Progress not Perfection

 So the first temperature blanket for 2004 is up to March 14th.  I like how it's coming out, but the gauge was off so it's going to be closer to 80x90" instead of 90x90".  I've decided to keep going with one afghan at a time instead of being partially thru 3 of them at the same time.  I may also use a different stitch pattern or technique for the 3rd one since the single crochet is quite monotonous and I'm probably going to be sick of doing it by the time I finish the 2nd one, which I already have 1/12th completed so I can't very well change that one at this point.   

I did get my Caron Cakes this week.  Four Anniversary cakes and 8 Big cakes.  I plan to use the bulky weight yarn to make afghans, probably my first Tunisian Crochet project.  And the worsted weight is going to be sweaters for me & Jo, if I can start them in January.  I'm hoping to have at least one of the Temp afghans done by then so that I can start the sweaters and have a block of time to devote to them every day like I'm doing with my current crochet schedule.  In the middle of December I should be back to working just 40 hours instead of averaging 54, so I should be able to spend a couple hours a day working on the yarny projects in my life.  I really want to get the sweaters done so we can wear them this year.  I'm going to use a pattern from Red Heart written by Lorna Miser (who used to own Lorna's Laces back when it was a great yarn company).  It's called Big Comfy Sweater.  Since I will be making it in a size Small and 3X, I will probably make my own first to see how it goes, since the size small will obviously go quickly.  I actually had started this sweater for Jo in a size 2X but I don't think it will fit her and the yarn she picked is Coboo by LionBrand and the stitches aren't very dense so it will be stretched to the point of being see-thru - not a good look.  

I got out my spinning wheel but I'm having no luck remembering how to spin the wool roving I bought.  I need to watch some more videos and maybe reach out to the company I bought the wheel from to see if they can send me a copy of the manual that came with it.  The video I used to watch different spinning wheels being used has since been taken down, so I have to invest some time into finding helpful videos on my wheel.  

I almost bought a Cricut that is on sale cheaper than I've ever seen, but the fact that I've barely used my Silhouette Cameo 4 made me pause.  Where would I put a Cricut?  So I'm somewhat relieved that I stopped myself. I just spent a couple hours downloading files on DesignBundles.net with all the credits I've been ignoring all year.  I need to use them up so that I can cancel that subscription. 

One Month Down

 I finished the month of January 2002 on my 2 Temperature blankets.  If I concentrate on what I’m working on I can get a row done in 15 minutes. I’m much slower if I’m distracted by the tv or eating at the same time. 

My order of a drop spindle, 13 hanks of wool roving and a Niddy Noddy came in today, which was exciting until I tried to spin and immediately got frustrated. Then I tried the cheap Tunisian crochet hooks I got from Amazon. Don’t buy them. The metal straight ones are fine but the bamboo flex hooks are rough and tore apart my acrylic yarn. I did like the idea of Tunisian crochet so I’m glad I have a couple books on the way. 

For my Christmas present from my husband I splurged on a set of short Denise knitting needles, a set of Tunisian crochet hooks, a set of short cords and a set of long cords.  I love those needles. I own a couple sets but they are misplaced in different projects. I’ve learned now to keep things together so that shouldn’t be such a problem going forward. 

Temperature Blast Off

 Tonight I started my 2004 temperature blankets.  I’m making two of them as graduation gifts for my niece and younger daughter.  Eventually I will start the 2002 version for my older daughter’s 20th birthday gift. I ran to Joanns for more yarn since my online order was delayed and I realized I would need a lot more yarn to complete 3 of these afghans.  Tomorrow the huge rope basket I ordered from Amazon to hold the 10 colored skeins should arrive.  I’m going to need to dedicate 2 hours a day on these to get them done in 6 months.  It takes about 20 minutes per row and I need to do 2 rows on each blanket each day to get them done in time for gifting in June.  I’m not sure that I can work any faster on single crochet.  I really love the Clover Armour crochet hooks I bought.  I’ve been collecting a lot of crochet hooks lately.  But the Clover ones are just about perfect.  In my order from We Crochet I have 2 complete sets coming that will hopefully be useable.  

I can’t wait for my order from Knit Picks to arrive. I have roving and a drop spindle coming.  I haven’t spun yarn in at least 8 years so I’m not sure if my spinning wheel still works. That’s why I bought the drop spindle kit … to be sure I can spin in either case. It came with a drop spindle, a niddy noddy, and 3 batches of roving.  I also got 10 packs of bare superwash wool to spin.  I can’t wait to get that going. Maybe working on that on thanksgiving which is when I will next have time. 

Project Overload

 I’ve been shopping like crazy.  In the past few days I’ve gotten a huge order of wool fiber and a new drop spindle, yarn for several temperature blankets, patterns for pj pants I want to sew…. I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff as well.  Oh a C2C Afghan kit, 2 skeins of sock yarn for beanies…. The list keeps growing. I've decided to make the girls Temperature Blankets for the year they were born.  Depending on how it goes, I might make 3 simultaneously so that I have Courtney & Melanie's done for their graduation from High School this year, and Johanna's for her 20th birthday in June.  It's a lot of crocheting - 365, actually for the graduation ones they will be 366 (leap year in 2004) rows long and about 270 stitches wide.  It's actually pretty cool because my girls were only born 2 years apart in the same city, and their temperature ranges are different.  In one year we didn't get into the single digits for winter, and the other year we never broke 90 in the summer.  Courtney & Melanie were both born in April 2004, so I only had to research the temps for 2 blankets once.  Then I was on a roll and decided to make one for Johanna as well, so I looked up all the temperatures for 2002 too.  I swatched the Caron One Pound yarn I had on hand while I wait for my Joann's order to arrive with the actual project yarn and determined that I get 3 stitches to the inch and about 4 rows per inch, which means I'm gonna aim for a 90" square afghan for each of them.  I have about 7 months to complete them, so I need to work 2 rows per afghan per day to stay on track.  I just hope I don't get sick of the project and give up.  Sometimes I get into a slump and decide to give up rather than soldier on and finish it.  Since these are pretty hard deadlines, I hope I can stay motivated and get them done.  6 rows a day doesn't seem like much, but that's because I'm not staring at a seemingly endless single crochet project.  This does mean that my current projects of my rainbow afghan and the Christmas afghan are probably going to be put away in order for me to start another project.  For those keeping track, 3 temperature blankets is about 296,460 stitches without any border to speak of.  This might be an impossible feat, but I'm going to challenge myself to stick with it until it's done.  I'm excited to get started but the yarn is on the way to me.