Once I had completed my bag I needed something else to crochet, I missed sitting and stitching.
To catch up please take a look at:
So I went back to the book I had got the bag pattern from and found the pattern for an elephant. Yup, an elephant. Naturally I had to try out the elephant. I have to admit at this stage that I had never attempted any kind of amigumuri (or stuffed toys to those of us who had no idea what amigumuri meant). However, I didn’t let this stop me and began. I found it extremely difficult. Like impossibly tricky. I lost count of the number of times I had to pull it out and start again.
Ah-ha! You’ll be thinking. This’ll be one of those “don’t give up” posts. Well you’re wrong. I was finding it so very difficult that I had to stop. It had ceased being relaxing or soothing, and instead I was tense and annoyed. This wasn’t the desired effects by a long way. At this point, carrying on would probably have sent me into a tailspin. I used crochet as a release, a chance to relax, a safe space. If it were making me angry it would be none of those things and start to affect my mental health. I needed to keep crochet as a safe space.So I put it aside and looked around for something else to do. This was the point at which I stumbled upon the attic24 blog. Her colours were bright and cheerful and so lovely to look at. She had just started a Crochet Along (usually called a CAL) where a part of a pattern is released each week/fortnight/month and I decided I would join in.
Each week I got a new part and managed to complete it before the next one came out. The colours were so bright that each time I looked at them I smiled. I decided, with the help of the Psychologist I was seeing at the time, that this would be a blanket for me. One in which I could be kind to myself. One where as I was making it I was considering how I could look after myself, and once it were made that I could wrap myself in and give myself a hug. As you can see it is a beautiful pattern and as it is mostly treble crochet was relatively easy to complete, even for a relative beginner like myself.
As I type I am sat under it, and I love its bright colours, especially as it heads into the darker time of year, to have something so beautifully colourful is a true tonic. Last winter, as I was making it, it helped me to keep going as each day I wanted to complete a bit more. I find winter so difficult, having something to look forward to regularly really helped me through.
Crocheting for my health 
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