UFOs!

As promised, here are some pictures of my UnFinished Objects.  Is it normal to have so many things on the go at one time?  I find that I often get to a nearly finishing point and can't quite decide what handles or what brim to put on and I defer the decision by starting something else.

Here's my most recent start.  The crown of a hat which may become a cloche-type or a beanie-type or a bonnet-sort-of-thing.  I feel my way a bit and do what seems right as it develops.  It will definitely have a bundle of flowers and leaves on it though!  Pretty as this Sirdar Click yarn is, it'd be a little sombre with no decorations.

This is another bag, also destined for a contrasting decoration.  This yarn was from a bargain bucket, and I love the mix of colours.  The feel is quite fluffy too, and it creates the effect of already having been felted.  Handles still to come!  It's going to be a handbag, with crocheted handles strengthened by ribbons.  I just need to do the sums of numbers of stitches...  

Now, this is a cushion cover, or the first half of one.  It's from an actual pattern, rather than from the bizarre recesses of my head.  Pattern to be found in Issue 36 of Inside Crochet.  It's intended to create an optical art effect, and I'm doing it with the last few balls of my Rowan Lenpur Linen.  The colours are perfect to go in our kitchen extension!

And this is what I'm doing with all the wool I bought back in October - http://alibennett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/hippoos-rosettes-and-little-big.html.  It's for me - a big granny stitch throw using a pattern from Granny Square Crochet by Catherine Hirst.  It's only supposed to be 14 squares wide, but I increased it to 18 so that it drapes properly over a double bed.  Easy enough, and quick to work with the granny stitches.  You could do this with a minimum of experience, I think.

 Here it is laid out - about 6 feet wide and 2 feet long.  Two bands of squares and the rest ought to be stripes.  I may decide to change that, but we'll see.  It's more fiddly doing squares than stripes.  Stripes can be worked with only half my mind on the crochet, and there are fewer decisions about colour to make as I go along.   Mind you, with something this big, it's hard to carry on when Herbie decides to climb on my lap.  He's my quality control supervisor, and he takes his job very seriously.  

So, this is what's going on right now.  Slowly, because I'm back into term-time and there's sooo much to do!  Plus I'm starting work on a Masters degree with the OU this month, so that's most of my spare time accounted for.  

Did I mention I got a banjo for Christmas?  It's brilliant!  I am a guitarist, so it's not a totally new pursuit for me, but the techniques and notes are different enough for me to have to practise.  I seem to have committed myself to doing Duelling Banjos with a colleague at a concert in February.  *coughs*  It'll be fine, I'm sure it will.

More practice then!

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