Melanie Toye's Hobbies

  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 ...

So after seven years of not writing, I took a break and have now realised actually writing is my life. It is what I am meant to be doing. I had published ebooks from fiction adults to children’s ebooks to non-fiction. I took the ebooks down about a year or two ago. I have now re-self-published my eBooks so they are back online for people to read.  What I learnt from my break, is to never lose sight of your true passions and goals in life. I did over work myself and I burnt out but that was from all parts of life. I thought it was writing and to be honest, I have put boundaries on myself getting back into writing so I don’t burn out again.  Because trust me, burn out is an awful feeling and it takes a long time to recover.  So I am pleased to share my eBooks are back available at most online stores: just type in Melanie Toye at online stores such as Smashwords, Kobo, Apple and Barnes and Noble. I will be writing and self-publishing my eBooks down the track, so keep coming ...

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay Well from my hobbies such as miniature DIY kits, diamond painting, scrapbooking, crocheting from animals to scarves to blankets, painting, reading and even gardening I order them as from the hardest to easiest in hobbies. Let’s start at number ten of the hardest hobbies:  10. Miniature DIY kits  Miniature DIY kits are right up there for one of the most hardest hobbies from my list above. You need so much patience, ability to work with miniatures using tweezers or your fingers to fold, shape and glue items together. Basically using a set of craft wood, paper, wire and fabric to make all the objects. A lot of extra cost goes into buying the resources you need to help such as a ruler, tweezers, scissors, glue and more as you go forth and work with what you will think will help. However, if you love miniatures it feels amazing and looks amazing, once complete.  9. Crocheting amigurumi When I started crocheting, I decided to crochet amigu...