I imagine we have all been there. You sit down in a quaint
coffee shop or bookstore, pull out
your latest crochet project, and relax as the
yarn slides through your fingers and the project forms before your eyes. But as
you reach for your scissors to fasten off, you realize they are in another bag
or sitting on your counter back home.
This same predicament befell me a few weeks ago as I sat in a meeting. The amigurumi project I was working on,Funky Stuffed Toys from Getting Started Crochet,
required frequent color changes and a quick perusal of my bag refused to reveal
the glint of a pair of scissors. I glanced to my left and to my right. The
person on my right was embroidering and the person on my left was knitting a
single color scarf. I knew I could lean over and quietly send a whispered plea
for a pair of scissors, but I didn't want to distract anyone from the speaker.
Unwilling to simply stop crocheting I stared at my project. Perhaps the
solution would suddenly come to me.
As the color changes all occurred on the same edge of the piece
I didn't want to carry the yarn and bulk up that edge. And while I could have
worked over the unused yarn I didn't want to add the slight increase in height this
would give the piece. Instead I created inordinately long carries that could
later be cut in half and woven into the fabric.
This little trick worked for the color changes, but what
about when I needed to begin an entirely different piece. That one puzzled me
for a short while longer. With not better ideas coming to mind, I created a
long, decidedly loose chain before beginning the tighter, evener chains to
begin the next piece. The loose chain could be cut later and unraveled before
weaving in the loose ends.
My mother always said necessity was the mother of invention
and these tricks worked well in the absence of scissors. What tricks have you
found or do you manage to keep your scissors handier?
Best wishes,
