Wednesday 1 December 2010

juggling

Life as a balancing act is probably my preferred metaphor but juggling also works well. So many balls in the air, so many projects going on at once. I finally compiled the great over-arching list of everything that I have on my plate (craft wise) - projects that are on the way, those that are half started, those for which I have bought the materials and have assigned a little bag and fully intend to do one day sometime soon. I've come up with 37. That's not so bad, is it?

And it amuses me to think of what a visualisation of my juggling would look like, what trajectories all of those projects would take. Some just hang in the air for days, weeks, months. Others come and go in a flash. I rarely drop one - yes, I'm stubborn; I would sooner have something hibernate for years than admit that I'm not going to complete it.

In the meantime, I have completed some juggling balls. The first was a birthday present for a lovely summer birthday that we celebrated in the park on a Friday evening. It has taken me this long to complete all three. They're all different but a close variation on the one above.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Simple Footbag by Amber Lin, kindly available for free via Ravelry.
Yarn: Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic (100 per cent cotton) in Deep Hot Pink, Bubblegum Pink, Bright Lime Green, Deep Red and Cotton Candy.
Hook: 2.75mm
Size: one size
Stash/recycle content: All from stash - I did purchase this yarn some time ago with a project in mind. I wanted to do some tapestry crochet and the Cotton Classic has such a great range of colours but I realised later that they were too vibrant for that purpose. Great for making these juggling balls though.
Start to finish: one - all done on 16 July 2010; two - some time in August 2010 and completed on 15 November; three - 16 to 20 November 2010.

Comments: I filled the balls with barley so that they weighed 85 grams.
Verdict: This is a great free pattern but oh making these was really on the hands, mostly due to my yarn choice. A 2.75mm crochet hook is a very small size for this weight of yarn and cotton has no give but I wanted to create a really firm fabric so that the barley would not leak out. If I were to make them again I would consider using wool and then fulling them slightly.

These are a good illustration of how things go around here - I made the first one in a day, the next took four months to complete, the third took four days.

1 comment:

Leonie said...

Have thought about making some of these for my boys but suspect that they will just get thrown around the house as they are obviously not outside toys! Maybe one day. They are sure to be enjoyed by the recipient, such a clever idea for a pressie