How Crocheting Helps Me, Help Others

I crochet almost compulsively.  It could be said that I am OCD about crocheting.  If I'm a passenger in a vehicle I feel anxious and fidgety unless I am crocheting during the drive.  Even a short drive to town is sufficient time to get another row on a child's blanket, and a 6 hour drive to and from our grandkids homes is enough of a trip to complete a small blanket or a hat and scarf set before we arrive.

Road Trip Blanket in progress.

I'm so obsessed with crochet (and now knitting too) that I never have less than 5 WIP's (works in progress) at any given time, and often many more than just 5.   Every member of my family has at least one personal blanket that I've made them, and many other items too, like hats, scarves, sweaters, face scrubbies, toys, etc.  Heck, even my country neighbors sport my handmade items during the cold Colorado winters.  What I don't make for my family or friends I usually give away.  I make little hats or lovies that my daughter gives to the foster kids that attend my grandsons daycare.

My favorite thing to make are kids blankets.  I don't even know how many I have made, I've been crocheting for about 50 years.  I've made a blanket for every new baby's arrival in my circle of friends and family.  I mostly make baby to teen-sized blankets that I donate to charities that work with children in crisis situations.  I love these blankets the most because I know how much my grandchildren love the ones I make them, and they aren't in a crisis.

Kids Charity Blanket - C2C

When I am making a charity blanket for a child I think about the possible child that will receive the blanket the whole time I am making it.  I choose colors and stitch patterns that I think would be comforting or cheerful.  It makes me feel so good inside knowing that my positive energy is going into the blanket with every stitch I make, and hopefully when that child cuddles up in this blanket they will feel some of that loving energy from me.

Who do you crochet for?  Yourself, family and friends, charity, or do you sell your makes?  What is your favorite thing to make?  I would love to hear from you.

If you would like to make childrens blankets for charity, Project Linus is a worthy charity that is always looking for handmade children's blanket.  You can find your local chapter HERE.  Check with your local law enforcement agencies too, they often times accept childrens blankets or stuffed toys themselves or they can direct you to local agencies that accept donations.

Happy Crocheting!

Anna

My Furls Crochet Hook Story

THIS IS MY FURLS STORY:

As my blog name name implies...Anna's Gotta Crochet!  But arthritis in my hands and wrists just about put a stop to my love of crochet because using a standard crochet hook caused me so much pain that I had to stop after just 10 minutes of work.  Then I discovered Furls crochet hooks, and I feel reborn again.  I can now crochet pain free for hours a day.

This ergonomic hook was designed specifically to reduce hand stress and tension of the hand and wrist tendons and ligaments, allowing your fingers to relax around the hook, therefore applying less pressure so you can create more even and light stitches.   And the hook has been sanded so smooth it glides through your yarn like butter.

It takes a little bit to get use to the extreme lightweight of this hook, but I found my work looked more even and my hand and fingers naturally relaxed its grip and began to almost roll the hook in a rhythmic manner rather then twist and turn my wrist as I had to do with a traditional crochet hook, that caused me so much pain.

So I can whole heartily say, give this hook a try if you haven't been able to do as much crocheting as you would like.  I think you will find that you love it as much as I do, and you will be able to crochet again.  If you are unsure, buy the size that you use most often.  By the time you have finished your next project I bet you will want the entire set of sizes.  That's how I got started using Furls hooks.  I bought one, then two more, then three more, and now I have the entire range of sizes.  All of my old standard type hooks are now in a bag on the shelf.

But my love for Furls hooks didn't stop there, I wanted to tell the world about these wonderful hooks so I became an authorized retailer for Furls!  You can see all my Furls Crochet Hooks and Accessories available HERE if you have arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or you just want to crochet more comfortably and with a beautiful crochet hook.  I hope you will go check out my shop by clicking HERE.

So that's my Furls Story.  Feel free to comment below telling the world why you Love Furls!

Anna

Welcome!

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MY ONLINE YARN SHOP GO TO:

www.AnnasGottaCrochet.Etsy.com

I want to welcome you to my blog.  I've named it Anna's Gotta Crochet after my online yarn shop and My Furls Crochet Shop because that's been my life the last few years.  But sadly, I am forced to close my Etsy yarn shop due to the every increasing fee's and mandatory regulations imposed on us sellers, making it impossible to make a living.  So go take advantage of my CLOSEOUT PRICES on yarn going on right now until all my yarn inventory is gone.  You can still find my Furls Crochet Hooks in my New Etsy Shop HERE.

This blog exists because, crocheting is my life. Literally.  I have been a crocheter for about 50 years and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon. Crochet is my lifeline, quite literally, but that is a story for another post soon.   For you knitters, don't worry, after 50 years of crocheting, I decided to give knitting a go in 2019 and now I'm hooked on knitting as well.  Since my real love, my first love, is yarn, it doesn't matter if it's crochet or knit, as long as it allows me to play with yarns in all colors, weights, fibers, and textures, then I'm in!

I currently share some of my favorite crochet and knit patterns on my Facebook page and Instagram account, but often I have a little more to say than can be typed with my thumbs on my cell phone when sharing those patterns.  So a blog seems to be the best option for me to really share.  I hope you will subscribe to this blog so you don't miss some of the fun things I will be sharing in the future.  And please do comment on the posts to let me know what you think, and what you would like to see more of.   I appreciate your feedback.

I'm off to work on a WIP that is nearing completion.


Anna

About Me

“My Name is Anna, and I am Addicted to Yarn” 

I Love Yarn. I can't visit a store that carries yarn without stopping by that department to pet the yarn. Yes, I pet the yarn, don't you? I'm drawn to yarn by the colors, rainbow is my favorite color, but then I've got to touch every skein, cake or hank that I see. I then have to purchase at least some of it, usually way more than I need for my next project. This probably makes me a bit of a yarn hoarder. But my yarn is not hid away in a pile somewhere, I have each one bagged in clear poly bags and stacked neatly on an endless number of shelves taking up every inch of wall space in my craft room, displayed so that I can see them and be inspired.

I don't really just hoard the yarn, I use it too. I have at least 5 WIP's (works in progress) going at any given moment. I make lots of personal items for myself and gifts for my grandchildren and friends, and in between every personal item I make, I also make one child's blanket that I donate to local organizations that work with abused & neglected children in trauma. For this reason, when I see pretty yarn that would make a nice child's blanket I tend to buy a ton of it. I can't possibly use all of the yarn I buy because I don't have that much lifetime left, ha ha, but I can't seem to stop myself.

This love of yarn is what inspired me to open an Etsy shop selling mostly discontinued colorways of yarn and Furls Crochet Hooks. Sadly I was forced to close my shop because I just could not afford to sell yarn on Etsy any longer due to their every growing fees on top of fees. But I will continue to sell Furls Crochet Hooks (because they changed my life, but that's another story)  in my new Etsy Shop. I hope you will subscribe to my blog so we can continue to share our love of all things crochet.

Anna