Some thoughts on handmade presents

A few years ago I used to follow a wonderful Facebook crochet group. Sadly it grew too large and eventually it was shut down because the moderators couldn't cope with all the vileness hurled at them in response to their strict policies on what was and wasn't allowed. I still miss that group because there were some wonderful patterns and projects posted, but I understand why it couldn't continue. But there was one topic that divided opinion and which I've wanted to talk about ever since, namely handmade presents, in particular crocheted gifts.

Many of the people who made crocheted gifts for their friends, family and work colleagues reported that the recipient was delighted with the present, but there was at least an equal number who posted resentful comments about how their hard work had not been appreciated as they felt it ought to have been. They would complain that they were mortally offended that their handmade garment wasn't being worn or their doilies, baby blankets or teacosies had been stashed away in a drawer, unseen and unused.

The posts were all about them and their grievance, but it made me wonder why should a gift be valued and used just because it has been handmade?

If the person making the gift has consulted with the person they plan to give it to and they are sure of size, colour preferences etc. there is less likely to be a problem, but you have to face the fact that not everyone appreciates hand crafted things. Are you confident that it is skilfully made to a professional standard? Parents treasure the wonky craft projects produced by their offspring, but if you're an adult they won't cut you the same slack. Many people are not that keen on handmade items and would rather have a commercially made item. You may think this is shallow and consumerist of them, but when it comes to gift giving, you need to respect their opinions.

However, even if someone likes the originality of handmade items, you still need to be sure that what you're planning to make will be to their taste. If the colour is wrong or it's just not something the recipient would use or wear -- someone who loves the minimalist look is not going to appreciate doilies! -- or they're allergic to wool or hate the feel of acrylic, then regardless of how many hours it took to make, the gift will end up unloved and forgotten in a cupboard somewhere.

Then there is the opposite problem. The recipient may think that the item is lovely, but if it needs too much care, for example gentle hand washing in a mild detergent instead of being thrown into the washing machine along with the rest of the laundry, a busy person is going to find it's too much trouble for general wear.

I have made crocheted gifts occasionally. There was the Year of the Blankets, when I made colourful crochet blankets for the grandchildren to snuggle under while watching TV or playing games on their tablets. These were a great success and smallest granddaughter loved the blanket I'd made for her when she was a baby so much that she wanted one for her doll, so I made a small version out of yarn left over from the original. I've also made hand knitted scarves for my daughter and daughter-in-law which were very well received, so much so that daughter-in-law requested another one for her sister. So handmade gifts can be a delight, but my advice is to give freely and don't expect extra gratitude just because you made it yourself.

My big snuggly blanket is finished!

Once the Christmas presents were all finished, the next big project to work on was my big snuggly corner-to-corner blanket made out of James C. Brett Marble Chunky. I still have a few final ends to weave in, but as I've already started using this blanket, I think I can count it as finished. It's the biggest thing I've ever crocheted!

I made this partly to use up all the marble chunky in my stash. I'd bought it with the intention of making scarves and cowls to sell, but then I got a teaching job and had much less free time, so I abandoned the idea of selling items. As well as using up my stash, I did also buy a couple of extra balls to make sure it would be really big and snuggly for wrapping myself in while I watch TV. As you can see, it is as big as our bed!

Photographing so I could blog about it wasn't easy. It was raining hard, so taking it outside for better light and more space wasn't an option. The only place large enough to spread it out was our bed.

So... I had to stand on a chair and hold the camera above my head at arms length. Even increasing the ISO led to lots of blurred shots and these are far from perfect, but I think they do show off the beautiful way the colours vary.

Not all crochet patterns work well with variegated yarn, but the corner-to-corner pattern comes out really well and now I have a big snuggly blanket to wrap myself in while watching TV in the evening. :)

Here's a close up of the pattern.

And here's the border. I felt that the blanket needed a simple border, but I didn't want to just do rounds of double crochet (UK) that I'd used on the c2c lap blanket for my dad. Instead I did a modified version of the border from the original Red Heart Pattern. I simplified it and didn't do the picots, so this is just shells of 5 UK trebles.

In which I start a snuggly blanket just for me

I have finished several blankets in recent weeks, all for other people. The weather so far has been stormy but mild, but as we head towards the coldest part of the winter, I thought it was time I made a blanket just for me.

I have several big fat balls of James C. Brett Marble Chunky. This is a yarn which comes in lovely variegated colours and works up into a nice soft fabric. I'm making another corner-to-corner using this pattern. I was really pleased with the one I made for my Dad and I've noticed from looking at blankets that other people have made that it shows off a variegated yarn really well.

This is the yarn that I'm using and though I only started today, I have already produced a satisfyingly large triangle. It's a really easy pattern and will be something soothing to work on over Christmas and won't take much concentration. Ideal for these dark days when I'm not at my best and sometimes feel that I'm functioning on only half a brain.

Ta da! Finished just in time!

This is the sixth blanket I've completed this year and the second rainbow ripple. Like the darker, rainbow coloured one, this is to be a Christmas present. I have to admit that I'm really not a big fan of pink, but our little granddaughter (almost 7 years old) is mad on it, so it should match her room.

I started this blanket back in July, but more urgent projects kept bumping it down the To Make List and then there was a hiatus when I ran out of the lilac and couldn't find more yarn of exactly the same colour. I never did find the absolutely perfect match, but I finally found one that was near enough and as it was only for the narrow lilac band at the point where the dark purple starts, I think it looks fine.

Anyway, the pink rainbow ripple finally reached the status of Most Urgent Project and I've been spending all my crocheting time on it. I finished it yesterday and just have the last few ends to weave in today, ready to wrap it and take it with me when I go to meet our son and daughter tomorrow.

This is all the purple yarn I had left! I was afraid I was going to run out, because though I do have plenty of purple, it's not quite the same purple, but I made it with just a metre or two to spare.

With all the urgent projects completed, I can take stock and see what to work on next. There are a couple more WIPs to finish and a few experimental things to either complete or abandon, but in the new year I want to start some new projects, in particular some sweaters and cardigans for me. Oh, and a couple of Happypotamuses and a Fatty Lumpkin. And what about... and there's always... (wanders off muttering and scheming what yarn to buy next)...

Ta da! And now the rainbow ripple is completed

Because of unexpectedly getting a teaching job in September, after more or less deciding to consider myself retired, my crocheting time has been much more limited. In the summer, thinking that I had plenty of time to fill with useful activities, I optimistically started a number of projects, but though progress obviously slowed right down, it hasn't halted. In fact I'm finding that crocheting while listening to radio programmes is a great way of relaxing my brain after working on something intensely intellectual, like learning up new stuff for my courses or putting together teaching materials and lesson plans.

This is the latest project to reach completion. It's a rainbow ripple blanket and will be a Christmas present for our grandson. I hope he likes it. His sister already has her own blanket that I finished earlier this year.

The other things that I had hoped to make for Christmas will have to be crocheted through next year and given as birthday and un-birthday presents, though I have another rainbow ripple in pink, purple and white that almost complete and which is intended for our granddaughter. It's not a colour scheme I would like for myself, but she is at the Everything Must Be Pink stage at the moment. :)

Ta da! The mitred granny square blanket is complete

I finished the border and so I can now post a photo of the completed mitred granny square blanket. I'm really pleased with how it's come out and it's lovely and warm around my knees when I settle down in the evening to watch TV. :)

And now this is finished, I just have to crack on with the two rainbow ripples that are for Christmas presents and then I can take stock and decide what my next WIP will be. I still want to make a corner-to-corner blanket for myself, but I also want to try making a cardigan. Ooooh... Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Meanwhile, here is the completed blanket.

Another blanket nearly finished

I intended this blanket as part of the decor for staging my Dad's bungalow for sale. It looks like it won't be needed for that after all, so it will be my blanket sooner than I thought.

Anyway, all the squares are joined together, most of the ends have been woven in and I'm busy crocheting the border.

I used a join as you go method of attaching the squares together which is similar to this one. I actually did it as part of the final granny cluster border, rather than as a separate joining round, but I think it makes a really firm join with no gaps. As the blanket is going to be an every day snuggling on the sofa blanket, I wanted something robust. It does create a slight ridge, but I decided that I liked the effect -- a feature rather than a bug. :) I would definitely use this method again as it's less tedious than sewing. The only downside is that you need to know the arrangement of the squares in advance. It won't work with the sort of project where you want to find the best arrangement for the squares once they're all complete.

Something I'll be making for me!

I have made several small blankets for other people recently, so I thought it was about time I made one for me. I've unravelled a couple of items that I made with a view to selling, but which no one bought. I also visited my lovely local wool shop to add a few more colours to the mix.

I plan to start crocheting a corner-to-corner blanket some time this week using this James C. Brett Marble Chunky. It's acrylic, so it will be very practical for an everyday snuggling blanket, but it's very soft too and comes in a variety of wonderful colours.

As I think I've mentioned here before, until a few weeks ago, I thought I was more or less retired and had started lots of crochet projects to keep myself occupied. I then uttered the fateful words, (in relation to clearing and decorating Dad's bungalow so we can put it on the market), "I'm not working now. I don't have anything particular to do. I can take it on as my project." Unfortunately for all my free time, the universe was listening and totally out of the blue, found a teaching job for me. Though it's part-time, with just 10 hours of teaching a week, because I haven't taught any of the courses before, it's taking hours each week to get up to speed with the topics, prepare lesson plans and prepare presentations and handouts. I was determined not to abandon the crochet, however, because I find it very soothing, though obviously progress slowed right down and I've had to re-think all the things I wanted to make for Christmas presents. I will still make them, but I'll forget about deadlines and do them as random gifts throughout the year instead. Anyway, here is the latest completed project, which is a lap blanket for my Dad.

Goodness! We seem to be having a proper summer.

The words "too" and "hot" don't often feature in a sentence describing Welsh weather -- not even in the summer. According to the radio news, it's been seven years since we had temperatures like this for more than the odd, isolated day. Anyway, I refuse to complain about it because a decent summer has been a long time coming and it might be another seven years before we get another one!

It should really boost our tourist trade and help the local hotels, restaurants and cafes.

Meanwhile the crocheting problem I've been having is that it's too hot to do much work on the main WIP, namely the rainbow ripple I'm making as one of the Christmas presents for family. (Yes, I know Christmas is a long way off, but I'm not a fast crocheter and I have quite a few things I want to make this year.)

It's coming along well, especially as I only started it just over a week ago.

The occasional round is just about manageable by resting the bulk of the blanket on the keyboard shelf of the computer desk, where I sit in front of the open window with a slightly cross-draft created by opening the window on the landing. But handling so much crocheted blanket eventually gets too much, so I have also been doing some work on another WIP.

This project can take as long as it likes because it's just a blanket for me to keep in the car. I intend to use on picnics or if I have to sit waiting for my husband on cold days. I've been popping all the remnants of yarn used for other projects into these storage jars and whenever I get a moment, I'm making these simple filet crochet starburst squares.

Finally finished the baby blanket!

I have finally finished the blanket I was crocheting for our youngest grandchild. It was supposed to be a gift for when the baby was born, but I didn't manage to finish it until last weekend. I handed it over on Tuesday and our granddaughter seemed to like it. As she is now 11 months old (oops!), you can see that it took a lot longer than I intended.

The problem was, not only did crocheting the squares create a lot of ends to weave in, but every stage after that created what felt like another 9 million ends. :( There was joining the squares together. There were the ears to put on, and the mouths to crochet and the eyes to embroider.

The other reason it took a long time was that it's the project that got me back into crocheting. My skills were rusty and I've probably speeded up now, more than twelve months on from when I started this.

In the photo below the completed blanket is on the left. Top right picture shows a close up of the funny faces after blocking. Bottom right shows the squares just after completing. You can see how much better the ears and faces look after being pulled into shape and gently steamed. However, I suspect that after the blanket has been thoroughly cuddled and sucked on, the ears are not going to stay flat for very long!

In case anyone is interested, here is the original pattern I used, which is a free download on Ravelry. As the blanket was going to be for a baby, I didn't add the bows shown on the Ravelry page. I also crocheted the ears directly onto the blanket, rather than making them separate and sewing them on. I don't trust my sewing not to come adrift. Also, I'm not as good at embroidering the features as the designer of the pattern, but I think they'll do. :)

My current WIP

Well, it's one of my current WIPs. :) I do have several things on the go, but this is the one that currently has top priority. As you can see, the striped ripple lap blanket for my Dad is coming along nicely. It grows quickly, which is very satisfying and it's tempting to do "just one more stripe", even when I really ought to be doing something else.

Yarn for my next crochet project

I've just finished crocheting another skull scarf (in green this time) which should shortly be going off to the person who asked me to make it. I'm now moving on to my next project, which is a ripple-striped lap blanket for my Dad. (I'm using the Attic24 smooth ripple pattern and I'm loving it!) It will be a combined birthday and father's day present. I'm using these colours. I'd prefer something brighter, but I think these will suit an elderly man better. He is 92 after all!