Hooked on Crochet

I realize that I haven´t exactly been spending my off-time enriching my life, so when Æsa said she was going to stop by Víkurprjón (the wool and knitting factory), I tagged along to see about getting some yarn.

Last night we attended a soap making class, which I probably should have just stayed home for. Not that it wasn´t interesting and informative...just that it was entirely in Icelandic. I tried really hard to pick up as much as I could for the first hour, but for the other two, I zoned out and doodled on my handouts. I could only understand maybe ten words, and when, about two hours in, he asked me 'Do you understand anything that I am saying?'

Oh well. He did show us how he makes soap, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it really doesn´t take that long, and it´s pretty easy, as long as you don´t mind inhaling acrid lye fumes. I would really like to make some soap soon. Maybe using sheep fat, spring water from the stream nearby, and black sand from the beach as an exfoliate. Super Icelandic Soap. But it´s for another time.

When we got to Víkurprjón, I started to think I might change my mind about learning to crochet or knit. Just looking at all of the yarn and the women in the back room toiling over immaculate sweaters and embellishments...It made me think that either I would completely fail, or fall in love with it and spend all of my money on yarn. But when I saw that a skein of yarn was only 290 krona, I changed my mind. I picked out a lovely grey (because I like grey) and bought a crochet hook from the nearby grocery store.

After a couple hours of practicing making chains and single, double, and slip crochet, I managed to make this grouchy four-leafed clover. I know it's pretty terrible, but I'm pretty impressed that I made anything at all within a two and a half hour time period.

A not-so-lucky clover.

Crochet is exciting because there's the possibility of making free-form objects like amigurumi. Anyway, I will keep practicing because I am hooked! (get it???)