F Crafting Cycles | tamdoll's workspace

Crafting Cycles

November 17, 2016
I'm not talking about trends, but personal crafting cycles: switching from projects and mediums as passions arise, working on some during stressful times, and working on others just for fun. Does anyone else jump from craft to craft throughout the year? For over a month now I've been working with yarn, and I have a number of knit and crochet projects going at once.

One of these projects included figuring out how to get this Pink Camo yarn to form an argyle pattern that I'd seen on Instagram. I'm used to sock yarns working into intricate patterns, but not Red Heart Super Saver multi-colored yarn, this was really surprising! I finally got it to work after many, many, evenings of crochet:

Tamdoll tries Planned Pooling with crochet and Red Heart Yarn in Pink Camo.



Variegated yarns often "pool", but some creative folks have come up with methods to get designs like this to develop with "planned pooling". I finally saw a pattern emerge once I used a formula provided by someone in the Facebook group "Planned Pooling with Crochet". Here's a link with how-to help, and a list of yarns that "work" - not every variegated yarn does.

Above, I used Pink Camo and Clover Soft Touch Crochet Hook Size H (5.0mm) (affiliate links).

My first attempts, below, didn't go so well until I realized that maybe the color patterning was too subtle for a beginner to attempt this with. It is interesting to see in the two pieces, that with just a few tweaks of my initial chain count - the results were very different.
Tamdoll's first try at Planned Pooling with crochet and Red Heart Yarn.

I've seen the argyle patterning worked into blankets, hats, scarves, vests and more. Right now I'm not going to continue with the color pooling experiment, I'm just satisfied that I was able to learn the technique -it's sort of been like working on a puzzle and since I've figured it out - I'm done with it for now.

Next - I have gift knit and crochet projects to work on, with Christmas and Chanukah only being a month away, I have to devote most of my free time to working on those. This time of year it's not unusual to focus on gift crafting - but crafting cycles is something that I experience all the time.

I don't know what it is, and I know I'm not the only one - but it may be weeks, months, or even years where I'll focus on mostly one type of craft - then, for no reason that I can figure out - I'm off in another direction. I don't want to give up any of my hobbies, so here I am, shifting from one to another.

Half my workspace is covered in magazine clippings and paint - the result of paper and color passions fueled by The Artstronauts Club and Ever After 2016 that occupied my spring and summer. I haven't touched any of this in weeks. This place is a mess. And now with all my yarn projects going on, I have an urge to sew some project bags with zippers and little grommets to thread yarn through. But I can't see a spot on my desk where to put the sewing machine at the moment. I definitely see a sewing cycle coming up. After a cleaning cycle...


Are you multi-craftual? Ever experience crafting cycles?

4 comments:

  1. I am absolutely multi-craftual, as you well know! I love the planned pooling - your experiments look great.

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  2. Thanks Melody! At first I didn't want to do it again, it had taken so long to accomplish this... but the challenge of getting it to work is pulling me back. I'll probably try in January once all my gift knitting is done.

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  3. I'm only attracted to certain crafts and they usually involve thread or yarn. Let's take bookbinding for instance. I love sewing the pages most! I go thru' mini craft highs and during those period, I abandon every other craft I've ever loved until the high tapers off. I envy people who knit. Although I've tried many times, knitting just doesn't come easy to me. I still keep trying tho'.

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  4. Jane, you explained it so well! Craft highs ... and working until it tapers off. That's exactly how I work, too.

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