Yarny Notes

The first Crochet Along for 2024 is here!

When I taught my daughter to crochet, little did I know that she will enjoy this craft as much as I do! After 20+ years when I see her crocheting, designing or just making stuff with me, I say to myself ,” must have done something good in life”:)

I am quite the taskmaster in that I refused to advance lessons if she didn’t get her tension right p) . She would have to make endless chains till all of them were even in size. She got back at me for this by saying that since she was making chains , I should too! I would secretly crochet when she was asleep and put away my projects before she could lay her eyes on them!

Fast forward to the present …she’s back home for a brief holiday and suggests immediately that we do some projects together! “What about the projects I have started in her absence” , I protest while she ,with a smile, melts away all my resolve to complete the said projects!

She is determined and starts to look at yarn options! As my house is technically a yarn store ( no I don’t sell yarn but I have a huge stash) there is no difficulty in choosing the yarns or the colours! She selected the Vardhman Cottonplus yarn that is bulky and a set aside her choice of colours and also picked one set for me!

As we were brainstorming what type of project to make, I showed her my Layers of Happiness Tote! She readily agrees to make a tote!

Now that the type of project was decided, next was a discussion on what type of tote to make! Years ago a particular type of tote called the Fat Bottom Bag put the crochet community into a tizzy! It was all the rage! The original bag was designed by Julie Armstrong Holetz and was adapted by several crafters. My daughter and I too fell into this bandwagon of crocheters who made this bag way back in 2011!

This is my daughter’s version which she gifted for my birthday!

And this above one is what I made. We both decided to kill two birds with one stone. This was our first felting experience as well!

Seeing these projects on Ravelry made us want to make this style tote but using Tunisian Crochet and put our spin on it!

Next step was to decide what stitch to use! After an exhaustive discussion we settled on plain TSS (Tunisian Simple Stitch) with just a 2 stitch TKS border:)

Once we started, we both were happy that we chose the Tunisian Simple stitch. The yarn being bulky , using a simple stitch brought out the beauty of the yarn!

As we continued working ,we thought it would be a lovely project to work along with fellow crocheters in our FB group. Our members have been very supportive and have patiently waited for us to get back to our group activities!

This Crochet along is a month long project , although you don’t need a month to complete this project.

You will need 5 balls of Vardhman Cottonplus yarn . Each ball weighs 100 gms and has a yardage of 71 mts. We picked up 4 balls of main colour and 1 ball of contrast colour and yes we found enough yarn for the both of us in our stash p). You will also need either a 9mm or 10mm Tunisian crochet hook with atleast a 40 cm long cable.

Here’s the schedule for the Crochet Along:-

Week 1, Foundation and Increase section, goes live on Monday May 6th 2024.

Week 2, Body, goes live on Monday May 13th 2024

Week 3, Decrease section, goes live on Monday May 20th 2024

Week 4, Edging and adding finishing touches, goes live on Monday May 27th 2024

We have created an event for this along in our FB group. The event has a chat feature where we can discuss and ask questions that may arise during the course of this along. So if you are not part of the group , you might want to consider joining 🙂

Looking forward to your participation and seeing the beauties you create! Signing off with a sneak peek:)

Until Monday, stay safe , stay healthy and stay hydrated and in a cool place as the Sun is scorching us!