Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 10:25pm:
You can always find me here:
This is a song I wrote and recorded/video'd
today. It's sorta what's been going on with me lately. Sorry about not hitting the low notes--I did when I rehearsed. Oh
well! This is my fifth entry for the
Bring the Song Challenge. Lyrics below the video.
Going Through The
Motions
CH: Going through the
motions
Doing what I should
Life feels so grey now
That you're lying in the wood
All of my life you were there
How do I go on from here?
I have my friends, family
Why do they seem far from me?
CHORUS
You wouldn't want this from me
Back into life I should be
It's hard to feel good ofttimes
Slogging through grey dismal climes.
CHORUS
Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 4:50pm:
I finally finished an easy-to-make shawl today (link
to photos, etc. at the bottom of this incredibly long post). I have made
shawls from this pattern seven times before! Why was it so hard this time?!
Here is the saga, copied from
CountryMouse's Refuge,
in one big post:
November 13th: Fluffy shawl begun
Egads, the last time I crocheted
anything was June 2009! The last thing I finished knitting was completed in
October 2009. I think I drifted away from those pursuits when the ukulele
came into my life!
Anyway, I still have TONS of yarn; and as it gets a bit chilly in here
sometimes and it *is* autumn, some yarn I bought a couple years ago has been
calling to me. Specifically Red Heart Light & Lofty, Pheasant multi-colour.
It said, "Make a shawl! That's what you bought me for!"
I do have two really warm and snuggly shawls, but they are both made from
Christmas yarns and look very Christmas-y. I do NOT want to rush the season
by wearing either of those. The Pheasant multi-colour is tans and browns
with a hint of olive and grey here and there. It's a textured bulky fluffy
yarn which can be maddening to work with because you can't really see the
stitches. But the warmth, ah the warmth!
Today I began making one of those
Easiest Shawl Ever
shawls. I've made several shawls from this pattern. It used to take me only
an afternoon to make one of these before; but ever since I tried some
amigurumi a couple years ago, my wrist has not been the same. Ouchie! So
today I've only gotten a few rows done on the shawl. However this pattern
surprises you, as you start at the wide end and keep decreasing on both ends
every row. Before you know it, you're out of room to decrease and you're
finished!
I wish I had done my foundation chain with an S hook. This shawl is done
with a humongous Q hook. But I forgot my tendency to make my base/foundation
chain too tight. I should have used a bigger hook for that chain, then
switched back to the Q for the rest. So it's a little twisty and tight.
Well, I am NOT going back to do it over! It is SO HARD to work that first
row into the foundation chain, especially with this kind of
impossible-to-see-what-you're-doing yarn! It will probably be all right when
the shawl is finished. And if it's not, oh well! It's for me to wear around
the house. :-)
November 14th: Shawl update (buy
more yarn than you think you need!)
Eek! By the time I got onto the third skein (105 yards in each), I should've
seen the end (literally) in sight. Because the pattern says the shawl was
made with 220 yards of yarn, total.
But I think I was not decreasing as extremely as I should've been all along.
So I'm fudging and hoping that I won't run out of yarn, as I bought this
yarn a couple of years ago; and even though this colour has not been
discontinued, there would be no way I'd get another skein from the same dye
lot.
So I frogged back to the place where I'd joined the third skein and started
doing extreme decreases on each end of each row. It's going to make it curve
more to a point. Oh well. I'm not worried about the edges looking jagged or
weird, as I'm going to add a trimming of Fun Fur anyway.
But if I truly do run out of yarn, I'm going to have to rip out (almost) the
entire shawl and start over. I am NOT going to rip out the first row I did
into the foundation chain, as working into a foundation chain, especially of
fuzzy, hard-to-see-the-stitches-in-the-best-of-lighting-conditions yarn, is
a beeotch.
November 15th: The latest in the Epic Shawl Adventure
ARGH! So I realized that the shawl I was making, even with fudging things
and doing some extreme decreasing, was not going to work.
This morning I totally ripped it out (frogged it--you know, rip it, rip it).
Then I did two things right: First: I used an S hook to make the foundation
chain, which made it lie flat and made it easier to work stitches into it
with the Q hook. Second: I made my foundation chain THE RIGHT LENGTH! I
should make it about 62 inches for me, for this pattern. But I found I had
made the original chain 70 inches long! That meant I was doing a LOT more
stitches and running out of yarn more quickly.
What I did wrong: I did extreme decreasing right from the get-go. I got into
the second ball (skein) and realized it was going to be a fairly short
shawl. :-/
So then the second frogging happened. I ripped it back down to the first row
worked into the foundation chain. This time I did normal decreasing. It
*looks* like it will be okay, although this is not a stretchy fabric, and
it's not even draping well, so now I wish I *had* made the foundation chain
a little longer after all. The fabric from this yarn would probably be
different if I were knitting it...but it would also take me longer to do.
All this wouldn't be a problem if I had excess yarn in this dye lot. So what
I plan on doing, after I've finished the shawl is, if I have extra yarn left
over, to double crochet around all the edges...or maybe two sides (not the
top), to make it a bit bigger, before adding the Fun Fur trim (I do NOT like
making fringe or tassels). I just want to be able to wrap up in it and be
snuggly warm.
(did not work on or post about shawl on November 16th)
November 17th: Pheasant shawl finally finished!
Tuesday,
November 23, 2010, 10:28am: My friend Tim is helping
me sell (still/again) my vintage Martin mandolin, at a new low price, just
in time for Black Friday! It would make a great present for you or someone
else! I just know I'll never play it again, as I'm into ukuleles.
