Crafting Balance

Crocheting is the only yarn-based craft for me...

Although knitting can be tempting for different projects...I have never learned this craft. I really haven't had a need to learn.

It seems that everything I have a desire to make I can make in crochet. I have heard comparisons of the two crafts but for me, there is not comparison. Crochet has so many more stitches to learn and knitting only has a few. I like having all of the different options crocheting offers.


I read in another blog today (CrochetTime) that:

There are machines that can replicate knitting, whereas no machine can truely replicate crochet. I like to be a bit different and I’m proud of the fact that I use yarn in a way that no machine can.

 When I first learned to crochet, my MIL was teaching me when I was pregnant with my first child, twenty -seven years ago, and I struggled with it. I didn't think I could ever learn it and then three years later I bought a "Learn to Crochet" pamphlet from Leisure Arts. My first project was a ripple afghan and I loved it! I was "Hooked". I entered my ripple in the local fair and it won best in show! It even beat my MILs entry! So...it was love at first ripple for me and I've been crocheting ever since. I had a few years that I quit crocheting for a while but I picked it up again in 2009 thanks to Lucy at Attic24. I made the Hexagon blanket and wow...that was a huge project and I've been learning new techniques and crocheting more the last three years than I have in my life. I really love it.


Well this is the last day of the 2012 Knitting and Crochet Blog week! Yay! I did it! I was able to post everyday. This has been great and now that I'm in the habit of blogging every day I really like it and I might just keep it going. It's been so fun! So, thanks for all of your great comments and following along this week.

Use this tag 3KCBWDAY7 to search on Google and read about other bloggers are saying about Crafting balance.

Color? How Do You Choose?

When I choose colors for my projects I am all over the place! When I look at my finished projects just for the last year it is very clear I don't have a "system" or any one color that I predominantly choose.

As you can see I am about as random as they come. It seems I am drawn to a rainbow of bright hues, nothing subdued in my selections! I have done extensive studies of how to choose the "right" colors for a project. Of course we all love Lucy's colors at Attic 24 so I studied her system of choosing colors and I just didn't get it!!


I don't have any art school training and I kind of have a basic understanding how the color wheel works but, I still don't know what colors look good with other colors and why.

Do I really want to know this much about color? No, not really. I just want to be sure the items I crochet are pleasing to look at and basically look pretty. Isn't that what we all want? Do we really need to know all this information about color theory, hues, tones, etc.?


Well, I think to a certain extent we do. A lot of us ask our readers/followers about our yarn color choices for our next project, so we can get reassurance that our choices are "okay". It's nice to know that others agree with our choices or don't as the case may be. 

Of course we can also check with the new "Color Generators." These are pretty cool but I still end up confused because they seem to be very random! 

This site called Design Seeds is pretty awesome if I want to take the time to use it. It will search for colors by hue, or even themes like flora, vintage, vacation, winter, etc. It seems to be more useful to me than just color generator. It gives you several swatches from a photo.


Okay, I have given you a lot of options for picking colors for your projects but how do I do it? I try to look at nature for my decorating and my crochet projects. If a flower is pretty then the colors in it will look pretty in a crochet project. Mostly though, I go with the yarn that is in used in the pattern. It looks good so why try and reinvent the wheel?

 I know this probably limits me in my choices but some sites like Lion Brand show the same pattern with different colored yarns. They also have a pattern that goes with the yarns you like so when you pick a yarn you would like to use, at the bottom you can see crochet or knit patterns made with that yarn. For example, I looked at the Amazing yarn and then crochet patterns and then I got lots of crochet patterns using Amazing yarn. How easy is that? Use this tag 3KCBWWDAY1 to search on google and read what the other bloggers are saying about color!


HAPPY CROCHETING!!

Tags!? More Fun for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week!

Hi Everyone! I am getting more excited to do this each day, I am so glad some of my readers are going to participate!

Here is some more fun information about the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week I am participating in next week.

 Below is a list of tags that all of us that are blogging will add to our blog posts. Then you can go to Google and do a search for a tag and you will get a list of all the bloggers that did that post for that day. Does this make sense? I hope so. You can link to this post so you will have the tags for each day, (or do it the old fashioned way and write them down on a piece of paper;))

Happy Crocheting!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!-Crochet Blog Week

That's right folks...

Next week begins the 2012 Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Yes, yours truly will be participating this year and I am so excited! Be sure and check back here at the Crochet Attic (Addict is more like it) every day for a fun and informative blog post from me.

If you would like to participate you can find all the information here.

The blog week is in its third year and this year there will even be prizes! 

Here’s a list of all the topics that we crochet/knit bloggers, will be blogging about next week.





I sure do hope you can join us! Happy Crocheting!