Melanie Toye's Hobbies

Trust me when I say, it took me about a year to actually feel confident that I finally worked out how to crochet a magic ring. Originally, I had no idea what a magic ring was and I tried to avoid it like the plague. But guess what? Most patterns start with a magic ring. So here is what I have learnt.  First, start with a slip knot.  Second when crocheting arigumani, it may not state this in the pattern but from what I have learnt over a long period of time is, to do two chains first. This is so important. Especially if the first instruction is to do a magic ring. You need the two chains first stitches first.  Now lean in for this very important part of the magic ring. In the first chain, you will want to do six single crochets in the same hole. That is how you create a flat circle.  If for whatever reason, your circle has a whole in the middle do not worry or start again. At the end of your creation simply sew in your long end of yarn from the beginning and sew it in...

Image by Nile from Pixabay Writing comes in many forms, from journal writing to short stories to full length fiction stories to writing articles and non fiction books and that is just a sample of the types of writing you can experiment with. First off let’s answer the number question… can writing be a hobby?  The answer is yes! Writing can be a fun creative outlet that you can enjoy writing as much or as little as you want. Hobbies are a fun way to express yourself through creativity so it makes sense that writing is seen as a hobby.  When is writing no longer a hobby? I believe once you start making money from writing, you have transitioned from writing being a hobby to now writing bringing in some passive or an entire individual’s income. But today I’m not talking about making money writing, this is about writing as a hobby- just for fun.  Let’s talk about some of the different types of writing categories that you may want to try: Journal writing as a hobby Some people...

Image by Saekita from Pixaba y I have been crocheting for a couple of years now and I have kept it relatively simple.  I originally started crocheting intermediate augumani patterns. I didn’t realise they were intermediate. When you do a pattern, it doesn’t always say what level of crocheting it is out.  This is what I have learnt is the crocheting levels for crocheting augumani:  1. Beginner crocheter in augumani. What this looks like is no sew patterns. Patterns that take 30 minutes or less to crochet. Also for me personally, I look for simple stitch patterns. And what I mean by that is: the stitches can only include chain, single crochet, increase and decrease. I feel like that includes a lot of patterns involving these basic stitches and to be honest I don’t really want to learn more stitches, even if they are basic.  2. Intermediate crocheter in augumani. This looks like a two hour crochet pattern to make. It also includes parts that need to be sewn on. For exa...

Image by  carla Bron  from  Pixabay Crochet patterns galore! I have a range of storage solutions for crochet patterns. Because you need them handy for when you want to be inspired to crochet. Let’s go into detail about how and where to store your crochet patterns. In addition, we receive crochet patterns in all different types of form so I will categorise it by how we receive it.  I love crochet patterns, whether they are free or paid. My crochet pattern collection is quite a lot, but I do try not to keep it overwhelming.  At the moment I prefer simple patterns that don’t longer than an hour to create. However, because some patterns just look amazing, I also keep these advanced patterns for a ‘one day’ when feeling brave to do.  Alright, let’s get into it. Here are four pattern forms I have and how I store it. I hope you find some inspiration on how you can store your patterns with my tips below: Paper copy crochet patterns Yes, for those who live in Austra...

Image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay Ok, so you may love buying craft! Who doesn’t!?  Part of the fun of making craft is buying the craft supplies.  I have found that to not go over board I have a standard rule across my hobbies, as I do have many hobbies. Are you ready to hear my hobby rule?  Here it is: Have enough supplies to last a year per hobby. Ok, so that may either be terrifying for you to hear or welcoming.  Here is why I stick with the one year rule.  1. When I have one year’s worth of supplies, I have to have enough storage to hold it.  Because it’s a year, it doesn’t become overwhelming hard to store the mass supplies.  I find a year’s supplies is just enough to house for my hobby. For example, I have a year supply of scrap booking supplies. For this, I have a set of five draws and two tubs. In each draw, I have different items. For example, one draw is filled with stickers and another draw washi tape. I have two levels in the draw of was...