Crocheting in the Summer…When You’re Hot
By Veronica Smith – 16 CommentsIt is pretty close to what we call winter where I live. I am on the east coast of Australia and it is getting quite nippy here. Our summers are very hot and unpleasant, summer is also our wet season so the humidity only adds to the discomfort – I am a cold weather girl myself. Admittedly the word cold here is a joke really and I have never even seen snow, but the fire place needs to be lit and the warm winter woollies have to come out. A lot of you reading this will probably be either coming into warmer weather or are well and truly there now.
Crocheting when it is cool is therapeutic. It is nice to snuggle up and make something warm and fuzzy – it is just good, that’s all I can say. What happens in the warmer months? Do you find crochet sort of takes a back seat? If your crocheting does come to a bit of a halt, then I need to ask WHY?
Having a recent epiphany, I realize that summer is an excellent time to crochet. Having given this whole summer crochet dilemma some thought I realize that we overlook the huge possibilities and opportunities summer brings, especially you folk with mid year summer because Christmas (don’t groan) is conveniently located in winter for you.
For example, it is cool here so this past week alone I have done marvelous things. For starters 5 beanies, 1 each for my hubby, 2 daughters, myself and my father-in-law. I added a pompom on top of 3 girl ones. They worked up surprisingly quickly, good thing otherwise I may have only made 1 – I’m a bit short on patience sometimes. I made my mum-in-law a hooded scarf for her upcoming birthday and put a flower on each pocket. Once again it was surprisingly quick. I have been very good and only used stuff I have in my stash. It is actually a good feeling doing that, no guilt involved, quite liberating. I have also made 4 Amigurumi Chick’s, they aren’t quite as good as Rachel’s however they are well loved. HOWEVER it is cool here so things flow nicely. In summer I just cannot be bothered, but my life is going to change from this summer on.
I am never usually this productive, you see most of our time is hot. But NO MORE – summer is going to be productive! I was wiling away time (instead of cleaning) looking through the Crochet Spot store and freebies. So many cute, almost instant gratification things. Skim past the blankets, scarves, shawls and gloves and look at the cat toys, flower pot, bibs, kid toys, coasters and the myriad of other things. That is just in the store alone then there is an endless supply in the freebie pattern section.
My advice – and my grand plan for summer, which is about 9 months of the year here – is to make as many of these as possible. Christmas (again, don’t groan) comes around all too fast, then there is those ever present birthdays popping up randomly.
Plan / advice / instructions – forget about making for the cold weather Christmas presents, the afghans, beanies, scarves and gloves. You did that last year and even for you snow bound Christmas dwellers summer must turn up at some stage. Raid your stash, raid the pattern cupboard and Crochet Spot’s plethora of patterns and get making them. Instead of having all that yarn in a box make it up into phone cases for all ages, bibs for babies that seem to turn up everywhere, cat toys for your crazy aunt Molly who lives alone with 17 cats that have personalized food-bowls, coasters, toys and all the other little things you can find. These items are small and wont be hot on your lap when you are crocheting. Put them ALL back into the box that is now free of yarn and pop them away for Christmas. Christmas seems to be hectic for most of us so now it is all taken care of! For those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas you may have another religious holiday or simply now have gifts on hand, all you need is wrapping paper. Thinking about it, you could crochet a gift bag, cushion cover, market bag or handbag to put the present in, then there is 2 presents in 1 – bonus.
If you must make afghans for somebody then make one that is made up of individual squares that way it is not hot on your lap and you can assemble it and do the edging in the cooler months.
I am all excited about this plan! Think about it, there is stash busting involved, once you’ve done that you can justify buying more yarn >>grins<<. How nice will it be to put your hand into a box and pull out ready made presents, no stress involved? Your idle hands are now happy again.
How do you all feel about it?
I have a hard time getting myself to crochet bigger items in the summer. Afghans cover your lap when they get big and it can get hot.
i used to not crochet in hot weather cause everything would be in my lap and get hot, i found an old cafeteria table for super cheap and now its not so hot, set up a work station in the living room in front of the tv, good luck to ya
I can’t do afghans or quilts (unless I’m just piecing squares) in the summer. We use very little a/c in our apartment, so I’m always hot anyway. Making amigurumi this last year has worked out really well, because they’re too small to be hot.
I tend to like making smaller things the past few years, it doesn’t matter what season. Dishcloths, water bottle bags, cotton scrubbers, drink coasters, can koozies, fingerless gloves…if I make it, it sells at our local community market. If I try a big project, I lose interest…
I live in Montana, USA, and we get about 9 months of winter! Wish I were kidding, but we have trees that don’t have leaves yet this year. It’s been a longer winter than usual. I planned “cool” projects for last summer when I was camping. I enjoyed a lot of relaxation and productivity but I have been in a non-productive season this year. I need to find a new pattern or two, start my first apparel item and plan like this. Thanks for the ideas!
Hi Veronica, I am glad to hear that you also reside in Australia. I live near Brisbane in the metropolis that is Logan! Anyway, I love to crochet (and at times knit) nearly all year through. Grateful that we have air conditioning, but it is the best thing to help me relax and I it is great to have made items to give for new grand babies! However, I still struggle with converting US patterns to English – I have to mentally note where the pattern has come from to remember to change all the instruction. LOL Must add that I love this site! cheers Jeanette
I used to live just south of Brisbane, Victoria Point to be exact. NOW I live in Madison, Wisconsin the good ol’ Us of A. As you can imagine that really is quite the weather and temperature change. I started crocheting about a year ago. I too find it more of a challenge to crochet in the warmer months. Amigurumi is a fun way to keep busy and cool. I am also challenging myself to learn Tunisian and intermeshing crochet at the moment.
i’m from malaysia. some of u maybe not recognize where is malaysia. it situated in asia and located above singapore and below thailand. most of the time we only have 2 seasons of weather which is hot season and rainy season. the rainy season started on oct-january which is rain was very heavy but not everyday.
but all the time is hot season which the degree around 30-40 celcius. crocheting on hot weather a bit chalengging for me because sometimes my palm got sweat and can dirt my crochet /my yarns.
Since amigurumi is what piqued my interest in crochet, I never really have that problem!
In the summer, I try to crochet smaller items.It is just too hot for having an afghan sitting in my lap and crawling down my legs.
There are many crochet patterns available for crocheting beautiful snowflakes. By the time Christmas rolls around, I have a whole pile of them, ready to be starched,stiffened, and a bit of glitter added.They make great little gifts for friends, relatives, the mail carrier, teachers and other people that you’d like to give just a little somethin.’ And they are beautiful on a Christmas tree. Guess it is just my imagination……but crocheting the snowflakes can make me cool off a little bit when the temperature and humidity get intolerable. 🙂
Also making any little items for baby is a good summer project too. Even adding a crochet edging around a flannel blanket isn’t as hot as making an afghan. And there are such cute patterns for booties, socks, bonnets they are small in size and don’t take too much yarn or thread.And someone you know is always having a baby !
Guess we are all thinking alike……
I crochet slowly so I like to plan ahead for winter during the warmer months. I make hats, scarves, slippers, etc. It’s better for me that way because I don’t feel pressure that I have to hurry to use the items now.
I spent one summer crocheting afghan squares for a gift for a friend who got married that fall. They were large enough to be interesting (8″ square), used up my spare yarn, and traveled well while on vacation. It was nice and cool on the September day I assembled the wonderful afghan.
(Funny followup = the marriage, sadly, did not work out. I asked my friend to be sure he got custody of the afghan. He told me he did.)
(My cat curled up nicely on my lap while I crocheted at home and jumped on the finished afghan when I laid it on my sofa for a photo — which I wish I could locate!)
I also do squares in summer, although in England we never have much sun anyway! They are just small enough to keep in your bag, and provide quick satisfaction! I sometimes try to do some Christmas pressies, like hats etc, but nearly always end up loving them, so keep them for myself, then I need to make more!
I had a bad fall down the steps last year.
When I was in the Trama Center, and semi alive and sort of
out of it….my daughter took a video of me moving my hands
and fingers like I was crocheting….NOW THAT’S DEVOTION TO THE CRAFT!!!
Summer is a season to crochet, but as you mention, project selection is key. Last week I tried to make myself work on a vest in kind of fuzzy yarn, but it wasn’t happening!! This week I gave in to the cotton fiber and finished about 80% of a duster in just a day. I am looking forward to wearing it- possibly tomorrow!
Jeanette, I am on the eastern outskirts of Jimboomba about 50km (south of Brisbane). Our 7.5 acres backs onto the Birnam Range (part of Tambourine). Veronica