I had a very productive evening last night. I got a number of rows done on the scarf on the subway and train and with this morning's output I'm at about 23 rows, nearly a quarter of the way there. I also worked for two hours on the blue hex last night. I'm currently half-way through round 56. It's getting to be the right size. I was in our computer room watching CSI and since Molly was with my husband in the TV room downstairs, I was able to spread the blanket out fully. I haven't had a chance to do that much since I stopped bringing it to work. I get such a feeling of accomplishment seeing how huge it is.

By wrapping my measuring tape around my face like I would a scarf, I determined that a 48" scarf would be plenty long. So, at my current gauge, that's 96 rows. I've got 10 1/2 done. I should be more than an eighth done the scarf by the end of my commute tonight.

The beginning of a project is my favorite part. No, actually that's not true. The planning of a project is my favorite part. I love looking at patterns, colors, and different yarns. The shopping part is good. I like starting. The end is good, because you get a sense of accomplishment and then you can gift the project. I got the sweetest thank you from my cousin and his wife for the baby blanket I made. I absolutely cannot wait to give my sister the blue hex once it's done. She doesn't even know I've started it and I know she's going to love it. (She better or I'm keeping it.)

The middle's not bad, because again, there's a sense of accomplishment. That "whoo, half done" feeling. It's the part where you're between half and 2/3 done that stinks. Two-thirds just isn't a good fraction. Three-quarters is good, two-thirds is not.

And that's me being philosophical.

I obviously picked the uncool yarn art. Knitting is everywhere and there are tons of chi-chi knitting blogs and journals out there. I could not find a true crochet blog with a quick google search. I guess I could try again with more permutations, but why bother? Since it's not so hip, it's not going to have as wired a community.

I'm even more uncool becuase I don't have a hundred sets of needles spanning from Addis to bamboo and back. And I don't use fancy-shmancy handpainted, virgin lambswool for my creations. Call me cheap, call me kitschy, but I hate drycleaning. (Do any wool adorers know how carcinogenous those chemicals are? Or what they do to ground water?) I refuse to give someone a gift that's care is difficult.

Eh. Feel a bit of class warfare emanating from my poors. I just feel like the bastard step-child whose efforts are always pooh-poohed.

It's not that I have a thing against knitting. I don't. I want to become a better knitter. I just don't see how one is so much better than the other.

I haven't watched his show for years, and I know they stopped making new ones two years ago, but Fred Rogers will still be missed. He was a decent, kind man and kids need more role models like him.

Just had to put my two cents in there.

On the crochet front, I finished the hat last night. I finished up just as the train was pulling into my station. It's a little big and rather stiff, but it will do. My husband keeps suggesting I give it to his mom. She's always complaining about how big her head is. He also said it looks like Debbie Gibson, ca. 1987. Looking at the recent Delia's catolg, the '80s are most definitely in.

I saw a woman on the train who made the hat with the recommended chenille. It looks very different from my worsted acrylic version. But, I used what I had.

The scarf was begun this morning. I'm using the I hook and have gotten half way through the 3rd row. 117 to go (depending on how long I want it to be, 5' might be too much).

Molly was a very good girl last night. I tired her out with lots of tug and fetch so she sacked out about 9 and I got to work on the blue hex. I'm well into round 54. It's nice to have less than six to go. The edging will take a while. Reverse stitches are awkward.

Still undecided on my next project, definitely leaning toward the doggie blanket.

I spoke with my husband about the hat last night at the Devils game and he kindly pointed out that the hat is also NY Giants' colors. So, now I can wear it. Yes, I am a girl. I've just been with a sports-minded man so long, it's rubbed off!

I haven't done much on the hat since yesterday morning. I couldn't work on it on the way home last night; PATH trains are too crowded. And I just had to get out of the office at lunch.

I'll work on it tonight on the train home. I should be able to get it finished. I only have one or two rows left before I start on the reverse crochet edging. I remembered my F hook for the edging, too! Then it's onto the scarf. I really could have used both today. It's cold in NYC.

I'm debating what to start on next. My husband's suggested a few projects the last day or so, but they're not something I want to get started on right away. There may be no use for them and I won't know for sure for over a week.

I've been thinking about knitting a blanket for our puppy. She sleeps on towels in her crate, but she really likes the afghans we have on our sofas in the TV room. I think she'd like to have her own. And she won't be picky if my stitches aren't perfect. She also won't be picky about the color either. It will be a good scrap yarn, practice piece.

I'm nearly done the hat. Only one or two rounds left. Although I grabbed auxilliary hooks and some other tools this morning, I don't have my F hook for the edging. Oh well, it's not going to pattern anyway. I'll finish it with the G and if it doesn't roll properly, I can always pull out the edging and re-do.

I nearly decided to pull it all out this morning. I'm not enamoured with this hat. For once my gauge is too big; the hat's going to be huge. Which is probably a plus for curly hair. But, the colors are worse than I thought. The blue doesn't match my coat at all and the red and blue in the hat together will make me look like a New York Rangers' fan. Yuck.

I'm going to finish it and try to wear it, but if I finish on the way home tonight, I won't be wearing it. I'm going to see the New Jersey Devils play the Rangers and I don't want to be misidentified.

Crocheting's not been on my mind too much the last day or so. I've been preoccupied by other, private things. I'm in my head all the time lately. Maybe I should be ogling yarns and hooks instead of thinking so much!

A semi-productive weekend. I got a couple of rows done on the blue hex. It's funny. Molly will ignore me for hours, but as soon as I take out my crocheting, I'm the puppy's favorite pillow. She also likes to play with my projects. Mostly because she knows I'll chase her to get them back.

Got a few rounds done on the hat this morning. I have to remember to throw my F hook, scissors, and measuring tape in my bag tonight. If I get on a roll, I'll need them. I also need to grab a bigger hook for the scarf. H, I, or J?

Although I've done about 19 rounds (for about 5 1/2") on my hat since Wednesday, I don't feel like I've been a productive crocheter. I guess it stems from only getting about a row done on the blue hex. Of course a round on the hat is about 10 times faster than a round on the hex. I haven't had time to crochet at home the last few days. Last night, I was solo with the puppy. When she finally calmed down, she wanted to use me as a pillow. It's impossible to crochet with a 60 pound bulldog on your arm. Don't get me wrong, I love snuggling with her, I just wish I'd had some more time to work on the hex. I only have about three weeks before my trip to visit the family and I do so want to have it done by then.

I think I'm going out to lunch with some co-workers today, so that'll kill some of the time I had planned to work on the hat. Oh well, there's always the commute home.

By the way, I did count the rounds on the blue hexagon blanket and I have 9 left to go, not counting the edging. I should have it done in time for my trip home.

I wrote this entry yesterday afternoon, but couldn't get in to post it.

I've started another project, a scarf and hat set for myself. I haven't finished the hexagon blanket (affectionately known as the hex), yet. But, I bought a new coat on Sunday and my current hat and scarf do not match it. The coat is red with a navy blue lining. My hat is bright purple (my husband bought it for me) and my scarf is off-white, green, and dusty rose (a friend made it for me years ago). I know my hat and scarf do not currently match each other!

Originally, I was just going to do a hat and worry about the scarf later. I thought (because the lighting is so bad in our bedrooms) that the coat was red and black. Since I only had enough red and black in my stash for a hat, that's all I was going to do. I started on Monday and wasn't very happy with how it was going. Then, I wore the coat yesterday and realized once I got out into the sunlight that it's actually red and navy. So, after partially completing the first hat, I had to start over, but no great loss.

I have plenty of blue yarn. It's "midnight" blue, so it's not a perfect match, but it's a better than the hat I have now.

I'm working from a pattern from the Lion Brand site. They have a nice offering of free patterns. I'm doing the rolled brim hat. I'm on the tenth round. It's going to be mostly blue with a red brim (or red stripes, I haven't decided).

The scarf is just going to be double-crochet in blue with red stripes and maybe some fringe. I'll have to work out a pattern for the stripes. I don't have a whole lot of red maybe 3 ozs.

I decided to leave the blue hex at home and make the hat and scarf my travelling project. The hex is just too big to carry around. I have to count rows tonight to see how far along I've gotten. I didn't do too much this weekend, but I did get one finished last night. I've got it all scrunched up in a tote bag so I can easily move it out of harm's way if our puppy gets too interested.

I'm thinking of going home the weekend of March 15. I'll have plenty of time to finish it on the train up, but it would be nice to just have it completely done by then (and start something new on the train).

I don't know what I'm going to do with myself today. I left the blanket at home. It's gotten so it won't fit in my bag with my lunch and the book I brought. I haven't been carrying novels around with me for some time, but this one has a very cool cover that I wanted to share with our designer.

I can't believe I'm going to go the whole day without crocheting.

Just made the turn into round 46. Fourteen to go.

Started skein 10 this morning. I got to do a bit last night watching Westminster on TV. Molly had a new bone, so she left us alone for a while. We rooted for the bulldog, but he lost out to the standard poodle.

I'm trying to decide what to work on next. I want to knit a crate blanket for Molly; I think in sea green and off-white. I've been toying with using it to practice stitches. I'd do a bit in garter, then stockinet, etc. On the other hand, I have a pattern for a really cute jack o'lantern blanket. One of my aunts-in-law has a Halloween birthday. The hubby suggested making it for her. That would be a good project for the commute; it's done in pieces. But I hate piece work. Well, I hate sewing all the little pieces together!

I don't have to decide for a bit. The current project's still a long way from being completed. I just hope I still have the bug as strong as I do now. I'm nearly obsessive.

And, I know the pattern below isn't written properly. I'll fix it eventually.

I'm about 2 1/2 weeks into the blanket for my sister and I've only got about 18 rounds to go. Of course, the rounds take a lot longer to finish now than they did when I started. I'm on the ninth skein of 20. I think I'm going to have leftovers! I've been crocheting every chance I get. I'm glad I started to devote parts of my lunch hour to it. I've even been able to do some at home when our puppy is asleep or chewing on her bone.

Here's the pattern I wrote for it:

Fur's "pointy" afghan
(blue hexagon)

about 60" across

60 oz. variegated blue
ch 6, sl st in first ch to make round
rd 1 ch 3; dc; ch 2, *2 dc, ch 2; repeat * 4 times, sl st in top of ch 3, turn
rd 2 ch 3; dc in each dc; dc, ch 2, dc in each ch 2 space; skip sl st; join with sl st in top ch of ch 3, turn
Repeat until blanket is to size (~60 rounds)
Edging: reverse dc in each dc, 2 rv dc in each ch 2 space

Apparently, crocheting on the train makes one memorable. The other day I was crocheting on the train home and the conductor just pointed at me and said where I was getting off. Didn't need to see my ticket. If I were vain, I would have automatically assumed it was my good looks. But, I know it was the blanket I'm working on and my unique hobby.