Just finished this blanket!

My hands do hurt sometimes after a lot of crocheting, but it's minimal compared to the pain in my hands and arms from knitting.

The thing is with knitting you have to hold two needles and a weight of wool but with crochet it's one needle and you can keep the work on your lap.

That's interesting Falconbird that you can crochet having had to give up knitting.
I knit, but sometimes get twinges especially in my thumbs.

I will persevere with teaching myself crochet (after finishing my knitting projects!).

Trying to post a photo but so far no luck. Will keep trying.

I had to give up knitting because of RSI so tried my hand at crochet. I've made lots of baby blankets and I've just finished a blanket for my grand daughter age 4. She chose the wool and there is a floret on each corner, made from wool from previous blankets. She now wants a blanket big enough to cover her bed.

janer so I'm not the only one who saves all those shoulder ribbons then . And all the gorgeous ribbons that come round the Lush gift boxes. Still trying to think of a way of using them up.

stansgran that is a very good idea using fleece instead of batting and backing. The quilt I made for my little granddaughter had bamboo batting and I used brushed cotton for the backing, so it would be soft and warm against the baby's skin. I was lucky enough to find a white brushed cotton single quilt cover in Dunelm Mills in the sale box for £9.99. Loads of fabric in it! I love finding bargains like that
Fleece would have been so much easier though!

Gracesgran, apologies - it was you who said you had the cropadile, not Janerowena . I must remember to check who I'm replying to in future! Thanks for the reply, though. Like janerowena, I think I'll give it a miss too as my hands are really not up to all that squeezing.
I have bought a little gadget that you place over the snap fasteners and whack with a hammer. Haven't tried it yet because I'm still waiting for the snaps to arrive.

Once you've done a row of plain crochet, you can pretty much do it in your sleep.

I am currently making a cushion cover in Tunisian crochet. It looks like woven thick fabric. You have a very long needle, make stitches in crochet all the way along a row, and cast them back off again on the way back. That's a dreadful explanation, but my mother used to get me making her rugs to stand on in the cold flag-stoned scullery, out of old cut-up tights, using the process.

Grey is very 'in' this year (according to the lady in the local wool shop).
I was tempted but bought a lovely shade of denim blue instead to add to my stash to knit something for DGD.

Note I said 'knit', I do keep trying to crochet but it always ends up looking like a pig's breakfast. I have now bought a book and will have to have another try.

We have a whole pile of unwanted fleeces, that is a very good idea.

I thought that was strips of ribbon at first, stansgran, which reminded me - I had been trying to think of a project for all my bits of ribbon saved from shoulders of tops. I made 20 pots of jam for our fete, and used ribbons instead of the twine I couldn't find. I reckon if I make 20 a year, and don't buy any more clothes, I should be through them all in about ten years' time.

I've been having trouble posting so trying again.

I'm quilting this and I'm using fleece instead of wadding and backing as suggested by my quilting shop. It's Avery easy pattern and has used up a pile of scrap squares and strips leftover from other projects.its off to the hospital shop I hope by Friday. Thought I would try posting as someone said it wasn't working and I'm having a break from quilting.

I joined a crochet group that meets in a local hotel once a week. I really taught myself buy using pinterest in the end. I bought wool from attic 24 web site, and I am on my third blanket. I really need to learn another stitch though. The ripple pattern was beyond me. Mine are stripes of wonderful colour. When I snuggle under one I am reminded of caravan holidays with my husband when I took my crochet alone. A new skill for me!

Auntieflo I love the use of grey, I had been thinking of trying that at some time. I made (and still have ) a blanket just like that that was used for my DCs, it was called 'the sicky blanket' because it was used as they grew older to cover them when they were ill and lying on the sofa, dozing and watching tv. They fought over who got to keep it, so I said that I would keep it here for visiting poorly GCs.

gracesgran I might give that a miss then, as my hands are a bit arthritic, I can only do things like cutting out fabric for a short time before having to take a break and do something else.

I haven't used it a lot as I did have problems with my hands after I bought it. They are a lot better now but I do wonder if I could squeeze it often if I had a lot to do.

When thinking of buying tempting tools these day I try to remember that the average drill (the other side of the coin but a temptation to the DIYers) is used for 19 minutes in its life time. When you think of how many are used a great deal, many must never be opened.

In Germany they have sort of share shops run by volunteers where people can add their, shall we say, less used gadgets and tools and they can then be borrowed by other sharers. Wouldn't it be good to do this with craft tools. You may want to buy one if you like it but it would give you a chance to try things out or borrow for occasional use.

janer I too had to look up cropadile. It looks a very useful gadget to have (oh God, here I go.... where's my debit card? )
Have you ever used it to attach snap fasteners? How effective was it, if so? I've read online that they aren't as good for this function as other gadgets. I suppose it all depends on how strong your grip is.

That is beautiful Auntieflo - and your little grandson looks perfect with it, all dressed in blue and white!

I crocheted a blanket this year, and my baby grandson gave it a test run, so Janowera, perhaps you could "borrow" a baby to decorate your blanket.

That is a very, very bad site! I have to finish the three projects I am making currently first! They have some lovely free downloads.

I meant useful for hospital shops. The bag made with jelly roll strips I have already made in c*****++s fabrics to send for the fair in that month.

I have never heard of a cropodille before and had to look it up. I thought I had every crafty gadget under the sun. Janerowena it's sewing month evidently and Coats have some very useful things in their monthly email here

Ooh, thanks for that! It sounds ideal, I shall write it all down now before I forget!

janer this would be perfect for the hospital shop, as once the holes are made it is very quick to do. I used cotton yarn, because I think it gives a very neat finish, but you can use any yarn to hand. A metre of fleece will make two baby blankets (you can't buy half a metre because it's 150cm wide so you'd have a long narrow piece!). I bought this at Hobbycraft for £8 a metre and I know they're not the cheapest around - but they were the handiest and I always want things now

In fact, you could cut a metre of fleece into four to make small pram blankets, each measuring roughly 20" x 30" before edging.

My thumbs and aching arm muscles are giving me an awful lot of pain at present and I had to stop doing a test run of a pattern for a throw last June when it all flared up. I am very glad I did not buy the yarn. I am feeling very pissed off with this and jealous of you knitters. Enjoy your efforts though.

I run a knitting and crochet club, this caught my eye because we have been asked to make small hand-crafted items to sell for charity at our local hospital shop. I have to keep my eye out for just this sort of thing.

I thought that two janerowena as I have a cropadile* and wondered about that but I can see why the skip blade would work as it would save you measuring and it will need to be even. It's such a lovely way to personalise the blanket.

*My crafty stash will definitely outlive me