Final Project

As genius hour is close to finishing, I am not. I have been enjoying myself with learning the hobby of crocheting. I have learned to have patience and determination throughout this project. I never thought I’d be able to accomplish this because it seemed so complicated as I watched my family members. Having my mom help me and meeting with Cathy Merit helped me extraordinarily. They both taught me things that I would have not been able to figure out on my own or do without watching someone else first. The several tips and techniques I have came upon have stuck with my throughout the process.

I will be continuing on with my project even though it is not necessary: I enjoy doing this and am very proud of myself for learning to do this.

Genius Hour

When starting this project I was not completely sure how consistent I would be with it or even if I would enjoy it. But, it was something I could take and do anywhere… and of course I have to carry in the tradition for my family. I now find myself crocheting all of the time. I enjoy it so much and can’t wait to see the final outcome if I ever stop. The past week I met with an adult familiar with techniques and several other things involved with crocheting. I found the meeting so informational and helpful. So, throughout the time I met with her until now I have practiced some things that I have been helped on and taught. Using these certain things such as holding my project piece, pulling the needle through a different way and creating the corners better has made progress in my workings.

I have also switched my colors while being helped and it was a lot simpler than many would think. I have now made it through two whole rolls of yarn and am starting on my third. Comparing both of the colors shows that I have been taught new things because I started the new color while being taught. The new color looks better but is a little looser. Come to find out, it is not as good as I thought to have it tight because if the tension changes while creating your pattern it can mess it up and interfere with the shape of the my project. I noticed my shape was changing but didnt know how I could fix it until I met with Cathy the week before.

Genius hour

Today’s genius hour was as productive as always. The amount of yarn that I had left was very small but I worked with it and finished the ball. I am now going to start a new color and learn how to connect the two and continue on with my project.

I searched around in the internet for ways to switch the colors as simply as possible for a granny stitch: this is the stitch I am using. The biggest and most interesting thing I found online was a man by the name of Michael Sellick. He did a great tutorial so I read up on him more and how he got into crocheting. Michael Sellick provided a good video and directions on how to change colors while continuing the pattern. One of the easiest ways is to take one end of each piece of yarn and tight a small, tight knot between one another. This will connect the two colors easily and give you more yarn to crochet with. After they are connected, you may begin with the process of crocheting again.

The link to The Crochet Crowd: Michael Sellick

http://thecrochetcrowd.com/mikey/

Update on Genius Hour

This genius hour was productive once again. I have enlarged my crocheting piece and I am getting very good at making sure the stitches stay tight. I did run into one challenge this week… my new nails. you would think that this wouldn’t cause an issue but it did. I had jut got acrylics the night before and I am not used to them one bit. I am scared that one of them is going to break off if I apply too much force: and doing so could hurt very much. So, instead of using the tips of my fingers to pull some of the yarn over the hook… I had to use the sides of my thumb and middle finger. This then led to them getting quite sore because that part of your fingers aren’t used very much.

Another thing that had crossed my mind while crocheting was how much yarn I have left and how big my final piece is. I am starting to run low on yarn and still want to continue making it bigger. In this case I will have to learn how to switch colors of just start a new bundle of yarn on my project without it looking like there was an issue. I am thinking of choosing a dark grey color to coordinate with the burgundy I have going now.

Week 6

Going into week 6 I was kind of frustrated: due to the fact the I could not keep the yarn tight as I continued through the process. During genius hour, I found a comfortable position to crochet in and worked on the pieces I was not too strong in yet. I had many ideas of what to crochet for my project; scarf, hat, hot pads. But, out of all the ideas I had… I chose to make a blanket and use a stitch I hadn’t done any research on.

During class as I crocheted, I learned to keep the yarn tight and closer to the hook and the blanket itself to have a tighter blanket where it couldn’t come undone. With only working in it once a week lately (because I’m getting the hang of it) it hasn’t gotten very big but I am very proud of the creation I have made so far.

Crocheting

Last week I slowly started to mess with the yarn and get the feel for things. My mom began to teach me a stitch the she has grown up to know and love: The granny Stitch is used for many things but mostly seen with blankets. After awhile the stitch begins to repeat itself. I did not think it was going to be difficult until I actually got my hands on it… then it was not so easy.

Today I brought the yarn and my product so far to school for genius hour. I was very nervous because I did not think I had the pattern down yet: But I very much surprised myself as I started. At first I got frustrated, then bored, then I was all tensed up. I kept remembering my moms voice in my head saying…”If your all tense and tightened up it doesn’t make things easier or more fun”. So I put things down, took a deep breath and began to continue on with the granny stitch. I made great progress today. One issue that I am struggling with is keeping the yarn pulled tight as I stitch it: the yarn tends to loosen as you go because weaving in and out of pieces. Overall, I am happy I chose this project and I excited to keep monitoring my progress.

Stepping into the Crocheting world

In the past week, I went to pick out my yarn. There are so many types: different sizes, colors, textures, thicknesses. With the yarn I got…I have to use a larger sized hook because it is a thicker type of yarn

Today during genius hour I did hands on things with the yarn. I tried creating a slip knot: this starts holds the yarn onto the hook as you continue. I tried to attempt the chain stitch. That was more of a difficult task so my mom is beginning to teach me the granny stitch. She and my family have been doing this type of stitch for years now. moving from taking notes to actually hands on with  the yearn was a transition. It seemed very simple in the pictures and how it describes to move your hand position; but it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be.

Update

I found some tips and notes for basic beginners during genius hour today. Some of the tips were kind of absurd: but they can really help some people if they are distracted easily or get frustrated. Avoiding tangles in the yarn and keeping tension on the piece that is unraveling are two very important tips. Avoiding tangles helps stay on task and focused. Keeping tension on the piece of yarn is important because it will not get caught on things like it would when it is dragging across blankets or your lap. Another fundamental tip is removing obstacles before you begin on your task of crocheting: Long hair, jewelry and cats or pets in general could potentially be obstacles. These items are pretty much self explanatory due to the fact that all of these 3 objects could be an interruption for yourself. The last thing I noted today was proper positioning of the yarn. For example, while traveling in your car and the ball of yarn was just sitting on your lap… in all likelihood it would roll off your lap and get dirty on the floor of the car. So, placing the ball of yarn in a tote bag would keep from this happening.

Crocheting is something I’m playing around with and am having fun doing so. My mom is very excited for me to continue to learn because its a hobby we could do together.

Genius Hour Update

Today’s genius hour consisted of learning how to crochet a scarf, for beginners. I took notes on the steps and found it really interesting. I have watched my cousin crochet a thinker type of scarf before and it looked very confusing, until now. The website I checked out today showed great examples of the steps taken to create this: materials needed, chain stitch, making loops(laces), attaching the laces, increasing the width, and adding tassels. While taking notes on these steps I learned a new stitch, which was the chain stitch. The examples shown for this stitch provided pictures. This worked out very well for me because I am an extremely visual learner. This type of stitch is meant for beginners but is used for many things even when your not learning anymore.

Within the next week I hope to start the process of a slip know first then moving to crocheting the scarf. I have my mom at home who loves to crochet and has made many blankets for me. I find it astonishing with all the sorts of things that can be made with one simple hobby.

My First Genius Hour

Learning how to crochet has always been a hobby throughout my family. This topic seems very intriguing and something easy and creative to get involved with. Today the basics were covered: holding the hook, holding the yarn, creating a slip knot and how to start a chain string. There are many ways and sources to learning how to take on this hobby. Today’s process went very well and a lot of progress was made.

Watching video tutorials will hopefully be the next step but also the source of my mom will help immensely. Thinking of all the things that can be made with this technique give off the feeling of excitement.