsy shop for sale until I get a chance to give it some TLC.  When the TLC is applied, I may regift it.  That is how much I do not like it.  I will not regift it until some sanding and possibly buffing is done.

The pewter hooks I purchased from Furls were very nice.  At least the hook part was.  The handle was plastic.  The fit and finish from the handle to the hook always left a little bit to be desired.  Especially with how many people I have in my life who make things and put handles on tools.  Then I chipped one handle and one handle came off a hook.

The boyos of Serenity Knives rehandled them for me.  Honestly, it would have been less expensive to buy a new hook.  But then all of the hook would have hit a landfill.  Hooks that are not bone do not usually break on me.  I would have still had the same fit and finish problem.  The fit and finish on these two hooks is now much better then the original.  I can see me using these hooks until my hands do not work well enough to crochet any more.

The hook on the bottom of the picture is a mystery wood.  The top hook's handle is king wood.  They are both lovely.  The king wood hook was finished for me first so that is the one I have been using.  It is a wonderful hook now.  I have no complaints.

Next handle that breaks, getting it rehandled.  It appears to be how I get paid by those boyos for food and errand running.  But I do not complain at all!