Drinking & crocheting can kill projects

Last night, with all the excitement generated about possibly turning a square doily into a "roll back" for our new basketball hoop, I decided to give the "Swirls & Squares Doily" by Hartmus Hass a go. The pattern is featured in the 2002 Autumn issue of "Old-Time Crochet" and has been on my WIM (Work in Mind) list for quite some time.  Hartmus Hass might sound familiar to you.  He's the owner of the hassdesigns.com website that I mention from time to time.  

(For those interested, I did not find any copies of this "Old-TIme Crochet" magazine available on ebay ... I do know there's an option on ebay you can set up so they will notify you when an item you're seeking becomes available for auction; it's a handy little tool for collecting those hard-to-find items!.)

At first the going wasn't so "going" ... it was more like driving down Main Street and having every light turn red.  Stop & go. Stop & go. Stop & go; I'm sure you get the picture.  Usually I don't have trouble with following a pattern!  Yes, this pattern is a bit challenging, but I like being challenged!  When I work on a pattern, design concept, or new-to-me-technique, that requires great concentration, I learn so much from it!! 

After my fifth ripping session I chalked my problem to one typo (no biggie, realized it the moment I read it) and the glass of wine I was enjoying.  Ah, problem solved; lesson learned!  Since I had already concluded it wasn't the typo then it must be the wine!  I don't recall seeing any "Service Announcements" stating that drinking & crocheting can kill projects, do you?  I really don't enjoy ripping out work, especially when it's with thread, so that was a bummer. {{Note: I am not a huge drinker, never have been.  But between the heat yesterday and the glass of wine in celebration of Father's Day -- well, it was enough to throw my concentration off to cause some serious project ripping.  Yep, lesson learned.}}

So this morning, after assisting the children in tending the garden, I decided to give the doily another try.  Yeehaw!  Now I'm "cooking with Crisco!"  I am happily working on the middle squiggle you see there on the cover of the magazine.  I'm using a "no name" thread (purchased on a cone from WEBs a while back), lilac in color.  I think it will be quite pretty when it's done.  :)

{{To the right is a recent image of the garden the children worked so hard on reclaiming.  They're growing corn, broccoli, red lettuce, cantaloup, carrots, watermelon, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, egg plant, red peppers and rhubarb.  The netting is to help keep the deer out.  Inside there are two hanging wind chimes and five spinning CD's: hopefully they will help to keep our resident badger away!}}  Tags: crochet, garden