For my regular visitors, if you find that this blog hasn't been updating much lately, chances are pretty good I've been spending my writing energy on my companion blog. Feel free to pop over to Moving On, and see what else has been going on.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

I've changed my mind

I've got 45 minutes to post before I have to go back to doing laundry. One plus side of living in a large apartment block. I've got 5 loads to do today, and they're spread over 5 floors. Two and a half to three hours is a lot better than the 7 or 10 it would take otherwise (most likely 10, since the drier on our floor doesn't dry well and always needs extra time).

So just a quick post.

Every year, I make new Christmas decorations for our tree. This year, since I've taken up crochet again, I was planning to make things like crochet snowflakes in white glow in the dark yarn.

Then I found a book in the library called Creative Backstitch and was totally inspired! I'll still do some crochet. I'm going to use the glow in the dark yarn to make a spiral garland edged in red. For the other decorations, I'm going to make spice sachets. I'll be backstitching designs on aida cloth strips, make the strips into little baggies, then put whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and other spices I can think of inside. I'll include some fibrefill to keep things from moving around and, since I'm adding that in, I'll pick up some scented oil - vanilla, I'm thinking - and add a few drops. Then I'll decorate the top edge (haven't decided exactly how, yet), gather them closed so that the cinnamon sticks still show out the top, with loops for hanging. The sachets in the book are stuffed with lavender blossums and trimmed with lacy ribbon.

I'm looking forward to making them and most likely have everything I need to make them - I'll know for sure once I've decided on the decorative edging - but I can't start them yet. I refuse to allow myself to get distracted away from the coat I'm currently crocheting for Eldest. I'd really like for her to be able to wear it before things get too cold for such a relatively light coat. I'm working on the last sleeve, with the back panel and both front panels already blocked and waiting. After the sleeves are blocked, it needs to be assembled and I'll get my daughter to put it on while I figure out how to do a collar. The pattern I've modified for this is a cardigan with no collar, and I've never done collars before. I have several ideas, but I want to see how it sits on her shoulders, before I made any decisions.

Once that's figured out, a button band needs to be added, which is made up of 5 rows of crochet going up one side panel, around the neck, down the other, then back again. For added interest, when that is finished, Eldest has chosen a contrasting yarn she'd picked up for her doll making that I'll use to add a few rows to the bottom of the coat and to the cuffs.

So I'm really wanting to push getting this finished. I do hope it fits her well. I deliberately chose a larger size for this, but the panels still look so narrow. The book I got it from was for plus sized clothing and the models where all a lot larger than her, but none of them had her broad shoulders and generous front. I keep looking at the panels and thinking there's going to be trouble on her upper body. Especially since it's meant to be worn over cool weather tops. The button panels will add a couple of inches, but still... well, we'll see. Something else to figure out when I get her to put it on after assembly. I might add extra rows to the button panel or something like that.

Working all this out is fun!!

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