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Crocheting is for...


Wiste

Crocheting is for...  

400 members have voted

  1. 1. Crocheting is for...

    • pretty things
      12
    • practical things
      12
    • Everything!
      376


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That's a great idea. I started putting them in a plastic zip lock bag and now it's so full it explodes every time I undo the zipper. I'm not sure what to do with them though. I keep holding on to them thinking I'll figure out something to do with them besides tossing them out.

 

In the spring I put mine in a laundry bag and hang them outside. Then the birds can use them for nesting materials. I collect them all year long.

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I too keep my ends and give them to the birds in the early spring- been doing this for years. I make them various lengths, but not too big where it can hurt the bird, and sprinkle them on the ground by the birdbath and feeder. I also take some and hang them on the pine trees so the birds can take them. I have seen many a different species of bird take them from the ground and have even seen some of my yarns used in nests in trees in my yard !!!!! In my experience they seem to take the muted colors more than the bright- obviously not wanting to make the nest visible to predators. I'm sure the new baby birds appreciate a warm, cozy and soft nest when hatched !!! :yarn

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Did anyone see the commercial for the new pickup with the kick-step on the side by the box? They laughed that the only reason you WOULDN'T want it would be if you had the truck full of yarn. (come on, all that climbing up and down? I want that step too :lol)

 

DH heard the line about the truck being full of yarn and said "you would like that!":c9

Ain't it the truth, though...a truckload of yarns and threads:drool!

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i am blessed to be able to crochet at work when the phone is not ringing. One of my coworkers lost the foam that covers the ear piece on his headset so i whipped him up one. I dont think he really thought i would. Now he says he wants a matching one for the other side. He says it is a custom piece.

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giving yarn bits to birds is a great practice, but I like to use neutral colors for that.

I know I am probably being silly, but I worry about the hawks etc...with their great eyesight picking up on any of the brighter colors, and getting the hatchlings.

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I make mostly practical things, but I've had quite a few things that are just darn pretty too! I crochet so much that my kids tell me I need therapy...then I remind them that crochet is my therapy.

 

Funny story...my husband was out of town for quite a while earlier this year & I took advantage of him being gone to buy tons of yarn on Ebay. I teased them that if they told their dad that they may as well choose which parent they wanted to live with since their dad would probably leave me when he got home and saw all of it. After a particularly large box arrived from Ebay, my son (then 6 years old), looked inside, sighed, and said, "I'm picking dad - you're out of control, Mom!" He ran away laughing too fast for me to catch him!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm another "everything" but during the years I hardly crocheted I only used hook and yarn/thread for practical purposes: made a bookmark by crocheting thread around a wide "twist tie" (the kind that comes with some electric equipment), eyemasks for myself, (I've had sleep problems for years now and I needed several because I kept misplacing them); small sachet bags to put lavender flowers to scare moth away from my daughter's closet; diverse "ties" made of chains.

 

After I got serious with crochet last year my mind was still on the practical probably because I only remembered the basic stitches only so some of the first things I made were i-Pod cozies (the first one which turned out too small became my purse calculator's cozy AND has kept me from misplacing it ever since), a red cover for our then new universal remote control because the others kept getting lost and also because we dropped them so much (tiled floor...) the TV one just broke, and a plarn mat for one of our cats.

 

Come to think of it I still see most of my crochet as mainly practical because my aim has been to learn how to make as many different and useful things as possible (while at the same time trying to make them as pretty as possible). The other day I was thinking that if for some reason the world reverted to the way it was a couple of hundred years ago my skills would be very useful indeed because between my knowledge of sewing and crochet I could make a whole bunch of stuff for my house and for others! :yes

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I'm an everything person.

 

I've done both pretty and practical. One of my favorite practicals is my water bottle cover. I drink a lot of ice water, and hated having to keep a napkin under my bottle to catch the condensation. The napkin would eventually get soaked making me have to throw it away and get another. So to eliminate the unnecessary waste I used peaches and cream cotton and made a cover for my bottle. Not only does it catch the condensation and keep my furniture dry it also acts as an insulator and keeps my water colder longer and helps keep my ice from melting so quickly. It's by no means perfect but it works and that is really all that matters.

 

I also LOVE purses. My husband was forever complaining about me buying them, so I make them now. I have them in an array of colors and styles and best of all no more complaining hubby LOL.

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Excuse me, but my "make it yourself" project was knitted, but I suppose crochet could be used...will have to think how to adapt the pattern for crochet. Anyway what I made were mittens for my dining chair legs so the legs wouldn't scratch our new flooring when the chairs were slid back and forth under the table. The pattern was adapted/adjusted from a knitted fingerless mittens pattern.

 

Beverly

 

Here is a photo of the chair leg mittens

 

P1010033.jpg

 

Here are the basic instructions:

 

I adapted a pattern for infants thumbless mittens. It was kind of a tedious project since I made them for four chairs.

 

The pattern called for size 8 knitting needles. I think size 7 needles or crochet hook equivalent would be better. You want the diameter to be enough for the chair leg to slide into, yet snug enough that they stay ON the leg. I used RH worsted weight yarn. They might look nicer made with a sport yarn, but that will require more adjustment of stitches and rows. I wanted something that would hold up under the frequent sliding back and forth on the floor.

 

 

Start at the top (the wrist) and cast on 24 stitches.

 

Knit 6 rows (garter stitch)

Change to stockinette stitch (knit a row then purl a row).

Work even for 24 rows (more or fewer rows - enough to fit the chair legs).

 

DECREASE as follows:

Row 1: *Knit 1, knit 2 stitches together* across.

Row 2: Purl

Row 3: *Knit2 stitches together*across.

Row 4: Purl. Break yarn leaving about 12 inches for finishing and draw through remaining stitches.

 

Sew seams at the side.

 

I had to adjust the number of stitches to be cast on at the beginning to fit my chair legs as well as the number of rows to be knit. I suppose this could be adapted by substituting single crochet or half double crochet stitches or some other variation.

 

Beverly

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Of course it's for everything. I've tended to the practical simply because I've been asked to make afghans and caps, but a couple of my ghans have been pretty too. Right now I'm making a no-nonsense one for my BIL, which I tend to do for guys. I just finished a shell afghan for my niece that is pretty and practical. I also did placemats for my SIL for Christmas that were pretty basic, but she picked a color she loved. If I were more creative or better with thread, I would do more pretty things.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I tend to crochet a little of everything. I like making things instead of buying for sure. My son kept cutting his fingers on the cold air return so instead of going out and buying plastic covers (which are impossible to find!) I crocheted a cover for the one in the living room. Viola! No more cut fingers and the air gets a little extra air filtering.

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I can't help but think that now I could just make it. I just can't see myslef spending money on something I could make... plus it has such nice a sense of accomplishment to make things yourself. DH doesn't understand it but he likes that it is cheaper for me to make things than buy.

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well I'm starting to getting into everything I plan on crocheting my fiance something like a hook case but instead crochet him a drum sticks case so that way he always knows where his drumsticks are at lol

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When I began crocheting, it was to create things I could not afford to buy -- a lace tablecloth. It's very different these days with the global economy. In the early 70's, I couldn't buy a lace tablecloth for less than $100; but I could make one for less than $10. Now you can get lace tableclothes for under $20 and the thread to make a lace tablecloth is $$$$.

 

I made holiday gifts because I was making $1.10 per hour and after paying $70 per month for my room, I could afford about $20 for all my gifts -- I had 7 sibs and some of them had kids, so the money had to stretch.

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  • 2 months later...
That's a great idea. I started putting them in a plastic zip lock bag and now it's so full it explodes every time I undo the zipper. I'm not sure what to do with them though. I keep holding on to them thinking I'll figure out something to do with them besides tossing them out.

 

What about putting them in a decorative bottle? I do that with my cross stitch "left overs" and end up with a brightly colored bottle. I have one in the shape of a fish and another that looks like a rooster (DH got them for me last Christmas just for this reason).

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I also vote for everything. I am also one of those who see machine-made-crocheted-look items that i say to myself,"That will never hold up.I should just make it." To me handmade is defenitely better,and I appreciate anything anyone makes me. My daughter just made me a little box she handpainted with a lid that slides, and it says Mom's Hooks.To me its the same as gold because its made with love.

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  • 1 month later...

I even tried to crochet a BIG MAMA brazierre one time~LOL! Necessity is the mother of invention! I got pretty far into it too, but I never did finish. As a fairly new crocheter and NOT one who knows about creating patterns I didn't do too badly with what I came up with, so I've still got it just in case the bug hits me again! (((((HUGS))))) sandi

 

ETA that time doesn't seem to allow for as much of this these days....

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

My answer to the person who asked that sort of question would be because store-bought socks are usually too thin to keep my feet and ankles warm enough. I am sensitive to the cold (Really I ought to move somewhere warmer, but I like the Snow we get in winter where I live.

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