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[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I finally finished my Ravelympics project!



You can read all the details on my Ravelry page

Sorry it's cross-posted a few places but I'm really, really, really happy it's done!

Day 1 (8/8):

No progress. Work and the Royals game took up all of my time.

Day 2 (8/9):



Took pictures of pattern and my yarn (hope it will be enough!). Probability of progress low, since I slept in, need to go shopping, and have two books to read and a DVD to watch before they’re due on Monday. Update! But despite that, I did start that evening - first trying to crochet it all together in one long piece (the black outlines to be slip stitched in later) but because of a lack of swatching (and being unable to properly gauge weights) and the repeat of colors, it wasn’t working out. So that was scrapped, and I went on to crocheting individual squares. Which will be fine, if I can find a way to sew them together that makes me happy on both the front and back sides…



Day 3 (8/10):

Eureka! I might have figured it out. I can still crochet the squares one (or two) at a time, but instead of stitching them together at the end, I’m going to crochet them together as I go! Then I can still do the slip stitch outlining over the top. I also decided to use two strands of yarn at a time, and a larger hook. Oh, as I switched from DC to SC. I have two (out of 300-some) squares completed…



Day 4 (8/11):

Did bupkiss.

Day 5 (8/12):

6 more squares down. Total: 8/300. Need more yarn. Wait, wasn’t this project supposed to use up all those yarn bits I had lying around? On the up side, re-purposing those two orange squares into a funky block scarf. Should have signed up for the scarf event, I might have a chance of winning…



Day 6 (8/13):

Bought more yarn. Didn’t think the colors looked quite right. Started over. It’s looking okay, but I’m rubbish at keeping the count right and I think I’ve screwed up the number of rows already. But as long as it lays flat? I suppose. Becoming disheartened. Maybe it’ll look better when I get enough done to do the top stitching… 17/30 squares.



Day 7 (8/14): One of my Tetris pieces in my afghan ended up in the wrong place. Mr. Smeddley consoled me, saying it just wouldn’t be Tetris if you didn’t screw up the placement of at least one piece… so now my afghan is more ‘realistic’. Anyway, a quick re-design and we’re back on track, though with only 24 blocks out of 300 completed and 10 days to go… (I am weaving in all the ends as I go, though, so at least that won’t be a big, last-minute deal)

Day 8 (8/15): So my pieces are a smidge wider than they are tall. Live and learn. Also, I’m thinking of making it narrower than originally designed, because it’s turning out bigger than I thought - and I’m going for a lap blanket here, not a bedspread. 39/220 blocks completed.

Days 9&10 (8/16-8/17): More work, hand starting to twinge. Have pulled out almost as much as I’ve put in - and I really should pull out a bunch that’s in there right now, I’ll sleep on it and see how I feel. Started putting in the grid lines as I finish, and trying to catch up on weaving in the ends. It’s all terribly wrong, but I just want it finished now. (73/220 squares)



If I was really going to do a good job, I'd go fix that yellow up at the top - I seem to have dropped a stitch. And that's funny, since the first time I pulled it out because I'd added one. But really, I'm heartily sick of this thing and just want to get it done. I mean, I still LOVE the idea, but I don't think the plan of execution was particularly good. I'm beginning to think the best though would be knit squares sewn together - it's easier to keep gauge and I think I could sew those together satisfactorily.

But I'm not going to think about it any more tonight, I'm too tired and any decisions would be made out of grumpiness. (I did go back and rip out 6 squares the next day)

Days 11, 12, & 13 (8/18-8/20): Still holding out a glimmer of hope I can finish this. Am trying to, in true Olympic fashion, beat my ‘personal best’ time on squares. Going a little more quickly now that most of the piecework and outlining is done, still it will be a tight squeeze. But go buy more yarn - four pounds more, if my yardage calculations are correct. And if further calculations are correct, this afghan should end up weighing in at almost 10 pounds! I might not be in the running for most difficult, prettiest, or most creative, but I think I stand a decent chance of medalling in the ‘heaviest’ category.

Days 14 & 15 (8/21-8/22): I have never crocheted this much. How did people get their projects done in a few short days? This thing ended up HUGE and man, is it heavy. But it is done. I’d change the way I did it if I ever do it again, and considering the amount of leftover yard I have, I probably will. BUt not now. The backs of my hands and my wrists are KILLING me and the housekeeping has been sorely neglected. Still, YAY! I finished. Next time I’m signing up for something easier, that’s for sure.