Social distancing and crocheting

Social distancing and crocheting

Like many metropolitan areas I’m going to be working from home for a few weeks because of COVID-19. I’ve been planning and have much of what I need, I bought toilet paper when it was on sale several weeks ago, because it was a really great sale and I have a lot of food in my freezer so I’m good. There are at least two bags of coffee beans in my cabinet, as well as lots of tea and hot chocolate.

Now is the time to work on some additional projects that I have wanted to work on. One is to make something for myself. This is in flux, every time I look at a pattern or see something in a magazine. I have the yarn, I just haven’t found the right pattern.

Another is to join some of the oddballs and scraps of yarn into one giant magic ball with black between each color. I either want to make an afghan in an open shell or a giant granny square. I would rather have a lot of color for this scrapghan and have it pulled together with the black. Though the amounts of the color will change, I want to have the same length of the black between each one. This requires a bit of planning. How many yards do I want to have between each color. Depending on the pattern I might want enough for a third or a half of a full row of the shells. This would be easier to determine than if I make a giant granny square because as more rounds are added, it takes more yarn to complete a side.

There are a couple of projects that I have finished since my office closed. I completed a hat to go with a set. Completed a scarf to go with a set, picked up an afghan that had been just sitting by my favorite chair in my living room. I generally work on it during a weekly conference call, but it was shorter than the usual hour, so I only finished a couple of rows. It may get promoted to my movie watching chair in the living room when I finish the other afghan, so I can finish it sooner.

The yarn that I have to make a skirt or dress for myself is just teasing me. I’m not quite sure what I want to make. Do I want to make a two piece or a dress. If a two piece a skirt and a drapey vest or sweater or poncho – what type of skirt? Too many decisions. A few weeks ago I borrowed from crochet pattern books from the library just because it’s the library and they are free. Since I have time on my hands with so many things cancelled, I could actually look through the books, Pinterest and Ravelry. There is something out there. When in doubt – work on a sure thing!

I finally wound the yarn I dyed a few weeks ago with Easter Egg dye and found a bag of eight hanks Lorna’s Laces Bullfrogs & Butterflies in Cat Bordhi’s Ahah! I figured since I had the ball winder and swift out, why not make it worth the effort. In the yarn I dyed, I chose one to use for the hat, as it has once section where the colors blended together more than the others and there’s a section of dark orange/rust. I didn’t wind all of the Lorna’s that I found, just enough for a hat and scarf this time around. I’ll save the other four for another time.

In the meantime, there are more than enough project to work on and I’m making progress on my crochet 2020 goals. Be safe everyone, happy crafting and enjoy your period of social distancing!

Progress as of March 19: Seven completed scarves, two hat and scarf sets, one afghan, and one hat for a set
In progress: Three afghans