Motivated to Finish

Here I am at my workstation for reading, writing, net surfing, DVD and podcast viewing, and sewing, and crochet. I've been on a finishing spree since the new modem was installed Monday. I'd crocheted the main body of half a dozen bookmarks over the four days I went without web access and since five of them were still attached to the thread spools until their tails were tucked so their borders could be crocheted on, I was motivated to get those tasks done so the colors would be available for new projects. I finished up the forth and fifth one today and as reward, I started a new one after dinner.

See the little drawstring bag hanging off my left wrist? That is a method for carrying single projects about in--as long as they use only one or two spools of crochet thread. I pull the thread(s) up through the top and as I work a gentle flick of my left wrist is usually enough to pull up enough thread for a couple more double crochets. Sometimes though I need to reach over with my right hand and give the string a strong tug.





Above is a close up of my hands at work with the bag hanging off my wrist. The crochet hook is in my left hand as I deal with a small snarl.

This has been nice for taking my work out on the porch this week. It protects it from Merlin our cat, dust and cigarette smoke.

It is working so well I'm thinking of making a bigger one that will hold up to four spools for those projects with multiple colors or for multiple small projects with one or two colors. I tried to get a third spool in this one but the fit was too tight, leaving no room for them to turn and release the thread.

I didn't make this one. It was just one of those container things I tend to collect (bags, pouches, purses, boxes, trays, envelopes, etc) in hopes of fining a use for them. Many such items tend to contain little but each other, serving as storage for empty containers waiting for uses. But this pouch, made of windbreaker material has seen much use over the last 6-8 years and I can't even remember where it came from or if I ever knew its original purpose.




Here I show off the bookmark in progress next to the half-loaded bag. This is the size of the variation of the one pictured below which I've been making this past week. The five I finished in the last two days were five different pastels where the purple is here and a pastel variegated where the turquoise is.

The week before I made two of the long ones with the bright Mexicana variegated where the blue is--one with red, the other with royal blue. And also the first of the short ones in yellow with the Mexicana. They are all ready for blocking and tassels. When finished they'll have the shape of this one:







The bookmark I started tonight is intended to accompany this Bible cover which I'm (still) making for my niece. It has a third panel for holding a tablet and pen. I finished the needlepoint on it nearly a year ago during my stay at my Mom's. I still need to sew the lining onto the back

I am motivated to get cracking on that this week as my in-laws are going to be seeing her on their trip next weekend. They are leaving Thursday morning so that gives me a week. As I confessed in this post last summer, I started work on this six months before her sixteenth birthday. I think it is her 27th coming up in July.

I think I may really do it this time.




That silver fabric is what I'm lining it with. It is stretchy which intimidates me. I'm not sure how to sew on it without puckering it. I researched the hand stitches and chose the backstitch done while the two pieces are facing each other. Which means it will be wrong side out until I have all but a few inches done and then I have to turn it right side out and sew up the remaining inches with a blind stitch. I had considered doing it right side out with the blind stitch all around but I'm sure the puckering would have been impossible to keep under control and besides it is not a sturdy stitch.