Is it Autumn yet?

 Geez, it's been quite a while since I posted, again. A lot and nothing has happened since August.  I'm struggling with my yarn mojo lately.  I finished the body of Elton and realized when I went to start the sleeves that I need a different needle that I've misplaced in my mess.  That's enough of a hurdle for me to put the project in time out for now.  It's safe in its bag with the pattern and I know exactly where I am so that I can pick it up and finish it any time I find the needle.  In the meantime I'm trying to work on crocheting squares for my Christmas project.  I've done about a dozen of the yellow squares.  I ended up getting 70 out of the ball of blue, so a long way yet to go before I get to start on the red ones.  

In the meantime, and maybe partially to blame for the loss of knit/crochet mojo, I've gotten back into journaling and collecting fountain pens and inks.  I bought some more Pilot Kakuno pens and Pilot Iroshizuku ink, then decided I really liked my TWSBI Eco pens the best, so I ordered more of those.  I'm really enjoying the grey Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun ink the best, so I ordered Noodler's Pasternak ink, which looked from the samples like it was a shading ink, but so far I've only used it on absorbent paper so it doesn't shade on that.  I also got bottles of Tsutsuji (and then found I already had a bottle of it on my shelf - oops) and Murasaki-shikibu.  But the grey was my favorite.  While waiting for the broad nib TWSBI Eco's to get here, I ended up ordering 5 more Eco's and a bottle of Diamine Polar Glow from Goulet Pens.  That order is arriving today and I can't wait to ink up my new pens and try my new ink!  I also got Tomoe River paper for my correspondence with my new penpals. 

I got back on a writing kick when I was reminded about Julia Cameron's Morning Pages habit.  I don't follow her rules explicitly.  I rarely write 3 pages - usually only 1-2.  But I do it every morning in a sketchbook with my fountain pens lately.  It's just stream of consciousness writing.  Sloppy.  Written with broad nib pens that I have no other real use for.  It's different from my evening journaling, which I do in a Sterling Ink Travelers Notebook sized journal that has 520 pages of Tomoe River paper.  My goal is to fill that with my daily evening journaling in fountain pen and my neater handwriting.  It's taking up my knitting time in the morning and at night to journal, but my mind is clearer I think, getting stuff onto paper and off my mind.  

And, back to penpal-ing. l have had the same 2 pen pals for several years now and decided that I really could fit a few more friends into my writing schedule, so I looked for options online since the last service I used is now defunct.  I came upon Global Penfriends and immediately signed up and looked for matches.  So far I've found several new pen pals that I hope I will be writing to for years to come.  I love getting non-bill mail in my mailbox!  I've also started collecting wax stamps to seal the letters.  I'm always afraid to put things on the outside of the letters like washi tape that I know may peel off during processing or jam their sorting machines, but I've gotten letters several times with sealing wax stamps intact so I'm hopeful.  

This year I'm really going to try to mail out Christmas cards.  I buy them every year thinking I will send them out and then I don't.  I love the USPS Christmas stamps this year - I can't wait for them to be available on 9/19.  They are snow globes!  I got my Christmas wax seal stamps already.  I better put it on my calendar to send them out so I don't forget.  

And speaking of calendars, it's already that time, it seems, to be looking for a 2024 planner.  I'm torn between keeping my existing Sterling Ink Weeks sized notebook and putting 2024 weekly pages in it (I draw the lines by hand and date it like a Hobonichi Weeks) or buying the Sterling Ink TN sized Weekly notebooks that are bigger and predated, but come split into 2 notebooks for some reason.  I really like the TN size, but I almost would rather get a blank notebook and draw it in myself and have it all in one book with an extra 400+ pages to use. Of course, that's a want not a need, because I could continue to use the smaller Weeks size for the same purpose.  Ugh, decisions, decisions!

This morning I plan to go to the apple farm before I get my nails done.  I'm so excited for Autumn, although I barely registered summer on my radar because I worked during the week days this year and didn't have my mid week day off like I had last summer when I could sit out on my hammock on my day off.  We only used our fire pit one time this summer, or actually, ever.  I plan to use it this fall when I can wear a hoodie and drink hot cider.  Doesn't that sound delightful!  I can't wait.  

Matchbox20 & Crochet

 

Yesterday we went to see the Matchbox 20 concert and had a great time.  I worked until 1:30, then we headed to Walmart to get an outdoor blanket to sit on for our lawn seats.  We drove the hour or so to the venue, with me crocheting in the front seat.  We sat in our car, watching Nimona on my iPad (pretty good movie on Netflix, btw).  I crocheted until the gates opened at 6pm.  Then we went in and got expensive drinks and stale pretzels.  I stopped at the merch stand and picked up a tshirt and hat to memorialize the event because I do not have luck with concerts.  Then we sat down and waited until the opening act came on at 7:30.  More crochet of course.  Matchbox 20 came on at 9pm and did a 2 hour set.  It only took us about 35 minutes to get out of the parking lot, luckily.  Overall it was a great experience and I got over 20 squares crocheted, so BONUS!  

Accessory August

 I think I might have mentioned before that I’m a part of a community called The Mindful Creators Clubhouse.  It’s a paid social network that focuses on crafting, especially knit/crochet/spinning/dyeing but all crafts are welcome, but also on mental health.  I have been a member since the Beta test in March of this year, and I quite enjoy it.  Each month we have a makealong subject instead of a specific pattern we all work on.  In June/July we had a summer top makealong.  August is for accessories - small projects like socks, dishcloths, small shawls, etc.  I will hopefully be working on finishing my gumball socks and making a lot of crocheted granny squares for a Christmas project I’m working on.  

This morning I’m up early because I have to be at work at 7am for a change.  We are launching a new inventory system at my store, which is expected to be a nightmare.  I had the system at my old store, so I am a little familiar with it, but the initial launch is always a rough start, even after nearly 2 years of the company rolling it out.  I didn’t have to process the incoming inventory every day at the old store like I do at the new store, so I will be more impacted this time around.  My coworkers have never used it before, so I have nobody onsite to ask questions, if anything they will be asking me.  

This evening we are going to see Matchbox20 in concert.  I say evening, but it’s more of an all-day affair, as the parking lots open at 3pm, the gates open at 6pm, and the show starts at 7:30pm.  I get out of work at 1:30, and we are leaving directly after I get home.  I’m hoping the day will be uneventful.  I have a long history of issues when I go to concerts, dating back to my first concert on the night of my senior ball, when I opted to hang out with a friend and we went to a radio station concert downtown.  The band incited the mosh pit to riot against security, and we ended up pepper sprayed and a lot of people were arrested.  Luckily I wasn’t affected, but it was my introduction to trouble with concerts.  My next concert a couple years later was at a bigger venue and a lot of teenagers were drinking spiked koolaid and puking in garbage cans.  My brand new car was my biggest concern and we left before the most well known artists got on stage because we didn’t want to get hit by drunk drivers.  The following concert was DMB, where we were towards the front of the crowd and were getting squished to the point that we went to the front and were hauled over the security fence by guards and barely saw the concert from the lawn.  After that concert, I swore off them for life.  Life ended up being 1998-2014, when I went to the NY State Fair and passed out during Barenaked Ladies.  Then there was Alanis, when my daughter was sent to a psychiatric hospital just before I was leaving town for the show.  The last few shows I’ve taken Jo because bad stuff doesn’t seem to happen when she’s with me.  I hope that luck holds out today.  My mom is in the hospital from having a stoke last week, but she’s where I know she’s getting the best possible care.  My nephew was in a car accident last week, too.  I hope all our miserable luck is behind us.  

Plugging Away

 I’m working on my Elton sweater.  Yesterday and last night I didn’t get as much done as I expected because my nephew was in a car accident and that sort of derailed my plans for the evening.  I hadn’t brought it with me to work so that I could get a couple rows done on lunch because I stopped in the middle of a row in the morning.  By the time I got home at night I was exhausted and fell asleep early.  

This evening I have a craft & chat with my online crafting community, The Mindful Creators Clubhouse. I hope people show up, because the last couple of them have been either just me, or me and one other woman.  It’s family dinner night, which I will be missing in order to stay home and do the call.  

I have 40 minutes left this morning to knit, so I’m gonna go do that now…

I’m still here!

 A lot has happened in the past 6 weeks since I last posted.  One of the big things is that I got a new iPad and have gotten back to digital planning, which has the effect of making me focus on my goals and priorities.  Subsequently, I’ve gotten blogging back on my priority list for Mon/Wed/Fri mornings.  I’m also keeping track of my projects and plan to spend an hour every morning on my knitting.  

I finished knitting Tolsta Tees for myself and Jo (sizes 3 & 5)  I just need to weave in the ends, which I plan to do this weekend.  In the meantime, I’m going to work on my Elton sweater, which is a welcome change after working on my mom’s blanket.  She asked for a lapghan and when I was almost done she said she wanted it to come up to her chin!  I kept measuring it and thinking I had only a few inches left, but then after knitting a few inches I would measure again and have more left to go than when I started.  I got it to about 56” and called it good enough.  I’ve never knit a blanket before, and I don’t plan to do it again for a long time.  I only spent 20 days working on it, but it felt like forever. This is a progress photo before I found out that it needed to be 2 feet longer.

Photo dump of the CNY Fiber festival yarn and the Hobbii yarn I had to buy when I realized I didn’t buy enough pink mohair…

My Elton sweater is going to be knit with neon peach yarn that I absolutely love.  I got it from my trip to the CNY fiber festival.  I had a great time and got a ton of yarn.  Everyone was so nice - the one shop gave me the pouch pictured above and everyone else gave me progress keepers. I can’t wait to hopefully go to Rhinebeck in October.  I need to get a lot of knitting done before then to justify the trip & more money spent on yarn.  I’ve heard that the festival is something that is overwhelming, but that it’s something you should do once in your lifetime.  I feel like I will regret not going if I skip it this year and then something happens where they stop having it.  The finger lakes fiber festival is cancelled because it got to be too much for the organizers, I guess.  The western NY fest is in East Aurora I think which is quite a drive in the opposite direction, but I would rather wait for the big one.  Maybe it can be my Christmas gift from Dan.  I usually pick what I want online and hand him the phone to put in his payment information to pay for what I want.  I think he was going to buy me new AirPods for Christmas, but I couldn’t take it another moment when they started dying every 90 minutes, so I already replaced those.  

Time to knit Elton… I love the stripes and smaller needles after the monotony of the knit blanket.  

Summer Top MAL Progress

Tolsta Tee size 3 is coming along well.  I'm about 4.25" from the underarm.  Only 7 more inches to go.  I put it back on the needles from my stitch holder cord and finished the first 100g cake of the green (Lichen) yarn this morning. 

This weekend I'm going to be busy with the CNY Fiber Festival & working Overtime to earn extra money to spend on yarn.  This morning I'm scouring Ravelry for patterns I want to make so that I know what yarn to look for tomorrow.  Otherwise I will come home with a skein of this and that and just add them to my stash.  When in doubt, I just buy 100g of sock yarn that I know can become socks or a beanie with no thought required.  After knitting the Tolsta Tee for me & for Jo, I think I will work on a shawl.  The ones I'm pondering right now are the Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West, Ashes by Joji Locatelli, or Inclinations Shawl by Andrea Mowry.  I also have the Shetland Lace Shawl by Alice Karachi in my stash of patterns that I own that I want to make. The sweater I might try again (with the proper yarn this time) is the Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry.  The last attempt was with expensive LYS acrylic in solid pastels that did not fade, and I would have worn it but I changed the needles on the sleeves and didn't like the fit, so I gave up on it.  Or the Elton sweater by Joji Locatelli is intriguing me.  I feel like I might want to work on something with a mohair yarn.  I wish I could go back and buy more of the lace weight mohair from Lorna's Laces when I thought That was expensive - now it's ridiculous how much mohair has gotten.  

I have prepared my list - wish me luck!  

 

June Summer Top MakeAlong!

Hello, I'm back after taking most of May off from social media posting.  In the past month, I managed to finish my Serged Dream Coat by Crochetverse and knit a pair of vanilla socks for my husband.  I cast on another pair of socks for myself and started a crochet hat as a beginner level project to base my crochet teaching certification lesson plans on.  Busy Days!  I'm even more excited this morning to learn that for June/July the Creators on the Mindful Creators Clubhouse platform will be doing a Summer Top Make-Along, and I'm geared up to make the Tolsta Tee by CreabeaDesigns for myself and Jo.  I have the yarn and ordered the needles (they arrive on Saturday) so that I can be ready for the kick off on Monday. I've settled on making myself a size 3.  I need to measure Jo to decide which size to make her.  She will be happy that the yarn I bought her about a year or more ago will finally be turned into something.  I had knit up a ball of the yarn and then stopped... I have no idea what pattern I was using and I'm not satisfied with the texture at the gauge it was working up into.  

Here is a photo dump of May!

 

Progress photos

 What I’ve been busy working on!!!  

Just Dropping In

 Just a quick note that I'm still here, feverishly working on my dress.  I added 2.5" to the sleeve length and a single crochet round to the collar this morning, and now I just have 4-5 dozen ends to weave in.  Literally.  I hate working short rows on crochet. 

These are my new progressive lens glasses.  

Progression

 

 This is what my Piper Pocket Dress looks like after 65% completion.  It might be inside out in this picture, I'm not sure yet which is the 'right' side.  I've started ball 8 of 11.  I'm on row 40 of 56 of the post-pocket skirt.  That means I have about 4 hours left of the skirt, before I go back and add the pockets and sleeves.  Should have the skirt finished by the end of the weekend!  YAY! 

My Heirloom Gardening Bib Overalls from Duluth Trading Company came in yesterday and I couldn't wait to try them on.  I actually wore them to dinner last night.  Farmer Shannon is ready to get started in the garden, hopefully this weekend.  The ripstop fabric is supposedly dirt proof.  I hope that's true because I picked Candy Pink instead of a more practical color.  I also got the knee pad inserts because I'm getting old and my knees have no natural padding anymore.  I'm glad I read the reviews and researched my size because I was definitely going to buy a size medium, when I really needed an extra-small.  It felt foreign to me to buy such a small size, but they fit perfectly.  I feel bad for people who are legitimately a size zero, because this size fits my size 4 body perfectly.  

Spring has Sprung

My dress is coming along quite quickly now.  I've completed 22 rows below the pockets so far.  Only 34 more to go.  I'm on ball 7 of my yarn, which puts me at about 56% done now.  Tomorrow is my day off, so I plan to spend several hours working on the skirt.  I've been working while listening to an audio book called All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.  The problem is that the last time I was listening, I fell asleep and awoke after a major plot twist.  I had to scroll back several chapters, but now that I know where the book is headed, I almost don't want to listen to the rest of it.  I'm tempted to just watch the Netflix movie version instead of listening to the last few hours of the book.  

On Saturday, I had my friend Tara color my hair.  

I went in with some salt & pepper and left a vibrant eggplant purple.

Next comes a lot of stained pillowcases and cold shampoos, but I love the change.  

 

Making Headway

 My dress is coming along.  I have completed the split front & back sections that allow for the side pockets to be inserted later, so when I get home from work tonight I will be able to rejoin the front & back and crochet until it's the right length.  For me, that means knee-length.  The designer says that her dress in the pattern photos was about 56 rows long.  So that's my approximate goal.  Since I am short, it may be less.  

I can't wait for this project to be done!  Both so that I can wear it, but also so I can move onto another project.  I'm tempted to add the sleeves & pockets on before the pattern calls for it, just so that I just have the length to worry about. But right now the mindless crocheting is a welcome part of the project.  

The weather here in Upstate NY is getting warm.  As usual for Rochester, we have snow one day and 70 degrees the next.  I'm looking forward to getting my garden going for the summer.  I love planning and starting the gardening, but the later work I sometimes struggle with.  This summer I will be prepared to get in there and weed and dress the soil and all that fun stuff.  I bought gardening overalls just for this purpose.  They are pink, with knee pad inserts, from Duluth Trading Company.  I hope I picked the right size.  But I can't wait for them to arrive next week so I can get started on my planting.  I have yet to start the seeds indoors, which is how I like to begin.  But with the warmer temperatures, I think they will be safe to start in our sunroom with the warmer days.  I've been putting it off because I didn't have anywhere with daylight that was warm enough at night during the earlier spring.   I plan to grow tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas, carrots, raddishes, squash, pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini, lettuces, basil, oregano, mint, watermelon, and probably some other things I can't think of right now.  I bought 2 garden beds from Costco to do Squarefoot gardening, and I have grow bags to grow potatoes, and patio planters to grow the spreading plants like squash & pumpkins.  

Picture time!

 I have 3 more rows to complete on my dress before I start the hip shaping!  Then rows will take longer to complete because there will be more stitches, obviously.  But I'm excited that this is coming along nicely.  I'm on ball 4 of 11, which puts me at about 30% complete at this point.  I'm a little nervous about the pockets, but I will deal with that when the time comes.  I just realized I had 2 pages out of order in the pattern book - so glad I figured that out before I got to the next steps.  The photo makes the yarn look sage-y green, but it's a spring grass green in person.  My mom doesn't like it, but I do, and I'm the one that will be wearing it.  

My order of presentation books came in yesterday, so I was able to make a book for the pattern I plan to work next after the dress.  I love having the pattern pages in sleeves so I can stick post it notes to them and not damage the pages.  The pattern is Serged Dream Coat by Crochetverse on Ravelry.  I got the yarn to make it from Knitpicks, and I can't wait to start it! These are the colors I chose... Aren't they happy?  They are my inspiration to keep going on the Piper Pocket Dress, because it's my goal to remain monogamous to one project at a time. And I can't wait to get to the happy colors.  

On a Roll

 

Well, I'm onto the bodice of my dress.  I'm not confident about the shaping fitting me properly.  It tapers in at the waist and out at the hip.  I suppose I can block it to get it as wide as possible since my waist isn't much smaller than my chest these days.  Or I can go to the gym and work on my abs...  yeah, right.  Blocking it is.  

Hopefully the next bit goes faster now that I'm working on fewer stitches.  I am onto ball 3 of my 11 ball expectation.  So making decent progress.  I won't be done by the end of the month, but I should have a good bit done by then. 

My yarn for the Serged Dreamcoat arrives today.  Unfortunately, the yarn is now on sale, of course.  So if I'm not happy with the colors I picked or the quantity, I can order more for cheaper I guess.  But I think I have what I need in today's delivery.  

April Has Sprung

 No pictures today, again, because I'm posting from work, but I have made it thru a turning point on my Piper Pocket Dress.  I have successfully completed adding the short rows that raise the back neck of the garment.  Now I just have to figure out the next row that blends the short row ends into the fabric without leaving unsightly holes.  My April goal is to work on the dress as much as possible.  I don't think I will be able to come close to completing it by the end of the month, but I want to have as much done as I can.  My next project, the Serged Dreamcoat,  is something I'm dying to work on, but I'm resisting the beginning until after I finish the dress.  The yarn will arrive on Wednesday and I can't wait to lay out the colors to see how they will look together. 

Jo & I will be working on an octopus from the book by The Woobles.  I bought their overpriced yarn and it arrived yesterday.  I hope she likes working the project, because she keeps saying she wants to do crochet projects, we buy all the materials, and then the interest disappears.  Courtney needed a bigger hook, which I sent her via Amazon, but her dorm's package system was down so she wasn't able to retrieve it.  Hopefully she gets it today so she can work with her chunky yarn. 

Fem has opened The Mindful Creators Clubhouse for the public to sign up.  So far there are 2 newbies.  I hope that the May launch will be much bigger, for all our sakes.  I want this to be a success, because I've found it to be so much fun and the community is so inspiring and encouraging.  The price is reasonable, I think, when I think about how much we would spend to either go out to a venue like the Meetup's I used to attend at Barnes & Noble 19 years ago, when we would need to buy a drink and snack at the cafe.  Plus the gas to get across town.  And doing local home-based groups requires you to bring something to share, which also costs a bit.  Now I can go online whenever it suits me and tell my online friends what I've accomplished or what I'm struggling with.  We do video chats that don't cost a thing, and I can bring my own snacks if I want, and go in my nearly-pj's clothing.  It was a joy to be a part of the beta testing for the platform.  

Audio Books For The Win!

 So, I’ve been a member of Audible since roughly 2001, on & off.  Last night I decided after work that instead of putting on YouTube or some other video service, I would go back to my tried & true auditory distraction - romance audiobooks.  I listened for a while until Dan came home, getting my dress re-worked since I’d had to rip out 7 rows that were wonky. It was so much more peaceful.  Then this morning I got a reminder email that the 2 for 1 sale was ending today, so I popped on and bought, gulp, 10 more books.  I got mainly romance, but also some fiction.  About 113 hours of content added to my already overflowing library.  But I have a lot of crochet in my future. I broke my no-buy on Wednesday to buy the yarn for the Serged Dream Coat from KnitPicks. That should arrive next week, hopefully.  I’m excited to see the colors all laid out. I bought a few more than the pattern demo used I think, but hopefully my yardage over all will be sufficient.  I had a hard time finding any one line of yarn with enough different bright colors for the project.  And cost was also a concern. I could have used Caron One Pound skeins but it would have been a LOT of money and a lot more yarn than I needed for this project. I’m hoping  Knitpicks has good quality acrylic.  

Progress Not Perfection

 I just got home from a 2 hour dentist appointment for a simple cleaning.  Have I procrastinated since 2020 to make the call to schedule said appointment?  Absolutely.  But now I'm back on track, with no actual cavities but the need to use prescription strength toothpaste to repair some weak spots after my 5 years of pica-related ice chewing.  But my hygienist, Lesley, was fabulous.  I now know all about her Covid beliefs and that her daughter doesn't believe in putting anything in her body that might change her, and how her anti-vax stand cost her a spot at the college of her dreams.  I hate small talk as a rule - it's awkward and I never know how to respond.  Apparently "Oh, wow" was encouraging her to give me more info.  Since my appointment went way longer than Jo's, I didn't have any time to miss my crochet that I didn't bring with me.  

I'm currently still working on my Piper Pocket Dress.  I had to start it over for a third time because I accidentally joined in the round with a twist.  I decided that I am just going to work the pattern flat for the first bit and then sew up at the shoulder seam later, because the join has been the crux of the problem from the beginning.  I'm almost to the second set of increases, so the project will begin growing in a couple rows.  the first set of increases didn't seem to increase the work dramatically despite increasing a stitch every 4 stitches.  Working flat makes the project look different, obviously.  I plan to do a bunch more crocheting today, now that my errand for the morning is over, I've had an early lunch, and now I can get cracking.  Later this afternoon I have about 6 calls I need to make that I've literally been putting off for weeks.  

My beta testing is almost over.  The creator, Fem, will be launching the product in the first week of April, and I'm excited to see how it grows.  One of the other members of the test posted a picture of her completed cardigan, a pattern called Heartbob Cardigan, which looks really cool.  I'm definitely thinking of adding that to my project list when I'm done with the Piper Pocket Dress, if I'm not completely over crochet by that time.  

Back to the Drawing Board

 Well, I’ve had to rip out my dress and start over. I finished an increase round and counted stitches.  I discovered that my “neater” join for the past dozen or more rows has actually been decreasing stitches. And I wasn’t satisfied with how it was looking before that, so I decided my best bet was to cut my losses of 1 week’s crocheting time and just start over and keep it neat from the beginning. Sigh. This week’s goal is to get back to the same point I was yesterday. I haven’t been doing much crocheting in the evenings because I was so tired from working 7 consecutive days. I have Wednesday off this week for dentist appointments so I will hopefully get in some more crocheting that day. Our dishwasher died & flooded the kitchen and basement so we have a new one coming on Wednesday, too, so Dan will be working from home that day as well. Yesterday I forgot to take my morning pills because I was in a rush to get on a buddy video call from my beta test group, so I took 3 naps instead of working on my project all that time. We also binge watched Netflix’s Shadow and Bone. Amazing show. Can’t wait for next season. 

Riding the struggle bus

 This week has been a struggle.  I'm working 7 consecutive days thanks to the retail world in general and my company's Thursday-Wednesday work week specifically.  I'm used to my old job where I got off every Wednesday and Sunday, which was bad in that I never got a "weekend" to recoup, but at least I had a day off every 2-3 days, so that I never burned out.  By the time I get home, I'm so exhausted that I barely eat, listen to some videos on my phone and crash before my bedtime alarm even tells me to.  Last night I fell asleep so early that when I woke up at 11pm, I thought it was morning already.  

In the small amount of time I've dedicated to crafting so far this week, I have crocheted on my Piper Pocket Dress.  The yoke is coming along. I'm not quite satisfied with how the join is looking, but I'm hoping that I can smooth that out in the blocking process.  It is a nice soothing motion - the half double crochet.   

No photos today, since I'm updating this from my MacBook on my lap, sitting on the floor in my work's break room. 

Substitution, not quitting

 Well, I had one heck of a time trying to work on my Emerald Isle Cabled Sweater this weekend.  I got so frustrated by row 3 that I gave up and admitted that my skill level with crochet isn't there just yet.  Plus, my mind isn't in the right place to focus on such a commitment when I have other things I should be doing, like organizing my home.  So, I scoured Ravelry for a pattern that was still crochet and would pose a challenge to me like the cables, but something I could handle.  I set the filters to show me crocheted, fingering weight, single color projects.  And I fell in love with a crocheted dress as soon as I saw it.  It's called Piper Pocket Dress by Tinderbox.  

I couldn't wait to get started on it, but first I created a presentation book of the pattern.  I love how she has it broken down into steps that are in small boxes that read left to right instead of just written out in lines down a page.  So far I'm only on row 9, but I've reviewed the entire pattern and there aren't really any hard parts.  The challenge with this one is to crochet such a high volume of material with a size 2.75mm hook and fingering weight yarn.  But it's mainly half double crochet, which I find to be soothing to work.  The smaller gauge does make it a lights-on project, otherwise I can't see the stitches I'm working into and it's more difficult to find them by touch in the dark.