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Things which make your crocheting easier....


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I've read in several threads recently about unpleasant surprises appearing from the inside of a skein of yarn.

 

I use the yarn from the outside. I know it is a bit more tedious, but there aren't the problems with tangles, and one can see the knots or where the yarn has been tied together, in advance. I have found this prevents a good deal of frustration. :)

 

Do you do something which makes your crocheting go more smoothly, or makes it more comfortable?

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I'm the devil-may-care kinda gal who likes the suprises inside a skein :lol Sometimes I just love the concentrated head-wrecking that comes with the untangling of a great, big KNOT. Then again, I am the type of person who would love to make mosaics or miniature models for architects - I have the patience for that kind of thing ;)

 

What makes my crocheting easier - aside from my nifty hooks - are two things that were gifted to me by Villers: a sharp scissors and a measuring tape with inches on one side and centimetres on the other. I grew up with inches in Ireland and have become accustomed to centimetres in Germany, so I like to see both measurements!

 

(yes, I am a little odd...)

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Well I'm like Jempast in that I like to put my yarn and especially thread into cakes.

 

Like Miss Crochet I have to be able to measure with both inches and cm though my reason is from designing clothes. If I would take someone's measurements and they had a friend with them I would take the measurements metric so that the friend wouldn't have a clue what size their friend was. :devil

 

The other thing I like to do is have a "bag" on my wrist similar to the style of a victorian thread bag. This way I can have my cake in that and crochet away as much as I want to and don't have to worry about where my cake is. It is also very easy to set in my project bag and go on my way.

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Having arthritis in hands and carpal tunnel syndrome along with tremors, I try to eliminate the causes of these problems that shorten the length of time I can work on a project. I found that instead of being curled up on a couch in front of the TV if I sit on a captains padded chair at my desk, the weight of the work is carried on the desk instead of pulling on my wrists and hands. Or if you still need to be on that couch, try using a lap desk. It does make a difference for us older folks.

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I love my wool winder (to make yarn cakes) and my swift for when I have yarn in a hank rather than a skein. My MIL bought them for me, and they make crocheting (or at least getting the yarn ready) so much easier.

 

I also love my tote bag to keep my project in and my little zippered pencil bag that I keep my hook, tape measure, scissors and darning needles in. That way all of my tools are always with me. My other item that makes crocheting easier are my folding scissors which are great for travel.

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I guess I like surprises because I work from the center of a skein of yarn. Yes, sometimes there is a knotted mess that comes out but so far I've always been able to straighten them out. I do have a zippered carrying case for my hooks. In this case I also carry a pair of snippers, a 6-inch ruler (also has centimeters on it but I don't use that side), a row counter (currently I have 2), small package of stitch markers, an emery board, an ink pen, a wooden crochet hook size J (from my FMG:turtle), and usually one of two extra hooks for whatever project I'm working on. I carry the extra hooks just in case I doze off while riding in the car and drop my hook on the floor. When I wake up and realize I have dropped my hook I can just get another one out of my case and continue crocheting. Then when we stop I can safely look for the dropped hook. Now most of our trips are just around town or nearby so this does not happen as often as it did when we made longer road trips but I still have the habit of carrying 1 or 2 extra hooks of the size I am currently using on a project. I guess old habits are hard to break. I call this case "Have Hooks, Will Travel" case. If you watched TV in the late 1950's or early 1960's you know what western I am referring to.

 

Another item I have but don't use as much since we aren't making long road trips is a battery-powered light and magnifier that hangs around your neck. The light came in handy since we liked to leave before sunrise. I have also used the light while I'm crocheting with a very dark yarn. It helps to see where I need to place my hook. I have also used a white towel laid on my lap to help with this situation also. Another item I use is a small green waterproof tote that I use to carry whatever simple crochet project I work on while I'm waiting someplace or just in the car riding with my husband to run errands. For around the house I use other totes including plastic shopping bags. I also like the large 2 gallon size "Ziploc" or "Glad" storage bags. I use them to carry larger crochet projects along with several skeins of yarn, hook case, and pattern book or a copy of the pattern I'm working from.

 

Last, but not least, I like to have a beverage nearby while I'm crocheting. It can be coffee (I'm a coffeeholic) or a glass of ice tea or lemonade. Occasionally it can be a glass of soda. I have to have something to sip on. No eating though.

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I think my most useful item is a pair of those therapeutic gloves. I suffer from recurring tendonitis, which can flare up quite easily when I crochet. Wearing the gloves really helps.

 

:manyheart

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Best thing I've ever done to make crochet life easier is getting a jewelry wallet. It has long zippered pockets and smaller snapped pockets. All of my small stuff goes in it, hooks, scissors, stitch markers, needles, etc. Tuck it in my project bag and I'm ready to go. I never have to hunt for anything. Love it!:clap

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i got a zippered pencil bag and it is just great..has 3 different pocket and i have all my hooks, yarn needles, scissors, ruler and such in it. its small if i want to grab it and dont have to keep digging to the bottom to find stuff.

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Best thing I've ever done to make crochet life easier is getting a jewelry wallet. It has long zippered pockets and smaller snapped pockets. It comes with everything I need in the way of accessories, scissors, stitch markers, needles, etc. Tuck it in my project bag and I'm ready to go. I never have to hunt for anything. Love it!:clap

Best thing I have to help with crochet is actually called a knit kit. It was a gift from my mom after I kept trying to steal her's. LOL She got mine from www.knittingfairy.com but I am sure it is probably available other places. the only thing it din't come with was a cibi needle but it does have a place to store a couple.

post-5192-135897425287_thumb.jpg

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I have some beautiful hand-carved hooks, but if I am having any hand or wrist pain, nothing works like my bamboo-handle Bates hooks. I have begun automatically reaching for them over my other choices.

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Well I would say my BEST recent buy that has helped me enormously is a magentic board used for cross stitch patterns - for holding the graphs in place and for marking which row I am on. As I use mainly graphs/charts this little gadet has prooved to be invaluable for me.

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I made myself a Dot's doohicky after looking at and longing after the pattern for ages. I used a larger (cream) prescription container so I can get scissors, pen, pencils etc in the centre and I keep lots of yarn needles and others stuck in the sides. :wlol It is so convenient to be able to grab this stuff. My fingers no longer have the dexterity to pick up stuff that is lying on a surface easily.

 

Sorry... the pics are gone. :(

 

http://bythehook.blogdrive.com/archive/174.html

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I crochet in the middle of the night when my kids are asleep. I do alot of counting on the projects I do. That helps from me getting distracted and not having to count over again.

But I have a problem with my finger hurting. I found some neat hook holders that help with that problem.

It also helps if I do more then one project at a time that way I don't get bored so easy.

I also keep my yarns in a 2 gallon storage bag just so I can see what I have and sort out my different types of yarns. Or I made a market bag to hold all of my yarn for the projects i'm working on at the time so its easy to just pick up and go.:knit

Also..... I recently bought a photo storage box to keep pieces of projects that i haven't put together yet and another for embelishments (eyes for dolls, needles, threads for embroidery and my trusted scissors).

:yarnI'm a yarn-a-holic and recovered a few years ago.... but recently picked back up and bought too much again! So i'm trying to build a system that helps make my projects faster and doesn't look as bad as being thrown in a box and forgotten about!!! I usually write all my patterns in ONE notebook and carry that around as a life line!

Then for my busy but bored times I try to work on a simpler project that doesn't require too much attention.

My crochet hook is like my sixth finger. Always attached to my hand!

:manyheart Nicole

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm the devil-may-care kinda gal who likes the suprises inside a skein :lol Sometimes I just love the concentrated head-wrecking that comes with the untangling of a great, big KNOT. Then again, I am the type of person who would love to make mosaics or miniature models for architects - I have the patience for that kind of thing ;)

 

 

I love untangling yarn myself.

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Best thing I've ever done to make crochet life easier is getting a jewelry wallet. It has long zippered pockets and smaller snapped pockets. It comes with everything I need in the way of accessories, scissors, stitch markers, needles, etc. Tuck it in my project bag and I'm ready to go. I never have to hunt for anything. Love it!:clap

Best thing I have to help with crochet is actually called a knit kit. It was a gift from my mom after I kept trying to steal her's. LOL She got mine from www.knittingfairy.com but I am sure it is probably available other places. the only thing it din't come with was a cibi needle but it does have a place to store a couple.

 

I love stuff like this. It even has a button to count rows!

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I have some beautiful hand-carved hooks, but if I am having any hand or wrist pain, nothing works like my bamboo-handle Bates hooks. I have begun automatically reaching for them over my other choices.

 

 

I love them too, for the arthritis in my hands now. I can crochet waaaaaaaaay longer with the bamboo handled crochet hooks. It makes my life a bit easier. I use them all the time.

 

Another tip is to always have a bag packed with a project in the car. You never know when you may get a chance to do a little crocheting.

 

:manyheart

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I work with the outside yarn too. Seems that if I go from the middle that I get more tangles if I take my project to different places to work on. I even work from the outside of the cakes I make too.

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What is a yarn CAKE? I've never heard of winding yarn into cakes.

I have wound them into balls before, but have found now that I just prefer to use the yarn as it comes from the middle of the skein....I just deal with the knots and the skein doesn't go flying across the room or under the sofa like it would if it were a ball or using the yarn from the outside of the skein.

I find that if a knot comes out of the skein, if I pull from both sides of the knot at the same time, it easily comes undone. It's not long then I have the yarn that was knotted crocheted up anyway.

I still want to know what yarn CAKE is.

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You can even hand wind yarn cakes and center wind yarn balls without anything more than say a tube from paper towels, toilet tissue or a jumbo crochet hook to wind it on. I use a piece of PVC all the time for mine.

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