With the blizzard conditions this past week and more coming our way this weekend, I thought a bit of yarncraft would be fitting to start my 2025 Arts & Crafts Cleanout. Plus I have a huge stash of yarn that I really need to either re-home or find a use for.
I get so caught up in the color and texture ๐คฉ that I don’t always have a plan for a yarn purchase. ๐ค I am by no means a professional crocheter but find it very relaxing and love to blend colors and textures. This isn’t a dig on all the knitters out there, I just can’t wrap my head around knitting. I’ve tried and tried (even as recently as this past fall) but I just get the steps to crochet. Probably due to early conditioning. Obviously, all of these project ideas could be done using a knitting pattern instead.
My sisters and I spent several weeks at our grandparents farm each summer, throughout our childhood and even through college. My grandma needed something, anything, to keep us busy when we were very young. So she gave us a crochet hook and some extra yarn, showed us a basic stitch and said “Don’t ask me anything until you have a long chain.” The lessons stuck and I took up crochet again about 10 years ago for scarves, hats, the occasional blanket. Just like riding a bike, plus YouTube is my friend. ๐
I have a couple projects I found to use up my mismatched old yarn and all those extra bits of yarn. Enjoy!
Project 1 – A Temperature Blanket
Time – 20-30 Minutes a day
This is something I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, the last few years. I even bought all the colors I’d need in the same brand of yarn in 2023 and still didn’t get past March.
The concept is easy – over a calendar year, crochet a single row each day toward a blanket, based on the high temperature for that day.
There are numerous kits, inspirations, examples, etc. that you can Google. Trust me, I’ve been all over the web on this particular subject, but I still haven’t finished a blanket in this style.
I’ve a few thoughts on my lack of success:
- Too many temperature changes day-to-day. (Hello! Have you been to Illinois?)
- Which equals sooo many color changes
- Too difficult/complex of a pattern
- Lack of dedication by me… Just being honest ๐ฌ
So this year, to use a large portion of my existing yarn and keep myself on track, I’m only using 7 colors of existing chenille yarn from my stash that I think will be complementary. This yarn is the bane of my existence and is so hard to work with I’ve almost given up on it.
I’m also doing a simple Tunisian crochet stitch which seems to be the only crochet style that this particular yarn doesn’t snag and knot up with. This stitch is also very repetitive so I can watch TV and keep up with my stitches. If you want to try Tunisian Crochet, below is a great beginners tutorial from the Crochet Crowd, or just keep it simple and do a double crochet stitch for each day/row.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Fingers crossed that I can get to the summer!
Hints:
- Life happens, so set yourself up with a Plan B. Keep a small calendar with your bag of yarn or project. Realistically, there will be days you’ll need to mark the temp but will have to add the row later. You can even just print a single page yearly calendar off the web, just something to mark the temperature on a date.
- Keep it simple so you don’t have to relearn the pattern each time you have a build-up of days to add to the blanket. Also, taller stitches make a longer blanket and you need room for 365 rows.
- Really think about your location and the temperature changes. Changing colors for Every. Single. Row. gets old very quickly.
Project 2 – Granny Square Upgrade
Time – 4-5 hours to finished project
Granny Squares seem to be the starting blocks for new crocheters and I have only used them in recent years to make crocheted dishrags which by the way are fantastic. I have a lot of leftover 100% cotton yarn from those dishrag projects that I wanted to get rid of and my Facebook reels are full of patterns for crochet bags. I’ve been a bit “meh” on carrying a crochet purse but think I’ve changed my mind after this most recent project.
The Crochet Sunburst Granny Square pattern was from www.sarahmaker.com. Her directions were easy to follow and I now know how to create both the Puff Stitch and the Cluster Stitch. There are so many options for Granny Squares out there, you’ll have no problem finding a pattern that speaks to you. The construction of the purse was a simple slip-stitch joining of the 3 squares after reviewing the layout of some of the purse designs on the web. I used an old sash from a project for the strap, some pretty floral cotton for a liner and other bits and bobs in my stash to pretty it up. Voila!
Project 3 – Amigurumi Anyone?
Time – 3-4 hours to finish an ~5 inch diameter Jellyfish
These small and adorable creatures are a good way to use up the remains of other yarn projects. There’s always some yarn left at the end of a project and if you’re like me, throwing out any potential craft or art supply is nearly impossible.
I’d previously purchased the book “Whimsical Stitches: A Modern Makers Book of Amigurumi Crochet Patterns” by Lauren Espy. With her patterns, I once again used some of that 100% cotton yarn, although it was not the easiest to work with for these small projects.
My little friend is a Jellyfish. I used extra ribbons and fru-fru yarn for the tentacles. I’m not sure how I feel about it overall, but my college-aged daughter loved it. So that’s a win! It WAS easy to make and I think some eyes would help, but I was on a deadline, so what we see here is where I stopped.
Hopefully you’ve been inspired by week one and feel free to comment on how you’ve spent your first cleanout week.
See you next week!
Cara