One of my hobbies is crocheting.  I LOVE to crochet and there’s nothing better than sitting by a window, sipping coffee, and crocheting something warm and snugly!

I’ve made crocheted afghans as gifts for everyone in my family.

I even have a few full size bed afghans that keep us toasty warm on cold winter nights.  They are nice and heavy too, so you feel like you’re swaddled underneath them.

The photo above shows some of our stash.  The 3 bottom afghans are done in Granny Squares.  Above that on the left, I did squares of different colors, then stitched them together and tied them, to represent a quilt.  The one on the right was a stash buster.  I took all the yarn I had and just crocheted long strips to use it all up.  It made a huge, beautiful afghan!

My goal when I start a new project, is to make something that will keep us warm and comfortable for years to come, plus be fun and colorful.

My current project is my “Porch Afghan”.  I want to use it as a lap afghan on chilly evenings, when we are enjoying our porch.  I’m hoping we’ll have that porch in about a year. 😉

Crocheted afghans are time consuming and yarn isn’t cheap, so you’re not only looking at many hours of your time, but also the cost of yarn.  To help keep costs down, I usually try to find my yarn at thrift stores or garage sales.  As far as the time spent crocheting; I find it to be a relaxing and pleasurable pastime, so in this case, I don’t count my time in terms of dollars and cents.

Knowing how to crochet is one of those lifetime skills that is an asset in a frugal lifestyle.  You can make what you need!  Once you understand the basic stitches and how they go together to form different shapes, you can create a variety of warm, handmade treasures.  Even if you know 1 basic stitch and only have 1 color of yarn, you can still create something that keeps you warm and happy!

I hope I’ve inspired you to pick up your hook and start a new project!  If you don’t know how, here is a good tutorial on how to crochet.

Hand crocheted afghans on Etsy average about $100.00 for a simple design.  I think a nice, big afghan usually takes about 18  3.5 oz skeins.  Most of the time, I get my yarn for about $1.00 per skein, so that makes $18.00 worth of materials.  Instead of buying an afghan, I can make one!

MONEY SAVED: $82.00!!

BENEFITS:

• Satisfaction of making something yourself
• Quiet time spent doing something you enjoy
• Having a cozy afghan to keep you warm
• Giving gifts that are made with love

🙂