Melanie Toye's Hobbies

Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay I read on a lot of Facebook crocheting groups, if it’s possible for people to make money crocheting?  The simple answer is yes!  The more thought out answer is, how much can you make an hour? How much are you looking to make? A full time wage or some extra cash on the side that you don’t need to rely on for bills etc. maybe you want some fun money or money to save for something like a holiday. So think about what you want to use the money for? Then work out if your time is worth the money that may come in from crocheting? If you need money that you rely on for bills, it might be better to look for work that you may receive a higher sum from.  You can easily work out your hourly rate. So how much is your yarn and may be even the pattern (if you are buying one). This is your cost outlay. You may even be paying for an online store such as Etsy or eBay.  Now work out how long it takes you to crochet something. It could be two small objec...

Image by Дарья Яковлева from Pixabay The simple answer is, it depends. However, after crocheting two blankets I found out some things. The yarn I use to crochet blankets is Arcylic 8ply and it goes well in a normal load of washing in the washing machine. It’s also super warm. So sometimes blankets are actually quite thin and although my blankets look thin the yarn is warm and cosy, which is exactly what you are seeking in winter. Also, I can choose how I want my blanket to look with either one colour used or multiple colours used or multi-coloured yarn.  So what about cost? Well I’m making an adult sized blanket and my Arcylic yarn costs $2.50 AUD. I need about 14 yarns (sometimes I don’t use all the yarn) which cost around $35 plus shipping. Many blankets for sale are around $35 upwards.  Also it can take me a couple of months to crochet a blanket, where if you buy one, it’s just delivery time you are waiting for. But there is something special seeing your children wrapped u...

  Hi, I’m Mel and I’m addicted to crocheting. Are you addicted?  This is how I found out I am addicted to crocheting. I can look around my living room and I have a huge tub of yarn. I also have a huge shelf filled with six levels of yarn. I still need to buy more colours. I still feel like I don’t have enough yarn. But it’s taking me a while to use the yarn I have. The first tub of yarn I bought it for different projects but have moved on, so I don’t have a real plan of what to use this yarn for. The shelf of six layers of yarn is for actual projects I’m working on. Now let’s talk projects, I just would like to say firstly, that I do finish crocheting projects. I have another tub filled with plushies and arigumani I have made. But again, what do I do with them now I have made them? I have also made multiple adult sized blankets and adult scarves.  So back to projects in progress: 2x blankets. I was working on one for myself a pretty pink white yarn. And then my sister ask...

I’m excited to let you know that my new crocheting eBook, “The journey of crocheting for beginners” is now available online. I will submit the links below of where you can purchase it from. Honestly, it’s a pretty cool eBook and it made me realise how much I have learned from crocheting and now I am into the world of crocheting, I thought I would share my advice and tips for those new to crocheting to bring something new to the hobbies / crocheting world. Please note this eBook doesn’t contain patterns but may be in the future I may share my own crochet patterns.  If you love crocheting, please buy this eBook and please tell others about it and share the links of where to buy. I would appreciate it greatly!  Ok without further wait, please see the links to my latest eBook:  Smashwords -  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1808619 Apple -  https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6748660794 Barnes and Noble -  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940167800311 Eve...

So I have seen the velvet yarn and normally I use acrylic yarn, not just sometimes but all the time for crocheting. So velvet yarn looks pretty and it feels soft so I thought crocheting with a velvet yarn might be a good idea. Also my Nan when I was younger kitted me a royal blue thick scarf and I feel she used velvet yarn, simply by the texture.  So what’s the difference between velvet yarn and acrylic yarn?  Well, the reason I have put off crocheting with velvet yarn is it is thicker so it feels like it would be more difficult to use. And it sort of is and what I mean by that is it can be harder to see the stitches. So I have to concentrate harder when crocheting a single crochet stitch on the scarf.  Also, it appears to break a bit more. I had it in my bag to crochet while travelling and two times, I have had to wait till I got home to cut off broken bits. And what I mean by that is, the velvet comes off in a row. Not after I have crocheted but before I have. So I coul...

Image by Julius H. from Pixabay I had spent years and years building and creating miniature houses. I used to display each of them in my craft room but not many people saw them because they wouldn’t go past the lounge room. And then I mixed things up and moved them to the lounge room and I realised nobody really looked at the them there either. I had hidden them for years in a cupboard before placing them in my craft room. Just to make room for the built ones. It requires large space to make miniatures and I would have a dedicated table for building and drying my miniatures in progress.  But there came a point where I started to notice the newer projects had a lot less in them because instead of trying and trying and trying to glue the pieces together, if it didn’t work after three or less goes I didn’t include it in the final piece and it turns out there was quite a lot I missed. I wanted to finish the project but once I did I realised I didn’t include much in it. It didn’t look ...