Stocking up for Winter: Yarn!

Winter has officially started here in my part of the world, both in the calendar and in the feel. Days are much shorter, colder and rainy weekends are frequent. So I've been stocking up in advance for those weekends that are just perfect to stay at home wrapped up in a warm cosy blankie, with a nice hot cuppa' and a fun knitting or crochet project.

I have yarn, of course. In fact, I have lots of yarn and I always feel it is not enough. I cannot resist a gorgeous luxury yarn, with alpaca, angora or silk. I usually get my alpaca and angora yarns from Ice Yarns. Although shipping expenses tend to be high, their yarn is reasonably priced and in the end you pay less than if you bought them in a shop because, for some reason, yarn is super expensive here in Australia. Their yarns are nice and soft and the colours are so amazing that it's difficult to choose!!! Sometimes I go crazy (well... actually more often than I would like to admit!) and just get one each colour. I like the self-striping yarns particularly.

As for silk, I recently bought the most amazing hand dyed mulberry silk yarn from Ann Collins. It is variegated in beautiful sunset tones of red and orange. In fact, it is so amazing that I feel I cannot find that just perfect pattern to use it. The yarn, however, comes with instructions to make two nice lace knitted scarves. Maybe I'll give them a go and take the chance to improve my knitting skills.

Hand dyed Mulberry Silk yarn
by Ann Collins

I am also a big fan of a nice sheep wool. I usually prefer merino wool as it's usually softer and more shiny. I am completely and uttermost in love with Malabrigo Sock but haven't been able to find it in any stores. And what about buying beautiful yarn and helping a kitty cat? That's what Ancient Arts and the Meow Foundation have done, and I must say in a most successful way. I wish I could buy one of each! Can you imagine having a nice shawl with the colours of your favourite kitty? Or all of your favourite kitties!!! I love cats so much I don't think I can decide on only one...

Well that was my yarn indulgence for this Winter. I've also been stocking up on kitting tools, but I'll leave that for another post (hopefully to be written soon!).

Tools of the Trade - Part 2: Crochet Hooks

There's nothing like staying home with a nice hot cup of tea on those cold and cloudy Autumn days, just like today! And to make it perfect, add a nice ball of wool and a crochet hook and you're set for the day! That's exactly what I'll be writing you about today: crochet hooks.

First of all, lets have a look at the crochet hook anatomy.

Anatomy of a crochet hook by Nancy Nehring @ Lace Buttons
(http://lacebuttons.com/?page_id=670)

There are lots of crochet hooks in the market. Different sizes, different shapes, different materials - metal, plastic, wood, coated, uncoated... As a crocheter with almost a decade of experience, I've tried my share of crochet hooks and decided to make a review of what I've learned over the years (and money spent).

I first learned to filet crochet using cotton thread and the traditional silvered metal hook. These were probably the only hooks that our great grannies ever knew and I still think they are the best to crochet with thread, as long as they are good quality stainless steel. If you have sweaty palms like I do, trust me, you do not want a crochet hook that easily rusts.

After I gained confidence with filet crochet, I ventured into the wonderful world of crochet with yarn and my life was never the same! I was amazed with the variety of things I could do and all the luxurious yarns I could work with (my savings were never the same either...). For this, I used steel hooks coated with plastic, the best two brands I tried being Pony and Prym. But these hooks, although being good, they look so dull... All crocheters love colour, don't these look much more appealing? Yes they do! Bright and color coded, a treat for your eyes. But the truth is, they are not a treat to work with. Because they are made of aluminium, they are cheap and light (and that's good), but you will find bits of unfinished aluminium where your yarn will most certainly be stuck. So annoying! Don't judge a hook by it's color!

After the brightly colored aluminium hooks disappointment, I decided to stick with my Pony hooks until recently I was finally ready to try something new again. My new adventure started with a bamboo hook when I was flying over to Australia. I thought that being wood it would a) not be seen by the X-Rays in the airports and/or b) if it was seen on the X-Rays, it looks much less threatening than a steel hook. I was also pleasantly surprised when using it: it's much lighter than the steel hooks and the yarn glides nicely. But still there is something I cannot explain that does not satisfy me.

In my quest to find the perfect crochet hook, and since I am an unconditional fan of Knit Pro birch wood knitting needles, I decided to try their crochet hooks. I was not impressed. The hook is really light, as you would expect from a wooden hook, the yarn slides beautifully, just like only Knit Pro Symfonie has accustomed us, the head is nice and just enough pointy to go through the stitches smoothly, but the lip is too low, making the thread guide too deep and gasping the yarn constantly.

Going back to colorful crochet hooks, what to say about Addi Swing Hooks! They came into the market claiming to be ergonomic turbo hooks. It is true that the yarn just glides away smoothly but the handle is all but ergonomic. It's a very very heavy crochet hook and it's probably ergonomic only for knife gripping crocheters. Being a pencil gripper, my hand feels tired and cramping after just a few stitches. It feels like I'm doing something wrong, that I am using it the wrong way. Big no-no to Addi Swing hooks.

Also on the ergonomic range, and because I am not getting any younger, I tried briefly the Clover Soft Touch Crochet Hook. It's a light hook (nothing compared to Addi's) but the plastic handle again feels very little ergonomic. It kind of stands in the way and hurts the side of my middle finger the way I grab it. This might be more of a user problem than a tool problem, it might be worth to give it another try.

So all in all, after all these attempts to find the perfect crochet hook, I must confess: there is nothing like my good old Pony crochet hook!

Crafter in the Park

This little crafter has moved to the park!

Although still quite close to the shore, I now live surrounded by a beautiful green landscape with centennial trees, waking up to the sound of the magpies and the miner birds!

I've been trying to get some nice pictures but unfortunately the weather hasn't been kind. I leave you with a picture of the view to the city from my balcony and a promise to get back to a more frequent posting!

Reefs and Crochet: the story of my life!

Sometimes (almost always, I would say...) a picture says more than a thousand words.

This work was made possible by more than 350 contributors around Australia.

And it aims to call to attention the urgent need to protect the Great Barrier Reef, 

one of the most biodiverse places in our planet.

These amazing masterpieces can be found in the Customs House in Sydney, Australia, 

until the 30th of March 2014.

To all the contributors, my most heartfelt thank you, both as a marine scientist and a crafter.

Inspirational...