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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
