ah, yes. i write. some times.

February 7, 2009 4 Comments

It occurs to me that I have neglected to report my writing progress of late. Not that there is much progress to report. Cold-suffering kids, cranky kids, cuddle-wanting kids; evening time brain numbness; the siren-song lure of fantasy novels and my own lack of self-discipline have made the progress slow.

However.

I did finish tinkering with that synopsis.

And I took advantage of D. being home on weekends to disappear into my room to write. I’ve got 6,410 words on Kai’s book (title, please?) to show for it. This is my How to Think Sideways novel and I’ve had success using some of Holly’s tricks to come up with plot goodness. Clustering, character and world worksheets, and the Law of Unintended Consequences have been my friends. My Muse (or subconscious or brain or spleen or whatever part of me that does the creative thing) is keeping about two scenes ahead of me, which is fine. It’s a bit boring to have the whole book charted out ahead of time. I like my unexplored off-the-edge territories and the parts labeled Here Be Dragons. Specifically, I like throwing my characters into those areas and seeing what they can scare up. Heh.

My goal for the month is to get my wordcount for this book up to 12K.

Filed Under: kai, writing process

handmade

February 7, 2009 4 Comments

I crocheted this scarf for my daughter a few weeks ago. I had last crocheted over four years ago (BC = Before Children). I wanted an easy pattern but couldn’t find one for a scarf. So I adapted a pattern I had for a (don’t laugh) crocheted dishcloth and went on my merry way.

I found that, as usual, I started off tight and loosened my stitches as I went along. I was also unable to get the right number of stitches row after row, so I had to adjust by adding and subtracting stitches. The scarf is not of uniform width, so it’s a good thing I wasn’t trying to create a sweater or hat where keeping good count of the stitches is actually important.

But, as D., said “handmade is supposed to look handmade”, and my daughter does not disdain it. Sir I. has also requested a scarf, in blue. He’ll have to wait until the fall, because I’m not going to jinx the coming of spring by making more winter items.

This time around I actually finished up the project by tucking in the ends of yarn. I don’t have a yarn needle, but I made one out of a baggie tie and it worked just fine.

I like crocheting, but I don’t think I’ll ever be more than a scarf-and-blanket-making dabbler. If I have to give myself a repetitive stress injury, I’d rather it be through writing than crocheting, hee.

Have you done any yarn projects lately? Do share.

Filed Under: handmade