Row 10 Completed

 After taking the basic Tunisian Basic Crochet class at Birdhouse Yarns  with Lori of Aklori Designs a couple of weeks back, I decided that tonight was the night that I would try out my new skills.  I have been practicing some of the stitches on a scarf.  I do admit it was not smooth sailing. I took out rows 9&10 one time each.  I am working on the Tunisian Quick Crescent Shawl.   As I get ready to call it a night I am very happy with my progress.  

I am hopeful that progress will continue to happen. My wish is for a slightly faster pace with the caveat that I am fast enough to make positive progress and slow enough not to have to rip out entire rows.  

A Refresher Course

 Every once in a while, I find it educational to have a refresher course. Today I took a refresher course for me, which was a first level class in Tunisian crochet by Lori from Aklori Designs at Bird House Yarns in Tucson, Arizona. Within the first 30 minutes I found out why my Tunisian crochet never looked like the pattern pictures.  I learned that you only do the chain one stitch at the beginning of the return row pass. Not on both ends as I have been taught. Now my rippling on the right side is gone.  I learned a few new to me stitches too.  Now I am ready to tackle the shawl.  It seems less scary now. Also I will rip out a work in progress and start it correctly.  Knowing all the stitches makes it seem less intimidating. I would like to mention that Lori’s books are available at Bird House Yarns, and yes they will mail copies out.

I am also trying to start a new habit. They say it takes 30 days to start a habit. John moved my Cubii to a more accessible location under my sewing table in the sewing room. I started with 40 minutes with 3 additional minutes for warm up and cool down.  That is the same amount of time I am spending on the equipment at cardiac rehabilitation.  If they increase my time before I finish, I will up my time at home to.  I would also like to say I am not up to walking up hill yet, so walking in around the block in my neighborhood is not an option yet. It is either the mall or the Cubii for now. Today I managed to close 2 out of 3 rings.  I missed on my stand to walk goal because of my nap after breakfast and class today.  I got 10 out of 12 for the stand and walk.  

Taking New Skills Classes

 The best part about taking classes from a published author is that you can buy their books and take them home with you.  I found it was like taking Lori home with me to answer all my questions.  I recently took a class with Lori Harrison at Bird House Yarn here in Tucson. I do admit that the class pushed me in ways I would never have gone.  Almost everything up until that point was self taught by watching you tube tutorials and watching people do Tunisian crochet.  I do admit that I took one class while Eric was in declining health.  My mind was elsewhere, but I as trying to distract myself and get a few hours to just breathe.  It was not in hindsight the best plan to learn new subject matter. 

I wanted to learn to do Tunisian crochet in the round for awhile and a class came up.  I have learned so much from the class. I was able to rip out my class work and change the colors around.  The books and Lori’s on line videos helped immensely.  I am now about to start the 3 round again.  I did a little refresh by looking at the books. 

I also took pictures of the relevant pages to put in my phone, so I can take the project on the go and not carry 2 extra books with me.  That way I can use a much smaller bag for my project.  

Below are  pictures of the front covers of Lori’s books.  Signed copies of both books are available at Bird House Yarns.  I encourage you to buy the Books from Bird House Yarns, both books are available online, or your Local Yarn Shops.  All small businesses are in need of sales right now.  You can find Lori’s website at Aklori Designs.  You will find videos and her complete pattern collection there too.