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Conquering the Babette

July 6, 2012

Began in January, I was supposed to have finished this Babette blanket by the 1st of June.  I’m not even close.  The idea was to work on this project at home while I was recovering from my hip replacement surgery, and then gift it in time for my sister’s birthday.  (Oh, I don’t think she reads this. I hope not at least.)  Little did I know that sitting still is the exact opposite of what I’d be doing during recovery.  I’m a little late with the present & now I’m feeling the pressure to get it done.  The pressure that comes from wanting to start a new project but the bag of yarn in the corner is a blight on my w.i.p. tolerance.  And, (mentioning it here, a little out of my comfort zone... but since it’s taking such a big chunk of time out of my life, it’s almost unavoidable…) I have to get hip #2 replaced later this summer, so I’m feeling an increased sense of urgency to get this done and out of my sight so I can move onto quicker and more fun projects!

Babette centers by tamdoll

The original strategy: work in strips, starting with the center and work my way out. I think I got up to 5 rows done and attached… only about 20 out of 130 squares!

The new strategy: 1) Get it out of the bag & onto this gigantic tray so it’s easy to pick up and work on at a moment’s notice. 2) Crochet all the center pieces first.  The fiddly little squares at the base of each piece – if those are started, I can pick one up and jump right into the striping & continue to work the rows as above.  At least now I know when the tray is empty of centers that I’ll be closer to being finished!

Tackling the Babette

Only 7 colors worth of centers to complete before square-making begins again. I’m on my way to conquering this project.  And most likely have learned my lesson and will never make anything so big again.

This past week we celebrated Independence Day with some friends and I got one picture of fireworks:

2012 July 4th Fireworks NH 

Maybe because the air was damp and rainy and the fireworks were pretty close – the thing that I noticed right away was the odor of the explosives.  You don’t smell that too often and it instantly brought back memories of summertime for me. Of course, beaches and bbqs do that, too – but for some reason this smell stood out above all the others. I wonder if anyone else experiences things like this?  I think describing odors is hard, but they certainly evoke specific memories.

5 comments:

  1. wow - it looks like the start of something pretty great. Looks like you had a wonderful 4th of july.

    good luck with your goal....i think you'll get'er done.

    xo
    tina
    one crafty mess

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  2. Certain smells definitely evoke specific memories for me, too. Good luck with your blanket project!

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  3. I hope you're able to get the blanket done before surgery. And I hope your surgery goes well and you have a speedy recovery!
    Great fireworks photo!

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  4. For your next surgery, don't plan any projects. Just relax. People often encourage me to do some sewing at my craft market. That's so stressful as you need to attend to customers and then you forget where you left off. Smells do evoke memories for me as well. Often I remember people as well as specific events. A few members of my family has this strange memory ability. I have 2 brothers who can remember numbers extremely well. I have some talent for memorising IDs and phone numbers. But I remember conversations, colours, weather and what people wear much more vividly. My son remembers facts esp of subjects he has interest in.

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  5. great fireworks photo!
    Good luck working on that blanket! It will be beautiful and your sister will love it--whenever she gets it!
    The sense of smell and memory are very connected.

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