Worm problem

On December 1, 2024 By CarynIn Craft

I may have a worm obsession. I went at making these crochet worry worms with a fervor, using up all my scrap yarn and getting more acrylic yarn. Yes, I bought acrylic yarn. For someone who spins and adores natural fibers, it was a telling sign of a distraction gone rogue. The main advantage of acrylic, other than the low cost, is that the yarn is less likely to cause allergic reactions. There are many people allergic to animal hair or plant fibers, so making a solace gift that could cause allergies feels… icky.

Photo description: crocheted spiral worry worms made from variegated yarn with sewn on eyes

My biggest downfall was the Mary Maxim yarn that was red, white, and green with silver sparkles. Maybe I should find a local addictive crochet support group.

Chicken rock

On November 27, 2024 By CarynIn art, chickens

One of my friends enjoys painting and has quite a flair for it. She had painted rocks at the chorus craft fair and I just had to buy the one that looked like Wing Ding! And then take a picture of Wing Ding with her effigy.

Photo description: Wing Ding the Black Star hen in molt standing behind the painted rock with a black chicken that I’m holding. Painting by Corinna Standlee.

Worm size

On November 16, 2024 By CarynIn Craft

Once again, I have a hard time making many things all the same. What happens if I change stitches, or hook size, or yarn type, or starting stitches, or… well you can see where my mind goes. I did a little experiment with the worry worms and stitch type. I used three different stitches: single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet.

Photo description: three worry worms made of crocheted rainbow variegated yarn, from left to right they are made with double crochet, half double crochet, and single crochet. All start with a chain of 30 and have three stitches in each chain.

As expected, the length and width changed with the different stitch types. What I didn’t expect was the neat chain edge on the half double crochet, and it has a nice full squishiness to it. I don’t care for the double crochet worm, it came out limp and floppy, which I didn’t expect from a larger stitch.

Chaunacops fish

On November 14, 2024 By CarynIn Craft

Scrolling I saw reference to a Chaunacops fish, which is a deep ocean variety of sea toad that can be a lurid red. One of the commenters said it looked like their grandma crocheted it. Hm. Could I crochet one?

Photo description: screen shot of an image search for Chaunacops fish, with four images and image sources showing light pink to bright red walking fish

I’m in hat making mode, so rather than make a stuffed animal, I decorated a red beanie with fins, tail, and mouth.

Photo description: bright red sea toad hat with embroidered white mouth and sew-on googly eyes

I didn’t do a pattern, this just was a fun little experiment. I do like how well a single crochet ribbing does for making fins.

It amuses me greatly.

Spiral start in crochet

On November 13, 2024 By CarynIn Craft

Another way to start a beanie is making a spiral. The good part of the spiral is that there is no seam where a row starts, so it works well with variegated yarn with a long stretches of color. The tricky part is you need to use stitch markers to mark the beginning of the round to get your increases correct, and you need to decrease stitch size at the brim before weaving in the end.