Crocheting in the Summertime

[Note: Prepare for a wordier post than usual!]

As you’ve all gathered, I am obsessed with crochet and that means I do it all the time: spring, summer, fall, and winter. The trouble with this is that some seasons are better than others for the fiber arts. Summer in particular can be the bane of a crocheter’s existence, with two main problems:

1. Acrylic yarn gets squeaky in hot weather.
2. Many crochet patterns are impractical in the summertime: cowls, scarves, fingerless gloves, hats…

In general, it’s just not a craft that’s suited for summer. But we crocheters can’t spend an entire season without crocheting! That’s like asking a tree nymph to give up her tree. Luckily there are some things one can do to keep crocheting in the summer without succumbing to heatstroke or being driven insane by the noise of squeaking yarn.

Help, my yarn is squeaking!

• I’ve found that plastic hooks don’t squeak, although that might just be for me.
• Use a different fiber – maybe cotton, as wool in the summertime kind of defeats the purpose.
• Use crochet thread and a small hook. It still squeaks, but not as loud, and it’s less likely to start squeaking because it’s smaller.
• I’ve found that if you have two of the same crochet hook, if you switch out hooks, it helps stop the squeaking (at least for a little bit!)
• Amigurumi = small hook, thick yarn, tight stitches = catastrophe for squeaking yarn.

But I want to make a cowl!

Me too! But I’ve learned to crochet things that are better suited to hot weather…and those are enjoyable too. These are some that I like.

• Dishcloths. The great thing is, you usually use cotton for these, which is #2 of the squeaky-yarn solutions. Plus, they’re a nice quick project (yay!)
• Thread projects. (See #3 in squeaky-yarn.) For example, doilies, Barbie dresses, tiny amigurumi. It’s nice and portable too, for a possibly good pool-side project.
• Beach cover-ups. There always seems to be a lot of beach-going in the summertime, and there are some awesome looking patterns for these – here’s a roundup on Moogly that I love.
• Barbie dresses. Yes, you knew it would come up somewhere! They’re nice quick projects and you can use thread for them if you like. I’ve got lots of patterns here, or you can check Crochet At Play.
• Lace. This can be in a lot of different categories, of course, and I’m sure you don’t need me to list them off – searching for ‘lace’ on Ravelry would work well.
• Motifs. Small, light projects work best for summer – so you could crochet a bunch of granny squares now, and join them when it’s winter and have an afghan!
• Bead crochet. It’s kind of a cross between the two crafts, because you have to string all the beads and then crochet them in. Mrs. Micawber has some wonderful beaded bracelet patterns here.
• Bower birds! The perfect summer project.

So what do you think about crocheting in the summertime? Is it a worthwhile endeavor? Or is crochet something that should be limited to the winter months? (I didn’t think so either!) Do you like to crochet anything in particular in summer? Do tell!

I hope I didn’t bore you – this is a topic I wanted to discuss, though. I will leave you for now with a quote I thought fit perfectly here:

“[Crocheting] in the summer sun, just letting off steam…” ~ Olaf