Storytime: Stress Relief Gloves!

Got a story for you!  Last spring I decided to make a baby blanket for a friend, but I had to have it done in time for me to take it with me on the plane in less than a week.  I had been crocheting for about a year at this point, and wasn't as fast I am now, so this was a problem.  Another issue was that I was using a G hook for this blanket.  I use a J hook for just about everything, so this was a departure for me.  Added to that was the difficulty in the pattern I was using.  It was the Little Snowballs pattern and it has an odd stitch in it.  Anyway, all of this combined to make my hands hurt dreadfully.  It got so bad that even when I wasn't doing anything they still hurt.  Crocheting aggravated it further, but I just couldn't put down my hook long enough for my hands to heal.  This went on for a full month.

At this point I was willing to try just about anything, so when I saw these stress relief gloves I decided to give them a shot.  I didn't expect them to work; I still don't know why they work, but they do!  They had an amazing effect upon my hands.  Initially I slept with them on, and I'd wake up and my hands would actually feel great.  Not just not in pain, but noticeably good.  Within a very short time my hands were feeling good again, and I could crochet without pain.

I highly recommend these gloves to anyone with hand pain, or anyone in general because they actually work!  I wear them whenever I crochet because I want to prevent that horrible pain from ever coming back.  It's been over a year since I started using them, and I've not had a problem.  I'm also more conscious of when my hands start to hurt.  I've found that I can crochet about twice as long if I wear these gloves than I could without them.  However, they do wear out, and by that I mean, they stretch out, become looser, and aren't as effective.  I think I've gone through 3 pairs in a year, so they last for a while.  The more you use them the quicker they'll wear out, so if you don't crochet like crazy like I do they'll last longer for you. 

I know that Joanns and AC Moore sell these gloves: "Lion Brand Stress Relief Gloves".  Last I checked, they were $15 at Joanns and $22 at AC Moore.  With a 50% off coupon, they're only $7.50 at Joanns and they last for months.  You can of course buy them online, but you really need to get the right size.  There's a sizing guide on the back of the package that's really easy to use.

Since they are bright blue, fingerless gloves, they look a little odd to most people.  It seems like every time I use them around other people, I get asked about them.  People are curious about them.  There are of course, other brands of these gloves, but I have only tried Lion Brand's and I know they work.  Plus, the Crochet Dude's version make it look like you have tattoos of their logo on your hands, which I think looks tacky. 

I thought this was an appropriate time to bring these gloves up because making the Speedy Afghan in only 6 days was something I never could have done without these gloves.  My hands would have given out and made it impossible to do this.

Ravelry!

So, for all of you out there who are not yet on ravelry, you should join!  It's a great resource for yarn crafters because it was specifically designed for knitters and crocheters.  Oh, and it's free!  There are so many things you can do on it, but here's what I've used it for.

The notebook is awesome; it includes a message box for communicating with other ravelers, a library for keeping track of what pattern books you own as well as digital patterns, a 'stash' for keeping track of the types, colors, and quantities of yarn you own, a project list for ongoing and completed projects, and a queue for lining up future projects (or just saving the patterns for future reference).  There are several other aspects to this tab, but that's what I primarily use it for.  You can, for instance have friends on ravelry and you can navigate to their notebooks through this. 

Ravelry does more than just keep track of what you've done and how you've done it (which is incredibly valuable).  There is a patterns tab where you can search for patterns and narrow your search based on type of craft (knit or crochet), difficulty, price (free or otherwise), category (hat, afghan, dishcloth, etc), popularity, or newness of the pattern.  I've found some great patterns to try on ravelry, and all of my patterns are listed there.  They also have groups and forums tabs where you can find local yarn crafters and get help with patterns as needed.

Ravelry was especially valuable to me on the Celtic Star Blanket because the gray color of yarn I was using was discontinued and I needed one more skein to finish it.  I went on ravelry and searched for that yarn in other people's stashes (actually pretty easy to do), and sent them a message offering to buy it from them.  This worked, and I now have a complete afghan.  This wouldn't have happened if I didn't have ravelry.  

More features are available but those are the ones that I have found particularly useful.  Ravelry can be a fun way to spend some time and get some inspiration.   It's also a great way to keep track of things you've made, how you made them, and to keep track of your inventory.

If you want to look me up I'm hazel92 on there.  You can check out my projects.  I don't blog about all of them, so it won't all be redundant. 

Craft Store Coupons: Use them!

There are many different levels of quality of yarn.  Specialty yarn stores have the more upper end yarn, like 100% silk yarn, alpaca yarn, and hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn.  The price of the yarn correlates with the quality.  Even normal yarn becomes expensive in large quantities.  Anyone who has every attempted a large project, like an afghan, knows that yarn can get expensive.

For example, I made a blanket for my brother as a graduation gift last year that took 18 skeins of 'I Love this Yarn'.  It is so big that he has dubbed it 'Afghan Prime'.  Honestly, who ever complains that a blanket is too big?  I purchased all of the yarn for the blanket using coupons.  At the regular price, the yarn would have cost $71.82 before taxes.  Using 40% off coupons, the yarn only cost $43.09.  I saved $28.73  by using coupons on this project.

Coupons are constantly available and offer significant savings.  Don't go to a yarn store without a coupon!  Described here is a guide to coupons at stores that sell yarn, and the various strategies to make the most of them. 

There are several types of coupons offered by yarn stores.

1. The most useful, generally, are the % off any one regularly priced item.  These are normally 40 to 50% off though I once saw one for 60% off.  These let you pick anything that is not currently on sale and get it for less.  
2. Another type are the % off your total purchase.  These are generally between 10 and 30% off.  They are most effective when something is already on sale.  
3. A similar type of coupon is the % off your total regular purchase.  They also range from 10 to 30% off, but only apply to regularly priced items, not sale items.  As such, they are less useful.  
4. Michaels tends to have spend more save more coupons where if you buy $25 worth of items, you pay $5 less.  If you spend $50, you would save $10 and so on.  If you were to spend exactly $25, that would be a 20% savings, but if you were to spend $49, that is only a 10% savings.  These are useful if you are buying sale items, but they require more thought than other coupons to maximize the benefit.  
5. Some stores have reward cards where you earn store credit by accumulating points.  There are occasionally coupons that help you to earn these points faster, which translates into money for yarn.  
6. There are also the coupons for % off a specific type of product coupons, but they tend to not be particularly useful. 

Hobby Lobby, generally has a 40% off one regular price item coupon, though they occasionally have the % off specific item coupons instead.  Hobby Lobby is closed on Sundays and does not accept coupons from other stores.  To find the coupon, go to http://hobbylobby.com/ and click on the 'In Store Specials' tab in the upper left corner.  The coupon will be there along with an ad for what is on sale, (showing what you can not use the coupon on).  These coupons last for a week and expire on Saturdays.

Michaels generally will have a 40% off one regular price item, and sometimes they have 50% off coupons.  Michaels will accept a coupon from another store, but only one coupon at a time. They also have the aforementioned 'Buy More, Save More' coupons and % off of total purchase and % off of regular purchase.  To find these coupons go to http://www.michaels.com/, and click on 'Our Weekly Ad' either in the middle of the top of the page or at the bottom under Shopping.  This will show you the current sales and the coupons.  These coupons generally last for a week (though some are only for a day or for several hours) and expire on Saturday.

Depending on what part of the country you are in, A.C. Moore might be an option.  They have a rewards program where you earn a point for every dollar spent before taxes.  When you spend over $100 at one time, you get double points.  When you accumulate 200 points, they send you a certificate for $10 which can be spent on anything in the store.  This translates to essentially 5 or 10% rewards depending on how you earned the points. Additionally, they have coupons occasionally that give you extra points.  They very consistently have 40 or 50% coupons, and will routinely have % off total or % of regular purchase coupons.  To find these, go to http://www.acmoore.com/, scroll to the bottom and click on the 'Store Locator and Coupons' tab.  Type in your zip code, and hit Go.  This shows you the nearest store, and links to the current ad and coupons.  These coupons last for a week (some are one day only) and expire on Saturdays.  One neat thing that A.C. Moore does, is not only match competitors prices, but they beat them by 10%.  So if you see Michaels advertise that Simply Soft is 2 skeins for $5, you can bring in the ad and A.C. Moore will sell you Simply Soft for 2 for $4.50.  They will honor competitors coupons, but you can only use one at a time.

Hancock Fabrics also sells yarn.  They tend to have the best clearance prices.  When they decide to get rid of a product, they do not mess around.  They tend to have a % off a regular price item coupon.  You have to sign up to receive coupons.  They will then email you coupons and mail them to you as well.  To do this, go to http://www.hancockfabrics.com/ and click on the 'Email Sign up' on the left side of the page.  You can also sign up in store.

Joann's is the most liberal with its coupon policy.  They will let you use multiple coupons at one time, provided that the code is different.  I have gone in and used 5 coupons at one time.  One from Michaels, Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore, Joanns' mailer, and Joanns
email.  They are the only store that allows you to do this.  They tend to have a % off regular price item, and occasionally have % off total and % off regular purchase coupons.  I have heard that Joanns coupons are available online, but I have had no success in finding them.  I receive mine in both mail and email.  To sign up to receive them, go to http://www.joann.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page.  You can sign up by entering your e-mail address and hitting 'go' or by following the 'join our mailing list' link.  I recommend the latter choice because it also gets you the sales flyer in the mail which contains coupons and can be used at A.C. Moore to get 10% off.  Joanns coupons tend to last longer, sometimes for 2-3 weeks.  This still tend to expire on Saturdays.  They also email out coupons for flat rate and free shipping from their online store.

All of these stores allow 1 coupon per customer per day, at least of the same type.  If you can bring someone with you, you can double the coupons used in a trip.  This can be very useful in obtaining large quantities of yarn, especially at stores other than Joanns where you can only use a single coupon a day.

Walmart also sells yarn but does not have coupons for it.  Their prices start out lower, but actually are higher once coupons are applied at other stores.  If you have to have lots of yarn today and it is not on sale, and you can't get help from others with coupons, then Walmart would be your best bet if they sell the yarn that you are wanting.  

Hopefully this helps!

Starting out

If you want to learn how to crochet, just go for it!  You will make mistakes, but don't get discouraged.  Start with something small like a scarf, so that you can finish it relatively quickly and get some gratification from it.  Take a look at my first project.  Generally, whatever mistakes you make in your early projects, just go with it.  You'll laugh later when you look at it! 

What you need to begin: a hook, and a skein of yarn.

I highly recommend Susan Bates brand of hooks.  They are sold at every craft store I've found, but they are not available at Walmart.  Walmart only sells Boye hooks, and I do not like them.  They are harder to work with because the head of the hook extends further then a Susan Bates hook.  I discovered this because I used a Boye hook once and was having unaccustomed issues with the hook catching on the fabric.  That led me to compare the hooks, and to the discovery of the difference in head height.  My personal favorite hook is the J hook.  Susan Bates J hooks are yellowish gold in color and cost about $2 before coupons. 

A scarf generally takes one skein of yarn to complete.  If you want stripes, you'll obviously need a skein of each color, but you won't use them up.  There are two brands of yarn that I like for scarves.  I Love this Yarn (only found at Hobby Lobby) and Simply Soft (found everywhere) feel good on skin and are easy to work with.  Pick a color or colors that you like, and get started!

There are many tutorials online on how to crochet.  A good video tutorial is at Art of Crochet by Teresa.  She talks you through chains, single crochet, and many other stitches.  She goes slowly, talks you through it as she does it, and even has some slow motion.  This is very helpful as it can be hard (at least for me) to slow down the motions of crocheting. 

Here's a very simple scarf pattern:
Ch 21
Row 1: sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc across (20 sc)
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc across (20 sc)
Repeat Row 2 until work reaches desired length
Finishing: fasten off, weave in ends.

This means that you will chain 21, then insert the hook into the second chain from the hook and pull up a loop (2 loops on hook) then yarn over and pull through both loops (this is a single crochet stitch).  Continue that to the end of the chain.  *Chain 1, turn the scarf over so that your hook is on the right side of the fabric, and  single crochet across.*  Repeat area between the *s until the scarf is as long as you want it.  When you are happy with the length, cut the yarn.  There will still be a loop on your hook, pull on that loop until the yarn is pulled through.  Pull that tightly and then work the ends into the work.  This is easier with a yarn needle or a smaller hook (like a size G), but can be done with the size J that you have.  Then you are done!

One project and you'll be hooked!  That's what happened to me.  Happy hooking!

How it began....

So, my friend who taught me to crochet told me to keep my first project I ever made, a scarf, because I would laugh one day looking at it.  I followed her advice and ran across it in my closet: how far I've come.

There are so many problems with it that it is laughable.  I missed stitches at the end of some rows so it shrinks as it goes.  I noticed one of these problems and attempted to fix it and ended up not having enough of that color yarn to finish the row so it changes colors in the middle of a row.  I tried to fix the shrinking problem as I went, so it also grows: the beginning and end are wide and the middle is narrow.  Another problem is that I made it out of Red Heart yarn which makes it scratchy so I would never want to wear it.  It is made entirely out of single crochet which does not help with the stiff and itchy aspect of this scarf. 

The first picture shows general mistakes in the stitch, visible at the color change.  The second shows where I changed colors in the middle of a row.  The last shows the difference in width between the middle and the end.

It has been a while, but I think I chained 25 to start this and then 8 rows of each color repeated to make it.  If anyone wants to duplicate this, that is the basic pattern.

I am glad that I kept this because it shows how much I've learned and serves as encouragement to those trying to learn.