A whole week later

And I still don't have much to report. I'm attempting to be better about housework, leaving less time for the computer and the yarn. But I still managed to get a couple of things figured out this week.

First, I tackled crochet charts. I'm a big fan of knitting from charts, so I knew that I'd prefer crocheting from charts, too. But they are (for lack of a better term) fluffier than knit charts. They are, more or less, a picture of the stitches in the right positions. Knit charts are kinda the same, but in a much more controlled, linear way. It took a few tries to find the right sort of intro project, but I found a fairly simple pattern and went to work. There were a couple of false starts, but I got eventually the hang of it. It's a good thing that I took the picture when I did, too, because The Nige frogged it about 10 minutes later while my attention was directed elsewhere. Ah, life with a boy.


Then I got curious about this foundation chain thing that the real crocheters are always going on about. For those of you not familiar with it, it's making your chain and the first row of SC all at the same time. I think of it as the counterpart to the long tail cast on in knitting, which gives you a row of knit stitches and the cast-on in one fell swoop. I really really dislike trying to crochet into the chain, so the foundation is a must-know technique, as far as I am concerned. :) After a little googling, I found a great clear tutorial on it. In just a bit, here's what I had:


Go there and learn it. I insist. Really worth a couple of yards of yarn and a few minutes of your time. I know there are other methods out there for this, but I'm not savvy enough to know when they are needed. For now I'll bask in the glow of a new trick learned.

I'm nearing the home stretch on completing Otis from Knitty.com, and looking forward to seeing if it fits. I hope so. That much stockinette better not be for naught.

I promise to update again in less than a week. I have some thoughts clanging around in my head, and I need to write them down here before they start crowding out the more important info, like appointments and shopping lists and first-aid techniques.