Following the Thread

I am joining a crochet-along on CrochetMe.com.  The pattern is called a Sweet Sweater.  It starts on September 28.  Eh, what’s one more project, right?

Hey, did you see that, I got the button on. Maybe I’ve figured out the picture problem. Hmmm.

Well, I finished my first felted object.  My Mom’s birthday purse is done and I am pleased with the results.  I had to felt it by hand from some instructions in one of my magazines.  Hot water, cold water, hot water, cold water, over and over again with lots of rubbing and agitating until it was the size I wanted.  It isn’t quite as felted as its supposed to be, but hey, that’s a lot hands-in-the-water time.  All I care about is that it didn’t shrink too much or not enough because I, as usual, did not do a swatch, just plunged into the project with my fingers crossed.

 The only part I didn’t like was the handle.  It got longer.  Don’t know why, I didn’t pull on it, and its was shaped funky because I crocheted along the length of it and didn’t crochet on the other side of the base chain.  To fix that I rolled the stap and sewed it closed so it is round rather than flat.  Then I sewed on a shiny quarter button.  My mom liked it.  I don’t like how the pictures turned out, so even if I could post them I wouldn’t until I got better ones.

I am making a spiderweb shawl.  I had been thinking of doing a triangular one, then I saw the one Lady Linoleum did on her Monster Crochet blog.  Hers is completely round, a big circle.  I’m doing mine as a half circle and I think as fringe I might try to make it look like parts of the web have been torn away.  I’m doing it in black Lions brand microfiber.

I changed my Halloween costume idea again (this is normal, I change my mind all of the time)  I think I am going to crochet the entire thing and go as a stitch witch with a crochet hook as a wand.  If I can afford the yarn.  I have a lot of it already (projects I changed my mind about after buying the supplies) but I think I will need some more.  I like this idea even better than the cape.

For anyone who read my last post, I want you to know I am feeling better.  Sunday was a bad day, but time has passed and I am not feeling as overwhelmed.

 I am thinking I will have to change my cape idea for Halloween.  I was going to do it in crazy quilt style, but I need five and a half yards of material for the cape.  I may just sew 18 inch squares together and only do the shashiko style quilting in some of those squares along with a little other embroidery and beading.  Five and a half yards is a lot of crazy quilt embroidery.

In my first blog post I wrote that crafting is sort of spiritual for me and I am going to use that as a means of getting over my depression, or at least feeling better more often.  I bought five skeins of rainbow Moonlight Mohair from Lion’s brand on clearance.  I am going to knit myself a shawl.  But I am going to do it as a working meditation, maybe sitting on the grass at the park, and focus on reconnecting with the divine.  When I am depressed I feel cut off from divinity, this is going to be an attempt to reconnect.  I’m not great at knitting, but I think I am going to try a lacy drop stitch on size 15 needles.  Big needles are easier on my hands and I have trouble keeping track of fancy lacy stitches.  I haven’t tried this stitch yet, but I will as soon as I get another project off of them.

I am knitting myself a velvet skinny scarf.  A few months back I bought a single skein of velvet spun by Lion’s brand.  It’s in the baby yarns so colors are very limited, but the white I bought is very nice.  The yarn is a thick, soft chenille and the scarf is three inches wide, but it should be long enough to wrap around my neck.  I work on it while I wait for my slow computer and slow dial up to change pages.  I’ve done quite a bit today.

You might notice I finally got some links up on my sidebar, woohoo!  I’m working on pictures next.  I am determined to figure out what I am doing wrong because I want to show off my stuff like all of the other bloggers.

Oh, I want to learn how to spin too.  I was pricing hand spindles today online at www.carolinahomespun.com this morning.  Some simple ones aren’t too expensive, and neither is cotton roving, so maybe I’ll save up and buy some.  I may try one of the stores in Sacramento first.  I think there is a store downtown that sells supplies.  Maybe after Christmas, if I get some cash, I might go for it.

Well, just so you know I just spent 30 minutes trying to get a picture up on the page and couldn’t get it to link. But I will keep trying, I just don’t have anymore time today.

You know you may be crocheting way too much when you dream about rolling up biots of super chunky red/black yarn, dipping it in nacho cheese sauce and eating it and it doesn’t occur that this isn’t normal until you wake up.

I have a lot of projects going on.  I do things like this every once in a while when I just overload myself.  I’m still making charity caps; I’ve got about 15 right now.  The charity blanket is on hold.  I’m almost done crocheting my mom’s felted purse, better finish that soon.  Then I got the urge to do something for Breast Cancer Awareness month and since I don’t have money to donate, decided to increase awareness and am making a bunch of pink scarves for the women I am close to.  I have an amazing amount of oink yarn in my stash for someone who really doesn’t like the color.

Then to top it all off, I am going to a costume ball in October and will probably have to make my costume and I’ve decided to make a cape, b ut not just any cape.  I am going to do it like a crazy quilt.  All black fabrics, black, white and silver threads for the embroidery and then some sashiko style quilted motifs with glow-in-the-dark threads that look white in the light.  I’m not starting that one until the crocheting is done though.

I think I know why I have taken on so many projects.  It’s the same reason my house is a mess and all I want to do is sleep whenever I sit down at home.

I feel like I am drowning.  Because of financial problems and a sense of dissatisfaction in my workaday life I am becoming depressed again.  Scares me.  I’ve been there before, I don’t want to be there again, so I am trying to distract myself with so many projects.  Yarn is so much softer than my thoughts.  I’ll get through it again, but it is so hard when I am in the middle of the emotional flood.

Sorry about the downer ending.  I always write about it better than I can talk about it.  My family gets freaked out when I mention it, so I don’t talk to them about it.  I’ll probably write it out in my journal today and hope I get past today’s flood.

I guess I could erase that up there, but I think I’ll leave it.  It’s part of me.