It’s Hot Here!
By Veronica Smith – 13 CommentsIt’s hot here in sunny Queensland Australia. The travel agents do advertise Queensland as the “Sunshine Stateâ€. More Specifically I am in Jimboomba – South East Queensland for any of you with some strange interest and a map.
When I am out in the heat, or anywhere in the house that is not air-conditioned then the whole idea of picking up hook and thread makes my skin prickle with anticipation of a heat rash. However, when I sneak into one of our air-conditioned areas then it’s back to my normal enthusiasm, possibly even more excited. Maybe because I am deprived in the rest of the environment that the air-conditioned hidey holes make crochet seem decadent.
I have taken advice from my own ramblings about “Crocheting in the Summer…When You’re Hotâ€, and make the most of my time hiding from the heat. By the way it is 39° C (102° F) here at the moment and it is 3:15 in the afternoon and it is very humid. Supposedly we are getting some rain but they have been promising that for ages now. Humidity seems to make the heat more horrid.
So anyway, what have I got on the go in my cool haven? I am crocheting covers for Christmas baubles in preparation for next year’s festivities and I am making a coat – details of that will be coming soon, I am not sure how it will turn out.
Anyway, even though a large number of you reading this are freezing now remember that there is hope for crocheting in summer. For those of you sweating away and wondering if you can fit in the freezer, maybe you can find a haven somewhere, even if it is the local library or air-conditioned shopping center.
I agree that temperature makes crochet uncomfortable at times. I’m on the flip side of the globe, in the eastern mountains of the USofA. We get temps and humidity like what you have, just six months off your time line. Today’s high is -4c (24 F).
In the heat I work on small projects to help beat the skin rash. In the winter I work on big projects or stitch my small pieces together to keep me warm. However my biggest issue was solved by switching the type of hook I used. Plastic and metal hooks make my hands too sweaty in the heat, and the metal made my hands cramp in the cold. Decades ago I found a simple (nothing fancy – slightly flattened on two sides) wooden hook and bought it on impulse. The wood doesn’t seem to react to the temperature changes as much as the other types. I wish these types of hooks were more available.
Does anyone else like basic wood hooks?
The other thing I found that works for me is using natural threads/yarns in the heat. Acrylics are least expensive, but cotton doesn’t seem to cause the rash.
You thoughts?
Where did you get your wooden hooks? I want to try them out, but I can’t seem to find them.
Wow! It’s been around 20 degrees F where I live. That’s insane. So I guess you get a very hot Christmas in Australia and we get a very cold Christmas in the US!
We had hail yesterday – in Edinburgh (Scotland), of course its still warmer than it was this time last year when we had about a foot of snow.
We might get to 8 degrees C today.
And a Scottish summer is a day if you are lucky…
Hi,can you tell me how to stiffen a crochet hat.It is yarn with a wide brim!
Hi Virginia, here’s a link to a post that discusses stiffening: How to Stiffen or Starch Crochet Articles
Shelby: you can find wooden crochet hooks at laurelhillonline.com. They have hooks from several different woods. I like the Susan Bates metal hooks with bamboo handles available at marymaxim.com, herrschners.com. or other yarn and craft sites. Since your hands don’t hold the metal, it doesn’t affect the yarn, and they come in many sizes.
We’ve had yo-yo weather here in western New York. A few days of snow and temps in the teens and 20s followed by a week of temps in the high 30s and 40s and the snow melts. It’s a most unusual winter for this area.
It’s “hot” here too – at least compared with last winter. We’re only having round -10 C (14 F), which is way warmer than usual this time of year 🙂
hey there, I’m in Queensland too! /waves I also love to crochet, and although its summer I have heaps of projects on the go!
Hey in India we have similar high temperatures too with 95percent humidity right from April to oct and often crochet is a bliss in an ac room if there is no power failure.Seriously,I got plenty of good ideas of crochet in hot,hot weather as it simply takes one’s mind away from the discomfort ,heat and grime.Would love to know where I can buy wooden crochet hooks?
Canada’s kind of cold right now. (By the way, I ‘m still surprised we haven’t had a real Canada snow yet) so I don’t get cold when I knit or crochet. Even in summertime, when I’d rather be in an unheated pool, I find crochet still works for me because I usually do small projects anyways, summer or winter! (Although if the temperature drops, I think it would be better to start a blanket or a shawl) Maybe you should just work on smaller items or find a mega fan!!!
I live in Maracaibo, Venezuela, close to the equator and we have NO cold weather at all. just Hot and less hot. right now we are in our “winter” 25 to 27°C so we can sit on our patio and crochet or knit. knit, you say? Yes! because most offices are kept extremely cold so we keep sweaters in our lockers… i love your patterns, and have no trouble with metal hooks. i also have some very large plastic ones as i have discovered “plarn” ( plastic yarn) and am making shopping bags and storage baskets— anyway.. keep on hooking! LOL
Wow! What an amazingly “small” world we have because of the Internet! I am amazed from reading these comments, the wide range of where everyone is from. I live in San Diego County, California, USA. Right now it’s cool…..in the 60’s, but by the end of the week it’s suppose to be near the high 70’s. Our weather can be a little crazy. We can go from from 85 (or higher) at night and drop down to the 40’s to 50’s at night. We can get high humidity from the monsoonal flows that hit Mexico in the summer/fall time, but mostly it’s dry. We are considered high dessert terain or what is thought to be mediteraian like vegetation. I consider myself very fortunate because because there are only three months (July – September) of the year where crocheting might get unconfortable due heat (as high as 110) and humidity (as much as 90’s – I hate it when they say 100% and there is no rain in site) and the nights won’t cool down. Thats when I work on small projects using cotten yarn. A lot of houses here don’t have air conditioning….when it does get really hot…I hang out at the library where it is air conditioned. That is where I can crochet my larger projects.