June 5, 2020
Dear Everyone:
I have nearly finished a crochet project that involves creating a small
critter. I’ve done this
pattern at least once before, so it’s familiar to me.
The problem with finishing, or nearly finishing, a project is
that it starts me thinking about what the next project will be.
I decided that I want to make a large “throw” blanket that I can use to
cover one of the living room chairs.
The chair in question, one of two, is currently covered with a
cheap blanket that I picked up ages ago.
During the Holiday Season, I added a festive colored sheet, but
that was, by definition, temporary.
(Note to Self: I’ve had
these two large chairs for
over a dozen years now. It
may be time to replace them with something else.
Maybe after the current Emergency Situation is resolved.)
A large throw can simply be a really big square or rectangle in whatever
pattern I like. It can
consist of many, many relatively small squares sewn, crocheted, or
knitted together. One
advantage to the small square approach is that the squares are small.
They finish quickly, giving one a pleasing sense of
accomplishment. On the other
hand, one never seems to get very far.
After a few rounds, the square is done and goes into a bag or box
designated to hold all the little squares until there are enough to
fasten together for the final product.
Another approach is to keep making one square bigger and bigger and
bigger…until it is big enough to cover the entire chair, or as much as
is deemed necessary. I
decided to try this for the first chair, then decide what, if anything,
to do with the second chair.
I also decided to make the Really Big Square in a variety of colors in
no particular order.
This meant I needed a lot of yarn in many, many colors.
I have a large selection of yarn, mostly leftover from other
previous projects, but they are different makes and models that can’t be
guaranteed to go together.
Better to start fresh with all new yarn made be the same manufacturer
and in the same consistency.
Ordinarily, I would just hop in the car and drive to the Big Sewing and
Craft Store. But we can’t do
that here in the Bay Area while the Stay at Home Order remains in place.
The Store is “open”, but only for Curbside Delivery.
That means that you go online and order what you want, pay by
credit card, and designate which Store you want to drive to and pick up
your purchase.
This whole process can actually take several days.
First, the order has to go through the Store’s online system.
Then it has to show up at the individual Store that you selected.
Then, assuming they have the stock on hand, they have to go to
the particular shelves and pull and assemble the various parts ordered.
Then they have to put everything together into some kind of
package(s).
Once all of this is accomplished, they send you an email message to let
you know your order is ready to be picked up.
Then you drive to the physical Store and maneuver your car into a
designated line in which to wait for your turn.
When you pull up to the curbside in front of the entrance, you
identify yourself to a clerk who then goes inside to find your purchase
and brings it out to your car.
Considering all that, I decided that I might as well have everything
delivered directly to me, thus saving the people in the physical Store a
whole lot of bother. I had
already decided on what kind of yarn I wanted to use.
It comes from a manufacturer that I am very familiar with, so I
know knew what I would be getting.
And, because this project is going to be a large one,
approximately 90-plus inches on each side, I selected skeins of yarn
that come in a large, one-pound size.
In about a dozen different colors.
This week, a very large box arrived at my front door, with approximately
twelve pounds of acrylic yarn in it.
That’s ever 9000 yards of yarn.
Naturally, I couldn’t wait to get started.
That’s the problem with a nearly-completed critter, just waiting to be
stuffed and assembled. All
of the enthusiasm transfers over to the new project.
The thinking is, “I’ll just get this started, to make sure it’s
what I really want to do, then I’ll go back and finish the other.”
And sometimes that is just what happens.
The enthusiasm of a new project begins to wane after a while.
Then the need to finish something takes over and I’ll go back to
the abandoned critter, sitting patiently in its project bag.
The thinking is, “I’ll just finish this so it will be all done,
then I’ll go back to the other.”
And that’s how it goes in some of these cases.
In other cases, the thrill of finishing something leads to
starting another new project, and the Really Big Square becomes the
Fallback Thing that I’ll work on when something becomes too complicated
and I need another thing simpler to work on for a while.
After all, it will take quite a while.
And there’s no real urgency involved.
It’s just something fairly mindless that I can work on whenever I
want an excuse to sit in front of the TV and crochet while observing the
Stay at Home Order and binge-watching Downton Abbey.
I’m currently in the middle of Season Two of six, which means the
middle of World War I and its aftermath.
Spoiler Alert: I already
know which side won WWI.
Love, as always,
Pete
Programming Note: I have an
appointment next Friday which will in all probability take the major
portion of the day.
Consequently, there will likely be no Letter next week.
Talk among yourselves in the meantime…
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