Crochet Frenzy

I’ve been crocheting away for the past week or so, working on the merino sweater, and now I’ve finished the body piece! It fits quite well, and I’m excited to see how it will block.

However, I’m not allowing myself to block it until I finish the shawl collar piece as well. And at the moment, it looks something like this.

Although, during a brief interlude between taking the picture and writing this post, it grew a bit. I calculated that it takes me about ten minutes a square, and there are a lot of squares. The sweater is designed to be crocheted as two pieces, then crocheted together. Once both pieces are done I’ll block them, then stick them together.

The granny square method makes it possible to unravel bits of the edges and crochet the two pieces together without a visible seam, or any extra nit-picky ends to weave in. Once they’re together, I’ll add a little trim to the edges, and a thick band to the bottom. The sweater does sort of cross-over thing in the front . . . it’s hard to explain without showing a picture. I want to get this done soon so I can wear it before it gets warmer outside.

So, the sweater is conflicting with this. The merino/tussah silk batt that I was given for Christmas. Oh, and if you’re wondering what the big foamy thing on the end of the spindle is, it’s a safety precaution. That spindle is a bit pointy, and if you’re not careful you can catch your arm on it.

It’s becoming a thin, two-ply, hopefully-sport-weight yarn, which I will use to knit, I repeat knit a lacy scarf. I love the way it’s spinning up.

The merino is its natural whitish color, and the tussah is a cinnamon gold. Oh, and there’s some white glitz in there too, although it doesn’t seem to be showing up much. The single on the spindle reminds me of cinnamon and sugar icing.

Oh, and I’ve learned a bit about my regular spinning wheel! Apparently it’s a “flax wheel.” Not that I’m sure what that implies, but every little bit helps.