I Need a New Hobby

All autumn and winter long, I keep myself warm and busy by crocheting. I am a fan of making blankets as handmade presents for friends and family. They are a gift that lasts forever, and making them offers the additional benefit of keeping my legs warm as I work on them.

I began crocheting six years ago by learning how to make simple, one-skein scarves. Since then, with the help of craft books and YouTube videos, I have taught myself to make more complicated things, such as flowers, stuffed animals, and cupcake hats. I crochet while I listen to podcasts, I crochet while I watch movies or hockey games, I crochet in the car (not while I'm driving, obviously). I will bring my crocheting to your birthday party, college graduation, or baby shower. It is something that my friends and family have grown used to. 

I have only one problem with my favorite pastime: Crocheting in the summer sucks. 

In California, where temperatures frequently hover in the high nineties for weeks on end, the last thing I feel like doing is crocheting. I loathe the feeling of itchy wool, acrylic, polyester, or thick cotton yarn against my hands on a hot day.  If the temperature is in the eighties or higher, I can barely stand the weight of my own clothing, let alone the additional heat of a heavy blanket sitting on my legs. Blankets and scarves make terrible gifts for friends with summer birthdays. Although I know that cool weather will return eventually, it feels much better to give someone a gift that they can use right away. I certainly don't like making a gift that the recipient can't even think of using for four to six months!

Sigh. What is a girl with craft lust to do? How will I while away the long summer months that separate shorts-and-a-tank-top weather from my beloved crochet season?  I'm on a diet (another thing I hate about the impending warm months), so I'm trying not to ogle over cute cookie cutters and expensive cake decorating materials. I don't take nearly enough photographs to start scrapbooking and I'm not skilled enough with a camera to take my photography seriously anyway. I'm a decent cook, but my boyfriend and I live alone and work full time, so dinner is usually the basic and unimaginative "protein, starch, veggie" combination or, when we are tired and lacking willpower, something much worse (like pizza). I can't sew, I don't make jewelry, I don't write, I don't do my own hair, I'm a pathetic gardener, I'm not very good at computer or video games—so what on Earth am I going to do until November? I am officially on the hunt for summer-friendly crafts!

Maybe I'll finally take that underwater basket-weaving class my dad joked about when I was in college.

The opinions expressed here are the blogger's and not necessarily those of the local editor's or anyone affiliated with Patch.