Part 2 – Off to a good start
This week I got started on making my toque. One of the mistakes I made with my last project was not starting with a centre pull from my yarn. The centre pull means instead of starting with the end of yarn that sits on the outside of the skein (I recently learned this is the name for the ball of yarn), you instead reach into the centre of the skein and find start of the yarn. This allows the yarn to smoothly unravel as you work, instead of having the skein rolling around all over the floor while you yank sections up bit by bit. Below is a photo of my beautiful ✨centre pull✨ and a link to the YouTube video I used to learn this technique.
If all goes well, I am about halfway done making my toque. The first couple rows are always my least favorite but now the piece has some structure and is easier to work with. I’ve made a few mistakes where I noticed that I lost a stitch as the rows progressed and the toque was losing its rectangular shape. Once I noticed it I had to undo or “frog” (another word I learned for undoing your work) some rows to re-do that area. While I was frogging it I realized that this super soft yarn knots every easily! In the tutorial video she suggests using stitch markers to prevent this from happening. While I didn’t have any on hand, my partner had a great idea to try using bobby pins and this has worked well for me so far. Here is an current update of the project from Thursday, February 5th.
An unexpected part of this inquiry project is the new vocabulary I have been learning. Each week I will include any new crochet language I have learned.
Skein: the ball of yarn
Frog: undo your work
Part 1 – Re-learning how to crochet!
Fourteen years ago my grade 8 art teacher asked us to learn how to crochet. From what I remember, I learned a basic single crochet stitch, which allowed me to create a crochet headband and meet the requirements for the art assignment. Happy to have received my grade, I never picked up the crochet hook again. This past winter break, I decided I wanted to re-learn how to crochet. I watched YouTube videos and slowly began to remember the basics, while also developing a new appreciation for crocheting that I didn’t have in middle school. I found that crocheting was an amazing way to busy my hands while subsequently quieting my mind. Focusing on my project required my full attention, distracting me from any external stressors in my life. My first big project was a baby blanket which I completed over the break, for my niece (who was just born last week!!). For this inquiry project, I am planning on making something that I can wear. I plan to start with making a toque for myself, then one for my partner. If time allows, I will continue finding new project ideas that gradually increase in difficulty. This week I went to Micheal’s and purchased yarn and a suitable crochet hook to create my toque. Here is a photo of the them, the yarn is extremely soft!
While I was shopping I noticed that the yarn at the store often had QR codes on the labels for free patterns. I took this opportunity to scan labels around the store and find a toque pattern. I came across this website with tons of free knit and crochet patterns.
While looking through the patterns, I found it very hard to “trust the pattern” without being able to see what the end product would look like. The first pattern I started to follow seemed like the proportions wouldn’t fit. I didn’t want to spend a significant amount of time (and yarn $) on a project just to find it was not what I expected it to look like. I decided instead to find a YouTube video where I could see what the final product would look like, and visualize each step along the way.
Here is the YouTube video tutorial I am planning to use:
Wish me luck!