12 in 12: December

I am happy to report that my 12 in 12 crochet adventure for December had a happy ending, despite the rather unfortunate mistake I made. I ended up unravelling the whole thing, wound up the yarn into balls again, and started over. And I finished the Calm Cowl in less than 7 days! Visiting family over the holidays gave me plenty of time to relax with my crocheting :)

The Calm Cowl, mark II

I mentioned it in a previous blog post but I'll repeat it here: this is the pattern I used (free pdf download), and this is where I looked up crochet stitches and abbreviations that I didn't know.

Mistakes are just opportunities to learn

Now, while I really like the overall pattern, I thought the almost-finished mark I cowl looked a bit... bland. So the second time around, I modified the pattern so that the double lines of holes are repeated on both sides of the cowl.

It was a very easy modification but I'm still proud of it. Basically, I 1) realised I made a mistake, 2) rectified it, 3) took the opportunity to improve the final product, and 4) finished in record time because I actually knew what I was doing this time around!

- and another little project

When I had finished the cowl, I still had a bit of yarn left over, so I made a crochet flower from this free pattern.

Crochet flower

It only took me about an hour to make, since I had all the crochet stitches fresh in my mind. I still haven't decided what to do with it, so if you have any ideas, let me know!

Verdict: I love to crochet!

This has been one of the most pleasant monthly challenges I've set for myself during 12 in 12. It is so amazingly calming to work with your hands, and it is very rewarding to produce something tangible at the same time. Even though I can't really take my eyes off the crocheting, I can still listen - and I love listening to a well-known movie while I crochet :)

At the risk of producing a number of crocheted or knitted items that I don't know where to put, this probably won't be the last time I do crafts like this. 

And that's it! I'll make a separate post to wrap up the entire 12 in 12 experience :)

Oh, that reminds me: I was supposed to write down 5 things that made me happy each day as well. Yeah, I forgot about that. And I kept forgetting it. I'll keep it in mind for an informal challenge later, though; I do believe it is a very worthwhile exercise to remind yourself of the good things in life :)