I really should explain this sweater. First, a friend gave me boxes of purple yarn she'd inherited from her mother. Friend doesn't crochet or knit, didn't know what to do with this stuff. She has since found MORE purple yarn peeking out of a drawer she hadn't yet investigated. We think her kids probably opened the drawer. I asked her if she shut the door quick, before the yarn could get out and breed. "YUP - although it may be breeding in there out of sight!" That purple yarn has become somewhat of a joke. Beats crying at the sight of more of it!

Then there was the '70's bulky gold yarn I got at a thrift store, thinking to incorporate it into a baby afghan for our grandson. Might've fit if he'd been anywhere near blond, but this little guy has black hair. And I picked up some novelty chenille/eyelash twist yarn at Dollar Tree that just happened to have gold and purple among its color blend. If I combine the purple and gold, colors I really don't like, with the novelty? Maybe I will at least come up with a combo that tones down the purple?

Found a free pattern for a side-to-side ribbed construction cowl neck sweater. I like "free". But the picture was inelegant, which is a sorta polite way of saying I thought it looked just plain unflattering. Another influence was a couple of Victoria's Secret cowl neck sweaters. I am not delusional enough to imagine I would ever even want to look like those models. I just liked the way the cowls were low enough to flatter, not choke like a bulky turtleneck. I HATE turtlenecks. And there were two 1950's patterns for dolman sleeve sweaters tapered below the bust. All the muscles that have been redefined and bulked up with physical therapy mean that I have to have even bigger plus size clothes to fit over my shoulders, but the ribs and waist area are now comparitively slimmer, which makes the tops loose enough to fit over my bust look like sacks, and I'm not that shapeless. I've been doing all this work for nearly 2 years, may as well flatter myself. And it's been the 2nd hard winter here; a bulky sweater seemed like a very nice thing. So what I'm working on is a blend of all those influences.

I started out following the 'inelegant' pattern for the side to side cowl. Mistake! My yarn was much bulkier and I was using a much bigger hook. As many years as I've been crocheting, I really should have known better. So I took that out and started all over again, designing an entirely different, much more fitted style, with set in sleeves and a separate, shaped, cowl.

Friday I took out most of the second sleeve of the purple/gold sweater. That's what I get for not writing down the pattern I'm imagining, row by row, as I do it. I already took out and re-did the first sleeve because I wasn't getting the shape I imagined. The only way I can duplicate the second sleeve now is by constantly comparing it to the first. The usual convention for making sleeves is to shape them in rows, either turning at the ends of the rows, which leaves a chain/air space I didn't want; or working them flat, then sewing together, I didn't want to make a seam under the arm. Working the sleeves in rounds, rather than rows, is not exactly conventional. But it's getting me the texture effect that I want. I just have to make a half round of sc (single crochet) at the ends of the sleeves. Most of the rest of the sweater is hdc (half double crochet), except for the shaping half rows of the front and back.

I have been reading Knitting Daily online, seeing the shaping methods, wondering why some of them wouldn't work in crochet. I don't remember symbols rather than or along with abbreviations. Nor do I remember seeing schematics for finished pieces as part of patterns when I started crocheting. Those are new to me.

I am SO happy with me! Went back to the physical therapy gym this morning for the first time this calendar year. Knew I couldn't possibly quit doing those exercises, but how to continue seemed rather problematic. Between the boss changing from one insurance company to another, tight finances with husband laid off..... had been trying to use friend's gym (didn't have right equipment for my needs), using weights/tubing/therabands/Swiss ball picked up on my own....hadn't been to gym in 4 months.

Good news! I kept the weights light, reps low, time short on purpose. I did get tired, but I am not any more sore than usual. Less so, in fact; muscles are looser rather than as tight as I've become used to. I did OK. WHEW! I was afraid that I hadn't been able to do enough, since I didn't have access to equipment I'd become used to. Evidently I have been doing enough so that I haven't lost the progress I'd already made. BIG relief!

This is one of the scrubbies I was working on the other day. I use nylon plastic canvas yarn from Michaels. H hook worked ok. Should have used G hook on the rectangular one I made to use at home; it turned out rather too loose.

ROUND SCRUBBY
Ch 4, sl st tog
Row 1: Ch 3, 11 dc in ring
Row 2: Ch 3, turn, *Fpstdc (Front post dc: work dc around front 'post' of stitch below it instead
of into top of st) in next dc, 2dc in back of next dc*, rep around, making last dc in
same st as starting ch, sl st to join
Row 3: Ch 2, sc in back of next dc, *popcorn (dc, going through first loop only, leaving 2nd lp on
hook, 3 times; yo, draw yarn through all loops on hook in back of next dc), sc in back of
next dc, 2 sc in back of next dc* rep around, sl st to join
Row 4: ch 2, sc in back of next 2 sts, *ch 3, sl st in first ch, sc in back of next 3 sts* rep around
sl st to join, end off, weave in yarn to finish

RECTANGLE SCRUBBY
Same yarn as above. G hook
Ch 22, dc in 5th ch from hook to end of ch.
Row 2: Ch 3, *Fpst dc around next st, dc in back of next st*, rep across.
Row 3: Ch 3, *dc in back of next st, Fpst dc in next* so that the fpst are going around the
opposite dc's of Row 2, rep across
R0ws 4-6 Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until you have the size you want.

I'm taking a break from the purple and gold sweater to make scrubbies. I've had the nylon yarn for probably 2 months, just haven't made the little things a priority, even though I know the one my son is using is the last of the ones I made last summer and needs to be replaced. But I came in to work this morning and found the sponge that I'd been using to wash dishes full of ink. I work in a place that sells refill cartridges for printers. If I want to wash a cup and fork, I don't want to use that sponge! So a couple of very textured scrubbies suddenly became a priority. They only take a few minutes to make, and last a lot longer than the Scotch Brite type that my husband calls greenies, and may even work better.