My Craftology

I thought I'd share how I go about crafting/picking out crafts to try. To preface this, let me tell you I am not an expert in anything (at least not anything crafty...ok, maybe not in anything...that's slightly depressing). Usually things break down like this: I see something on Etsy or in a store and think, "OO! I could make that!! And I would save money and it would be more special because I made it!" At this point I'm pretty very excited about the possibilities. I mean how hard could it be to make this?

After all, Hubs has a wood burning kit, and I even used it once. Nevermind the fact that I can't draw with a pen, let alone a fiery hot metal tip. Or the fact that I don't know how to change out the tips to the wood burning thingy. Or the fact that I call it a wood burning thingy. Yes, I will definitely do this. And add our last name to it like it's our family tree kind of. Perfect. I will go buy wood at Michael's right now.

Then I get home and realize I have no idea what I'm doing. Along with slightly panicking, I look some stuff up online. Probably trace something since I can't draw. Possibly scrap the tree idea and go for just a cool font with our names. (I actually did do a wood burning thing with our names and wedding date for our anniversary. Turned out pretty well, all things considered.) So then I can add wood burning to be repertoire. But I will know that I cannot make that lovely tree up there, which means I will probably not try wood burning again for quite a while.

Crocheting had a very similar beginning for me. We needed stockings for our first Christmas together as a married couple in our own little apartment. I will crochet some! Of course! Because I've never crocheted before, I don't own any needles, or any yarn! This. Is. PERFECT!!!

That's basically how it went. I think I saw a pattern or a picture or something online that sparked that train of thought. Thankfully Hubs' mom crochets, and she was able to give me pointers. I also checked out a book on learning to crochet from the library...from the kids section of the library. (Do you realize how much easier the explanations are? And how much better the pictures are? Well they're a lot better!) I spent many a lunch break at work crocheting those stockings. And much to my surprise, ta-da!

 

The green one had something in it in this picture, which is why it looks kinda lumpy.

Just so you know, there was much more involved than ...ta-da! There was quite a bit of reading and re-reading the pattern and Googling because I had no idea what ch1, 2hdc, 5sc, decrease 2st meant. (Don't try that by the way, I just made that up, it would probably be a terrible crocheted train wreck!) And now I have a bag full of yarn (most of which I inherited from other people, I think I've only bought a handful of skeins) and crochet maybe once every month or two (but still definitely Google most stitches and occasionally have to enlist the tutoring of a YouTube video).

Other projects, like my froggy frame, get stuck in the closet, moved 2000 miles cross country only to go in another closet and THEN I finally tackle them. Hey, at least I finished...even if it was 2 years and 2000 miles later. 

So that's my crafting in a nutshell. I don't know very much about any technique, but I'm willing to try pretty much anything. The trend seems to be that I'm more likely to try if the craft is well above my current skill level. : / Oh well, at least that means I'm making progress! I'm currently enjoying getting in way over my head soaking up all the various ideas in the crafty blog world. Do you have any (slightly more sane) methods for picking new projects to work on?