I picked up my knitting again and progressed a little farther. I keep telling myself that this is the worst bit, row-length-wise. I’m making a top-down cartigan with raglan sleeves, and across the shoulders, before the arms are separated from the body, the row has around 300 stitches and is increasing. I’m close to separating the sleeves and then I hope the work will at least perceive to go faster. I posted a couple shorts on YouTube of my real-time perl and knit. It is slow going.
Today you get a picture of Thor the Gray Tabby, because he is such a pretty boy.
So tatting is a craft I have not previously attempted. I have not historically been a lace person, so tatting, which is a type of knotted lace, was not a high priority. Finding myself in Texas, where thick woolens are not required, I’ve come to appreciate the functionality of lace. Mainly, I can craft something that is wearable in the Texas heat. To keep it real, I took a picture of my failed first attempts.
Not to cast a pall on all the fantastic lace work out there, but they all started with misshapen tangles of thread too. It is hard to learn new things, and the first products are not usually spectacular. It takes time and practice to develop the muscle memory and control for different hand crafts. Enjoying this learning process helps me not abandon the effort in frustration. Although it is not a bad idea to take frequent breaks, because it can be exasperating teaching our hands new skills. I did eventually produce a small chain of loops.
I used the word “not” eight times in this post, see what I did there?
I took some green time and walked through the woods. I can still see the results of the heavy rain we had, the path I cleared years ago had been swept clean by the water, making a path about two feet wide through the leaves.
I saw some nice mushrooms too, another sign we’ve actually received significant moisture.
I have what I believe is a mulberry tree in the back woods. It is growing under the canopy, so is spindly but keeps making a go of it each year. I was sad to see that something, probably deer, have stripped the bark on one side of the tree.
And of course there were cats. I was able to get a picture of Mr Tom in his glorious winter coat before he wandered off.
I took my two mosaic crochet experiments and joined them together to make a pillow, because why not? I used a single crochet stitch to join the sides, then stuffed it with poly fill.
I put a stitch in the center of the pillow to hold the stuffing in place and give it an even more retro look. It worked well because both sides have a defined center of the pattern.
Critters and Craft 