November Challenge

November is the month for NaNoWriMo. If you haven’t heard about it, NaNo is a month-long novel writing experience. You start writing your novel on the first of the month, and the idea is to have a 50,000+ word novel by the end of the month. To find out more, go to their web site: NaNoWriMo.org.

With the challenge of writing a novel, I thought it would be fitting to challenge those who are participating in NaNo to somehow incorporate crocheting into their story. It can be a crocheter, or maybe something crocheted such as a doily–anything, as long as crochet is mentioned.

To add to this challenge, crochet something to go along with your novel. Maybe it’s the doily that sat on the table of your main character. Or maybe you describe a beautiful garden: If so, you could crochet some of the flowers. Get the idea?

And if you’re not participating in NaNo, the challenge for you is to write a short story with the same ideas as above.

C’mon. We’re all creative, otherwise we wouldn’t be crocheters. Let’s see if we can get some crocheting into some writing!

Good luck!

Prompt: Yarrrrrrrrn!

While crafting with a few friends the other day, this question came up: When you purchase yarn, do you have a project in mind, or do you buy on impluse and save the yarn to use whenever the need arises? All four of us revealed that we’re hoarders. Some more than others, but each of us have a pretty good stash of yarn growing all around us.

What about you? Are you a yarn hoarder, who buys on impluse just because the yarn was too lushious to put down? Or are you a practical yarnie who only buys what is needed for specific projects? Is there yarn bagged, boxed, stored, shelved all over your house? Or is it neatly piled away in as few storage containers as possible? Are you addicted, or can you quit at anytime? Inquiring crochet minds want to know!

Be sure to link back to this thread with a link to your response so others can find you easily!

Challenge: Boo!

Halloween is around the corner so to celebrate, crochet something spook-ish, either from a pattern already out there somewhere or just your own creation. (This would be a great time to try free form!) It can be scary-scary, scary-fun, scary-cute, or not even scary at all. It’s totally up to you. Afterwards, if you’re feeling really up to the challenge, write a short story or poem to accommodate your object then share the ending result(s) with the rest of us…before the 31st. Have fun!

Need ideas? Check out Lion Brand’s web site under Halloween.

Be sure to link back to this thread with a link to your response so others can find you easily!

Prompt: A Crocheter Lives Here!

If someone who never knew you crocheted were to walk into your home, what tell-tell signs would there be to indicate that someone who loves to crochet resided there? Would it be immediately noticeable? Or would it take a little more “digging”? What evidence would they find as proof that “a crocheter lives here!”?

Be sure to link back to this thread with a link to your response so others can find you easily!

Prompt: Why do you do it?

If someone asked, “Why do you do it? Why in the world do you crochet?”, would you give them a long response or a quick and easy one? How would you reply?

Be sure to link back to this thread with a link to your response so others can find you easily!

Challenge – Go Pink!

For the month of October, Stitch-Stirrers is going pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. To mark this event, the header has changed to pink and will remain that way throughout the month.

Now it’s time for crocheters to show their support as well. For this monthly challenge, it’s all about the pink–and crochet! Design something of your own or use a pattern and incorporate the color pink into your project. It can be any shade, any yarn (or other material)–just show your support by using pink. Another idea is to crochet some pink ribbons and share them with your friends and family.

Don’t have time to take on the challenge? You can show your support by changing your blog and or web site’s theme/color. To find out more, visit the Pink for October web site.

However you choose to show your support, don’t forget to share with us here at SS.

Happy Pink-Crocheting!

Prompt: 10 Things Learned

Crochet hooks. We all love them. From the tiniest one to the largest one in our collection, each has its own purpose. I’m sure if any of us really sat down and thought about it, we could come up with ten things we’ve learned from a crochet hook, which is what this prompt is all about.

Make a list of ten things/lessons you’ve learned from a crochet hook. I’ll compile some of the best ones (or maybe all of them) and create a web page you can share with others who might need to know what all can be learned from hooks.

To get you started, the first one that came to my mind is:
Size does matter!
So you can’t use that one.

Prompt: Ad Your Crochet

You are given free ad space in a colorful crafty magazine to “sell” your craft. Not to sell products you crochet; rather, to sell others on why they should pick up a yarn and hook and learn to crochet. The space you are given is half a page or less, and you are asked to use your own words and art. You aren’t limited in any other way.

For this weekly prompt, write that ad. You don’t have to use pictures/art if you don’t want to, and you don’t even have to use words if you can get your point across without them. Just create an ad that you think best represents the art of crochet to the point someone else who hasn’t ever tried it will possibly want to.

Post it to your blog then let us all know where we can find it. Have fun!

Mission: First Day of Fall

Can you feel it? Smell it? See it? If not, it’s right around the corner. Yes, it’s Autumn, and if it’s not showing in an outdoor theatre near you just yet, it will be soon. The crisp air, the changing colors, football, and baking (at least for me).

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to create a new crochet pattern that celebrates the grandeur of the season. It can be something simple like a leaf pattern done in Autumnish colors or something more complicated like a sweater. The choice is yours depending on your own time and pattern-writing skill. The only rule of thumb is to create it before the season is over.

So get those hooks and yarn to moving and let’s see what beautiful things we can come up with!

Happy Autumn!

(If you’re participating in another country and the season is different, the prompt is the same, except to create something for the season you’re in.)

Limerick Your Crochet

Even if you don’t consider yourself a poet, this should be fun and easy. Your mission is to write a limerick–or several–about crochet. No starting with “There once was a man from Nantucket…” though!

What is a limerick? A limerick is a short poem, oftentimes humorous (although it doesn’t have to be), which consist of five lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 should all three rhyme with each other, as should lines 3 & 4, thus creating a rhyme-scheme of aabba.

Need more info to get you started? Do a Google search on “example of limericks” or check out this site: How to Write a Limerick.

Have fun!

Just a note: Don’t forget to copy this prompt to your blog and respond to it. Then come back here and post a quick comment telling us where we can find your actual post.