Annie’s Hook & Needle Club – Kit 63 – Spa Cloths

Wow! This summer just seemed to have flown by. Already I am seeing school buses driving by and my hubby excitingly talking about the upcoming hockey pre -season games that are just a few weeks away. It seems that the older I am getting the busier I seem to be and the quicker times seems to fly. Is it the same way for you?

My 63rd kit from Annie’s Hook & Needle Club, Spa Cloths ,was just another reminder of how we all need to slow down once in a while and enjoy some relaxation time.

I was so excited when I opened the envelope to see the first kit containing patterns using Tunisian stitches. Although the skill level is marked easy, I still found some of the stitches challenging. partly due to my little experience with anything other then the Tunisian Simple Stitch- or what my older patterns would call the Tunisian basic stitch.

The kit came with a pattern booklet of six patterns, three crochet and three knit; and three skeins of cotton yarn, in white, gray and light teal. As soon as I obtained my H Tunisian crochet hook and tapestry needle I was ready to work my first spa cloth.

Although these three projects were small, for me they were not exactly travel friendly. In addition to working some stitches for the first time, each pattern used two to three colors at once. Although I could have easily carried the skeins, I’m certain I would have ended with twisting and tangling the yarn which causes me to divide my time with crocheting and untangling. Not my idea of a relaxing time.

At home I seem to have more control of my skeins and am able to focus more when learning something new. Once I mastered the special stitches I learned, then I could multi -task by listening to a biography of Noah Webster and found a nice ending to my warm summer day.

Tip: When I am crocheting with more then one skien of yarn I place each skien in a zip lock bag. Then, as in this case I place one on each side of me and one in front of me on my foot stool. At the end of each row I turned clockwise for odd rows and counterclockwise for even and this seemed to keep me tangle free.

The patterns in this kit were really pretty to look at when completed:

Broken lines Spa Cloth

Woven Strips Spa Cloth

I think was my favorite in the kit:  Tiles Spa Cloth

Even with the added challenges, I really enjoyed this kit from beginning to end. I am rating it a 9. The pattern was easy to read and fully explained the unfamiliar stitch well. I love the yarn, but this is where it loses a point. The yarn was in unmarked labels which means I can never make another project using it. I love going back and reusing yarn I enjoy in other projects, I think we all have our “go to” yarns that we reach for over and over again.

Would love to hear your opinions on this kit for those of you who receive the same one. In the mean time, as August draws to an end when you take a break from crocheting take time to enjoying a nightly stroll with hubby, the fresh breeze from the open windows on a hot day, the taste of ice cold watermelon, or lemonade, a bicycle ride in the countryside and all the other things that we will soon lose of summer. Till next time .

And remember to Keep those hooks flying.