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.
I’ve been hesitant to try this kit, even though I went ahead and purchased the Tunisian hook. I had ever even heard or Tunisian crochet until sometime last year. I’m hoping the instructions are beyond simple!
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Instructions very carefully, but if you go slow and there’s not a lot distractions around you should be OK. If you have a problem if you send a message to Annie’s customer care they will talk you through it when they call you back. They usually call back within 48 hours. Let me know how it goes.
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I and working this project and am learning a lot as I’ve never done Tunisian crochet before. But I’ve found a typo in the pattern. Row 7 says to switch to gray at the end of the row, then Row 8 tells you to switch to gray at the end of the row. But I’m already using gray! What now?? Also I noticed that your cloth looks like straight squares while the brochure looks more offset. Did you do this on purpose? Just wondering.
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Yes I did do it on purpose, would love to see your end results. If you send it to me on Facebook I would love to post. Sorry about the length of time to respond. In the future I will respond with 48 hours.
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These are so pretty. I love spa cloths
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I really love the way these came out also.
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