Twas the Week Before Thanksgiving

Lamby Pie?
I've decided to make my dog a rug/mat thingy to put in her doghouse. This will of course be made of wool and so I went stash diving for what little 100% wool I have yesterday. I think it will be a very colorful mat but I don't think she'll mind that it's pieced together since it will make her doghouse warm and cozy. It looks as if I'm not going to have enough yarn for this project and so I am going to have to start thrift store shopping again in the hopes of picking up odd skeins. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but at the moment my budget doesn't have any room for yarn. I've been happily eating away at my rather largish stash for projects and up to this point it's presented no problem, I always seem to be able to find something to substitute with for a pattern. But this particular project calls for wool and only wool and since finances are so tight I am hoping that I can scrounge up the amount I need from thrift stores. It stinks to be strapped financially.

Progress over Perfection
I've been lazily working away on the Round Shawl and enjoying the process of working it up. It's also given me an opportunity to work with a vintage pattern as I got this particular one from an old copy of Mon Tricot. The pattern is fairly open ended with instructions and I'm not sure if this is common for older patterns or not. I have worked some older patterns but not all that many and the ones I have worked were fairly detailed. This one takes you in detail through a certain point and then leaves off with the classic repeat rows xxx except for [these exceptions] and while it's a really simple pattern it leaves a few questions that I've had to answer by taking a plunge into unfamiliar territorty and just doing what I think is called for there.

Outside of some freeform purses and a few very simple patterns I've not done a lot of branching out on my own. I tend to closely follow a pattern and when I veer off from one it's usually because I've made a mistake in reading the pattern. This is something new for me, to make determinations about a piece on my own. So far it seems to be working out just fine, if it weren't I guess I'd just be frogging and reworking in a different way.

On another note I've been fascinated with Ravelry, trying to get around this rather huge site/community, learn how to use it, take advantage of all it has to offer a crafter and participate in the community at large there. I had an episode last week that drove me insane with progress bars. I'm no computer whiz, not even close. I'd classify myself more in the computer moron catagory and most of what I accomplish on here is very painstakingly won. I wanted to put up progress bars on my blog from my ravelry page so my readers could see the projects I'm currently working on and preview pictures of them as they progressed. This called for inserting java code into my blog and the code was a nightmare for me. I apparently didn't have something right and kept having to insert, delete, insert, delete for the better part of this past week, frustrating me no end and taking time away from my crochet projects. Well, finally with the help of three people from Ravelry I accomplished this task, the code works and does everything it's supposed to do so I now have progress bars that show off the wips I have on the hook. Yah!!

Stash Acquisition Syndrome?
A rather nice event for my week, I went to pick up a drop-leaf table from a local freecycler (beautiful hardrock maple table, but that's another story altogether) and she happened to be a fellow needlework enthusiast. I discovered this because I saw some knitting magazines stacked up beside the table when we got there for pickup. I commented on this, asking her if she knitted and telling her that I and my friend who was with me to help with the table crocheted. She was thrilled at that prospect and warmed right up with the information that she predominantly knitted but had learned to crochet a few years back as well as creating other forms of needle arts. It was nice meeting a fellow crafter because I only really know my friend, here in town. I know a lot of people from online but not many in person here and I miss the fun of sharing things with others in town. I would like to be able to meet up once a week or a month with other enthusiasts and have a session of crocheting, chatting and camaraderie and it disappoints me that I haven't found that here in town. I have seen these set up for knitters but not for crocheters and while I know I'd be welcome at a knitting session I feel like I'd be the "odd man out" and would rather have a group of us who do the same thing, so we're all on the same page. But, I digress...anyway, this lady gifted me and my friend with crochet magazines that she was going to have to get rid of. We were thrilled, we not only got a number of new sources for patterns and inspiration, we made a connection with someone who understands our passion.