Nope, I have absolutely not been able to put down the crochet hook, and last night, I started making these rock urchins. The sudden urge came yesterday morning when I thought of crocheted stones, don't know why, but I immediately went through my stash of yarn. I found the only ball of thin thread, and it was in natural! It was meant to be, I was really excited! All I needed were rocks, and for these, I drove to a nearby shopping center and picked up these five rocks from a rock bed. Shhh.
I did spend much of yesterday afternoon looking at a lot of these online just to get a better sense of different types of motifs. I also reviewed a few crochet doily instructions because this project is all about covering rocks with doilies. I ended up following a few steps of simple crochet patterns from Ravelry and used a method from the Purl bee to secure the motifs to the stones. The most time consuming were the big eye (top, center) and leaf patterns, as I had to work these through without a pattern. I simply had images to stare at so there was much unraveling. As for the star motif, I used a general holiday ornament pattern. Overall, this was definitely a wonderful and motivating project. I especially enjoyed it since it offered instances of small victories.