Touche crochet

I can't crochet. I. can't. crochet. I can't crochet! I have tried and I have tried and I have tried but I just can't crochet. I am totally fascinated by all of the different ways that stitches can lock together to make a whole gorgeous thing and while my knitting has improved, I cannot crochet. I have watched You Tube videos. I have read books. I have studied diagrams. And yet.

Yesterday I thought I had made real progress. I managed a line of chain stitch ('casting on' in crochet world, I guess) and then a first row. But then I had to 'turn'. Just flip your work over and start again, the nice lady on the You Tube video calmly said. I flipped. Then I flipped it back the other way. Then I flipped it upside down. My yarn tail got in the way. I flipped again. I could feel the old, familiar crochet fog filling my mind. Damn!

Does anyone know how to crochet? If you do, where did you learn?

At least I've had a little bit of Swedish pop to keep me calm...

Golden Hands

Ages ago, while op-shopping, I found a copy of Golden Hands - a British craft magazine from the late 60s/early 70s. Then I discovered volume 1 of the collected Golden Hands (you know, one of those deals where you buy the first volume for a dollar and each consecutive edition ends up being $20). Wow, I thought to myself, imagine if I found all of the collected Golden Hands volumes... Then lo and behold, I did exactly that about three weeks ago in my local Salvos op-shop. I was gob-smacked. The whole 18-volume set! Although the covers suggest cheesy 70s crafts unlikely to appeal today, inside they are really well done with all sorts of very nice projects - knitting, embroidery, dressmaking (the maxi is back, you know!) and other, perhaps less considered crafts, like wall hangings and weaving. I am thoroughly enjoying looking through them and I've discovered that the trick is to take elements of the project that work for me, that I like, rather than taking on the original idea in its entirety and ending up with something that may well look a bit dated. For example, the stitched motifs on the back of the gloves above, inspired me to try out similar shapes and designs in stitches on a bit of felt.

Fun for all the family!

What craft projects are you working on at the moment?