Confessions of a Hooker

My name is Jeanne and I'm a hooker.

No, silly, not that kind of hooker. Hooker as in "crochet hook." (But I bet the first line of this post caught your attention, didn't it?)

My mom taught me to crochet when I was about ten years old, and I've been doing it on and off ever since. It's a fun hobby, easy to learn, and a great way to express your creativity within the framework of an established pattern. I've never considered myself to be a particularly "artsy" type, but give me a nice crochet pattern, some great yarn, and a crochet hook and I will churn out something pretty within a matter of hours, days, or weeks, depending on the size and complexity of the project and the amount of free time I have on my hands.

When someone uninitiated sees me crocheting something, the first words out of their mouth are usually, "Oh! What are you knitting?" I explain, patiently, that what I'm doing is actually crocheting, not knitting. Knitting is accomplished with (usually) a pair of long, pointy needles, whereas crocheting utilizes a single hook. There seems to be a bit of a rivalry between knitters and hookers, too -- personally, I like the fact that crochet projects tend to work up faster and I love all of the fun patterns one can create with a crochet hook -- everything from seashells to the delightful popcorn stitch. (I also know I'm not coordinated enough to manipulate two knitting needles. There are times when a crochet hook is challenging enough!)

The photo at the start of this post is a cute purse that I made from some deliciously soft Caron acrylic yarn, a 99-cent flower pin from the local fabric store, and some wicker-wrapped wooden handles. I found the pattern in my personal crochet Bible, Debbie Stoller's wonderful book, Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. It is chock-full of awesome projects and is also a great reference for those times when I forget how to decrease, or need to remind myself of the steps involved in executing a perfect triple crochet stitch.

Last Christmas, I made a bunch of hats like the one pictured here for my friends and family. These were easy, one-ball-of-yarn projects, and I found the pattern in a small booklet for sale at a craft shop near my home.

One of my crocheting challenges, though, is that I tend to get bored easily. If I'm working on a huge project, it's a safe bet I'm going to be working on it for a while because I'll get so tired of the repetition that I eventually have to put it away for a while and work on something else. I'm also a sucker for instant gratification, so making a hat or a dish cloth in a couple of hours is often much more appealing to me than working on an afghan for weeks and weeks on end. These little "chrysanthemum" dish cloths were made from another free pattern I found at the craft store, and they're super quick to make. They also have just enough variation and complexity to them that they keep me interested from start to finish. Can't ask for more than that!

Another way I stave off boredom is by using variegated yarn -- that's yarn that has been dyed multiple colors throughout, so as you stitch, the colors change and neat patterns emerge. The fun and visual interest of working with variegated yarn keeps me engaged as I watch the colors play together. I recently discovered self-striping yarn, too, which is a variation on traditional variegated yarn. When you use self-striping yarn, especially in a project worked in rows, you get the advantage of a finished piece that looks like you created the stripes using different colors, but without the hassle of actually having to change yarns during the course of your project. Here are a couple of shots of a self-striped dishcloth I made recently, for example:

And just to prove that I am capable of taking on a bigger project from time to time, here's a picture of the afghan I made for my boyfriend last Christmas:

He loves it but insists it's "too nice" to use and seems to be a bit fearful of wrecking it somehow, even though it's totally machine washable and I could easily repair it if necessary, also. I know where he keeps it, though, so whenever I'm over at his place, I go get "my" afghan to keep warm while we watch TV. It's better than a Snuggie!