Thursday, January 21, 2016

Afghans

I have developed arthritis in my right hand knuckle right below the index finger. Unfortunately, my body seems to be on a down hill trip since I turned 75 in May of 2015. I found, however, that the knuckle can tolerate crocheting; so crocheting it is for now.  Ravelry has a number of crochet communities and by searching I found Melinda Miller Designs. And thus the project Mr. Ghan. Crochet has not been my thing since the 5th Grade when I was forced to crochet a pillow insert with No. 10 crochet cotton. Me thinks a pot holder would have been much better for a first crochet project. My mother wasn't much help either since she was a knitter. Finally her girlfriend took pity on me and helped me cheat a bit. I know the basics: single, half double, double, and triple crochet and was able to make simple Granny squares and the ubiquitous shell baby blanket. But otherwise I side stepped anything crochet. So now I've decided that maybe I should put that prejudice aside and learn a few tricks. Melinda's Afghan crochet-along gave me that little kick in the derriere I needed. I even bought Red Heart yarn since I can't imagine hand washing a blanket made with all wool. Each Friday will bring a new rectangle. The first one is done, with just a little hand holding from my youngest daughter and I am proud of it. Didn't know you could do such fancy things with the simple double crochet stitch. The photos aren't the best. They were taken inside where it is almost as dark and dreary as it is outside.

Instead of saying "Knit on, merrily", I suppose it'll have to be "Crochet on, merrily."