(no subject)
Yesterday, after writing my entry, I gave myself some breathing room. I took time to watch TV (something I did not do in Paso Robles.) I got caught up with the shows I am hooked on. I looked at the shawl, and figured: All I have to do is make a few, simple flowers. It will take no time at all.
At 1pm, I figured I should get to it. I had been lazy long enough. So, I pulled out the brown, and pink yarn. And, by 2pm (just one hour later), I had made 10 flowers (5 brown, 5 pink). Each of them were complete perfection.
I pulled out the shawl, and started stitching the flowers, up the left side. As I did so, I knew...I just KNEW, that it would look completely SMASHING, when finished. I was tickled (pardon the pun)...PINK! In what I call an hour of blindness, I stitched the 10 flowers on the shawl. Pink, brown, pink, brown, pink, brown...the colors alternated. When the last flower was added, I held the shawl up, and looked.
"Huh!" The grunt escaped my lips.
"Well...this sucks!" I was going for elegant...pretty. Instead, all the flowers made this shawl look like something you would see BOZO THE CLOWN wear (if he were a drag queen, and had a thing for shawls.) The flowers stripped away all elegance, and made the piece just look plain SILLY!
So, 2 hours of my life, spent with flowers, which would not work. I was, as you can imagine, pissed.
"See, Michael," I said, as I stared at the shawl. All I could see was the monstrous bouquet trailing up the side. "Now you know why people work from FRIGGIN patterns."
I cursed myself (and the flowers), as I cut them free from the shawl. The pink flowers were easy to cut free...but the brown. Oh, the brown!
With each snip of a brown flower, I prayed that I would not ACCIDENTALLY cut one of the treble stitches of the shawl. I would hold my breath, each time I cut a brown thread.
I am glad to say that I did not cut the treble stitches of the shawl. If I had, I think I would have gone ballistic. People, two zip codes away, would have heard the screams. This little yarnie would have experienced an uncontrollable (and, possibly, everlasting) fit of rage.
I looked at the flowerLESS shawl...it looked empty. Something needed to be done. Flowers needed to adorn this shawl...I was sure of it. They just did not need to go up the side. There did not need to be 10 (believe me...that was overkill). And, there did NOT need to brown flowers. (After seeing these on the shawl, I had ask myself: What the HELL were you thinking? Brown FRIGGIN flowers, on a brown shawl. You can't even see the damned things. And, the texture change you wanted...the reason you added these flowers...not there, buddy!'
So, I decided to add the flowers at the bottom. I would use one pink flower (which I would have to make, again. The original pink flowers were BRUTALLY murdered, as I snipped them away from the shawl.) I would also use two white flowers, and two green leaves.
No big deal, I thought, as I pulled out pink, green, and white yarn.You already know how to make flowers. And, leaves can't be that hard.
Well...The flowers, which I made so easily, earlier in the day, had decided to screw me over. They would simply NOT come out right. The instructions for the flowers are plain as day. But, for whatever reason, this pattern, which was so easy at first, had become a pain in the ass.
On my 4th attempt, I managed to get the PERFECT pink flower. And, for two perfect white flowers, I would make another 6 attempts. (As you can imagine, the "F" bomb was dropped quite a few times yesterday....so were a few other choice words. I made sailors seem like saints.)
The leaves, thankfully, were easy enough to work.
Then, the stitching...
I am not sure if it was due to being tired, but stitching the five things on the shawl took an hour and a FRIGGIN half. (I must say, I was REALLY hating this shawl, yesterday.)
Finally, at 6:45, the shawl was done. My sanity was gone. The curse words still leaked out of my mouth, in word vomit. I looked at the ruins of my original 10 flowers, littering my floor. I was sitting in the middle of yarn garden. And, as I held up the shawl, I thought: Finally...finished.It is perfect. And, it is. It is elegant. It is exactly what I wanted. Then, another thought. My mother better CRY, when she gets this! This gift better be so loved, that it brings tears to her eyes! Am I bad for wanting her to love this shawl, THAT much?
So, without further delay, here it is. The shawl.
As for today.
Here it is...1 pm. I haven't picked up yarn, all day. Instead, I spent my morning at the doctor's. I was getting my foot examined. I am now being told that surgery will, most likely, be needed, to fix the wound. Boy, doesn't that BITE? If I have surgery before the cruise, I may be put off my foot, once again. And, I will be limited as to what I can do. No walking means no trip to Catalina (which I was looking forward to.)
I am in serious need of a beer.
Mmmm....beer!
Then, lunch. I am thinking Mac & Cheese (the good, boxed kind...yum!)
Then, after lunch...YARN!
I will be creating one square today. I do not yet know which one. Then, I will start on my next project from I Taught Myself Crochet- the Broomstick Lace Pillow. (I have a feeling this project may take some time to do. The broomstick lace, as much as I love it, is kind of a pain to work. But, the pillow (at least, the one seen in this this book,) is beautiful. (Of course, mine will not look like this. Mine will be real...not an ehanced version.)
Well, that is it, for today. I feel as though I could write, and write, and write. But, the day is half-way over, and I NEED to crochet.
Happy crocheting!