In Which the Pirate Goes for Instant Gratification.

Last night I went down the mountain to my neighbour Sarah’s house to have a beer and conversation. I knew she’d be working on crocheting snowflakes and wanted to bring something with me to keep my hands busy – but my sock was still out of commission. I decided that a quick and easy washcloth would be the way to go. This morning I finished the last few rows and folded the new washcloth beside my laptop, planning to bring it upstairs with me and weave in the end the next time I got up. Floyd claimed it as his own before I had the chance.

Then I tried to spread it out on the table to take a picture. That didn’t go so well. Floyd was torn; he hates having his picture taken but he didn’t want to abandon his new washcloth, either.

Attempting to relocate him was less than successful.

Finally I pulled the cloth out from under him, put it on my keyboard, and got a reasonably good picture of it.

This yarn. Oh, this yarn. I love crocheting Sugar ‘n Cream, but this colourway was difficult. I must have tried five different patterns, different starting chain numbers, starting at different sections of the colour repeat. Nothing worked. It came out blotchy, stripy, ugly… anything but attractive.

Finally I gave up trying new patterns and went back to the Bumpy, Not Lumpy pattern that I’ve made a few times before. It’s easy to do and gives a nice fabric for a washcloth. Besides, I barely need to look at it while I work!

I’m still not really fond of the way the colour played out, but I decided that I didn’t care – it’s only a washcloth, after all. Maybe I’ll give this

Because Floyd seemed to like the washcloth so much, and because I still had a handful of yarn left over, and because I hadn’t yet decided what to work on for the rest of the afternoon, I made a quick cat toy using the free Tiny Crochet Ball pattern and the size I (5.5mm) hook that I was still holding from the washcloth, and leftovers from two other washcloths as well. I probably should have used a smaller hook for a tighter fabric, but I think it will be all right.

It’s stuffed with cotton balls and catnip. Floyd did play with it for a little bit, got high as a kitten, ran around meowing for ten minutes, and is now napping on the couch beside me. Time will tell if it turns into one of the favourites, or if it ends up ignored in the cats’ toybox along with so many others. (I don’t mind either way; I used up scraps and learned the invisible crochet decrease!)

I kinda want to make a hackysack for myself now…