Here’s the colors for my next project. Even though they may look more like blues in the photo, in real life they’re 3 shades of purple. I’m not going to say what I’m making or if I’m going to make more than one item because I haven’t totally decided yet. There might be a crochet hook involved and/or a knitting loom. The only thing I’ve decided for sure is that these are 3 of the colors of yarn I’m going to use. You’d be surprised how hard it was to find 3 shades of purple in one brand of yarn. I thought I was going to have to order the yarn online and get different brands of each color plus pay monster shipping fees to get some, but thankfully I found this brand with 3 shades at a Hobby Lobby store. ~happy dance~

I’ve never used  ‘I Love This Yarn‘ brand before. It’s a soft acrylic yarn with a nice spring to it.
My Bff knows a lot about yarn and she suggested I make a swatch, and wash & dry it, to get a proper-sizing on the yarn.
That made sense to me, so that’s what I did.
I didn’t think to look on the yarn band for washing instructions until after I had washed and dried my swatch. Then my Bff reminded me of the manufacturers directions on the band when I sent her a photo of the after-wash. She said she usually gives the recipient of her creations a copy of the directions from the band. My Bff has the most awesome ideas.
I used a single crochet, double crochet and a crazy stitch to make my swatch. I figure these are 3 of the main stitches I’ll probably be using. I washed and dried it like it was a regular piece of clothing. I’m happy to report that the swatch washed up really well. Shrinkage was minimal and the yarn didn’t pill.

I splurged the other day and bought a couple of afghan crochet hooks. (I saw the hooks and my ECD kicked in. lol ) I’ve been wanting to try Tunisian crochet and it requires a long hook. I haven’t tried to use these yet. I’m busy with other things, but someday I’ll sit down and give them a try.Here’s a link that might give an idea about the Tunisian technique.
Tunisian crochet on Pinterest

Have you ever used long crochet hooks?
Have you ever tried the Tunisian technique?

I hope you all have a pleasant rest of the week.