Craftsy Unlimited: My Recent Obsession (and Get 2 Weeks Free)

So - before you write this off as another sales pitch blog post, please know this is not one of those. If you buy anything, I do get a small percentage - but my point of this email is to talk about specific classes, not to sell you anything. Just so we're clear with all those new laws going around now, lol.

My life is a bit hectic right now - I'm in the process of selling my house, which involves lots of running around and getting things fixed and then a lot of waiting to find out if my fixes are enough to get the loan to clear. Not so much fun.  I'm in this weird limbo where we seriously hope the loan will go through, in which case I need to pack and move, yet we are still uncertain if the money will go through so I can't pack and sign a lease somewhere only to have to undo it all. The true irony of life is that in these hectic moments all I want to be doing is creating things, but I haven't been able to since there are so many other things that need to be done. Even in my spare moments, my brain kind of feels guilty about doing any crafting - like I can't do the fun until the necessary is taken care of. Anyone else get that way? So in needing some kind of stress reliever, I have turned to watching Craftsy classes :) And it has worked really well (except for the side effect of wanting to make yet more things). 

I signed into my Craftsy account and started looking through my class library to see what struck my fancy, and I opened up the Beyond Basic Broomstick Lace class. I bought this class years ago when it was brand new, and I did make a few broomstick lace scarves as gifts, but I had yet to make the big project - the Rebel Lace Cardigan (seen in the above photo).

I re-realized how much I love Jennifer Hansen's classes - this is judged by the fact that I have all 3 of them, lol. She's a fantastic instructor, and she is the owner of Stitch Diva Studios. Interestingly I just learned that she has moved from NY to Stuart, FL, so there may be an opportunity for me to meet her since she's in my state now :) Who knows? I have now rewatched the whole beginning of this class and it has majorly inspired me to start the cardigan - back when the class was new, I even got the specific yarn to make it for Christmas that year, so really I have no excuse. I mean other than the fact that I am already knitting a cardigan. But what's one more project, right? With all the crochet I've done I actually have never crocheted a garment, and after watching this class again I am totally ready to change that.

After watching as far as was feasible in the Broomstick lace class without reaching that point in making the cardigan, I still wanted to watch more classes. So I started watching the Tunisian Crochet class, also by Jennifer Hansen. This is another great class if you like crochet but maybe want to try something a little different. Tunisian crochet looks like knitting, so this can be a great cheater method for crocheters who long to knit as well as for crocheters looking to switch things up. Jennifer is a wealth of information about antique crochet techniques like this, and she puts an edgy modern spin on them. Very cool stuff. 

Watching the Tunisian class has inspired me to pull out my interchangeable crochet hooks, lol. I ordered these years ago to use with my interchangeable knitting needle set and have yet to actually use them. So sad. The first project you make is a Tunisian crochet wash cloth, which I feel is very do-able in spite of my other projects going on. So now I've watched that class as well, lol. Even more inspiration to be had there, for sure. After cycling through those first 2 classes, I started watching her 3rd class - the Classic Crochet Openwork class. I haven't gone super far in that class, but each lesson is a different antique crochet technique like hairpin lace, filet crochet, Irish crochet, and more. Super interesting. So I am now really inspired to play with these techniques as well. 

My recent Craftsy obsession happens to coincide with a free 2 week trial of Craftsy Unlimited. They normally offer 1 week free, but if you sign up before June 19th, you can get 2 weeks free watching as many classes as you want. So if you are at all interested in these or any other classes, now is a great time to give them a watch and see if it is something you would be more interested in trying. I learned how to knit through Craftsy, so I am a die hard fan. I've definitely caught the learning bug again, and I will be swatching my Rebel Lace Cardigan and maybe making a Tunisian washcloth soon. Hopefully I have some time to do these things, but it's nice to think about anyway :) 

So if you are ready to try something new, head over here and get your 2 week trial of Craftsy Unlimited while it lasts! 

*A little disclaimer - I purchased these classes with my own money and this post is not influenced by Craftsy in any way - I just wanted to share a good deal on a great site that I love :)