Currently Creating - 18 March 2015

One of our cats has the nickname "screenkitty".  Screenkitty just came up and patted at the screen and turned on capslock.  He wants to help with the blogging.

An update on my crochet: The following is what I wrote on the Champagne and Socks Ravelry group last night:-

I’m on the third last border round of the Jabyblanket, and In what I can only assume is a fit of nerves relating either to whether I will run out of yarn, or a dislike of the large gauge and the current look of the border, I have rationalised setting that project aside for another repeat of the same pattern for a baby who is in fact due before the Jade Baby. This will probably be the final time I do this pattern for a while, but it works up very quickly and takes very little concentration, which is a benefit when one realises that there is a baby due around Easter, while the one whose blanket is finished is not due until June. Prioritisation, I suck at it.

This morning, while I was taking photos of yarn (I'm trying to put my stash into Ravelry as well as clearing up my craft room etc), I was looking at the photos of the Elphieblanket and realised that the problem with the Jabyblanket is that I've missed a treble in each group.  Sigh.

(Photo is of the stuff up of the border.)

On the other hand, it explains why I thought the border looked odd - it *was* odd.  And I'm glad I put it down because it means there's less to pull out.

Having sorted that out, I may in fact pick it back up tonight and frog back the mistake and get into fixing this, despite realising that I've been making up these blankets in the wrong 'birth order', so to speak.

So then there's the new project: yet again the same pattern, this time with a ply and hook in between the very small Elphieblanket and the very large Jabyblanket.  Currently using a very cheap hook, because I'm not sure where my tin of good quality hooks has gone (somewhere in the craft room, no doubt.)  Doesn't look like much at the moment, but it will grow rapidly, I'm sure.

Finally - one of the additional reasons why this may be the last time for a while I work on this pattern?  The pattern itself got attacked by the kittyboys last night and has a couple of rips in important places.  Oops.

Currently creating - 11th March 2015

As I said in yesterday's post - I actually did some Project Life this week!  OMG!  Yes, the exclamation points are necessary, because it has been so long.  Like since January long, and I haven't properly finished a layout since mid-November.

Part of my Trello checklist of 2014 spreads that need to be finished...

(I know this because I just yesterday went through and created a list of all the layouts from last year that need to be completed, and there are ridiculous numbers of them.  Plus my December Daily album. (Next listing project is to go through that and work out which days need to be finished, which I think is a lot of them.)  Plus Monday I finished Weeks 3 and 4 of 2015, which were the first 2015 layouts I have completed.)

I was beginning to worry that I was losing interest in PL, which would be a pity (understatement) given how much PL stuff I've spent good money on.  I don't think it's that, though: I think it's actually been a case of trying to adjust to a different work schedule, and recovering from last November's meltdown, and still trying to get into a good workflow with using the app to plan my layouts, then putting together collages and saving those to the Kodak app and then getting myself to Officeworks to print out the photos and then sitting down to put them all together...

Working on Week 2 of 2015 on Monday evening

Of course, the other thing that's been keeping me from spending time on PL, at least lately, is probably the effort I've been putting in to the Jabyblanket.  Which is now at border round 4 of six, where rounds five and six are the most complicated part of the pattern (there's hearts and picots and bits where you're crocheting trebles that look like nothing until all of a sudden you go "oh, so that's where that was going!" and then you do that again.  Hundreds of times.

Here it is, laid out on the floor so you can see the whole thing, and then a detail shot of the corner.  And in answer to Alisa - the pattern repeat was four rows: I'm using a 6mm hook so the stitches are large.

I'm desperately hoping that the yarn will hold out to the end: I haven't seen this one available again since the day I bought two huge balls of it.  If the yarn doesn't last (which I think is likely) I'll do the last two rounds of the border in a solid colour - probably purple - and hope that works out.

Currently creating - 4th March 2015

I've gotten really behind on my crafting this past week.

I'm also behind on my Craft Circle podcast listening, mostly because I'm trying desperately to listen to an eAudiobook before my loan runs out in six days.  It's Jung Chang's "Empress Dowager Cixi", which in treebook form is 436pg and in audiobook is 57 segments of an average of 20 minutes.

You'd think all this listening time would mean that I'd have got some crochet done, but apparently not.  I am going to make a big effort on Friday to do some Project Life, however, if only so that I have something to report next week.

Last week was a total failure as far as bento was concerned, as well - (hey, bento is creative!) - but this week I've done a little better so far, including trying Sho-yu Tomago (soy sauce eggs) for the first time, and baking a batch of carrot and zucchini muffins.

Oh, and when we were in Melbourne last weekend, I got a couple of rice moulds.  So our rice now comes in fun shapes!

Currently creating - 25th February

Wow - how did it get to the 25th of February already!

So - my weekly contribution to the Champagne and Socks virtual craft circle - this time with actual photos!

This week I intend to finally send the finished Elphieblanket on its way.  I really love the yarn I used for this one - Patons Rainbow in "Rainforest".  I bought some more of it while it was on sale, in a different colourway - I'll have to find an appropriate project for that.

On the Jabyblanket, I've so far kept to my intention to complete at least one repeat of the pattern per day, and I'm up to 19 of 27.

Our cat Bard insisted on being included in my photo of progress so far.

In other types of creativity - after many tries, and *just* before they officially discontinued the set (damn you, LEGO), we finally got our hands on the Research Institute set - this being the three female scientists set that was voted for by the public and was made in such ludicrously low numbers for such things... but anyway...

We finally got our Research Institute and had great fun building it.  Have a LEGO dinosaur.