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Dianne's collection of crochet blankets, make during lockdown 2020
 
Photo by Dianne Mears

Crochet, who me?

Dianne @ South Dunedin Library —

It all started with my Christmas Stocking, I was really excited to see some knitting needles, wool and a crochet hook.

I have never knitted and many years ago (20 +) I did pick up a crochet hook and make granny squares. Not that I did much with them. From memory I gave the bags of squares to one of the shops to make up into blankets. Apparently there were enough squares to make 2 single blankets!

My sister-in-law is a fantastic knitter and she had been doing knitting for the NICU (newborn intensive care unit) at the hospital, making singlets, jackets, booties and blankets. I thought maybe that I could do something like that, but start the easy way by making small blankets. So, on Boxing Day I decided to see if I could knit. It wasn't pretty, and it kind of looked the part, but let's just say that after I created 5 blankets I decided to get out the trusty crochet hook, going onto YouTube and finding an easy granny square video. 

From there my memory kicked in and off I went. It didn't take long for me to realise that I preferred crochet to knitting. Funny enough, I also found it quite relaxing. This is where I ended up going shopping a lot, getting different size hooks and wool. Poor hubby would ask at the weekend if I wanted to go to town, and funnily enough the answer was usually yes, there's a sale on and I need... Poor man stopped asking in the end.

I do enjoy looking at all our fantastic crochet books in the Library, but initially,for someone who had never seen a crochet pattern, they just looked alien to me, and I needed a lot of help from my sister-in-law to decipher them all. Practice has paid off though. Luckily, just before lockdown I had bought more wool (on sale) and had also hidden some in the garage, so that I had something to do in the evenings. I had so much fun crocheting that I have completed 5 blankets over the last few weeks. They have varied in size depending on how much matching wool I had. It's been such a rewarding and relaxing thing to do. 

The first five of Dianne's lockdown blankets — Image by: Dianne Mears

Since I feel that I have mastered the granny square, it's time for a new challenge, so back to YouTube for me to learn more skills. I have found another beginner's blanket to try, using a slightly different stitch and pattern. Can't wait to start this one, I've got some nice wool that is multi-coloured so it will crochet up nicely.

I have found that I'm not doing as much reading (I always have a stack on books next to my chair) but doing some crochet at night after tea is very relaxing and helps me to unwind at night.

If you are wanting to do some knitting or crocheting Pregnancy Help Dunedin Otago need volunteers to make baby garments. Give them a call or go onto their Facebook page to see what they need currently.