Oh yes, dear friends, when it stopped raining for long enough to venture outside I managed to take my photo for today's 30 day Photo Challenge submission, entitled "Summertime". Pretty typical of a Sunday in England in Summer, don't you think? (If you're not in the UK, you may not know that it is only ever sunny here during the week and it rains at weekends when you might actually want to do nice outdoorsy things with your family... like go to a village carnival!)
Anyway, we have been celebrating Fathering Sunday with smoked salmon and Champagne for breakfast, some gifts and cards, a trip to the park (in the rain) and later on we'll be enjoying a delicious family meal, so it's not all bad.
I'm pleased to report that the Granny squares are coming on nicely, and I'm so far managing an average of 10 squares a day.
I can't tell you how happy this photo makes me. Back in April I posted about something I aspired to and this is basically it - it is the main reason I learned to crochet. I am usually all about the process - certainly with knitting, where it's the act of making the loops on the needles that I enjoy more than the outcome of the project - but this one is ALL about the end result.
Several people have asked how I am managing to get an average of 10 squares done a day when my main crochet time is in the evening after the kids have gone to bed. The answer is simple - I have contrived a little production line which maximises the available time each day (...did you know I used to re-engineer processes and work-flows for a living?)
I considered the things that would potentially slow me down/ prevent me from achieving "10 a day":
- changing yarns for the different colours is time-consuming (and tedious) with small rounds
- switching from bobble stitch to trebles, then to the rounds of trebles with 'corners' doesn't allow a rhythm to develop, and is open to errors if there is a lapse in concentration (highly likely here)
- I get little tiny 'pockets' of time during the day but usually not for more than a few minutes at a time, so anything I do then has to be pick-up-put-down-able
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| The three stages of Granniness |
Once I'd clarified this, it was simple.
Step 1: Make the initial bobble stitch rounds (2 to 3 mins each) throughout the morning while boiling the kettle, waiting for Little Miss to use the potty etc. Use only two colours for this each day and have them to hand at all times.
Step 2: Any spare minutes after that (on the phone, waiting outside the school, while chatting to the kids as they eat their dinner, while they are painting/drawing etc) add JUST the next round of trebles.
Step 3: During the couple of hours in the evening knock out last two rounds on all ten - perfectly mindless TV work!
It's proving a good method so far although on Friday night I was really tired and decided to go to bed with only 7 finished, but as it was the weekend, I got the rest done first thing on Saturday morning. I'm hoping to have 50 completed by tonight, which is PROBABLY half of the squares *squee* !!!
And now the chicken is in the oven, the kids are playing and I think it's time I went to steal some kisses, so I'll bid you farewell. There'll be a Granny update on Wednesday, but of course I'll be back before then.
Wishing you all a very happy SUNNY start to your week! xxxx
Wow, you are going great guns on them. I'm really looking forward to finishing my Boneyard Shawl and getting some hooky time again :)
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a production line - I might have to pinch that and see if it works for me too!
The rhythm is important. I'm crocheting a cardigan that needs my full attention. Unfortunately there is a lapse in concentration any now and then, and therefore I have to frog all the time. I really hope to come to an end soon. The cardigan will be beautiful although not as blissful than your granny squares.
ReplyDeleteOh love how organısed you are, that would never occur to me and I would end up gettıng frustrated wıth mıstakes!
ReplyDeleteIts goıng to look fab :)
You clever thing, that would never have occurred to me! Can't wait to see the 100 all together :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the colourful grannies.
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