I have just discovered that I AM organised, I just lacked the correct equipment. Earlier this week, I bought a filing cabinet. Today, the suspension files arrived and I spent the morning categorising all my paperwork. I am stupidly excited by my files! (Photo to come!) I printed out labels for most categories, with pictures. The most-used files are at the front and archived stuff at the back. Many of the files have sub-folders, for example tax years within the bank statements and pay slips. I still can't believe how excited I am by a filing cabinet!!
Friday, 31 August 2012
Friday, 17 August 2012
Procrastination
I often find it difficult to get going in the morning and I put off getting dressed, instead just sitting at my computer in a dressing gown. But I've realised recently that often this is procrastination because I feel I should do something that I don't want to do. For example, recently I wanted to go out with a group of friends but wasn't keen on where we were meeting. So I sent a message saying that I would meet them at their next destination (we were doing several activities). Suddenly I felt more energised and got dressed immediately and then completed a few other tasks as well.
So I need to recognise what I "should" do and then let go of that, if possible.
It also fits in with one of the conclusions that I came to after my last counselling session: I need to define my own measures of success, rather than being bound to what other people see as success. For me, success may be more about having a family and spending quality time with them and having a balance between work and life. It may not be earning lots of money or having a 'high-status' job. I'm not quite sure yet, because I've relied so much on my parents' measures of success, which I cannot live up to. But just recognising that I can create my own measures of success has made me feel so much more free.
So I need to recognise what I "should" do and then let go of that, if possible.
It also fits in with one of the conclusions that I came to after my last counselling session: I need to define my own measures of success, rather than being bound to what other people see as success. For me, success may be more about having a family and spending quality time with them and having a balance between work and life. It may not be earning lots of money or having a 'high-status' job. I'm not quite sure yet, because I've relied so much on my parents' measures of success, which I cannot live up to. But just recognising that I can create my own measures of success has made me feel so much more free.
Friday, 8 June 2012
On the road to recovery
I'm generally feeling much better now. I feel more like myself, or at least as if I've remembered what being myself feels like. I haven't had any really down periods for at least two weeks and I've had many good days in that time. When I went to the doctor today, he suggested that I should be able to come off the anti-depressants in a few months, if all goes well.
I'm due to go back to work on Monday, with a phased return. So I'll be working on just Monday and Tuesday next week. I'm returning with a stronger sense of perspective and deeper commitment to looking after myself. I know now that my health and well-being are far more important than work. We'll see how it goes...
I'm due to go back to work on Monday, with a phased return. So I'll be working on just Monday and Tuesday next week. I'm returning with a stronger sense of perspective and deeper commitment to looking after myself. I know now that my health and well-being are far more important than work. We'll see how it goes...
Thursday, 24 May 2012
A much better day
Today and yesterday have been much better days than my previous post. I've felt fairly cheerful. Still lacking motivation and energy and still some pain in my side, but cheerful.
The time off has been really good for making me realise that there is more to life than just work. I've actually had almost whole days when I haven't thought about school at all. Even in the holidays, I'm usually working, feeling guilty about not working, worrying about how much work I have to do or thinking about work.
I guess the next step is to develop strategies that will support me when I return to work.
The time off has been really good for making me realise that there is more to life than just work. I've actually had almost whole days when I haven't thought about school at all. Even in the holidays, I'm usually working, feeling guilty about not working, worrying about how much work I have to do or thinking about work.
I guess the next step is to develop strategies that will support me when I return to work.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
One of the bad days
The mornings when I wake up too early seem to be the worst and always leave me feeling on edge all day. The best I've managed today is a sort of numb emptiness, but it's better than the feelings of pointlessness. I went out for a walk in the sunshine, but that just gave my head time to churn thoughts around. What is the point of life? Even if you fill your days with happy experiences, one day you will die and none of it will matter any more. Does anything really matter?
Maybe it's about helping other people, not really about your own life at all.
One thing that has helped today is music and singing, as long as I avoid the gloomy songs. I just need to keep remembering that this feeling will pass. The good days are now outnumbering the bad days.
Maybe it's days like this that I need my daily list more than ever. One of the first things I did during the first few days that I was signed off work was to draw up a list of things to try to do each day. Over the weeks, I've adapted and added to the list. I keep it in a plastic folder so that I can use a dry-wipe pen to cross off the things I've done and colour in a star for each. I made sure that some of the tasks are very simple so that I can always manage to achieve something. I aim for at least 10 stars each day and usually manage a few more than this. So far today I've managed 9, which makes me feel slightly better.
5 a.m.
Yesterday, things seemed to be going really well. It was sunny. I felt cheerful, almost happy for the first time in ages. I even considered going back to work before half term.
Then this morning I woke up at 5 a.m. and the thoughts started up again. During the day, I can control them. I can be rational. But at 5 a.m. they are in control. At 5 a.m. I am convinced that I will end up alone and miserable for the rest of my life. So what is the point of life. I will die alone, with no family or friends. Then I realised that I didn't mind the thought of dying. It was the thought of all those years of life that were the problem. I even started debating with myself which would be the easiest way out. But not yet. Even at 5 a.m., it was only an option for the future. I lay in bed, silently crying.
I realised I wasn't going to get back to sleep so I got up and finished reading my book. By 7 a.m. things seemed okay again. But it scares me that my mood can change so drastically.
Then this morning I woke up at 5 a.m. and the thoughts started up again. During the day, I can control them. I can be rational. But at 5 a.m. they are in control. At 5 a.m. I am convinced that I will end up alone and miserable for the rest of my life. So what is the point of life. I will die alone, with no family or friends. Then I realised that I didn't mind the thought of dying. It was the thought of all those years of life that were the problem. I even started debating with myself which would be the easiest way out. But not yet. Even at 5 a.m., it was only an option for the future. I lay in bed, silently crying.
I realised I wasn't going to get back to sleep so I got up and finished reading my book. By 7 a.m. things seemed okay again. But it scares me that my mood can change so drastically.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Being off work with depression
I've found it surprisingly difficult being off work. Before I was off, I was desperate for a break and desperate to not be at work. I even considered hurting myself so that I could legitimately have some time off. But when the doctor actually said that I wasn't fit for work, I felt extremely guilty. I felt that I was letting everyone down by being off work: my parents would be disappointed, my boyfriend would think I was making it up and being lazy, my colleagues would have more pressure on them and would resent me because they were also stressed, the school would have to spend money on a supply teacher, my class would miss out on learning, I would fall even further behind on things. And my marking wasn't up to date, so I couldn't be off until it was up to date. The doctor suggested five weeks off, until the next half term, but that sounded like far too long and I didn't think I needed all that time.
After a few days, I began to relax and that was when I realised just how bad things had become. Other symptoms of depression began to appear, which had previously been masked by the constant adrenaline of trying to get through each day. But I began to feel a little bit like myself again, or at least to remember that this tearful, stressed person wasn't really who I was.
A week after being signed off, I began to worry about whether or not to go back at the end of the fortnight. I didn't feel ready to go back and I knew that I needed more time to recover. If I went back next week, things would just slip back to the way they were. If I had a bit longer, I might be able to develop strategies that would enable me to cope. I was still experiencing symptoms of depression and still tired. I knew that I would be a more effective teacher in the long run if I took time to recover properly. The school would manage somehow. And this time off might save my teaching career.
Yet I still felt guilty. I was feeling better than previously. The crisis period was over. Everyone at work is under a lot of pressure and feeling stressed. Why do I deserve five weeks off and not them? I felt like people would expect me to go back as soon as possible. I worried that they think I'm being lazy and slacking off. Or that they think I'm just weak and can't cope. I worried about what my class would think and how the parents would react. It's only three more weeks until half term. Couldn't I just cope somehow until then? Lots of the articles that I've read on the internet have suggested that going back to work increases ones sense of purpose and helps with recovery (except that it was the cause of my problems).
I went over and over the arguments in my head, but I knew that my gut feeling was that I wasn't ready. Luckily, my doctor immediately agreed to signing me off further and said that he was happy to sign me off for as long as I need, even if that means another term. He explained that he'd deliberately written 'work stress' on the sick note because if I wasn't doing this job then I wouldn't be depressed.
Now that I've been signed off again, I'm feeling more relaxed and more focused on getting better. The messages I've had from colleagues have all been very supportive. Friends have expressed that they are glad I am taking time to reflect on things. In the long run, this time off will help me to get better.
After a few days, I began to relax and that was when I realised just how bad things had become. Other symptoms of depression began to appear, which had previously been masked by the constant adrenaline of trying to get through each day. But I began to feel a little bit like myself again, or at least to remember that this tearful, stressed person wasn't really who I was.
A week after being signed off, I began to worry about whether or not to go back at the end of the fortnight. I didn't feel ready to go back and I knew that I needed more time to recover. If I went back next week, things would just slip back to the way they were. If I had a bit longer, I might be able to develop strategies that would enable me to cope. I was still experiencing symptoms of depression and still tired. I knew that I would be a more effective teacher in the long run if I took time to recover properly. The school would manage somehow. And this time off might save my teaching career.
Yet I still felt guilty. I was feeling better than previously. The crisis period was over. Everyone at work is under a lot of pressure and feeling stressed. Why do I deserve five weeks off and not them? I felt like people would expect me to go back as soon as possible. I worried that they think I'm being lazy and slacking off. Or that they think I'm just weak and can't cope. I worried about what my class would think and how the parents would react. It's only three more weeks until half term. Couldn't I just cope somehow until then? Lots of the articles that I've read on the internet have suggested that going back to work increases ones sense of purpose and helps with recovery (except that it was the cause of my problems).
I went over and over the arguments in my head, but I knew that my gut feeling was that I wasn't ready. Luckily, my doctor immediately agreed to signing me off further and said that he was happy to sign me off for as long as I need, even if that means another term. He explained that he'd deliberately written 'work stress' on the sick note because if I wasn't doing this job then I wouldn't be depressed.
Now that I've been signed off again, I'm feeling more relaxed and more focused on getting better. The messages I've had from colleagues have all been very supportive. Friends have expressed that they are glad I am taking time to reflect on things. In the long run, this time off will help me to get better.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Accepting depression
I'm currently signed off work with work-related stress and secondary depression, so I thought I'd share my experiences and some of the things that have helped me. It's a bit of a departure from the old posts on here about things I've made and things I'd like to make, but it fits within the title of my blog!
When the doctor diagnosed depression, I wasn't sure I believed him. I knew that my symptoms matched those of depression. I was exhausted, tearful, feeling inadequate, feeling detached with a lack of awareness about what was going on around me and lacked motivation and enjoyment in my work and my hobbies. I had been in tears driving to work, at work I felt faint and when I got home I was too tired to do anything. I was stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts and they would just swirl around inside my head until I ended up in tears. I've had a recurrent pain in my lower right abdomen for years and it's always been worse when I'm run down or stressed. This pain was now getting quite severe. While driving to work or home from work after another stressful day, random scary thoughts would pop into my head: "I wonder what would happen if I just drove into that tree." I hadn't read a book for weeks, let alone done anything creative (both of which I had previously really enjoyed). Yet I still felt somehow that it wasn't depression.
Still, I was relieved to be signed off work. I felt guilty about not being able to cope and about letting my colleagues down or increasing the pressure on them. But I knew that I had not been an effective teacher recently and that I wasn't going to be able to cope without time off. For months I'd felt this building up. I would wake up in the morning, struggling to get out of bed, and ask myself whether it had finally got so bad that I needed to call in sick. Most mornings, I managed to drag myself out of bed and struggle through the day. Last Tuesday morning, the answer to that question was "yes", and I knew I needed to go to the doctor.
The doctor was very supportive and explained that long-term stress can cause depression. He recommended signing me off work until half term, anti-depressants and mindfulness. I agreed to all three, but only two weeks off work because I felt guilty about taking any longer and didn't feel that I needed that long.
The first feeling was huge relief that there actually was something wrong and I wasn't just going mad. I was also relieved that I had sought help and the doctor had taken my concerns seriously. And I was very relieved to have a break from work. I knew that I needed to make the most of this time off to sort out a few of my problems and develop coping strategies for when I go back to work. I developed a daily plan, which I will share in my next post, and began researching depression and mindfulness. It was only after a few days off that I was able to realise just how bad things had become during the last few weeks and to accept that I was suffering from depression.
I found the Black Dog Institute's website to be really helpful in recognising the symptoms of depression and found that I could identify with their descriptions of what depression feels like.
http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
Friends and colleagues were very supportive when I told them why I was signed off work. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how understanding my dad was. I'm not sure my mum quite understood and she kept telling me things like, "Yes, your sister isn't enjoying her job either." She came to visit me the next day and said she was surprised at how chirpy I was.
I don't think I appear to be depressed to most people. Outwardly, I'm not exactly cheerful, but I don't look or sound as miserable as people expect. What they can't see are the thoughts that consume me from the inside or the hollow feeling beneath my smile. Subconsciously, I think I'd also made sure that no-one knew all of my symptoms. A few friends (who are also colleagues) knew about some of the negative thoughts, some of the crying and the exhaustion. My boyfriend knew about the pain and the feeling faint. My family just knew I was fed up with work. I hadn't told anyone about things like the thoughts about driving into a tree, partly because I didn't want to worry them.
After a week off work, I'm beginning to feel a bit like myself again, but I have recognised that I still have a long way to go and it might take more than two weeks off work before I can successfully return.
Anyway, not all my posts will be this gloomy, but I wanted to document my experiences from the beginning.
When the doctor diagnosed depression, I wasn't sure I believed him. I knew that my symptoms matched those of depression. I was exhausted, tearful, feeling inadequate, feeling detached with a lack of awareness about what was going on around me and lacked motivation and enjoyment in my work and my hobbies. I had been in tears driving to work, at work I felt faint and when I got home I was too tired to do anything. I was stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts and they would just swirl around inside my head until I ended up in tears. I've had a recurrent pain in my lower right abdomen for years and it's always been worse when I'm run down or stressed. This pain was now getting quite severe. While driving to work or home from work after another stressful day, random scary thoughts would pop into my head: "I wonder what would happen if I just drove into that tree." I hadn't read a book for weeks, let alone done anything creative (both of which I had previously really enjoyed). Yet I still felt somehow that it wasn't depression.
Still, I was relieved to be signed off work. I felt guilty about not being able to cope and about letting my colleagues down or increasing the pressure on them. But I knew that I had not been an effective teacher recently and that I wasn't going to be able to cope without time off. For months I'd felt this building up. I would wake up in the morning, struggling to get out of bed, and ask myself whether it had finally got so bad that I needed to call in sick. Most mornings, I managed to drag myself out of bed and struggle through the day. Last Tuesday morning, the answer to that question was "yes", and I knew I needed to go to the doctor.
The doctor was very supportive and explained that long-term stress can cause depression. He recommended signing me off work until half term, anti-depressants and mindfulness. I agreed to all three, but only two weeks off work because I felt guilty about taking any longer and didn't feel that I needed that long.
The first feeling was huge relief that there actually was something wrong and I wasn't just going mad. I was also relieved that I had sought help and the doctor had taken my concerns seriously. And I was very relieved to have a break from work. I knew that I needed to make the most of this time off to sort out a few of my problems and develop coping strategies for when I go back to work. I developed a daily plan, which I will share in my next post, and began researching depression and mindfulness. It was only after a few days off that I was able to realise just how bad things had become during the last few weeks and to accept that I was suffering from depression.
I found the Black Dog Institute's website to be really helpful in recognising the symptoms of depression and found that I could identify with their descriptions of what depression feels like.
http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
Friends and colleagues were very supportive when I told them why I was signed off work. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how understanding my dad was. I'm not sure my mum quite understood and she kept telling me things like, "Yes, your sister isn't enjoying her job either." She came to visit me the next day and said she was surprised at how chirpy I was.
I don't think I appear to be depressed to most people. Outwardly, I'm not exactly cheerful, but I don't look or sound as miserable as people expect. What they can't see are the thoughts that consume me from the inside or the hollow feeling beneath my smile. Subconsciously, I think I'd also made sure that no-one knew all of my symptoms. A few friends (who are also colleagues) knew about some of the negative thoughts, some of the crying and the exhaustion. My boyfriend knew about the pain and the feeling faint. My family just knew I was fed up with work. I hadn't told anyone about things like the thoughts about driving into a tree, partly because I didn't want to worry them.
After a week off work, I'm beginning to feel a bit like myself again, but I have recognised that I still have a long way to go and it might take more than two weeks off work before I can successfully return.
Anyway, not all my posts will be this gloomy, but I wanted to document my experiences from the beginning.
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Flickr favourites June 2010
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Flickr favourites
1. Peacock Corner, 2. CASA BATLLO, 3. 39 squares, 4. 030, 5. 39 squares, 6. Thirty seven and Thirty eight, 7. jeans bag, 8. 100_1637, 9. Pretty maids all in a row, 10. 2 Brooches in the hand, 11. Tweet iPhone Sleeve, 12. Andrea Schreiber, 13. Untitled, 14. stitching 40 squares, 15. crochet embelished bag, 16. Gaudi - Park Guell Salamander – Lizard, 17. Park Guell - Chameleon, 18. IMG_4369, 19. Casa Mila Sidewalks, 20. Color Me Pretty, 21. Color Me Pretty, 22. Progress Day 14-Suzitee, 23. 16 Squares So Far, 24. knotty brooch - pinks, 25. DSC02569, 26. tweet tweet! 004_crop, 27. Swatch project - part I, 28. Eco Felt Mini Owl Plushie, 29. Home Comforts, 30. Supplies table, 31. These will be pillows when I´m done., 32. Teeny Tiny Crochet Heart Bunting, 33. yukiko, 34. yoko, 35. IMG_4193
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Flickr favourites
Monday, 15 February 2010
Freehand embroidery
I didn't add a picture of my embroidery when I finished it last week. I sketched the design freehand using an air erasable pen, and added extra bits as I went along.
Totoro!
I finished crocheting this small white Totoro, apart from his small pink feet. The eyes are a bit far apart and the tail is a bit high. I used a pattern available free here: http://heavens-hellcat.livejournal.com/730.html.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Flickr Favourites
1. Pickle Jar Cozy, 2. Home of Jan Skácelík, 3. Sewing Room, 4. Selina Lake - Pink Summer Room, 5. 106/365 She Awoke In Narnia, 6. Gustav Klimt -- The Kiss, 7. Starry Night, 8. Starry Night 2 artyarn, 9. Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhone, 10. NYC - MoMA: Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, 11. blanket 1, 12. Wε£comε !, 13. a little late, but here´s my january challenge interior styling, 14. Color Me Pretty, 15. heart, 16. doodlestitch sampler for corinne, 17. Japanese kokeshi girls jewelry box Amigurumi Crochet Pattern ♥, 18. The Juicy Cushion Cover!!, 19. favorite yarn supply sources..., 20. kokeshi doll, 21. Blue Hexagons, 22. Passarinhos, 23. Hearts, Hearts & More Hearts, 24. [31/365] 31/01/2010, 25. Apple blossom blanket, 26. clock coaster, 27. Hexagon, 28. Crochet Lavender Heart, 29. A Jacket for a Jar, 30. vintage bedspread, 31. Whimsical Christmas Tree, 32. 27/365, 33. pajarito, birdie, 34. Peek into my garden room, 35. Chirpy chick cushion
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
New wool!!
I found a haberdashery in Westbury-on-Trym which has a bit of everything - paper, scrapbooking, wool, fabric, ribbon, stuffing... So I couldn't resist buying a few cheap balls of wool that I can use for making toys, etc.
I also collected my parcel today with my delivery of King Cole Merino Blend DK wool in a range of pretty colours, which I'm going to use to create granny square cushion covers or something, in the style of this throw.
So here's the total collection of wool that I have acquired today:
It makes me very happy looking on Ravelry and seeing my 'stash' all laid out in colour order!
I also collected my parcel today with my delivery of King Cole Merino Blend DK wool in a range of pretty colours, which I'm going to use to create granny square cushion covers or something, in the style of this throw.
So here's the total collection of wool that I have acquired today:
It makes me very happy looking on Ravelry and seeing my 'stash' all laid out in colour order!
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Yet more Flickr favourites!
I really should stop rummaging around on Flickr - there are so many lovely things that I want to make right now!! Once I've finished the white totoro, I think slippers will be next, and then I think I'll have to start a granny square blanket, having seen all the gorgeous ones on Flickr! It will require a whole new stash of pretty coloured yarn though... what a shame!!
1. Christmas bird, 2. Little Birdy, 3. Crochet flowers and leaves, 4. New Yarn Stash, 5. Big Bed Blanket, 6. Circles-to-Squares, 7. Granny Hearts dedicated to Lucy, 8. Birdie with wobbly legs !, 9. Pattern - crocheted slippers (adult size), 10. crochet trims on pillowcases..., 11. Crocheted Heart Stuffy, 12. Butterfly, 13. Baby Amigurumi Giraffe, 14. tiny crochet heart pattern, 15. Granny Square Blanket 1, 16. honeymoon slippers, 17. Brooch #1, 18. Sis Boom Fabric Bunting Flags!, 19. Dixieland Tree Embroidery, 20. granny squares, 21. crochet bag, 22. first crochet food!, 23. Batch of Rag Teddy Bear Plush, 24. Doodles from class, 25. My Study (so far), 26. Rescued Chair, 27. making life easier, 28. Etsy Take Five Tuesday, 29. artandghosts, 30. lvgetc 12-09 kids room, 31. Crochet bowls, 32. DSC01609, 33. ruby hex blanket 2, 34. Big Summer Garden Blanket, 35. Summer Garden Blanket
Unfortunately, the first six photos do not show up on here as the user has opted out of Big Huge Labs. She uses the most lovely combinations of yarns!!
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Andy the Alien
I finally finished Andy the Alien, who I started over Christmas following a pattern in Nikki Trench's 'Super-Cute Crochet'.
At first I was a bit disappointed because mine didn’t turn out much like the photo in the book! I couldn’t get the hook into the right places to do the hair, so I crocheted it directly onto the head and worked the slip stitches into one loop only. I attached the legs and eyes in kind of the wrong places.
But he's grown on me, and I actually quite like him now. The legs in the wrong place help him to sit up better. And he certainly looks odd, which I guess is what an alien should look like!!
At first I was a bit disappointed because mine didn’t turn out much like the photo in the book! I couldn’t get the hook into the right places to do the hair, so I crocheted it directly onto the head and worked the slip stitches into one loop only. I attached the legs and eyes in kind of the wrong places.
But he's grown on me, and I actually quite like him now. The legs in the wrong place help him to sit up better. And he certainly looks odd, which I guess is what an alien should look like!!
Monday, 18 January 2010
Another Flickr favourites set
1. SP05F4110A - Spiegel, 2. blue paisley, 3. Elphie 1, 4. pink paisley, 5. Freeform Paisleys, 6. crochet paisley #3, 7. crochet paisley #1, 8. crochet paisley #4, 9. cmbs8-box-inside2, 10. box #31 - otherworld forcible and spink, 11. DSC02848, 12. Coraline Miniyo, 13. Buttons in Blue, 14. buttons heart - day 7/365, 15. Grandma's Buttons, 16. jars-o-buttons, 17. buttons buttons buttons, 18. red buttons and linen, 19. Button Tree, 20. Amo botões!, 21. Button Wreath Ornament, 22. Totoroskit3, 23. Sootsprite3, 24. Pocket Pets, 25. Mini Birds, 26. Wicket the Ewok, 27. Totoro, 28. mini-donut, 29. Tiny Turtle - Earthquake Relief Donation, 30. A View To, 31. ~Grishko~, 32. Beauty is the Pointe, 33. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, 34. pretty!, 35. JENKINSTOWN WOOD. KILKENNY, IRELAND.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Another Flickr Inspiration
This one very much reflects the searches I did:
- ballet
- crochet quilt
- crochet cupcake
- crochet kokeshi
1. ~Grishko~, 2. Beauty is the Pointe, 3. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, 4. pretty!, 5. JENKINSTOWN WOOD. KILKENNY, IRELAND., 6. rainbow, 7. Color Me Pretty, 8. The End Result, 9. Buttons, 10. Winter Fairy Tale, 11. Another look!, 12. A flor e as folhas, 13. More Colors: ready for final blocking (C365:295), 14. Crochet - work in progress, 15. Virkade grytlappar. :o), 16. Festa, travesseirinho perfumado, 17. babette's granny: ready to be blocked, 18. Untitled, 19. Cherry, Cherry Chocolate Cupcake, 20. Donut, 21. Touch of Amethyst, 22. pink & purple, 23. lavendar skies, 24. Cross Out Purple Walls, 25. Cupcake Potholder, 26. Mini Felt Donuts (Group 2), 27. Cupcake, 28. Gourmet Playtime Dessert Assortment, 29. Cupcake with Swirly Frosting Crochet Pattern, 30. Strawberry Swirl Cupcake, 31. Crochet Kokeshi Doll Side, 32. Suki And Kimiko, 33. Dudley Bird free amigurumi crochet pattern, 34. Japanese kokeshi girl doll amigurumi Crochet pattern, 35. kokeshi apaixonada
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Scarf
I am crocheting this scarf using Cascade 220 Paints (shade 9921 - Carribean Sea) in a half treble stitch (UK) crocheted into the front loop and some other loop below it! This was the first item I began to crochet, and I was still a bit confused about where the loops were. Then by the time I realised, I was too far into the scarf and I decided I quite liked the rib effect on alternate rows. It also gives it quite a bit of stretch.
I started this scarf ages ago (when I taught myself how to crochet), but then ran out of yarn, re-ordered and had to wait ages as it was out of stock. Unfortunately the new yarn is a bit different - more dark turquoise than light and pink/purple patches in a completely different arrangement in the scarf. But I'm not going to unravel it all! It's a very relaxing project to crochet - the combination of the large hook and smooth yarn means that the stitches slide on and off the hook very easily.
Now I just need to hurry up and finish this while it's still winter (and very cold!). It's almost scarf length now, but it's the same length as a scarf that's always annoyed me for being a little bit too short!
Now I just need to hurry up and finish this while it's still winter (and very cold!). It's almost scarf length now, but it's the same length as a scarf that's always annoyed me for being a little bit too short!
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