Catching Up and Dishing It Out

So much for keeping a journal! Due to a month of kiddie birthdays, I hadn't done much of any stitchery, so nothing to muse about.

We went to PA for a long weekend a few weeks ago. When we were there at Christmas, my mother-in-law had a knitted dishrag that had been given to her, and she seemed to like it (its reappearance on the counter immediately after we'd decontaminated it in the washing machine confirmed this). So, I had decided to make her another and had bought the yarn and a book. Didn't like the book once I got it home (all of the nice-looking ones were knitted, rather than crocheted), so I turned to other projects. Fast forward, and, while packing for the trip, I found a booklet on dishrags in a pile of crochet books in my closet. I'd had it all along. So, into my "in the car" bag went Leisure Arts #2666 "Lots More Wash & Wipes."

I made pattern #12 in the leaflet for my MIL--quick and easy, and it, unfortunately, didn't even manage to kill half of the drive, despite the distractions from the back seat (the kids were strangely interested in the dishrag, and insisted on inspecting the finished product).

I decided that another one might be the ticket for the drive home, so I headed to Michaels and bought another ball of cotton yarn. While there, I considered buying the materials to make a summer poncho. However, I was saved from myself by the fact that I couldn't find both a pattern that I liked AND the yarn to make it. :::whew:::

Anyway, to get to the point of all of this (didn't you realize there would be one?), I made pattern #7 for myself on the way home. It includes a stitch called Cross Stitch, as follows:


"To work Cross St, skip next dc, dc in next dc, working
around dc just made, dc in skipped dc."


There are two figures drawn to show the stitch being done by a right-handed crocheter. Oooooo. Journal fodder! Frankly, I'm glad that I had to figure this one out on my own because I cannot see how the stitch could be accomplished per the drawings--it shows the second stitch being done around the first dc on the crocheter's side of the piece. Frankly, this would require the stitcher to basically stand on her head to accomplish. My wrist certainly doesn't turn upside down. I tried to do it right-handed, as shown in the drawing, simply out of curiosity to see if I was missing the big flick somewhere. Nope. So, I did it behind the post of the first dc. Smugly, I was pleased that my "backwards" left-handed stitches looked just like the drawing, since I'd totally reversed not only the direction of work, but the direction in which the stitch was crossed.

So, what's my point? Even right-handed stitchers get obstacles thrown in their paths sometimes, courtesy of less-than-clear directions, bad drawings, and awkward "made up" stitches. The most important aspect of completing a project is to keep your eye on the big picture--what the finished product is supposed to look like--and then figure out how to reach that "look," using the instructions and photos given, with a healthy dose of your mind's eye thrown in for good measure.