What I Have Been Doing

... other than neglecting my blog.

1. Still working on Babette.


2. Still looking for a job.

3. Coming around to the conclusion that the correct answer to the question John or Paul? is George.

4. Fixing things that need to be fixed.


5. Sewing the loudest quilt blocks in human history. It's for practice.


6. Eating very many tomato sandwiches.


7. Finishing up Fantine.

A new WIP. So much for discipline and virtue.

It Must Be the Yarn

I have noticed that, with my previous projects, crocheting has had a tendency to make my hands and wrists hurt. I don't generally have this problem with knitting, unless I am trying to knit heavy yarn at a much tighter than normal gauge.* I don't seem to be having this problem with Babette, and I have been hard pressed to put down the hook.

I think it must be the yarn. It's so soft and yummy and I'm going for a little drapey. Anyway, all other projects (poor Retro Redux) have been put on hold for now. You all are going to get sick of these pictures of squares. As for that, I think these babies are fairly photogenic, but they really look much lovelier in person. (Or maybe on your monitor, rather than mine.)

I've decided that the pastel colorways (like my beloved Cherry on Top) are not going to work and that mostly single colorway squares will be best. The key will be working with colors of similar value that look good together. In the picture above, I haven't quite decided about the pink squares. The one near the top left is Positano and the one at bottom right is Hot Flash. There should be some variation of light and dark, though; I don't think I will know for sure until I get more squares done and can lay them out together.

I'm sure there are some (many?) of you thinking that all this variegated crochet is going to look like a giant mess, but I think it will look fab when it's finished. I am hoping for something along the lines of a Pointillist painting ... more than the sum of its parts.

* That's why they call it Intolerable Cruelty.

Craft What You Love

I started something new last night. That's sort of (OK, definitely) cheating on my UFO-completion plan. Except that I did finish something today. Behold ... the Granny Square baby blanket!

I mean ... Behold the Granny Square Scarf! Upon picking up these squares again, I started to feel that the gauge was just too loose for a baby blanket. I envisioned tiny fingers getting all tangled in those holes. I just started to feel very meh about the whole thing. But I could not bear to frog all those squares -- too much work. And they were pretty. Might there be enough of them for a scarf? Yes, there were! For the curious, the yarn is a melange of Plymouth Encore and Lion Brand Wool-Ease and the pattern is Traditional Granny from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks.

Here's where the love part comes in. Nine times out of ten, I start a new project because I want to play with different yarn. This new project is no exception.

Colorways of the big square, from the center out: Pandora Rose, Mardi Gras, June Carter

No surprise here, it was Cider Moon Glacier calling me. The pattern is the famous Babette Blanket. Now here's a blanket project to get excited about! This is a seriously long-term endeavor, both because of its size and because it will require a lot of yarn. I couldn't possibly afford to buy it all at once. (No smart remarks about the size of my Glacier stash ... it's not that big!)

I love the big square I made with changing colorways, but I'm thinking about making most of the squares in one colorway only. What do you all think?