There's nothing quite like a nicely decorated house to make staying at home feel fresh and relaxing in summer.
But when trying to afford petrol and supermarket prices, decorations can seem like just another pointless expense or, for those more eco-minded, a waste of plastic which will just end up in a landfill.
Enter crochet.
All you need is a crochet hook and some yarn, and you can craft your own facecloths, soft toys, pot holders, coasters, Christmas decorations ... almost anything you can think of.
And while huge merino sweaters command a high price for a reason, a three-pack of aluminium crochet hooks is $5 right now, and in sales even 100% wool or cotton yarn can get down to about $5 a ball.
Not to mention the number of free patterns available online seems endless.
A couple of tips to start:
- Choose larger crochet hooks and a thicker wool to start. It is a lot easier to grab strands of wool with the hook when you are not struggling to see them.
- If the pattern has an accompanying video, watch it all the way through until the end first — avoid surprises.
- Preferably try to join a craft group. They are always incredibly welcoming, and someone will no doubt take you under their wing, fixing all the inevitable mistakes that happen at first.
One of the most enjoyable steps is deciding on a project.
As someone who likes seasonal decorations — while also being unwilling to spend lots of money on buying and storing them — a perfect place to start for me seemed to be a centrepiece flower for each month.
A quick Google search showed a seasonal New Zealand flower for January was the calla lily, which looked relatively easy to attempt.
I found both a written pattern and a video tutorial available for free online.
And if you’re unsure how to start with a "magic circle", or not sure what the stitch "dhc" is, YouTube tutorials are a godsend.
There will be a range of videos each teaching different methods, so you can find one which suits you.
To start, I somehow managed to Frankenstein knitting and crochet together into a bizarre row of stitches on the hook.
Once she finished laughing, my friend pulled it apart for me.
The second start went better, and soon I had my magic circle completed.
Sadly for our brunch plans, something came up and my friend had to leave after about an hour.
But by that time she had shown me several times which was the "next stitch" to crochet into — although I did mess it up later and just added a few stitches here and there to make it fit — and the basic crochet stitches in my pattern.
And luckily, there’s something delightfully homely about a handmade item, which also means perfection is not necessary.
Just like intentionally wrapping Christmas presents to be a little messy and childish, I believe the slight mistakes just display to everyone else the effort and love that was put into making it.
(Besides, in knitting, it is said the fairies will be out to get you if you knit a "perfect" item.)
Having made the terrible choice of a thin cotton and tiny hook, the project ended up taking me about a day.
But it was also a day without as much mindless snacking while watching TV.
I also didn’t have a glue gun, as I had not watched the tutorial to the end before starting.
But, win-win, I also hate weaving in the ends, so I used them to basically tie my flower on to the florist wire.
Good old Kiwi ingenuity.
Calla lilly done, next up is Valentine’s Day!
It’s quite nice to have a little project for each month, to work on in the evenings.
And I know for a fact my husband has never been given crocheted flowers ...
By Bryony Kentfield
