For my daily practice I decided to freely crochet a different object every day as I rode the New York City subway. I started a new thingy every time I paid a fare and entered the subway system, and completed it when I left. The color of embroidery thread I used corresponded to the color of train I was on at the time. I am selling them for $2.90 each, naturally.
I got my materials from the Blick Art Materials store that lives under the Apollo theater
I opted for embroidery thread because it had a wider range of color options than yarn, and they were relatively small and cheap.
I learned I am not a fan of plastic crochet hooks. They are kinda sticky compared to the metal or wooden ones. It was also expensive. I bought it because it was the smallest size they had at Blick.
It is a lot harder to crochet standing up than sitting down.
Embroidery thread comes in these annoying skeins that are really easy to tangle so if I had time on the platform I would wind it into a little ball.
Sometimes the ball would fall on the floor and I would just leave it which I recognize is a little gross.
If I finished my thread or my piece less than a stop away I would usually just wait it out. Otherwise I really tried to crochet right up to where I got off the train.
Had to transfer trains at Yankee Stadium.
It was a bit stressful, and maybe it would have been more interesting to see everything all on one giant doily instead of several tiny ones. I think I anticipated being able to crochet faster but embroidery thread is not ideal for this craft. I did find that this was a bit of a stressor throughout my week, especially the fear of running out of thread. I did have to repurchase once, and I did adjust which trains I took based on which colors I had on me at the time. I did not go too far out of my way, I just didn’t take the A every time like I normally do. It also was a bit of a distraction for navigating. I missed a couple more stops here and there than I normally would have. Only one person this whole week asked what I was making.
I tried to make each one unique, and didn’t worry too much about making them perfect or symmetrical or finished.
Overall this was fun! I think it is a good representation of all the time I have to myself on the trains. Lately I have been knitting while listening to music which is partly what inspired this project to begin with. I will say that I am eager to get back to my socks.
I still have almost no idea what I’m doing for project 2.
