My crochet history......

In October 2006, I heard about a service project started by Sister Sandy Semeski (no idea how that should be spelt! - lady in red blouse) in the church - to make preemie beanies ( little hats for premature babies). Sisters (members and non members included) gather for an hour and a half, two nights in a month, to crochet preemie beanies. Hundreds (by now would be thousands) were made and donated to hospitals in the Philippines, Cambodia, etc. I decided to join them eventhough I dont know how to crochet.

I learnt from the sisters in this class. It was difficult at the start. The dark green beanie was my first beanie attempt - it wasnt exactly great, but it was accepted into the collection box (ha ha). The rest of the pretty little beanies were made by the sisters....

My second attempt....this little pink one. I think I did improve, right?

After that, I was totally 'hooked'. I crochet at every available time I have - at the bus-stops while waiting for my buses, in the bus if I can get a seat (and didnt turn dizzy from the bus movement), in MRTs even while standing (well, MRT didnt shake that much).....I just kept going...

And I learnt more patterns from the sisters, and I created some patterns on my own..(just trial and error by mixing different stiches - there was one that I created which was really nice, and one sister asked me how I did it, I had to say - "I dont know" - as I didnt record my trial and errors and it was completed quite a while ago before I submit them..... :-)

With the knowledge I learnt from the sisters, I put them to use for my family. This was in Feb 2007 - my youngest niece, Hannah Lee. I was amazed how large her head was, because in comparison to a preemie beanie, I took a long time to finish this one!

Another niece got a different style hat from me....by now, I have learnt how to read patterns from books and follow them...

My mum wanted to go to Japan, so she got a gift from me too....although I am not sure this beanie get to see the Japan's daylight, because my mum said she looked like a sick person (those who lost their hairs) wearing this beanie...hmmmm.

From here, I moved on to scarfs....Due to the warm weather here, they don't get to be used at all. So this year, the scarfs are used as decorations for the base of my Christmas tree (see 2008 Christmas tree picture in previous post).

2007 efforts slowed down ...and somehow in late 2008, my interest in crochet was revived again. I found some affordable cotton threads in the Philippines. I bought quite a lot home - the seller was very happy at my purchase!. I think that could last me a while.

#1 (choker) and #3 (bookmarks) were made from these Philippines threads. They made simple Christmas presents to friends and colleagues. I have started a small doily...(not completed yet).

My other accomplishments - (Dec 2008) #2 a corsage as requested by a colleague (acrylic yarn); #5 - an abandoned shopping bag project, turned into a small bag (gave up midway!) - somehow acrylic yarns dont do well being made into a bag.

#6 (2007) - My crochet skills saved the day - the foam covers on my headphones were torn - without them, it is painful to put the headphones against my ears. The shops don't sell "one pair" of covers, you had to buy 3 pairs or 6 pairs in a set - so that they could sell at higher prices, but why would I want so many pairs? A stroke of genius struck me...ha ha...I tried crochet the covers, and it worked - it was thick enough and soft that it was gentle on my ears...yippee! (though I wished now that I have used some softer colors for it...that orange was way bright!!) # 7 was also a self-created little bag to put moth-balls in my bookshelf, so that the mothballs didnt get all over the place or touched my books....

(2008) #4 - my current project -a bag - (the green yarn in my ribbon basket) - I have made one side of the bag - need to do one more side before I can see whether this project could turn out successful - this time, I used the more expensive cotton yarn - it surely made a difference - I like the feel of the crocheted fabric, very much better than acrylic....well, more report on it once I complete it (fingers crossed).

Happy New Year!