Crocheted Raffia Basket

Pattern/Technique: Crocheted Raffia Basket by Anne Weil (part of a kit from The Crafters Box)

New skills: crocheting around another material

Lessons: The optimal thickness of the raffia bundle seems to be roughly the same diameter (maybe even a bit larger) than the crochet hook.

It's quite challenging to keep even tension on the working yarn while also holding a core material--particularly one that needs to be bundled tightly like raffia. Manipulating the material, while trying to insert the crochet hook into the linen loops and avoid snagging raffia hurt my hands, so I ended up cutting this project short and doing 1/3 of the recommended number of coils.

I noticed that the coil of the basket can be manipulated to be flat or very steep/conical. It's unclear whether this is endemic to this style of basket, or due to some issue with my tension.

What I'd do differently: The technique is quite interesting but trying to keep an even core of raffia was a challenge, and manipulating the crochet hook was physically painful over time. If I attempt a crocheted basket again, it with a more uniform core material like cotton rope, and one of my soft grip crochet hooks vs. the wooden hook included in the kit.

Felted Succulent

Pattern: Mini succulent kit by Felted Sky (from a YarnYay box)

New skills: Needle felting

Lessons: I’m not sure if felting is my thing. My FO looked a little greebly, and while that’s an expected outcome on my first try, I don’t think I enjoyed the process enough to warrant investing the time to improve my skills.

Using a straight up/down stabbing motion will reduce stress on the needle and prevent it from breaking.

Roving and felting wool (i.e. batting) are different! After carding, batting is layered in sheets, which results in the fibers being a little less aligned. Roving is pulled off the carding machine in ropes, so that fibers remain aligned.

Stabbing the same section repeatedly will compact the fiber more, and create a more concave shape. Similarly, it’s possible to pinch and tilt the piece to felt the fibers at an angle to fix them into a concave shape.

Repeatedly turning the piece is important while felting on a foam block, as the wool fibers will start to get poked into the block (I had to peel it off before the first turn each time).

What I’d do differently: I had a hard time assembling the leaves into a plant, maybe because I’d already felted the ends too much before assembly.