Two posts in one night! I thought about waiting until tomorrow to post this one, but I’d rather get it done before I forget. A few weeks ago, A Yarny Robin had a yarn giveaway for her two year anniversary, and I was the winner!

She sent me this lovely, sparkly, alpaca yarn from Louisa Harding. It’s hard to see the sparkles in the photos – though I tried to capture them – but trust me, there are specks of silver throughout. Also – I LOVE her handwriting! It’s so pretty!

I really do need to invest in a yarn winder and swift set, but until then, I’ll do it the old fashioned way. Which usually involves tangling it all up and getting frustrated, but I get there in the end.

I decided to try making this Dragon tail neckerchief, because it was different and I love dragons.

I loved how the pattern was coming out, but it didn’t sit right, and I wasn’t sure it would lie flat when wearing it, so, as much as it pained me to do it…

I frogged it. I will try that dragon tail again another time, though!

I settled on a shell scarf, yet another infinity scarf because I can’t get enough 🙂

With how stressful things have been lately, I decided to put aside all the WIPs I have going, and got around to using this yarn I bought a while back. I had thought it might work for Data’s shirt, but as I was ordering it online from a local craft store (that’s not local enough, so it’s easier to order online than make my way over there), I couldn’t be sure. It’s Yellowstone from the Lion Brand Heartland range, and I love it. It was so soft and smooth to work with, so I was able to whip up this simple scarf and slouchy beanie on the weekend. Working on simple designs like this are great for stress relief for me. I can crochet to relax, no pattern to keep focusing on, letting my mind wander while my hands are busy. It’s something I need to do more often.

My daughter has requested I make the same style for her in the Olympic and Acadia colours from that range. This was the first time I’ve used Lion Brand, and I’ll definitely be trying more of their yarn again.

A few weeks back, Deramores were having a sale, so I splurged on some new hooks and pieces. A friend had recommended these Clover hooks to me, and my research showed that they would be better for my hands than my simple aluminium ones. My arthritis has been flaring up more than usual lately, but once I adjusted to these hooks they were feeling better. My hands would hurt more after crocheting before, but these are so comfortable and light that my hands don’t hurt as much, letting me crochet for longer. I’m so happy that I decided to give them a go. It took about 3 weeks to get here from the UK, but it was worth the wait.

I’ve been posting progress shots and other crochet related photos over at Instagram as I go, as I prefer to wait until I’m done to share on here. I also won’t be posting every photo from there on here, so please follow me there for more frequent updates, and if you’re interested in seeing what it is I’ve got on my hooks (because there’s never just ONE project at a time!). I do want to post on here more often, but with how stressful things have been, I’ve been putting it off. Now seems like a good time to remedy that!