A sprint towards the finish line

Circled




As I write my eyes sting with the effort of staying wide, my head feels a little fuzzy; like many of us here in the UK, I found myself staying up a too late last night. I watched the television coverage, entranced by swing-o-meter diagrams and the impressive statistic filled software programmes which responded to a delicate touch upon the giant screen. Election night. When common sense took over and I laid my head upon the pillow it seemed all too soon that I was waking up with bird song in my ears and sunlight piercing through a gap in the curtains. Instead of sensibly going back to sleep The Technical Advisor could not resist reaching out for his Blackberry and it wasn't very long before we gave in and put the radio on, eager for news of losses and gains, unsurprised by the results coming in but still in wonder at some of the surprises thrown up.




On to more soothing things. It seems a long time since I started this small blanket, indeed, if truth be told, it is a very long time ago.





In the beginning I crocheted obsessively, around and around I went, circle after circle. It took a while to master, my crochet skills are all self taught from books and a few rather wonderful U-tube videos.But before very long the little piles grew and I got to the exciting stage of laying them out and evening up the numbers, deciding that I probably had enough circles. I gazed at them spread across the floor and felt pleased, I imagined them all joined together and laid across a little lap on a cool evening.I gathered up a little pile and set to blocking them neatly. I loved how blocking transformed them into neat, crisp circles and I eagerly set to sewing them together.


End of joy.




Sewing them together was not so much fun.





I very much wished I had thought to join them as I went along.

It would have been very much less daunting.





But they nagged me from their corner of my knitting bag. Every so often as I rummaged for a tape-measure or a needle they could be heard to murmur, I felt their sadness.


So eventually I steeled myself and set to joining the circles together and I am glad at last, my conscience clear. For the joining was not fun at all but as the blanket grew I felt that same sort of smug satisfaction that one gets from completing non-fun activities, the feeling I get when completing a Davina McCall workout.




This is the Bon-Bon blanket from the Lucinda Guy book, Crochet Designs for Girls and Boys The pattern is written for 4 ply yarn but I used a slightly heavier weight yarn and adjusted the number of circles accordingly. The book is full of rather lovely patterns incidentally, including the cutest little crochet coat.