Lately I've had crochet on the mind. This was further fueled by a happy browsing session at Kinokinuya in Sydney on Friday, where I came away with this book:

As always, there are some refreshing Japanese takes on what can sometimes be a daggy craft.

As far as crafts go, crochet was my first love. My grandmother taught me when I was around four and I was hooked from that moment on. (Pardon the pun.)

At four all I could manage was one long chain. I would keep going until the yarn ran out, then pull it undone and start again. My grandmother got sick of this and soon taught me a few new stitches.

In the junior school I attended, we could earn points for our house by crocheting or knitting squares to make into blankets for the homeless. I crocheted many hundreds of 6 inch granny squares until the age of eleven.

I used to crochet granny squares in the dark after I had been sent to bed.

Now I'm casting around for a crochet project. I think I'll have to give these slippers a try. They are very sweet.
I've been tagging my favourite crochet images as I come across them. I've had this little flickr gallery to inspire me for a while. More recently I've joined Pinterest, which I am really loving. I've started a little inpiration board on favourite crochets over there.

And today I came across this yarn. I wasn't sure whether I wanted wool or cotton. This Rowan yarn is 50% cotton and 50% wool. Together these balls look like a big bowl of icecream. The colours are very appealing - of course they are, when Amy Butler has put her name to them.
For now I'm too busy to start any new crafting projects. This is something for the summer, when I take a break from Townmouse and the other couple of jobs I'm working at the moment.