Sunday Serenity #314

My days are busy with the crochet crafter's tote that is my Secret Santa gift and my nights are busy dreaming about it.

I will try to take some current pics later this week.  It takes an hour to set up a photo shoot for this project.

I am so far behind!!!! I'm not even sure how far.  In fact I'm not even sure it is doable.  It has been awhile since I brought my calculations and estimates up to date.

Five of the eight strips are done now but the three left are the three slowest.  I timed myself on the Wavy Chevron stitch today and it takes approximately 130 minutes per 4x4 inch square.  Call it two hours.  I've completed 3.5 which leaves 7.5.  Thus can expect to spend 15 more hours to finish that strip.

Will time myself on the Wavy Shell next and the then Loops.  The latter will take the  longest I'm sure possibly over three hours per square and it still needs 9.8 squares.  The Wavy Shell needs 6 more squares and would take between 90 and 110 minutes per square I am guestmating based on its similarity and differences to the Wavy Chevron.

And then there is the joining process.  First prepping the strips to be joined into their respective panels and then joining them.  Then joining those panels to the Mobius strip that will form the bottom/side/carry strap.  I can't begin to guess how long any of that will take.  It involves crocheting a row of 6 chain loops all the way around the strips which are 44 inches long by 4 inches wide and then laying those strips side by side and looping the loops through one another L-R-L-R-L-R.  And once the panels are complete they will be connected to the Mobius strip the same way and then the excess loops on the panels and Mobius edges will be looped through each other to firm up the edges.  There might even be a row or two of single crochet on the outer edges of the panel forming the back/top/flap before adding the loop row.  I'm still making some of this up as I go and encounter unexpected things.

I haven't even talked about the Mobius strip itself yet.  Based on previous sessions with it I'd estimated approximate 5 hours per inch in width and I need ten inches minimum but would like 12.  So any way I slice it with 2.5 inches done I'm looking at 45 to 60 hours on the Mobius strip alone.  I'd have been working on it more this past month, especially during NaNo when I needed more mindless stitches, if I'd not run short of the thread. I'd held off buying all of the Twig until I had a better estimate of how many balls I needed.  My husband is supposed to pick it up for me tomorrow or Tuesday if he gets off work in time to catch a bus downtown and get back here before the buses stop running.

So lets tally that:

Mobius  55 hours for 12 inches.  45 hours for 10 inches.  (based on what I said about this here I may be remembering wrong and calculated this based on time to do an inch which was really time to do half an inch which would double this!!!!  I need to time myself again on the round and remeasure the number of rounds in an inch)
Wavy Chevron strip: 15 hours
Wavy Shell strip: 9 hours
Loops: guestimate of 30 hours based on 3 hours per remaining square

Joining:
Loop row around all 8 strips estimate 8 hours.
Braiding loops to make panels estimate 15 minutes per 'seam' x 6 seams = 1.5 hours.  Lets call it 2.
Loop row around Mobius 2 hrs
Braiding loops to join panels to Mobius 1 hr
Braiding loops on outer edges of panels and Mobius strip 1 hr

123 hours divided by 14 days = 8.7 hours per day.  Based on 12 inch Mobius if todays calculations are correct
12.7 hours per day if the previous calculations were correct which is probably the case since I was going by my memory of them when calculating today.

Ai Yi Yi Yi Yikes.

Pretty close to what I was guessing with my vague ideas about time involved per item and keeping the evolving calculations for it in my head for the last two months.  Still evolving.

I didn't even calculate for tucking tails and sewing on the buttons and making the buttons on the front panel and making the button hole loops on the front flap.  And several more finishing touches I had in mind.  Some of which I'm obviously going to have to give up on.

So what am I still sitting here blathering on about...