Menokreatikkul; Hook Crazy

I have been wondering a bit about myself... all this hooking caper. As I said, I've been at the crochet for many a long year. Yes, it has been a bit more consistent and constant in the past ten, with a decided boost during the main COVID era. The last four months, though, it has been a sustained effort. I am hooked. Totally submerged, hook, line, and sinker. So to speak.

For those who missed it, I mention it in my latest video. At least this activity is producing items that serve a purpose and will continue to do so. But what was really interesting was that, on Tuesday, this article appeared in my newspaper. The concept of "social prescribing" was in place in OZ even before I departed those shores in 2011, but it was good to read that yarn crafts are perceived as being of huge benefit to mental health and, by association, physical health. Yes, it could be said that by immersing myself in the crochet, I am avoiding procrastinating on other matters; but it is a form of meditation and has definitely provided a sense of achievement (purpose). By seeking to improve on my skills and develop creatively in the craft, it has also been educational. Thus, the little twinge of guilt that sits in a dark corner of my mind about The Grey, is somewhat allayed...

In that video (produced in artificial light even though it was the middle of the day because it has been really, really dark weather) I show off a WIP which, I am pleased to report, was completed in time for Hogmanay. There was even just enough (barely, but just) yarn left over to make a hat...

This was the Viking Braid shawl pattern that I had bought from Tinna Torvalder (the link for the pattern is in the video description - hers and mine). The yarn is Drops Air, which is mainly Alpaca, with a little bit of Merino and a soupcon of Polyamide. It is a 'blown' yarn, rather than spun and lives up to its name. It is like a cloud, so light and, well, airy!

A closer inspection by eager eyes might note that the hat is in a slightly different-looking stitch... it's done in the Tunisian style! You may recall I had discovered a long hooked needle and gone down the rabbit hole of finding out how to use it. I learned one stitch, and that was me, off and running. No pattern, but this is what appeared. (I have since looked up patterns, so expect more!) I worked the stitch to use up what was left of the sock skein...

There was just enough there to make this neck gaiter/headband. As you see, it is a very different technique, running lots of stitches on and then off again.

I really took to this and found one teacher whose presentation style I really 'clicked' with. Toni at TL YarnCrafts has an excellent tubular channel, as well as a top-notch blog with lots of patterns (some of which are free!) 

The thing with Tunisian stitching is that one can work with a simple standard hook (non-ergonomic), which is all I had for the gaiter. It fits 25 stitches comfortably enough in this fingering yarn. One could make lots with just the standard equipment. However, there are dedicated hooks. The long needle type that got me looking into this... and the extended flexible type that resembles a circular needle in knitting, only one does not work in the round, but rather the forward and backward passes that create a row in Tunisian crochet. I jumped online and ordered a set. The variety of stitches which are possible remains to be explored, but I utilised a variation of the full stitch of the gaiter on the hat on one of the long hooks as I needed 68 stitches in the size 4 yarn. The variation was my own instinctual work - so it will be interesting to discover if I made a new one up or that it does actually exist, and my instincts are good! 

Anyway, am excited to be adding this different technique to my yarning yen!!! Keep watching this space.