Stitching and Living

I have had to make some difficult choices in the past two days….What gets my attention: My needles or my hooks. The answer was…Drum roll…………..Hooks.Alas, my most recent Mason Dixon Big Dotty dishcloth is abandoned in its place in the kitchen. It has been banned from its place on the table. In its place is a huge plastic type bowl full of odd pieces of yarn surrounded by more yarn, some patterns, a small open notions bag, scissors and worst of all: the dreaded crochet hooks.

The reason is complex, but simple. An online group to which I belong is having a contest to see who can make the most 8 inch squares from now until the end of the month. That is simple enough. The complex part is that I also want to use some of the many bits and pieces of yarn that live here. You know the ones I mean. They are the leftovers from that skein of yarn used to make that beautiful scarf you made you mother. They are the scraps from the afghan you made several years ago. That particular yarn has been discontinued. The list goes on, but you get my point.

When I began making the squares I felt overwhelmed. My stash is so big. Where do I begin to choose yarns to use? I had to think about this one for a bit….Aha!!! The light bulb went on in my brain. It is time to use the odd balls that are taking up space in my yarn bins and recycled ice cream containers on one of the desks in this room.

I pulled out a fairly large bowl but discovered it is not nearly large enough to hold the amount of yarn it needs to hold. I then chose the largest bowl in the house to become the Bowl of Honor.
I also made the rule that squares for this project are supposed to made from the contents of this bowl as much as possible. I am allowed to supplement my yarn supply with co-ordinating colors if necessary.

In a mad frenzy I attacked the ice cream containers first. Their contents were raided. They were placed in this bowl. This morning I started tackling the Bowl of Honor. As it stands now the contents of the bowl have yielded ten 8 inch squares of assorted colors. The bowl is still full.

The pattern being used is the one I posted a couple of days ago. You might not recognize the squares as having come from this pattern when you see them. Color changes are made based on the amount of the scrap color being used. The corners are changed depending on my choice at the moment.
I have looked at and considered using other patterns, but this one is so much fun. :)
Pictures of my efforts will be taken another day.

Now it’s time to say “Good night to all my friends and family.”

Yesterday was fun. I wanted to write about it last evening was just too tired. Once a month our library has a Stitch n Chat in the afternoon, led by one of the library staff. It is a very informal time for people who do any kind of stitching to get together and just stitch and chat.It has been months since I have gone because life just got in the way. I went yesterday despite having lots of work to so around the house. DH, of course, encouraged me to go. His comments were that I needed to do something for myself; I needed to get be with people who share my interest and that sort of thing. He made sense…Not only that, but it has been a long time since I have attended any of the stitching meetings around the area. It was about time I came out of my hole and just go. So I did. Once I got there I wondered why I stopped going in the first place.

There are large tables arranged in a rectangle or square, depending on how many are in the room. The idea is that they are arranged in a circle. There are plenty of chairs. The most formal aspect of the meeting is the presence of a sign in sheet and paper nam tags. Most of us no longer use the name tags since we know each other. The large tables are an invitation to spread out supplies, current projects and of course Show and Tell items. The atmosphere in the room is casual and friendly.

I arrived a few minutes early and found others already stitching and chatting in the wonderful informal fashion in which they do. Greetings were exchanged as I entered and unpacked my bags. As I looked around the room , there were some familiar faces and some new ones.

The Library staff person, rightfully proudly, showed me the big afghan she was crocheting. It is being done in Double Crochet out of dark red/ burgundy color. She has learned to crochet since we started meeting and has done a fantastic job doing so. Next to here was a lady cross stitching. She is truly amazing to me because she does the most complex projects with great ease. Her work is beautiful.
Another lady, who is an expert knitter, was making socks on double pointed needles without a pattern. She has made so many of them over the years that she says they are easy and does not need a pattern. Sock making looks so easy when watching her.

Next to her sat her sister. She was working on a baby blanket in filet crochet using a one pounder skein of yarn. The design is lots of Teddy Bears in rows. I admire her patience to follow a chart.

There are some ‘new to me people’ present. The first new person is making socks out of a self striping yarn. They are beautiful. Her work is meticulous. I had the privilege of looking at it closely. She says she is being taught by our expert knitter and sock maker.

There is a lady at the end of the tables who is knitting a lapghan on circular needles. It is being done in the most beautiful shade of sage green. That is the best way I can describe it. She said it is getting to hot to work on it despite air conditioning. This makes good sense because the temperature was in the 90’s yesterday. It is typical for this town in the summer.

There were two ladies on the same side of the table as me. The one furthest down knits and crochets for charities in the area. She always has something beautiful on her hooks or needles. I did not see what she was making because shortly after I arrived she began teaching the person next to me to crochet. Her student came here for the first time and asked if someone would teach her to crochet. Since she is right handed, we agreed that the lady close to me, rather than me, teach her. The motivation was to make it easier on the new crocheter. This was a wise decision. By the end of our time together she had a couple of rows done on a good looking dishcloth. After talking with her, I think she is hooked. :)

We were joined occasionally by others…..The Head Librarian came in requesting help locating a pattern. A retired library staff person came by to say “Hi.” She stayed and chatted for a bit. A mother came in and asked if we would give lessons in knitting or crocheting to her young person. The collective response expressed in many ways was that we would be glad to do so. We answered her other questions about when we meet and what she needs to have when they come. Hopefully the next meeting will find us having another new person in our midst.

As the meeting ended we thanked our hostess and said Good Byes to each other. I stopped the main section of the Library to see if my family had books waiting on the Hold Shelf. There were none.

As I left, I wondered why I stopped going in the first place.