Monday, January 04, 2010

first F.O. of the new year

Oh, how I wanted to start this year off right. I wanted to get up early, get showered, make the coffee, and be ready to greet my children with a smile. But you know what they say about the best laid plans, the road to hell, etc. My good intentions were not enough, and I barely dragged myself out of bed before the children were hopping around like jumping beans, my son trying to fling himself down every available staircase (and in a split level, there are many), and Daughter informing me of the time quite literally every single minute as she played with an old digital watch she found somewhere in the house.

The house is a mess, as usual. Hubs gave it a good straightening before he went to bed last night (I had fallen asleep much earlier), so it's not a COMPLETE disaster, but the floors are dusty and covered with...bits. Of what, I don't know, but I can see them. Ugh. AJ's occupational therapist is coming in just over an hour, and I either have to go clean the powder room or pray really hard that she doesn't have to pee when she gets here.

I guess I could have taken care of all that over the weekend but I was too busy obsessing over this:



I know the photo looks really wonky, but in real life the blanket is somewhat square. I am so, so, so pleased with it! I finished the borders last night, then sewed all the little ends in and gave it a swish in the washer with Eucalan (some of these wools are quite old and who knows where the balls have been?), then laid it out on a towel overnight. Our house is dry as the desert right now so it dried quickly. The squares opened up nicely (I crochet like I knit...tightly!) and it feels so soft now.

It measures about 2X3 feet, so will be a wee crib blanket for AJ. It's made of mostly Paton's Classic Merino, with lots of Lion Fisherman Wool (all squares are joined with that, in the oatmeal colorway). There are also a few other yarns in there, like Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, some Ella Rae Classic, and possibly scraps of Lion Wool, I'm not sure. I used a size H crochet hook (5mm, or I guess the equivalent of a size 8 knitting needle, for comparison).

I'd forgotten how much crochet totally hogs yarn. I blew through most of a huge 400+ yard skein crocheting around each square and putting on a couple borders in that oatmeal color. I'd also forgotten how much it hurts my hands. Booooo. But it was a great little project for using up scraps, engaging in meditative thought, and feeling a sense of satisfaction in getting done quickly (I started it Christmas eve and finished yesterday).

Back to knitting for a bit...but there is more crochet in my future!

4 comments:

Pam said...

Love the quilt! And a completed quilt trumps a clean powder room any day of the week:)

BTW - love the word "wonky". I use it all the time.

Unknown said...

Sounds similar to my morning. I'm not surprised that you and I have have the same New Year's resolution-- to start the day ahead of the fray and ready. Hubs got up for work and I said to myself, "I'll start tomorrow".

The blanket is beautiful. I hope you'll take a picture of him snoozing with it.

April said...

That little afghan is darling... I loved it more when I read that you used woollens (woolens?) rather than acrylic. (did I just say that out loud? I can't believe I actually assumed you would use acrylic)

The granny square is the only crocheted afghan I love... and yours is certainly of heirloom quality.

I must say, your first couple of paragraphs had me taking a double-take. I could have sworn those were my own thoughts... (i.e. floor covered in bits... I see it... bathroom.... praying she doesn't have to pee...)

Staci said...

Floor covered in "bits" made me chuckle aloud. That's exactly what I think of my dining room floor any time it's been more than 15 minutes since I swept.

Hooray for crochet! I know how to do that. Maybe I'll see some fun stuff that inspires me to pick it up again. I haven't really crocheted anything since I got back into sewing several years back, but I used to love it for the mindlessness of it. Something to keep my hands busy so my mind could wander with less guilt.