I’ve been fairly quiet on the blog, but pretty busy making things. I had a commission through the etsy shop for a superhero colour-themed basket made from recycled clothes. That gave me a chance to further refine my processes for turning clothes into yarn. It’s all about doing the minimum needed for the best results. You can see how it was made, and get some tips on instagram.
Superhero colour theme basket with tea mug for scale. Made from 3 pairs of jeans, about 8 T shirts, a gold sparkly dress and other bits and bobs. 
The superhero basket was ordered as a big companion to the existing “Midnight Jazz” basket. 
The finished item with fringe (as requested by the customer) made from bits too small to crochet with.
Since I started crocheting, over 10 years ago, I’ve made things that need to hold their structure like toys and baskets, which means I’ve mostly worked in double crochet (single if you use US terminology). I’m now branching out into textiles, and learning new stitches is energising me and kind of blowing my mind.
It’s making me realise how different a yarn looks depending what stitch you use with it, so now I can obsess about how to bring out the best in each. Of course, that gives me a whole new source of anxiety about finding the perfect project for each yarn. For example, here’s Cygnet’s gorgeous Boho Spirit in different colourways and different stitches.
One skein of the Mojo colourway, crocheted in corner to corner stitch. 
One skein of Festival, crocheted using the method for the Revival Triangle Scarf from the Make & Do crew. 
One skein of Folk worked using the method for the Beachy Keen scarf.
And now I need to finish those scarves, as soon as I order some more yarn…
Meanwhile I had a little inner rebellion that I hadn’t made anything for me. So, I made this from various bits of Caron Cakes and Aldi’s aran yarn, following the Revival Crochet Triangle Scarf free pattern. Sort of. There’s an accompanying video tutorial here. Very relaxing once you get the hang of the technique.
Please forgive appalling selfie technique. 
I made this a fair bit bigger than the original pattern. And in completely different colours, obvs.
Meanwhile, the pyschic pressure of all the things languishing on Unfinished Project Mountain and in various other stashes is getting to me, so I’m going to tackle things one or two at a time until they’re done. I need to clear my head and my workspace before I can create new things!
Unfinished Project Mountain featuring birb storage basket, assortment of chickens, giant c2c blanket in the process of being blocked, etc… 
Plarn baskets waiting to be finished… 
…and one of the overflowing stashes of plastic for plarn making. 
First side of reversible pink cushion that needs zip put in. Putting in zips is scary, which is why it isn’t happening. 
Other side of pink reversible cushion. 
Cool/blue side of another reversible cushion cover waiting for (you guessed it), a zip. 
Warm/coral side of reversible cushion.
It’s going to take all my resolve to be good, because meanwhile this gorgeous, sparkly Glitterbium yarn (this year’s Ytterbium/Eastercon special edition) from Third Vault Yarns is waiting for me to find it the perfect project….
Wish me luck! Maybe the days can be for getting stuff finished and evenings can be tinkering time…
Note: Beachy Keen scarf video tutorial here. It makes the coolest 3D seashell shapes! It’s another one where once you have the hang of the stitch, you don’t need to follow a pattern.
Zola Makes Things 