What have I started? Last year I made The Boy a quilt from old Pendleton shirts that belonged to my Dad and Grandpa plus some Pendleton wool my Brother bought me for another project. It turned out beautifully even though I was totally winging it and I didn't start until the beginning of November. As mentioned in the post, I had no idea that I would end up needing something like 806 squares.
Since I was hand making something for The Boy, I felt that I needed to do the same for The Girl, but I wasn't about to whip out another quilt so I crocheted an afghan.
This year, I reversed the gifts and The Girl is getting a quilt made with old ladies hankies from throughout our family. I have some from her Great Grandmas, extended cousins, and Great Aunts. It's at the quilter right now and I'm hoping to get it back soon so I can bind it and wrap it up. Plus every one of those old ladies who gave me a hankie this past summer, when I thought of the idea, has been hounding me to see when it's done. These women would have been good at rounding up scrap metal during World War II. I used 30 hankies. I must have over 100 and they keep asking if I need more. I'm saving the rest to make one for my niece for graduation but luckily I have two years to get that one done. I'll still wait til the last minute.
So the quilt is basically done. At least the harder work of piecing it. But the afghan for The Boy...it's the bane of my existence. It taunts me from it's place in my crochet bag next to the davenport (sidenote: I'm going to start using old terms my Grandma used like "davenport" in stead of sofa. I think we need to re-introduce them into our language. Someday I'll tell you about the time my brother and I tried to develop a regional dialect. We're still working on it 10 years later but it's not catching on).
Here are the problems with this afghan:
1. I rarely use a pattern. I look around for a stitch I like and then use it and I just eyeball the dimensions. Works great for a baby afghan.
2. I guessed on the amount of yarn I would need. Don't do this!
3. I started out making it way too long. Last night I held it up to show the Brown Eyed Man and it was probably 7 or 8 feet long. This isn't Like Water for Chocolate for crying out loud.
4. I went back to the store to get more of the yarn and they are completely sold out. So is their other store. I could buy more on line, but who knows when it will get here and I want this thing done and out of my hair.
This left me with three options:
A. Give it to The Boy as a shawl. What 23 year old guy doesn't want a shawl for Christmas? For that matter what 23 year old guy wants an afghan? But he's getting one.
B. Get some coordinating yarn and add to both sides.
C. Rip the whole damn thing out and start over.
I chose C. I pulled yarn for about an hour and started over with a better stitch and more appropriate dimensions. If I crochet my fingers to the bone for the next few days I think I can knock it out.
On top of all that, I decided to make a duvet cover for our best friends who are nearly impossible to buy for. Yes, It's December 8. We have 16 days til Christmas and I'm starting two projects...
On the plus side, I have most of our gifts bought and wrapped and I think I only need one more thing for The Boy, one for Pershing and some stocking stuff. The Brown Eyed Man's family calls them "socks" rather than stockings. That's wrong to me.
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