Learning new things in the new year...

I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we had around the shop and at home too! I know this little bean had a GREAT holiday with family and friends here at my house. Sandy and her family came over, along with my daughter and her friend for dinner with us. We just had a real fun time, stress free with lots of laughter and hugs.

Now most of you know what a technique junkie I am and the new Interweave Crochet magazine has inspired me to learn more crochet. The cover piece is such a beautiful Ruana wrap that I am going to make it and of course Sandy is encouraging me too, so she will be working it up with me.

Sandy is a really accomplished crocheter, but I am a novice and decided to dive in with hooks in hand this last weekend.

The wrap is done in Tunisian crochet using an afghan crochet hook (which we just started carrying) and I picked one up and got started practicing.

I did some stash diving and came up with the Allegoro by Classic Elite Yarns, yummy linen and organic cotton blend is really nice to work with and I decided I would make a wash cloth since it is machine washable.

This technique is actually quite easy and the result is a fantastic fabric that has a wonderful texture to it.

As you can see in the picture to the right you work by hooking all your stitches onto this long hook, cool huh? Note the bottom of my piece is flared, well like with anything it took me a bit to get my tension right, so I have a trapezoid wash cloth, ah well it's just practice. I am also going to single crochet a couple of rows around it to help firm up the edges.

Now the question is what yarn to use? Hmmmmm do you know where I can find some, ha ha!

Of course a self striping yarn will be a must for this project and I am considering the Tonalita yarn, by Trendsetter, wow is this yarn pretty! Sunset, color 2348, is right at the top of my list, as I love the orange in this color which will add just the right pop to the subtle browns and gray tones. What do you think?

Stay tuned for more on this one and I wish you all the HAPPIEST and healthiest of New Years filled with all the learning, knitting, crocheting that you can pack into it!

As always, happy knitting & crocheting!! Jeanne :)