Wips & Whimsy #2
It has only been a week since my first WIPs & Whimsy, but apparently a lot can happen in a week.
A projects has been finished, yarn has been acquired, books have been read, board games have been lost, and a group of elementary students have unintentionally given me a lesson in perfectionism.
So let's get into it.
Current WIPs
The biggest news is that I finished the Luxe Bamboo Baby Blanket!
This blanket was worked in Hobbii's Rainbow Bamboo yarn in the Dusty Pine colorway, and by the time you're reading this, it will have already been gifted to my friend for her first grandchild.
The timing ended up being perfect because I realized the baby was due any day now and immediately shifted into panic-crochet mode. Nothing motivates progress quite like an impending baby.
With the baby blanket complete, I've returned to my Mocha Ripple Afghan.
This blanket has officially reached the stage where it's too large to be portable, so it now lives exclusively in "my chair" in the craft room. If I'm sitting anywhere else, it isn't getting worked on.
It's still one of my favorite projects, and I'm determined to finally finish it after nearly a year of off-and-on progress. It WILL be finished this week. I’m putting my foot down.
I also dug a few languishing WIPs out of hibernation.
One of them is a Sockhead Slouch Hat in a beautiful autumn-colored yarn that I absolutely cannot identify because I lost the label sometime in the last year.
I'm sure Future Me thought she would remember what yarn it was.
Future Me was wrong.
Another languishing WIP is a filet crochet dinosaur blanket for my nephew Roman's first birthday, which is in July. So let’s go. I put in like 15 rows yesterday!
Everything was going great until I realized two of the brontosaurus dinos had incorrect stitch counts.
Reader, I had to frog eight rows.
Eight.
I nearly cried.
But the counts are fixed now, and the dinosaurs can continue their migration across the blanket.
The Projects That Refuse To Be Finished
The Gerhard Sweater and the Papillon Shawl remain exactly where they were last week.
Completely finished.
Except for weaving in the ends.
Which means they are not actually finished.
Weaving in ends remains my greatest enemy.
Acquisitions
This week featured what I would describe as a completely reasonable yarn purchase followed immediately by several less reasonable yarn purchases.
I started by ordering Plies & Hellhounds Nectar Fingering in the colorway Hemlock. The plan was to make the Alchemist Tee using the suggested yarn. Hemlock is a little more subdued than the colors I usually gravitate toward, but I think it will make a beautiful garment.
Then Must Stash Yarn sent an email.
Specifically, an email featuring their Star Wars collection and a special colorway called Death Star Retirement Party.
Reader, I lasted approximately three seconds.
Full send. Add to cart. Done.
The yarn is heavily speckled over a white base, and while the hank is beautiful, it was the swatch photo that completely sold me. It's colorful, chaotic, and impossible to ignore.
Now I want to make the Alchemist Tee with that yarn instead.
Or maybe I make two Alchemist Tees.
One responsible version and one chaos version.
I also placed a Hobbii order that included Cotton Kings Cone 500 in Pewter and two colorways of Universe yarn: Andromeda and Outer Space.
The current plan is for all three to become boho-style crochet dusters, possibly using the Lotus Mandala Duster pattern by Regina Weiss.
Finally, I ordered Happy Place Solid in Orchid to make the Kanata Kerchief Tank.
Apparently I am planning an entire handmade wardrobe.
Books & Board Games
I finished three books this week.
First up was The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling, which I absolutely loved.
It was fun, cozy, lighthearted, and exactly what I needed. Sometimes a book doesn't need to change your life. Sometimes it just needs to pull you out of a reading slump and make you smile. This one did exactly that, and I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series.
I also finished The Clinic by Cate Quinn.
The twist completely caught me off guard, which is always fun, but I'm still not sure I fully enjoyed where the twist ultimately went. It was wild, though.
Finally, I finished The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley.
I enjoyed it, but it wasn't one of my favorites from her. Not every book can be a winner, and this one landed firmly in the "good but not unforgettable" category for me.
As for what's currently on my nightstand, I just started Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Inevitable Ruin and I'm excited to jump back into that wonderfully unhinged world.
Family Game Night
Family game night returned this week.
We started with Daybreak, a cooperative game that asks players to work together to save the planet.
We failed.
Spectacularly.
Later in the evening we tried again.
We failed again.
At this point I'm genuinely unsure whether we're missing a crucial strategy or accidentally playing the game on some secret hidden difficulty setting.
My next step is watching strategy videos to determine whether we're making tactical mistakes or simply bad at saving humanity.
When my grandmother arrived, we switched to Mexican Train Dominoes, which may be a little too easy for her because she won every single round.
How rude of her.
(Just kidding. Good job, Grandma.)
We also squeezed in a few rounds of Dumpster Dice while waiting for s'mores at the fire pit, which felt like the perfect way to spend a summer evening.
Life Lately
This week marked the final meeting of Crochet Club at the elementary school where I work.
My friend Sarah and I spend the year teaching crochet (and occasionally knitting) to third and fourth graders, and watching them grow has been one of the highlights of my year.
The funny thing is that I think I learned as much from them as they learned from me.
Kids don't always do things correctly.
They make mistakes.
They miss stitches.
They accidentally create entirely new techniques.
And most importantly, they don't seem nearly as bothered by those things as I am.
They don't immediately rip out rows.
They don't demand perfection from themselves.
They shrug, keep going, and somehow still end up making something wonderful.
Maybe there's a lesson in that.
One of the students surprised Sarah and me with flowers during our final meeting.
It was completely unexpected and incredibly sweet.
Moments like that make it easy to remember why we keep showing up.
Side Quest of the Week
The lucky stars are still happening.
Progress slowed down while I was focused on finishing the baby blanket, but I'm back to folding them again.
The good news is that the children are no longer depleting my inventory.
The bad news is that they're now attempting to contribute to it.
I love them.
I love that they want to help.
I love how excited they are about my goal.
But I do not love their stars.
So now there is a special vase in my classroom dedicated entirely to student-made stars. They are beautifully imperfect, and the kids are working very hard to fill it.
As for my actual side quest, all roads currently lead to one thing:
Lainey's fossil-themed birthday party.
The party is next week, and there is still plenty to do before a herd of excited eight-year-olds arrives ready to excavate fossils and consume cake.
Wish me luck.
Looking Ahead
Before the next WIPs & Whimsy, I'd like to make meaningful progress on the dinosaur blanket, avoid buying yarn for at least a few days, and survive a fossil-themed birthday party.
We'll see how many of those goals actually happen.
May your yarn never tangle and your side quests be rewarding,
Ally
