Feeling crochety

I don't know how it managed to sneak in. It wasn't in my New Years Resolutions, but recently we went away for a few days and I took some wool and a crochet hook with me, determined to get the hang of that which has previously defeated me.

I think it was about 2 1/2 years ago that a friend tried to teach our Stitch & Bitch group how to crochet a Granny Square. I just couldn't get the hang of any of it. I couldn't hold it straight (maybe that was a left hander holding the hook like a right hander but still trying to crochet like a left hander. Do you follow?). I couldn't work out the Double or the Treble and goodness know where my Granny Corners got to. I had relegated the whole business to "you can't be good at everything" and left it at that. If only I was good at just a few less things than everything...

But maybe I deserve to give myself a second chance, and the attempts I have made recently, although to the trained eye might seem shockingly poor, are a definite improvement on the previous attempts. Practice makes perfect after all.

From left to right shows how I have improved with practice.  Don't linger over the one on the left, although it is much better than the 20 or so that came before and I unravelled repeatedly.  I am officially proud of the one on the right. Yey!

Armed with a couple of books, which I would highly recommend, I have started my quest again. These are the Handbook of Crochet Stitches by Search Press, ISBN 978-1-84448-511-6. This has been great as a guide to the stitches, and I always refer back to it when something jumps out on me to confuse (AN EXTENDED DOUBLE CROCHET???!).

The other book I have been using is 150 Blocks to Knit & Crochet. Also by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-618-2. This book has great patterns for a beginner / numpty like myself and I have had a go at a few blocks here.  This book concentrates on other shapes apart from the Granny Square (although I am learning to love the GS), and has a good range of shapes  which require varying skills, so I am loving it. 

There are also projects to show you how you can combine the blocks for projects. I am practising some simple ones for now:

On the left is a coaster that I got off a blog versusmag.blogspot.co.uk which came via Mollie Makes, and the one on the left may also have come from the internet from googling whilst on holiday.  It looks a bit wobbly as the edges were rippled.  I won't be putting my drinks on that one.

Both these were from the 150 Blocks to Knit and Crochet book.  On the left ((still work in progress) is the Open Trefoil and on the right is the Flower Power Posy.

The piece de resistance has to be my Apply Cosy as seen on Mollie Makes (might have been issue 1).  The first attempt was made with a hook that was accidentally too large, and so it ended up being more suitable as a Melon Cosy.  Hmmm.  I unravelled that.  Finding a better sized needle, I had another attempt.  Here is the result:

The apples in our house are very small.  What can I do about it?

This is more like it.  An onion cosy.  Just for demonstration purposes.

My ultimate aim is to crochet myself something wearable (and not just make a doiley and pin it on my person), but I think I may need to do a lot more practice before I get anywhere near that. My aim is for a great top I saw in this book:

An Interweave published book, which is available through the Search Press website, and which has beautiful tops in them. It was written by Erika and Monica Simmons.

Or befriend an unsuspecting crochet guru whom I will charm by my ineptness to do it for me...
Must dash.  Need to buy some bigger apples.

David Hockney and a nice cup of tea

This week has been great!  I went to the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy.  My mum came to visit and we went off on the train together.  We arrived in time for our 11am entry and then crowded in with the hoards of people.  I really enjoyed the show.  I had watched Andrew Marr's programme a couple of weeks before and was really looking forward to it.  From the series of trees in all seasons as you go in, to the grand finale of The Arrival of Spring 2011 (twenty-eleven) there was a lot to see, with older and new paintings in the show.  My favourite 3 pictures were Late November Tunnel 2006, Woldgate Woods 21,23,29 November 2006 and Woldgate Woods 7 and 8 November 2006. They were all quite similar in colour tones (warm autumnal) which appealed to me.  But I thought the exhibition as a whole was quite compelling.  It was really interesting seeing the iPad sketches blown up and printed onto huges sheets of paper, and as a medium for drawing, it certainly piqued my interest.  Royal Academy link

You can see The Arrival of Spring (it has been a popular image to advertise the exhibition), but I did find a picture of Late November tunnel on the Daily Telegraph website (image 5):
David Hockney in Telegraph

It had a range of his work, from the early, post-student days, through to the most recent paintings in Woldgate Woods. The canvases of the Grand Canyon were particularly striking and vividly coloured, but there were also a series of watercolours that were beautiful in their own right.  You got a real sense of the accomplishment of the artist with a huge selection of works, from bold and colourful works, to immensely detailed but subtle.

I had a great day, and found it very enjoyable.  My mum noted that "He does like to dab, doesn't he?", but she is a huge Hockney fan and then proceeded to grab herself the accompanying tome and lug that home.

But before home, we stopped off at Fortnum and Mason and had a sneaky look around.  Inhaling all that opulence and splendour made us a little bit thirsty so we had a cup of tea and some apple strudel.  What a luxury...

And a lovely cup and saucer to drink out of. 

We had a final look around all the lovely kitchen wares (we were eyeing up the egg cosies, as neither of us were brave enough to tackle the Mollie Makes ones just yet, and then we set off for home.  I was a bit tired that evening....Ahhh.