I’ve got that wonderful, warm, woolly feeling. I think I may have fallen in love.
With crochet.
Yes, crochet. Knitting’s less glamorous sister. I know, it’s a bit unexpected, but isn’t that love all over? Anyway, this is how we met ….
I noticed that our new sofa cover, bought from Ikuva to sling over our ancient Ikea sofa in the kitchen, had started to fade, even in the few paltry rays of sun we’ve had this year. It shouldn’t have been a surprise – I’d put the sofa right under the window. But there’s nowhere else for it to go. So I decided I’d go a bit vintage and put a blanket over the back part where the fading is worse. Ideally, I wanted one of those bright rugs made of coloured squares which were everywhere in my youth. Admittedly, they were then in shades of brown and orange and usually made of scratchy acrylic, which made them less covetable. But a nice one, in brighter colours, would be idea. Could I find one? No, I could not. I looked everywhere. Everywhere on line, that is, and these days that is everywhere, isn’t it? The closest I got was a blanket from Cath Kidston, but its background colour was a rather nasty green, it was made from acrylic and, worst of all, it cost £160! Even the actual sofa cover didn’t cost that much.
But, while I’d been investigating, I’d come across a lot of how-to guides on making these ‘granny square’ blankets, as they’re called. Gradually, I realised, if I wanted one in the colours I liked and at a price which didn’t make me sob, I’d have to make it myself. So on Wednesday, I set off for Bluewater and bought a whole load of wool, a crochet hook and two how-to books. A nice lady in John Lewis helped me get the right stuff. I settled down at the kitchen table.
Four hours later, I produced this:
Four and a half hours later, I made this:
Four and three-quarter hours later, I abandoned the two books and found an internet video on granny square blankets. After another half hour, I produced this:
But I soon made this one:
It’s really exciting! I should have enough for a blanket in a week or so …. mind you, my fingers are going a bit numb and my eyes hurt. Maybe you’re not supposed to crochet 24 hours a day. Ah, but that’s love …..