Post Viral Shawl Update -- Fiber Friday

 

Second Post Section 4/6 Complete

Can't afford to spend much time on this.  Need sleep.  So just a few comments.

I'm pleased with the progress.  Most especially pleased that there has been much less frogging since the struggle with the first post section a week ago.  Some combo of sleep and upping the magnification of my reading glasses seems to have solved that.

But I laid it against the first shawl which it needs to match so that I can make a poncho out of the two of them and there is a hint of 'shrinkage' in this one.  I think if I had been using the wrong hook size from the beginning there would be more than a hint of shrinkage so I suspect it is the tension.  To rectify this tho I'm going to switch from the 3.5m to 4.0m hook for the duration of this post stitch section and possibly all further post stitch sections.  Unless I learn to loosen up on those sections as I gain confidence that I'm not having to frog so much of them.

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The Peace of Progress -- Sunday Serenity

A Piece in Resistance

This is an update on Friday's fiber art post about the frustration of a day of putting in and taking out four short rows so many times I lost count.  Well the next time I picked it up after the photo above, I discovered I needed to take out that row 4 of the post stitches yet again.  I'd started front posting on the row I was meant to back post on.  Sigh.  So demoralizing. 

I put it away and went to bed and the next time I picked it up on Saturday evening I frogged that row and put it back in without incident and then added the last two rows of post stitch with no frogging.  And then started the second virus stitch repeats and so far have gotten two full iterations of the virus stitch with zero frogging.

I wonder if it was sleep deprivation playing a roll in the mistakes.  Or was it because I switched my magnifying glasses from 1.75 to 2.50 on Saturday..
 

A Piece in Progress

Whatever it was, I'm grateful and was feeling peaceful as I set it aside to prepare for this post.

Now, tho, I mustn't sit here and revel in it as it is time to return to my story weaving project.  Can you believe we are almost at the halfway point for NaNo?  I'm way behind in word count and yet I'm peaceful about it.  What matters more is that I'm swimming in the story and loving it.  But more on that Wednesday.

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Frolicking in the Frog Pond -- Friday Fiber Art

 

Post Virus Poncho 50.55% Finished

I finished the first Post Virus Shawl last spring and instead of wearing it, I set it aside because I decided I'd rather have a poncho.  So I started a second one with the same yarn and colorway.  But I barely got started before I set it aside to work on a time-sensitive project and never picked it up again until this past Monday.  Monday-Friday should have been time enough time for me to get at least a third of the way--even through the pink section and into the pale blue maybe.  But instead I've goofed so many times, I've had to put just about every stitch in more than once, many more than twice and some more than thrice.

It's been a veritable frog frolic.

It's super frustrating when the piece is still so small.  When I can put a whole row back in in under 20 minutes.  But eventually I'll get to the rows where it takes me an hour just to get from the top edge to the peak of the triangle.  Long before then taking out a whole row will be well beyond frustrating.  I know because that happened a bunch while making the first one.

And yet I started the second.  What was I thinking?

I wasn't thinking.  I was drooling over the image of myself wearing the finished poncho.

But this pattern, tho gorgeous, is very unforgiving.  As unforgiving as math on which it is based.  If only I could reliably catch my mistakes before I am on top of them about to put a stitch into a stitch that isn't there!

A year ago this week the first cake of that yarn arrived on my birthday and I promised myself that I would be wearing whatever I made from it in time for my next birthday.  That's a promise I will have broken as there is no way I can finish it in two days.  Not even if I made zero mistakes from this moment on.



Well, my eyes are rebelling so I'm going to leave you with the video tutorial which taught me how to make the Post Viral shawl.  It is the creation of Bag-O-Day Crochet and draws it's name from both the fact that it alternates sections of the virus stitch pattern with sections of post stitches and also because she created it in the months after the pandemic's grip had loosened.

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Picasso Ice Yarn Hat & Scarf Set -- Friday Fiber Art

Hat & Scarf Set 2/3 Done

I started with 3 of these small balls or skeins.  Not sure what they are called.  I hoped there would be enough for the hat and scarf set.  Now I'm sure.  But it was a squeaker.  One ball barely finished the hat and one ball barely got me half the length in the scarf I wanted.  But it will do.

Since I worked the hat between last Friday evening and Sunday evening and worked the half scarf between Monday and this evening, I'm determined to finish the scarf by Sunday evening.  I broke my own rule by starting something new before finishing a WIP but I needed something quick and easy to break the ice of the two month hiatus and the WIP I had been focusing on last July were very complex and big so I cut myself some slack.  But I'm itching to get back to them now.

The stitches used in this project are the simplest.  The single crochet into the top of the 3 chain loop.  Except for the band around the forehead in the hat which needed to be tightened up so I used the 2 chain loop.  In order to get the billowy shape on top I expanded the flat circle faster and for longer and then abruptly decreased half the loops in one round at the top of the forehead before switching to the 2 chain loops.  I was making it up as I go.  I call it sculpting.  I rarely have patience for patterns.

The Picasso Ice yarn has a lovely sheen and drape.  I love the feel of it in my hands as I work.  But there are issues one should know about.  It does not lend well to frogging.  It snags against itself and knots and snarls easily.  Working straight off the ball it comes in is easy for two thirds of the way and then at some random moment the end tail introduces itself to the working strand and curls up it and starts unwinding from the inside of the ball.  If not caught soon there will be a massive snarl.  The friction caused by the strands rubbing fuzzes up the strands.  Frogging also creates the friction fuzz.  And I imagine normal wear and tear of any item made from it will create this same frizz.

One might think winding the strand into a ball first would be a solution but there are foreseeable drawbacks to that idea.  Winding fast risks the friction fuzz.  Also if you hold the strand with too much tension as you wind you will stretch it and spoil the drape and the silky feel.  My solution was to keep a close eye on the ball and as soon as the empty center was big enough to fit over my left hand, I settled it on my left wrist and tucked the loose end strand up my sleeve.

It will make a visually stunning item that is pleasant to touch but know that it will require hand washing and drip drying and still will not fare well with frequent use.  Not recommended for an item meant to be an heirloom piece.

 

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Stick a Pin in It

 

Pincushion Mug

This pincushion in a mug was one of the items I bought at a artisan booth at the Highland Festival I attended last August and wrote about in my post, Jazzed.  I'm posting it tonight to head the first of my Friday fiber art posts.

The pincushion is made of felted wool and it pops out of the cup to access the small storage space under it.  The mug is either a vintage enameled tin cup or a modern replica of one.  It is a dark blue with white flakes.  I'm fairly sure the artist gets her mugs and cups at thrift stores and yard sales as there were no two alike. Tea cups on saucers provide a little more storage on the saucer but I would be sure to break one of those being both clumsy and legally blind.  Besides this is one of my fav shades of blue and it gave me a frisson of nostalgia reminding me of something I saw in a relatives home as a child.

I've gotten comfortable with the two posts per week (Sunday Serenity and Wednesday's on writing) and have kept them up for a month in spite of loosing the ROW80 accountability group as the motivation.  So I decided it was a good time to add another regular post.  I'd been debating between a Monday book review and a Friday fiber art.  Fiber art won out because I got my beanbag alcove reorganized for crocheting again finally after the forced hiatus that began in August as described in Kit and Kaboodle Chaos.

I was planning to get some pics of the several projects that got interrupted in August for this post but instead I crocheted for almost two hours and then it was too late to do a photoshoot over in the alcove as there would be a risk of making noise that might disturb my neighbor sleeping on the other side of that wall.

I was able to get a picture of the small mug though and thought that ideal for a statement of intent.  Not to mention the need to celebrate the fact that I finally have my crochet corner back.  That is huge.

All week it has been my intent to get that figured out this weekend in advance of NaNoWriMo as crocheting (or other fiber art) is woven into my writing routine. It helps me reach and sustain the story dreaming zone. 

Getting my writing area and writing tools ready is also on the agenda this weekend.  I actually started with that project but after creating a huge mess that compromised both the couch and the desk chair I needed to sit on the beanbag to rest and while I was there I started fussing with the crochet stuff that was already in reach and adjusting the lamp and sorting the small accessories (hooks, needles, stitch savers) and eventually needed to start crocheting to test drive the set up.  Two hours later I heard my neighbor's caregiver leave which meant he was now in bed.

So I tamed the chaos I'd made of my bed/couch and my entire desk area well enough I could work on this post.  I have a lot more to do to make it NaNo ready but I still have a whole weekend to fiddle at it.

Ewesfluffy Fiber

The pic of the artist's business card provides contact info for anyone interested.  She is out of Battle Ground WA USA.  That's less than an hour's drive from me.  But I'm not sure she has a shop to visit since there is no street address on the card.  She also dyes wool with natural plant based dyes.  Cards it and spins it herself as well.  I was so tempted but I'm drowning in yarn and thread and WIP.

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Sunday Serenity - Crocheting Lacy Baby Blankets

Round Lace Baby Blankets for Twin Girls

It's hard to top a 24 hour read-a-thon but a day of crocheting comes close. Plus I can still read with audio books if I choose. Tho I might catch up on pods instead.

Pictured above is a set of baby blankets for twins made in the round. As usual I'm not working off a pattern but sculpting the vision in my head. I guess I didn't realize how similar to Victorian Doilies they would look. Yet I'm still liking. But then I'm weird. I'm not the one who needs to like them.

I'm using a lace weight bamboo yarn. The thread is smaller than size 10 cotton crochet thread by at least half. They each have a solid circle about the size of a dinner plate surrounded with a lacy stitch. The one on the left is done with a center using double crochet stitched between the stems with a stacked V stitch between single chains for the lacy surround. The one on the right is done with straight up double crochet as the solid center with three chain loops and single crochet for the lace.

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Sweaterless Sleeves

Sweaterless Sleeves

 

We've all heard of the sleeveless sweater but did you ever consider the sweaterless sleeve as being a thing?  A useful thing at that?

Well it had never occurred to me before my sister (caregiver to my 89 year old mother) asked me if I could make them for Mom for while she is drinking her tea in bed before she gets up to start the dressing routines.  Mom didn't want to have to struggle into a sweater upon first waking up and then back out of it again in less than an hour.

Think about it.  For a woman in her 9th decade putting on and taking off a sweater is...well...calisthenics.

So when my sister suggested the project last Wedensday, I was immediately on board.  When she asked how long it would take to do two sleeves I calculated based on a tube shaped carry sack I'd made a year and a half ago which took me just under a week so I said probably 10 days or so.

But after we finished texting and I was musing on the project feeling the excitement build, I realized that the bottom circle for that carry-sack had taken over 30% of the time and there would be no bottom circles on the sleeves.  This alone cut the estimate down to under a week.  Then I realized I could use thicker yarn and a fatter hook.  More time slashing but hard to calculate. 

Finally, I could use a taller stitch.  Could I have actually just whittled the estimate down to one day per sleeve?  Maybe.

I had to find out but by starting one to see how long it would take me to reach four inches which I estimated to be about a quarter of the length.  Turned out later the length needed to be 18 inches not 16.  But close enough for estimating.

To get started though I had to dig the yarn out of my stash in the portable cloth closet which amounted to an hour long calisthenics routine for me.  

Since I did not remember where in the stack the bag with my yarn of choice was I had to pull out all four 22 gallon and 8 11 gallon zippered bags out and unzip them to remind myself of their contents even when I knew the bag I was after was one of the three 22 gallon ones on the bottom of the pile. 

The yarn I chose was Lion Brand Comfy Cotton Blend in Whipped Cream.

By the time my caregiver arrived two hour later I had two inches of tube and by the time she finished sweeping and mopping (during which task it is best I stay put in one out of the way spot) I had another four inches.  So proof of concept and proof each sleeve was potentially a one day project.  

Possibly even half a day if I hadn't been coming of a months long hook hiatus.  Remembering what happened last July when I spent two long days crocheting a water bottle carry bag for my sister's birthday, I curbed my enthusiasm and stretched my estimate for completion to Sunday afternoon.  

I did not want to suffer a week of inflammation in my hands and elbows again.  That project in July had been my first since Ed died the last week of September last year.  That had been a 8 month hiatus and working that up for sister proved to me I was ready to embrace the fiber art joy again.  But because I had overdone it, I was in too much pain for over a week and by then I was busy packing up all my yarn and projects along with everything else for the move into my new place.

This past week was the first full week since I moved in that my daily routines have been more about daily living than about moving stuff from here to there--packing, schlepping, unpacking, unboxing, placing furniture and appliances, moving large items around the floorspace, moving smaller items from box to shelf to cupboard to closet....ad infinitum.  I'm talking 8 to 12 hour days since late July.  Except for the two heatwaves.

Speaking of the heatwaves.  I got out of the habit of blogging about the moving adventure while it was so hot and then I kept forgetting to take the pictures to go with the stories worth telling.  I'm currently getting the pictures of things as they are now which, except for a few shelves and corners, will look much the same going forward.  I hope to put up that post soon.

Meanwhile to conclude the sweaterless sleeves story:  I finished the second one at midnight last night.  And that included having to take out and put back in 8 inches of the tube because I had increased too much over the elbow and the top section kept sliding down to the elbow.

The 'tall' stich I used was the one I made up back in 2013.  It involves a round of chain loops that can be anywhere from 4 to 9 chains in length.  On the next pass those loops are twisted by the hand not holding the hook and pinned by a single crochet in the top.  Whether or not you put a chain between the twisted loops is optional.  Depends on how lacy you want it.  The effect is a row of cursive Ls with a space between so I call it my LOL stitch.  There have been other times when I thought I had made something up only to find it in a book or chart or blog or on line somewhere as already having a long history.  For this one it has been nearly a decade and I still have seen nothing like it elsewhere.

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Sunday Serenity - Accomplished

Smiley Turtle

This is the crocheted turtle I made for my sister's birthday.  It was begun for Christmas.  I had the two African Flower motifs and the head crocheted by early December but then stopped work on it to focus on a large sweater I was making for her.  Then I could't finish the sweater because I ran out of yarn and the colorway was out of stock for months. I also had a scarf in the works at Christmas and thought it was done all but the finishing touches but when I picked it up earlier this week I discovered I'd accidentally decreased a whole mesh section half way through and had to undo and redo that half.  Now I'm having trouble with getting the fringe even because of my visual issues and I may have to go ahead and give it to her with ragged looking fringe so she can trim it even herself.

Swimming Turtle

That left me with the turtle as the only item far enough along with hope of finishing in time.  I had been estimating a solid four to six hour day.  It took three six to eight hour days.  It was all the fiddly tasks needing 4X reading glasses and the frequent breaks due to eye strain.

This was made with size 10 cotton crochet thread with five colors counting the green for the head and extremities.  I'd done the motifs in four colors so that left eight tails each needing tucking and then the two motifs needed sewing together and stuffed and the opening for the stuffing sewed.  Then the head stuffed and sewn on.  Then the tail and feet each crocheted, stuffed and sewn on and each of them took multiple tries as I kept loosing count and having to take it out to the end of row 1.  Then the button eyes needed to be sewn on and then the smile.  And more tails to tuck!  My least favorite task in crochet.  After I got the smile on I discovered I'd put it on what was supposed to be the top of his head.  Sigh.  No way was I going to take it out and do it over.  Not at 2AM.

To give you an idea how small he is, his head is about the size of my thumb.

Hat Tip to Jayda In Stitches for the pattern and tutorial.  Tho she did hers with size 4 worsted yarn.

Log Cabin Afghan

The Log Cabin Afghan I made for my nephew whose birthday was Monday.  The colors are Burgundy, Forest Green and White in Caron Simply Soft.  Below is a close up of the braided loop border that I 'invented'.  I put that in quotes because I don't know for sure it's not in anybody else's repertoire or pattern books it's just something I came up with back when I was still doing only bookmarks.  I do it with two rows of six chain loops staggered around the edge with the single crochet's of the second color done in the blank stitches between the ends of the first color.  Then I take a very large hook (K or bigger) and pull the second loop through the first and the third through the second and so on around.

For the last several rows and the edging I had to sit on my bed to work as the weight of it was pulling it off my lap or just messing with my tension.

But at least I finished this one ahead of schedule--in the wee hours of the 1st.  Leaving what I thought was plenty of time to finish the three items for my sister's birthday yesterday.  But between the sort project, Mom's excursions to ER, eye fatigue and my typical miscalculation of how long a task is likely to take, I ended up with only one finished tho a second one is very close.

Braided Loops Edging

So these birthday projects are part of the explanation for why I had such a poor showing on my ROW80 and Camp NaNo goals but only part.  There was also the major sort project I started Friday the 3rd the day Mom left to spend ten days at my brother's. That gave me the chance to spread my sort project out on her bed without needing to have it put away by Sunday afternoon.  I worked hard on it right through Tuesday. See bottom section for pic and details.

hen Wednesday I had the restart issue discussed in that ROW80 check-in and added to that was the news Mom was exhibiting signs of a stroke and they were taking her to the ER. We were relieved when they did not find evidence of a fresh stroke only the damage from the 2008 stroke. Then Thursday I started work on the scarf for my sister, discovered the issues with it got to the point where I gave up fussing with the fringe and picked up the turtle kit.  That became my near total focus for two full days and I was just getting my head back into it Saturday afternoon when news came that my brother was returning to the ER with Mom as her condition was worsening.  She was unable to get out of bed without help that morning.

So my attention was split between the turtle project and messaging back and forth with my sister who was at the beach with girlfriends and who was messaging and phoning back and forth with our brother all afternoon and into the late evening when they decided to keep Mom overnight for an MRI as the CAT scan was still showing no evidence of a stroke but the symptoms were still screaming STROKE.  So the Doc was thinking the new damage might be masked by the old damage and an MRI might give them a better picture.  So they checked her in that evening and actually did the MRI before bedtime and by 9pm I knew there would be no further messages before morning so I could focus on the turtle again.  I finished it at 2AM.  The second night in a row that I fudged my new bedtime by several hours.  I do not fudge the wake up tho as it is important not to let the wake up time creep or the bedtime cannot reestablish itself and the endless feedback loop will bring all my recent health and well being accomplishments crashing back down around my head.

I was already noticing the evidence of sleep deprivation yesterday afternoon: rising anxiety, impulsiveness, poor judgement, memory deficit, focus deficit, mood dives, impatience, scattered thoughts, silly mistakes.  So I'm determined to get myself in bed by sundown even though I won't get to address any of the writing goals today.  Efforts would be sub par anyway.  I may get to do some of the read/study goals if I lay down soon enough.

Tho I suppose I could count this post as it is enough like the journaling concept to make no difference.

At least I won't have to clear Mom's bed off as I had been anticipating all week. She was supposed to come home this evening according to the original plan before the ER visits.  But that is a blessing I could do without.  Late this afternoon the doctor confirmed she has had another stroke in the same location as before and they are going to keep her for a couple more days and then probably rehab.  If they are unable to help her regain what she has lost this time everything is going to change here and I'll probably have to re-calibrate my goals.  She is currently unable to get herself out of bed or dress herself.  And it takes her two minutes to answer the question 'Are you too warm'  with 'I - I - I - I --- think --- so.

A Round of Words in 80 Days
Round 3 2020

The writing challenge that
 knows you have a life

Camp NaNoWriMo July 2020

2020 Round 3 ROW80 and July Camp NaNo goals check-in:

* Sleep 7.5 hours Daily Minimum --  Unsatisfactory

* Move/Breathe/Meditate 15 min Daily minimum  -- Satisfactory effort

* Storydreaming with note-taking tools at hand. 15 min Daily MInimum -- This is a technique I learned from Robert Olen Butler in the book From Where You Dream. -- Unsatisfactory

* Read Fiction 30 min Daily Average --  Above and beyond

* Read/Study Craft 15 min Daily Average --  Above and beyond

* Social network activities 30 min Daily Minimum (writing Joystory posts doesn't count only social reaching out like reading/commenting on other blogs, guest posts and posting to fb, twitter, pinterest etc) -- something I've a strong resistance to.  --  Above and beyond

* 30 min Daily minimum engagement with a scavenger hunt though all my creative writing files including Joystory looking for better than shitty first draft scenes, sections, stories, poems and essays and edit, organize and make hard copies. --  Unsatisfactory

* To prep for self-pub: Gather all my poems into a single Scrivener file. Minimum one poem per day until all accounted for.  Adding new ones encouraged. --   Unsatisfactory

* Personal Journaling 45 min or 1000 words whichever come first Daily Minimum -- This is the heart of the writing challenge.  The preceding provides the structure and the nutrients that nurtures and honors the work which I've learned over time must exist to ensure that this becomes more than just dabbling.  --  Unsatisfactory

Sorta Sorted

This is the sort project on Mom's bed as of this evening.  It represents huge progress since the 3rd but also since New Years.  This week I passed a major milestone in having sorted though every jumbled box, bag, drawer, cupboard, nook, cranny, closet in my areas of control in the upstairs rooms. Now, with similar and alike stuff all gathered into one place I can take those bags and boxes and do fine tune sorts of individual categories which will seldom require spreading out on Mom's bed for more than a few hours if at all.  The final step after individual categories are sorted is to calibrate the size of each group of items' home base and designate the location and any necessary container.

At that point a lot of the items I'm holding onto for now can also go away as they are either containers for sorting into and out of or prospective home containers for items or project kits.  Some of that is already happening as I progress.  Most of that pile of boxes seen in the right edge of that picture is already redundant.

I still need to do the same for the stuff in the garage and the stuff in the basement.  The garage will be easy as it is all stuff that was sorted and packed in preparation for the hoped-for return to the Rogue Valley to rejoin Ed which morphed into the hope to join him in his new apartment across the river but that's not going to happen and now I need to go through it all to separate His and Hers and repack.  The basement area was the sort project I abandoned when Ed moved up here in 2016 and I'd already removed to the garage most of the useful household items and what remained were items most see as garbage but I saw promise for upcycle craft projects. Or as tools for the sort project itself.  With the practice I've had at letting go of stuff these past few months that shouldn't take long to complete.

I'm getting better and better at letting go.  The sort project has become my therapy as it is helping me sort my mental and emotional stuff as I sort my physical objects.  And it is giving me something to OCD on to replace the tendency to OCD on Ed.  I've nearly broken the habit of keeping a running narrative in my head of all the things I plan to share with him in our next chat.  I've nearly reached peace with the understanding there will be no more 'chats' no more casual sharing of thoughts and emotions, pitfalls and triumphs.  Future communication will be utilitarian for the purpose of separating our respective belongings and proceeding with the legal divorce.

For an explanation and links to backstory see the ROW80/Camp NaNo Goals post.

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Neither One Nor the Other--Maybe Both?

Infinity Scarf/Shawl

I made this Infinity Shawl in approximately three weeks.  I started it the week of May 20th a few days after I'd 9 finished for the month of May at that point.  I allowed myself to start this new project as a reward and with a promise I was going to work it steady until done. One of my motives was to find out how long it took me to work through a whole cake of Red Heart It's a Wrap.

I was estimating a week but it took about three although the events around the final breakup of my marriage ate into crochet time and near the end of the cake it developed a snarl that took me over two days to untangle.  So I think a fair estimate is 10-14 days of steady work averaging four hours per day.

One of the reasons I need to know how long it takes is ever since I ordered and began working with my first It's a Wrap I began collecting the colorways including multiples in my favorites.  I've already made another infinity scarf with a hood and a circular collar tent dress thingie with large mesh for wearing over summer outfits or swimsuits.  I've not posted pics of either of them because they are in the all-but-finished bag awaiting tail tucks and other finishing touches.  I've also got two more shawls on the hook--one a triangle the other a mandala.  And I've got plans for two or three shawl and skirt matching sets.

Red Heart It's a Wrap - Action

The Mandala shawl I'm making is with the colorway Action and I've ordered a total of 5 of that colorway in the last year.  I'm intending to make a skirt and a sleeveless top out of it to make an entire outfit with the shawl.  There is another colorway in blacks and grays I've collected for the same purpose.

This yarn is a lace weight cotton/acrylic blend that creates a supple drape and is soft to the touch.  I delight in working with it.

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Finished Crochet in the Month of May

Crocheted Circular Collar Tunic Top

Actually this one was finished in December for my Mom's Christmas.  It ended up in the same laundry load as the rest of May's  finished items because I was using it as a model for the one pictured below and it needed a wash after all the handling and dropping on the floor it endured.

This was an original design.  Inspired by pictures of other projects I saw on social media but I sculpted it by trial and error rather than following any of the patterns.

They were both made with Lion Brand Comfy Cotton.

Crocheted Circular Collar Tunic Top

This one was made for Mom's friend who helps in her care when she spends the weekend at my brother's.  I began it in early March and finished it in mid May. Mom is returning for one of her weekend visits for the first time since mid March today.

I want one of these myself now but I won't allow myself to start it until I finish at least one significant WIP  including finishing touches and one item pulled from the 'all but finished' bag pictured at bottom of this post.

Crochet Bag for Travel Blanket

This was the travel blanket bag I made inside a week in early May that inspired the getting stuff finished project that ensued.  The post I wrote about it is linked in the caption

This was made with Lion Brand Cobo in magenta.  The mesh was created with double crochet alternating with single chain with the DC made into the DC below rather than the chain space.

I want to make several of these for myself now.  For WIP kit bags and water bottle/thermos bags but I've made rules for myself about starting new projects that involve finishing something of similar size/complexity plus something out of the 'all but finished' bag.

Crochet Striped Winter Scarf

This scarf was begun in 2014 to go with my favorite winter jacket, a sky blue, quilted nylon with sleeves and hood that could zip off so I could wear the vest even in spring and fall.  It was a size 3X though and after I lost the weight down into 1X territory, my sister said I looked ridiculous in it and it was dangerous as it kept catching on door handles and other things I walked past.  I eventually agreed and gave it away.  A couple of years later she got me a sky blue fleece jacket and that inspired me to get back to work on this scarf.  I finally finished the crochet a year to year-and-a-half ago and stuffed it in the 'all but finished' bag.

This was made with lace weight baby acrylic.  I can't remember the brand.  I'm especially pleased with this one as I invented the stitch I used.  At least I have yet to see it represented in any of the thousands of crochet images, tutorials and patterns I've looked at in the years since I devised it.  I call it the LOL stitch because it looks like a line of cursive Ls and Os alternating.  I make the stitch by creating a row of six-chain loops on one pass and on the next pass I twist the loop before stitching a single crochet in its top.  I've been thinking of putting together a photo tutorial for it.  I don't know how to do video tutorials yet but am thinking of trying to learn.

Crochet Infinity Scarf

This is an infinity scarf made from a single cake of Lion Brand Mandala.  It's made with rows of two-chain loops with single crochets inserted in the loops.  I made it ruffle by increasing the number of loops every few rows as I worked out from the middle.

Crochet Winter Hood

This hood began as a scarf but I miscalculated how much yarn was in the partial skein given me by someone.  when it became clear that it would not reach a proper length for a scarf I set it aside for years.  When I encountered it in the 'all but finished' bag in my scavenge hunt for quick things to finish, I remembered it was really in there to be frogged as soon as I could do it without feeling too bad about it but while I held it I got the idea of turning it into a hood by adding the white edge with the frou frou rabbit tails.  It was the only other velour yarn I had and also a partial skein from the same friend.

That velour yarn is soft to the touch and for that I enjoyed working it but it is chunky and much too warm to wear for Washington winters.  Besides I have no coats or jackets in any shade of green.  This is a very dark green and looks very Christmassy.  But I doubt I'd ever wear it and I don't know anyone who might like it so not sure what I'm going to do with it.  Maybe points to the possibility that having my own Etsy store is now a viable concept as several have suggested lately.

Two Crochet Cloche Hats

These two Cloche hats were made with Patton's Grace.  I'm chagrined to say that I finished the crochet on them nearly two years ago and started wearing them without tucking the tails.  I hid the stitch saver under my hair.  So they didn't spend much time in the 'all but finished' bag but were rounded up in my scavenging for quick things to finish.

Torso Sized Trash Bag Full of Fiber WIP Awaiting Finishing Touches.  Many for Years.

Next time I post pictures of finished items pulled out of this 'all but finished' bag I'll take another picture of it to reflect it's diminishing size instead of borrowing the photo from the post about the finished project that inspired the ongoing finishing spree.

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Waffle Love Shawl

Waffle Love Shawl by Joy Renee

H/T Fiber Spider YouTube tutorial for waffle stitch triangle
H/T Jayda Instiches YouTube tutorial for granny square hearts
Used 2 skeins Lion Brand Ice Cream Cotton Candy for Waffle Triangle and Caron Simply Soft for hearts and white boarder

I kept intending to get pictures of the boarder creating process but kept waiting until I was sure I was on the right track and that sureness never coalesced.  My process when I'm not following a pattern is something hit-and-miss that I call sculpting.  It involves a lot of frogging after experimenting. I will attempt to describe in words what finally worked:

After I was sure I had the right number of hearts per side I established how many stitches there were between the bottom tips when lined up with edges at the widest spot touching. 

Then I started a chain and attached to the top crevasses of each heart with a half-double and chained nine in between.

At the end of the row I chained 18 and then attached to the bottom point of the last heart in line with a single crochet and chained nine in between each again.

I completed the circle with another eighteen chains and joined where I began.  Then I went around the circle with half-doubles wrapped around the chain.  I did this by feel as one to one with the number of chains was too sparse but it seemed to average five or six half-doubles for every four chains between the hearts but choice was always affected by the double crochet that dips down to join the two hearts at the half way point between the crevasses. 

For the  18 chain loops at each end of the chain of hearts I crowded more half-doubles in per chain in order to create the right number of stitches so that joining them at the corners would not cause too much bunching up.  I never could get it to lay completely flat but finally decided i more than half liked the slight ripple effect anyway.

I made this for my MIL who was in hospital in March when I started it.  Her birthday was at the end of April and Mother's Day was mid May and I missed them all and now temps where she lives in Southern Oregon are probably in the 90s.  Sigh. Still, I hope to get this in the mail this week.

I'm thinking of making one for myself in shades of blue and I'm also liking the idea of all red hearts with all white boarder and waffle.  Or a reds and pinks variegated waffle with red and pink hearts and white boarder.  Oh no.  I need to stop visualizing them.  I already have too many projects on the hook.  As in I wouldn't be surprised to find they topped triple digits if I took the time to sort them all out and count them.

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Froggy Day

To Frog or Not to Frog

Early this morning I began the section section of Havana and got four rows in before I realized that I'd taken my foundation single crochet row to the pattern and began Row 1 on top of it.  In other words I started following the patterning using MC instructions for CC colors and visa versa.

I dithered for more than an hour over whether to frog it out and redo from the beginning of row 2.  But I had no heart to either do it or decide not to.  So I set it aside and went back to work on another project begun several weeks ago and went to town on it all morning and again in late afternoon.  At some point I decided it was time to pull out the first one of the several now nearing completion.to compare and measure only to discover there was a significant discrepancy in size between the first and the rest.  The first being the correct size and nearly one fifth smaller. 

Somehow I'd allowed three different sized hooks to end up in the project bag and was pulling them out willy-nilly.--I, J and K.  I'd been using K for awhile and I know for sure I had not selected it intentionally.  But since I use I and J frequently and often dither between them at the beginning of a project I can't remember which one I settled on when I started that blue Bruge lace piece.

Measurements are important for the functions they have in their project.  So there was no choice but to frog them all. Three total including the pink which I was nearly done with before I realized I hadn't got pictures first.

Looking at the picture now I'm asking myself what was I thinking not winding that thread as I pulled it out.  It might have worked out if I'd wound it up directly off my lap without disturbing it.... But now?  That's going to be a mess.  Tomorrow tho.  Not tonight.

And I've now decided that one froggy day is enough so I will not start tomorrow off by frogging those four rows of Havana part 2.  I'm just going to go with it and let the rainbow play at being MC for one panel.

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Havana CAL - Rainbow Complete

Havana CAL Day 8 Row 25

Havana CAL Day 7 Row 21

Saturday began with having to take out most of rows 16 and 17 and put them back in to fix two snags and the curl caused by accidentally switching hooks from H to G or 5.0 to 4.25mm. I was able to add two more rows to the end of row 19 before quitting in the wee hours of Sunday and then Sunday afternoon added two more rows while away from home. Today, day 8, I added rows 22-25 which also completed my 12 color rainbow plus one white.

Have stopped to contemplate my plan to reverse color order to make a mirror image of it as that would take it to 48 rows. Still like the idea well enough to go the extra rows I think. But I'm too excited about the week 2 pattern to wait so I'm going to start it first and go back and forth between them.

I'm going to be working each week's pattern in separate panels as I"m making a cape or cardigan instead of a blanket. This also has the benefit of keeping the project portable until time to assemble it.

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Sunday Serenity - Rainbow Bag Progress Report

October 1st - Rainbow Bag

August 1st - Rainbow What?

Even before I entered the Quilter's tote in the fair August 1st I'd targeted this project as the next one to get priority focus.  And it did for over a month until I got captured by CALs.  3 so far.  3 more tempting me. 

It is also time to shift focus to Xmas gifts and since this Rainbow bag and the Havana and Ubuntu CALs are all for me their priorities are going to have to shift down several notches.  But I don't want to quit on any of them--just slow down.  Maybe a few rows on one of them everyday as a reward for that day or the previous day's significant progress or completion of an Xmas gift.

The 3rd CAL is Xmas gift related which is how I justified joining and will be the only way I'll justify joining any more before January.

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Havana CAL - Slight Snag

Loops Oops & Curl

Snag Close Up

Havana CAL end of day 5 f or Friday had finished row 17

I considered rows 12-17 as all belonging to Day 5 because I didn't put it down until 6 am this morning.

Woke raring to go at noon but while preparing to mount next color of yarn for row 18 I discovered two loops with significant snags atop each other in the top two rows nearly back to the beginning.

Had to take out rows 16 and 17 to end of second iteration or back to approx the 44th stitch. I usually pin the curling edges for the pics but left them this time to showcase what I think contributed to my not seeing the snagged loops before I cut off the skeins.

That curl actually formed almost a tube that I had to smooth out as I inspected the row backwards before starting the next row.

Being visually impaired doesn't help.

While the work was still narrow it wasn't so hard to do it without laying it down on a flat surface and holding it open with both hands. I guess that's what I'll have to do at the end of every row now.

 So disheartening. Still hadn't frogged it as of 6pm Pacific Coast Time.

Then I realized I didn't have to suffer alone.  I had a resource in the CAL group's fb page.  So I took the pics at top of this post and posted them there and withing minutes got back several replies all suggestion it was a tension problem and maybe I could try going up a hook size.

That's when I looked at my hook with magnifier and realized it was a size G and I was sure I settled on an H when I started.  That's a difference between 4.25 mm and 5mm.  There followed a frantic search over the craft table and floor around it and among the WIP kit bags I was wearing yesterday and those hanging off the edge of the table and then in all the skeins I'd cut free and returned to the big Havana CAL kit bag.  I finally found it in the white skein still in the kit bag I wore yesterday.

Fixed

My next dilemma was whether to frog back further than the snags to where the stitches first tightened.  I looked and felt to me to be another two rows down.  I decided that I should try putting part of the orange row back in with the H hook first to see if there was a visible difference.  And lo there was.  After only two iterations of the 12 stitch repeat it was already significantly less curl.  So I kept going and by the time I got to the end of row 16 again it was hard to tell there was an issue.  By the time I got row 17 back in I was able to smooth it flat for the picture with only one pass of my hands over it.  No pins needed.

Since I'd already cut the orange skein free before discovering the problem I ended up needing to reattach it on the last dc about two inches from the end. So I have two tails to tuck.  I wish I'd thot of crocheting over them with the white.  It might be worth taking out those two inches in order to do that;

It's almost midnight and I've not yet added more rows. So I guess Day 6 is a wash.

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Friday's for Finished--Six Off the Hook Since August 1st

Two Scarves

This post is about the crochet projects that have come off the hook since the first of August when I was able to break the ice on my WIP stash after getting that 2012 Secret Santa Quilter's Tote ready to enter in the Clark County Fair.

For the foreseeable future I hope to post reports on finished WIP every Friday.  Maybe soon that will include writing projects but for now I will focus on fiber art, my sort/organize projects.and any other significant task accomplished.  I will pick another day to feature one or more WIP as I continue to paw through the dozens put on ice while I focused on the Quilter's Tote and those I begin as the holiday season progresses.

Skinny Scarf Close Up

 This skinny scarf was requested by my sister for her friend's birthday over two years ago!  She was going to pay me for it.  When I found it in my stash, I quickly finished it in about two hours.  When I gave it to her she was surprised as she had forgotten about it.  I told her she owed me nothing because of its lateness.

This was an original design.  I made several of them in the year before I started this one.  Essentially I sculpted it as I went.  I wanted it to spiral so I started with a foundation chain of the approximate length I wanted and then started chaining six and single crocheting into a chain about every four chains.  On the return pass I put the single crochets in between the first 'row' but on the back side of the chain.  On the third pass I again put the single crochet between two of the others but this time I started alternating top and bottom of the chain which caused the twist.  I think I may have switched between top and bottom of the chain less often than every other single crochet.  I seem to remember that I put several on one side before switching to the other again.  On the forth and fifth pass I switched randomly between four, five and six chain loops with the single crochet in the loops of the first layer and also randomly moved over a row clockwise which emphasized the twist.

The yarn I used was Buttercream Rainbow Boucle in black and white and shades of grey.  But since the color change was so slow not much of either black or white ended up in the scarf.  I fell in love with this yarn while working on this scarf and went looking for more only to find that Luxe Craft has discontinued it.  I got two skeins over three years ago at  a January inventory reduction sale at Joanne's.  The other skein is Blues and Teals and is currently on my Martha Stewart loom as my second loom knitting project.  It's a large tube that I'll make into a garment.  A dress if it's long enough else a tunic;  I plan to do the same thing with the grey scale skein.

Stripped Scarf Close UP

 I started this scarf over two years ago for my husband.  I finished it for his birthday in late September.  It is made with Plymouth Diversity sock yarn in a white and browns self-striping colorway that is very elastic.  I loved this yarn and have a scarf for myself on the hook in a grey/black/white ombre.  This yarn has been discontinued as well.

The stitch or pattern I used is one I made up and have yet to find it in any pattern or stitch collection so i may actually be unique unlike the half-double that I 'invented' about two months after I started crocheting in 2009;  My mom had been teaching me to crochet to replicate a bookmark I found in one of Dad's books after his funeral.  Mom was still aphasic after her stroke so the lessons were mostly me watching her demonstrate the stitches.  That bookmark included only double, single and chains;  Of course I soon discovered that the HDC was just as common;

So the stitch or pattern I might have created is simply a six chain loop attached to the row below with single crochet.with one or two stitches between;  For the first row of loops that would be into whatever stitches are in the row below.  Every time I've used it so far I've made a foundation row of single crochet;  The first pass is the loops and on the second I twist the loop with my left hand while I insert the hook into it for a single crochet;  I then add a chain for every chain between the legs of the loop.  On the next pass the legs are stitched into that chain space.

I call it my LOL stitch because the twisted loops look like cursive lowercase Ls.  When I do it with four chain loops they look like cursive lowercase Es.  I still call it LOL.

This stitch is great for scarves and blankets because it creates a spongy effect with lots of trapped air which allows it to create more warmth than the lacy look would lead you to expect.  It also works up really fast and is one of those stitches and patterns that you can work while thinking about something else.  Even while watching videos. 

Some might call this monotonous or mindless but I find it allows me to become mindful when I'm stressed or anxious.  It is also nice to pick up when I'm too tired to work on something complex.  Thus I call it meditative.

Two Towel Holders - Buttoned

 My sister asked me to crochet some towel holders for her.  She was picturing them crocheted directly onto the towels but I came up with this concept.  It is not unique as I found examples of it on YouTube after I started picturing it in my mind.  I didn't follow a pattern;  I did what I call sculpting.

I guess everything on this page was sculpted except the self-striping scarf.

The smaller one was the first and was a riff on one of my bookmark patterns.  I used size 10 cotton crochet thread in orange which is the counter color in Mom's kitchen.  Not because she loved orange but because they got a good bargain when they installed them in the late 1970s.  She softened the loudness of the orange by using lime green, yellow and turquoise in as many objects in use and on display as possible.  Hence my choice of yellow for the second attempt after the orange one proved to be too small. 

We're still looking for another use for it in the kitchen as the orange belongs nowhere else.  I'm thinking maybe attach a pen to the loop and mount it near a notepad.  I'm always looking for something to write with in that room and tho there are lots of pens and pencils in there they are never in plain sight and never where they were last left.  Well at least not by the person who is looking for them.

The yellow one is actually Lilly's Sugar and Cream yellow and white ombre.  This one works great and she's asked for another.

Two Towel Holders - Unbuttoned

The buttons I used are from Mom's vintage collection that she inherited from her mother and which I've confiscated.  There are buttons in there from as far back as the early 20th century if not earlier.  I've blogged about them many times.

Two Hats

Both of these were made for myself.  The top one was the first project on my Martha Stewart loom and was my very first loom knitting project. I finished it within days after I started it in mid August. It was supposed to be a beanie.  It is a bit of a mess but I've decided I can wear it when I feel like looking comical. 

It ended up with a brim because my early rows were much looser than the rest and when I crocheted the edge onto the cast on row it added to the diameter also.  Besides that issue pins had popped off several times and I didn't catch the right loop when putting them back in and did not realize that until the runs showed up after the rows showed up below the rim of the loom.  I repaired the runs by using a crochet hook and in one bad case used the brim yellow to crochet a chain thru the fabric around the pucker created by my repair.  It looks like a patch.  Thus I call it my Hobo Hat. 

It was too small for me when it first came off the loom but after I cut my hair a couple of weeks later it fit OK tho a bit snug.  I may give it to a child with a sense of humor.  It could be part of a Halloween costume.

The hat below was also sculpted rather than following a pattern.  Itcan be worn as a beret, a beanie or a hairnet.  I began it over two years ago and kept messing up the increases and would take out rows as soon as the distortion became obvious.  Sometimes that was many rows.  Once I'd even put the shell edge on thinking it was done only to discover that edging had made it look like a shower cap or one of those hats the girls wore to bed in Little House on the Prairie.  Not what I wanted so I took it out all the way to palm size.

The final result was arrived at by dropping the usual increase method and using stitch size with tension and number of chains and every once in awhile would double the number of loops while decreasing their size by half or more.  All of that is near impossible to see in this picture.  I should have had it on a higher contrast surface for the photo shoot.

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Scheepjes Ubuntu CAL

 #ScheepjesUbuntuCAL 

 I fell in love with this the first time I saw the images in late August.  But I knew I couldn't afford the official yarn kits and I didn't think I had enough quantity of any one kind of yarn to cover all seven colors--especially the main color.  I automatically thought of the Aunt Lydia Bamboo that I'd made my first baby blanket out of several years ago.  It would have been perfect for the shawl concept I have in mind.  But alas they discontinued that thread several years ago and tho it is the only thread or yarn type in my stash that has enough of one color to serve as the main color--either white or brown--there isn't enough contrasting colors.  Besides most of what I have left of it is already dedicated to projects either in progress or planned.

As I pawed through my stash i reached inside one bag and as my hand landed on the yarn inside I knew it was what I wanted even before I saw clearly what it was.  It was so soft and silky.  It turned out to be Patons Silk Bamboo.  I had one ball each of six colors which I'd bought at a January clearance sale at Joanne's three years ago.  But one of the colors was black which did not appeal for this project and the silver had been chosen to go with the black for a planned project.  The other four were all perfect for the contrasting colors.  So I'd need two more contrasting colors for the diamonds and a main color for the background.  But I remembered thinking when I got it that I'd always have to watch for discounts and sales to get more.

Early last month I started price comparison shopping online and after a week found a sale at Joanne's online.  I chose Ivory as my MC and ordered three expecting that I would need at least six but there is only so much I can spend in a month..  Then I chose one each of Moss and Coral to go with the Sapphire, Sea, Plum, and Orchid.

It's hard for me to judge whether that is going to be enough as I'm no good at comparing between types of yarn.  The yards per grams in the Pattons is nearly half that in the Scheepjes cotton. If I discover that one ball isn't enough for a diamond that probably means six Ivory isn't enough for the background.

 #ScheepjesUbuntuCAL
My Colors

The yarn arrived today. I'm so excited. I've never done a CAL and now I'm doing two and there is a couple more I"m looking at with drool pooling so that I dare not open my mouth.

Week 4 is in process already so I've got some catch-up;  Though I don't expect to keep pace anyway;  Besides the fact I probably won't have all the yarn before the end of the CAL I can't devote that much time to this one before Christmas as it is for me and I will very soon have to give priority to the Xmas WIP.

Read all about this gorgeous blanket on the web page of its designer.
Get the free pattern
Join the  Scheepjes Ubuntu CAL 
Follow on Social Media:  #ScheepjesUbuntuCAL

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