After taking about ten years to finish one project and then giving it to a friend, I decided I did not want my projects to get that old again. I started the year with three projects, two of which were started in 2019 and I could see that they would turn into forever projects if I did not prioritize them. It seems funny to talk about a hobby in this way but I did not want to end up giving away finished items because I was fed up with having had them around for so long. I said to myself that I would work two rows a day on each of them. Two of them are lace projects that are not suitable for working on in all situations. The third, which is the one I have finished, is a crochet project.
I started this project on 14 September 2019. I had purchased the yarn for it two days previously on the San Diego Yarn Crawl. On the Crawl, yarn stores have to give away a free knitting and free crochet pattern and this was the pattern in one particular store. They had a sample made up and I liked it so much I bought the yarn. The Yarn Crawl was not too long after the closing down sale so I had gone on the crawl with specific purchases in mind. This was the exception.
I had a hard time getting into the flow of the pattern. It was not a hard pattern but I found myself looking at the pattern for every stitch and I found that I would work just a little and then put it down, even if I was on a car trip. Although every row was the same, for some reason one of the rows started with a chain three and three double crochets and the other row started with a chain three and two double crochets. This was why I was constantly looking at the pattern to see which row I was on even though every row was the same except for the beginning. In the end I wrote out the pattern row, ignoring the extra DC at the beginning of every other row, changed crochet hooks and everything went much more smoothly. Although at the start of the year, I did look at what else I could make with the yarn as I seriously considered frogging. I was about half-way through the first skein of a two skein project.
Working a minimum of two rows a day quickly got me through the project. The picture on the pattern and the sample I saw in the shop had a slightly different edging – there was a row of V stitches that were not in the pattern. So I added this row myself. I am pleased with the finished result.
The yarn is Mechita by Malabrigo in the colourway Archangel And the pattern is Sail Away Shawl.
I started the year with three projects but I knew due to the nature of these projects that they could not be the only ones I worked on. I also wanted to join in with sock and hat knitalongs. I liked all the categories in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group for February and opted for a new-to-me designer – Louise Robert. I have yarn in my stash that I think will look better as socks than knit into a shawl or similar. This yarn is one of those. I was given it way back in 2017. The pattern I chose was Brown Eyed Girl Socks. The pattern has a short row heel, which is not my favourite, so I incorporated the heel (and toe) from Make Your Heels Strong. I like the Strong Heel but have not worked it in rib before. I think the yarn and pattern go well together.
My oldest project is from the end of November 2019. I have plans to finish it by the end of November this year. So no oldest project posts for a while but I hope there will be plenty of newest project posts.
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