Tuesday 16 July 2013

Teeny, tiny

I am on the hunt for teeny, tiny crochet projects that I can do in the few moments I have my hands free and I'm not busy doing something else. Since becoming a parent, these moments have been rare and I find I need something I can pick up then put down again at a moments notice with little impact on the project in hand. It must be something that doesn't care about consistent tension and will tolerate extensive ripping back because I got distracted at the wrong moment. To minimise frustration, any pattern must be foolproof and not assume I can count or remember what I was doing the last time I picked the piece up. Avoiding the tiniest hooks is also a must as is over reliance on stitch markers. Meanwhile the yarn must be hardy stuff which is easy to untangle and reuse. Minimal sewing or making up and no pins beyond those needed for blocking are also essential. If it can get away without being blocked, even better.

Any (sensible) suggestions happily accepted!

In the meantime, I had a go at making a teeny, tiny bracelet.

Millefiore flowers
Here we have four 'Millefiore' from 201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks, Projects and Ideas by Melody Griffiths, worked in stash crochet cotton thread about No. 10 weight. I'm afraid the ball bands are long gone, so I can't tell you the brand. I used a 3mm hook and they came out fine, but I would have used a 2.5mm hook had I been able to find one!

I joined each of the flowers as I made them up, then added a Base-ch/dc band approx 15cm long to each side, which I think should be long enough to tie them to a child's wrist.

Bracelet after light blocking... Photographed in the sun, just look at the white!
A teeny, tiny project that was done just for fun.

2 comments:

  1. The bracelet is sweet. It can be really hard to find time to knit or crochet (I find) especially atm with Anna being so grabby.

    It can be a little mind-bending using a tiny hook when you first start out (I hate crocheting into foundation chains) but I do rather like tiny crochet (and knitting). The little dollshouse dolls I knit are knit on 1.5mms :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Nikki, grabby I can sympathise with. :-)

      I agree tiny hooks are not that scary once you get started (take a look at http://juliemadethis.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/humungous-doily.html :-) ) but I prefer pointy hooks and the thought of a 2mm (or smaller) very, very pointy hook in the hands of a just turned three year old is... worrisome. :-/

      Or equally bad, M jumping on me while _I'm_ wielding the hook. :-O

      Crocheting into a foundation chain is horrible which is why I use a variation on a foundation double crochet wherever possible! Once you get used to the idea, you can often adapt patterns to use it and it just saves so much frustration. :-)

      An example tutorial is here - http://www.crochetspot.com/how-to-crochet-foundation-single-crochet-fsc/

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