Finished GFC Blanket/Knee Rug - thingy

It's more than a knee rug, yet not quite a blanket. It's a sort of snuggle up on the couch blanket. The main thing is it's finished! I sewed in all the ends yesterday and it has had its first official use.

It is made from the left over balls of yarn from other projects so, apart from my time, this project has cost me nothing (can you feel the smugness?)

The thing is, now I need a new project.

Crochet Update

As far as therapy goes I find crochet cheap and effective and doesn't interfere with watching recorded episodes of Mad Men, The Good Wife or House.

I'm crocheting a knee rug with a recession theme - using whatever leftover yarn I have to hand. I was toying with this pink yarn next but now I see it in the photograph I'm thinking it is a bad idea. Perhaps I'll go with the cream yarn next.

Sooner or later the pink yarn, will however, need to be used.

Normally I crochet in regularly-sized rows. This time I've decided just to crochet up the remainder of each ball of yarn - whatever size it is.

Crochet Therapy

I've been a little strung out at work for the past week.

A key employee from my team made a significant error which had company-wide impact. She identified it early, owned up to it and without any fuss we put together a plan to rectify the error. All fine. No-one so much as raised an eyebrow because errors happen and this one was easily fixed.

That is until it all got too much for her and instead of working steadily to correct this error she decided the best solution would be to run away from it.

She started by asking for, and then demanding, four weeks annual leave RIGHT NOW. I turned this down on the basis that the error needed to be fixed and we are in the middle of pay review. She could, however, have annual leave starting 1 April.

So she takes sick leave. Her doctor has given her all of this week off to be reviewed on Monday. She now tells me that her doctor thinks she needs another three weeks off. And so that she doesn't have to pay for any of this she's put in a workers compensation claim.

I can neither confirm or deny the rumour that I am extremely disappointed in the very gullible doctor.

I can count. She wanted four weeks leave. Now she wants four weeks sick leave, paid for by the company. Apparently the company has caused her stress. Apparently the error she made has nothing to do with it.

I'm being deliberately obtuse about the nature of the error but I will say that it was a calculation error and the fix for such an error is squarely within the expected skills of this employee's role. I understand the feeling of wanting to run from a mistake but actually doing so is a step too far.

In the meantime the rest of my team and I have been beavering away to fix this error, in addition to our normal tasks. It hasn't been easy for sure but do you know what - we've managed to turn a negative into a positive and if only my 'sick' employee had stuck with it she'd be sharing in the glow the whole team has post-fix.

Meanwhile I've turned to crochet-as-therapy to try to stave off the extreme feelings of disappointment I have in those who cannot accept responsibility for themselves and and need to look for someone or something to blame. No-one cared about the error but we all care that she dumped us with the error and ran.

401 Posts and a Ripple Blanket

In celebration of my 401st post I show you my latest finished object: a Neapolitan-flavoured ripple blanket crocheted for the 1yo daughter of a friend. This blanket was completed on Tuesday night and is already well-travelled having visited both Perth and China recently.

It is very snug and had been looked-upon lovingly by the cats of the family. However, their attempts to sit upon the blanket have been unsuccessful and it will be wrapped this evening ready to pass to its new owner.

Next on the to do list? Either a pair of socks, for me, or a blanket promised to dad for his birthday.

Not waving, drowning

Don't panic, it's really not all that bad, I just like the title.

But returning to paid work after five years is a little like slowly drowning. I wonder would it be different if I was in a stand alone role with no other accountabilities other than completing the work in front of me that day. That, however, is not the role I have. You know the story, you've all heard it loads of times before.

Girl gets part-time job that is really a full-time job. Outwardly others say how fortunate she is to find a job like that. Senior role, travel opportunities, a seat at the Excom. But she has three employees, two of whom have told her that the third employee bullies them. She has been given a hospital-pass of a project that is slowly spiralling into the ground which, in the days she is not at work, threatens to go belly up. There are so many fires to fight that it is hard to see the wood for the trees. She feels the weight of stress across the organisation of people desperate to keep their jobs despite them working impossibly long hours in a company hemorrhaging in the GFC.

And to top it all off there are serious hygiene issues being faced in the women's bathroom. Really. Think your worse thoughts and then double them. Why on earth is this an HR issue I ask?

Friends either tell me "I told you that sounded like a crazy job" or "welcome to the club".

These are not helpful comments. Is it worth being mentally exhausted every night, is it worth not wanting to blog lest you appear boringly negative, is it worth not reading as much, not knitting as much, not writing as much?

I can tell you that if part of last night's Lotto jackpot came my way I wouldn't have gone to work this morning.

So, it was fabulous to see a new order of yarn arrive in the mail

I've started on a crocheted blanket for a 12 month old girl. It strikes me that it is in fact a Neopolitan Icecream Blanket.

And I've finally got around to winding up the yarn that I bought from Suse. Do you think this looks like a pair of socks? Not yet, but one day.

These are the things that relax me so I think I'll go off now and meditate into my crochet and forget about work.

Oh, and I read The Slap. Gave it 4/10 at my bookclub. Clearly I have been living in a Jane Austen inspired bubble.

PS. I hope you have all been well. I look forward to visiting you again soon.

Crafting out of a crisis

I hear that there is a crafting revolution going on in Iceland as they attempt to knit, crochet and sew their way out of the current financial crisis.

Apparently sellers of yarn, thread and fabric are doing a roaring trade there. However, having just crocheted my mum this knee rug for her birthday I'm not sure how profitable their endeavours will be.

This knee rug or small blanket used 1.4kg of machine-washable wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills (colours: Rosebud, Classic Musk, Soft Plum) and would have to retail at a huge price to make a profit. Icelanders must have contacts that I don't.

Luckily, I wasn't concerned with price with this one, it being for my Mum an' all. She wanted a rug that covered her feet and in twenty years time could be tucked into her wheelchair (!)

The best bit about crocheting this rug was the embarrassment caused to my Tween when I'd lug it to swimming lessons/cricket/music lessons to do a few rows. It got to the point that even Firegazer told me to leave it at home.

That's when I started crocheting these scarves. I made a smaller one for Blossom a week or so back but this one is strictly for the grown-ups.

Like it?

It will be available as a giveaway on Saturday on another blog run by my very close friends ;) so make sure you visit that blog then.

Scarf for a Tween

Knitting has taken a back seat so far this year, to be overtaken by crochet as my therapy of choice. Apart from a brief play around late last year I haven't crocheted since I was about 11 or 12, whiling away the hours to and from school on the bus (I lived a long way from school).

Crochet is quite appealing because it is contained to just one small hook and the yarn and I suspect I could take it with me on an aeroplane without being accused of carrying dangerous implements.

At the mo I'm in the middle of a gargantuan project to crochet my mum a knee rug. It's just about finished - I'll show you when I've posted it off to its new owner. Meanwhile, I started this frilly scarf for Blossom. I had to start this smaller project because the kids told me it was embarrassing when I took the knee rug to swimming/ballet/cricket and even Firegazer chimed in to say that, really, it was now too big to lug around to these events.

A 10 year old girl came up to me while I was crocheting this at swimming lessons yesterday and said "Is that a scarf? That's awesome!" So, hopefully, Blossom will like it.


Edited: Yarn = Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply in "Aster". Hook size: 5.5

Stress relief comes in balls of yarn

Last night I went to my daughter's school's P&C meeting. After resigning as the Fundraising and Functions Co-ordinator last year I had resolved not to go to these meetings, at least for a while, so that the new co-ordinator could do her thing without me seeming to peer over her shoulder. Last night, however, I broke this resolution to go along and support a change to the school council constitution.

Mistake. Big Mistake.

What a shamozzle.

What was a simple change that made sense to me on face value turned out to be mightily controversial for no good reason and resulted in factional infighting not seen in a Labor caucus. And I hadn't realised there were factions. Silly me thought we were all there with the common goal of ensuring our children had access to the best facilities we could muster.

All I could do was sit there, for two hours, while the shambles unravelled. One of the new Kindy parents walked out. Don't blame him. I only stayed because I wanted to hear the Principal's report and what was happening in the subcommittees.

So, when I got home I was in need of some stress relief. Luckily I had decided to pick up the knitting and crochet implements a week ago and had some projects to still my mind.

Here is a scarf I knitted with the Noro Geisha ribbon yarn I was given as a New Year gift. I used a simple open knit I found in my 400 Knitting Stitches book (recommended by Stacey last year). I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out. Being a ribbon it is a trans-seasonal decorative scarf rather than one for warmth.

And above is my practice run for Mum's birthday present. Mum's birthday was on Tuesday and, not knowing what to get her, I asked her what she might like me to make. Mum said she'd like a knee rug and as a crocheted ripple blanket was on my list of 'to do' things this year that is what she will get. I've ordered yarn in lovely soft colours (exact details a secret) from Bendigo Woollen Mills but while waiting for the package to arrive I decided to do a test run using up left over balls of yarn in my stash.

I'm not sure what will happen with this practise run. It might be a small blanket for the kids, or perhaps a giveaway. I'll let you know.

Three WIPs and a finished double moss scarf

Many, many moons ago when the bus ride to my primary school was an hour I learnt to crochet granny squares along with the other girls on the bus (it was the 70s, the revolution hadn't reached my country town, and boys did not crochet).

That was also the last time I crocheted, or did macrame or wound bits of wool around sticks. But then I saw a 1975 copy of The Complete Book of Knitting, Crochet and Embroidery in my local second hand bookstore and thought, well, why not.

It's not that easy you know. It requires dexterity that I left behind as a child but, finally, I got the hang of it. Trouble is I don't know how to stop so I think I will end up with the world's biggest granny square - which is okay, because I have lots of left over wool in PL's favourite colour - yellow. This will either be a rug for his teddies or a rug for his bed. Who knows.

Last night I started my second pair of socks. These are a birthday present for someone who has a birthday in October. Just a warning to anyone with a birthday in October...these may or may not arrive on time (I'm confident, but Firegazer is doubtful).

A few weeks ago I started knitting a brown dog. Or a brown bear, I can't decide which. It's actually a 1930s-Hollywood-glamour-style cape from this pattern. I can't tell you how difficult this yarn is to knit with. One mistake and the whole thing needs to be unravelled. Not something to knit in front of the TV.

And finally, a finished project. This scarf, knitted in a double moss stitch, will be a gift for someone sometime soon.