Progress Report

I'm happy to report that I was a very good girl last night. I got the bulk of the blanket finished. Finally. Now all I have left to do tonight is the borders. That's a bit of an involved process with this particular pattern. I'll have to actually pay close attention to what I'm doing. That's OK, though. I like a challenge. 

I found one thing I really liked about this pattern was that each round ended in the perfect position to start the next round. A lot of times, when crocheting in the round, that you have to slip stitch over to the starting point again. But this pattern?  Where you end is where you start the next round. I liked the symmetry of that a lot. 

I also discovered I worked a little faster than I thought I did. Using the handy dandy stop watch on my phone, I timed how long it took to make each motif.  Of course, when I shared with Mom that each motif took me, on average, 17 minutes and 16 seconds, she mocked me a little. She seemed to think that was weird. I just rolled my eyes at her. Timing myself gave me the motivation I needed to get things done. And even when I got sleepy and was ready to quit, there were only two left to do. For a brief moment, I considered putting it away and just doing that tomorrow. But then my brain vetoed that. Told me firmly that there were only two left and in 34 minutes, I could be done. So I got it done. 

Tonight, I'll get the border on. And then I'll be completely done. Stick it in the dryer with a Downey sheet and freshen it up, and I can bring it in for some show and tell Friday. 

And then finally, finally, back to Sis's blanket and Toby's mitts!

Out Of Sorts

My brain is coming up with a million tiny ideas that aren't going anywhere...

I have a severe case of the I don't wannas...

I have a deadline I need to meet and I can't make myself work on the project...

It's snowing yet again and that's messing with my mood...


I'm very much out of sorts right now.

So!  It's time for me to give myself a goal and a reward if I complete it.  A little TV and work on the blanket tonight.  Not going to even turn on the computer (which is my biggest distraction) and simply yarn until my wrist falls off.  Tomorrow, I will rinse and repeat.  After a shopping trip with Brub and Sis.  I wanted that blanket done so I could do some show and tell (the girls at work like to see) but if I can't manage to get it done, then I do have all day Saturday.  At any rate, there will be pictures when I'm done.  

And then I can get Toby's mitts on the needles and work on Sis's blanket.

I sort of sound like a broken record, don't I?  If I could just get motivated and get my stuff done, I could move on to something else.  So enough of the whinging and whining.  I'm tired of it and that means everyone else is beyond over it.

Mom's birthday is Monday and I'm so very excited to give her the wrap.  I think she's going to be super thrilled with it.  And it's all I can do not to give it to her early.  I'm so bad about that.  It's just that as soon as I get something done, I want to give it to the person.  Giving gifts makes me incredibly happy.  And that will go a long way to brightening my mood.  But I will refrain. 

Despite the blech mood I'm in, it's Wednesday.  And everything looks better on the other side of Wednesday.

OCD...sorta

I'm certainly not Monk level OCD. There are just certain things that I have to do a certain way. And there are certain tendencies I have that I have to do. Last night, it was making a list of something completely random. But when I got it in my head, I could not let it go. I had to get up, find a piece of paper and a pencil and make my list. And I sat there with it in my lap until I could remember that last thing that had to go on it. When that last item came to me and I wrote it down, I was good. I could put the list away. 

Another thing that I like to do, and I'm not sure if it qualifies, is that I time myself doing things. Take the baby's blanket, for example. Because its worked in separate motifs, I'll turn on the stop watch on my phone and time myself for how long it takes to complete it. And then, given a certain amount of over/under, I'll keep timing myself to make sure it's each consecutive one is done in the right amount if time. 

Now, I don't think these things are be necessarily bad, but I sometimes wonder if its a subtle way for me to exert control. Because when I make my plans, and something gets in the way of completing it, I get all out of sorts and it takes me a while to get my head clear. 

I don't know if its something I should roll with or if its something I should try to get over. 

Plot Bunnies

I have long since blamed the muse for the things that go on in my head.  I've been being subjected to a rare treat of her talents lately.

Watching a music performance on TV, my mind was suddenly awash in a character with a lot of talent and a scene in a bar. These characters were talking to me in that way they have and I was thinking things like how did they get there and what led them to this place in their lives?

A song that I happen to adore came on and the next thing I knew I wasn't singing along, I was lost in a different scene, with different characters, and trying to figure out how they got to that point.

A phrase someone said and I was off and running with yet different characters and a different set of back stories.


I like to write, I love to create characters, but seriously?  There seems to be too much going on.  Why would my muse keep planting plot bunnies?  Is she just using the spaghetti method?  Throwing a bunch of stuff out there to see what sticks?  It's getting pretty crowded in my head.  I need room for essential things.

Do normal people's brains work this way?  And what am I supposed to do with all these thoughts?   

Fin!

I know, two posts in one day!  But, Mom's wrap is completed!  It didn't take as long as I feared it would.  And I almost ran out of yarn.  Again.  But I made it with just a bit to spare.  Thank goodness.  I tried it on and wore it for a bit.  It's very, very, very warm.  I think it's not for a day when it's just a wee bit chilly.  It should be used on those truly cold days.  Fortunately, at least in this instance, we have quiet of few of those kinds of days to spare.  And I'm certain several more to come before winter leaves us for good.

At any rate, one project done, three more to go!

I Ran Out of Yarn!

Gasp!  It's true.  It hasn't happened to me in such a very long time because I usually over buy so that exact thing doesn't happen.  But in this situation, with making Mom's wrap from left overs from a different project that I over bought on, I guess it's understandable.  Still, I thought I had enough to complete the project.  Turns out, I didn't.  So there was yarn shopping this morning.

I went to my favorite store because I was certain that they would have what I needed.  I was actually a little bit heartbroken that they didn't.  Not only didn't they have the color, but they didn't even carry the kind of yarn.  I think I stared at the section where it should have been for like three minutes before I could convince myself it wasn't there.  Then, I walked up and down the aisle twice to make sure it wasn't somehow somewhere else.  Fortunately, there was another craft store in the same plaza.  I headed over there, half convinced that they wouldn't have it either and I'd have to go all the way down to the other store.  I sighed in blessed relief when the second store had it.  They only had two colors, but one of them was the one that I needed.  I was hoping to pick up some more for Sis's afghan, too, but the other color was not her color.  For 60 seconds, I contemplated heading down to the third store, but I just didn't want to.  I had what I needed, so I checked out and came home.  

I really didn't want to go out at all this morning but because I needed the yarn and had to stop at the bank, I made myself.  Fortunately, all the snow from yesterday had been cleared off the roads and though it was a bit wet and some parts were just a tiny bit slippery and the traction control in my car turned on, it was mostly smooth sailing.

Now, I'm home again and I will put something interesting on the telly and finish Mom's wrap.  And then, because it's Saturday, I'll take a nap.  

Winter Again

Apparently, it's winter again.  Wednesday, we had record 63 degree weather (that's 17 ish for you C folks).  Yesterday was a clear, though incredibly windy, day.  The snow had all melted away.  Today, I woke up to the snow blizzarding down.  OK, maybe not quite a blizzard.  But on and off all day long, it kept snowing.  The drive to and from work was not at all fun.  I'm happy to be home, ensconced in my warm house and my comfy pants.  

I did something today, inspired by Brad's post over at 2 boys in love, that took me outside my comfort zone.  I'm really glad that I did it, though the relative anonymity of the internet helped.  And honestly, it never occurred to me until just this minute that me posting on this blog, sharing my life and crafting, is a way for me to step outside of myself as well.  I do it because I like to write and because I want to share my love of the fiber arts.  I'm relatively safe because I only share what I want and my life is still private but still...let's just say I have trouble in social situations and this allows me to have that without anxiety.  Maybe I'm taking steps forward too.

This weekend is dedicated to the yarn.  I'm about halfway done with Mom's present and since it's made with the thick yarn and a big hook, I think I'll work on getting that done first.  The plan is to either be done with it by tomorrow afternoon or put it away at the point anyway and work on the baby's blanket.  That's got a hard deadline of the 10th.  If I don't finish Mom's wrap by the 11th, well, she can have it when I'm done.  She'll appreciate it just as much.

And then it's back to work on Sis's afghan!